Bizet Les pêcheurs de perles(The Pearl Fishers) opera to libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. Directed 2016 by Penny Woolcock (based on a 2010 English National Opera production). Stars Mariusz Kwiecien (Zurga), Matthew Polenzani (Nadir), Diana Damrau (Leïla), and Nicolas Testé (Nourabad). Gianandrea Noseda conducts the The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Donald Palumbo). Sets by Dick Bird with assistance of Scott Laule; costumes by Kevin Pollard; lighting by Jen Schriever; projection designs by 59 Productions; movement direction by Andrew Dawson; fight direction by J. Allen Suddeth; music production by Jay David Saks; directed for TV by Matthew Diamond. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio. Grade: A
Read MoreBizet Les pêcheurs de perles opera to libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. Directed 2012 by Fabio Sparvoli at the Teatro di San Carlo. Stars Patrizia Ciofi (Léïla, a priestess), Dmitry Korchak (Nadir, a hunter), Dario Solari (Zurga, elected chief of the pearl fishers), and Roberto Tagliavini (Nourabad, the high priest). Gabriele Ferro conducts the Orchestra, Chorus, and Ballet Corps of the Teatro di San Carlo (Chorus Master Salvatori Caputo). Sets by Giorgio Richelli; costume design by Alessandra Torella; lighting design by Vinicio Cheli; choreography by Annarita Pasculli with Ballet Director Alessandra Panzavolta. Directed for TV by Davide Mancini with high-definition editing by Tiziano Mancini and Mauro Santini. Produced by Thomas Hieber. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B-
Read MoreRimsky-Korsakov Le coq d’or orThe Golden Cockerel opera to a libretto by Vladimir Belsky. Directed 2016 by Laurent Pelly at la Monnaie, Brussels. Stars Pavlo Hunka (Tzar Dodon), Alexey Dolgov (Tzarevich Gvidon), Konstantin Shushakov (Tzarevich Afron), Alexander Vassiliev (General Polkan), Agnes Zwierko (Amelfa), Alexander Kravets (Astrologer), Venera Gimadieva (Tzaritsa of Shemakha), and Sheva Tehoval (Little Golden Cockerel), John Manning and Marcel Schmitz (Boyars), and Marc Coulon (Man of the People). Alain Altinoglu conducts La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Martino Faggiani) and the MM Academy Chorus Academy (Chorus Master Benoît Giaux). Set design by Barbara de Limburg; costume design by Laurent Pelly and Jean-Jacques Delmotte; lighting by Joël Adam; choreography by Lionel Hoche. Directed for TV by Myriam Hoyer. Sung in Russian. Released in 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreMozart Operas "box" with 3 titles, all performed at Glyndebourne. Below are the titles. Each of them has already been reported on this website, and you can get more details by using the links provided:
- Le nozze di Figaro. (Grade N/A)
- Die Entführung aus dem Serail. (Grade N/A)
- Così fan tutte. (Grade A+)
Read MoreMassenet Werther opera to a libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet, and Georges Hartmann. Directed 2017 by Tatjana Gürbaca at Opernhaus Zürich. Stars Juan Diego Flórez (Werther), Anna Stéphany (Charlotte), Mélissa Petit (Sophie), Audun Iversen (Albert), Cheyne Davidson (Le Bailli) & Martin Zysset (Schmidt). Cornelius Meister conducts the Philharmonia Zürich, Kinderchor und SoprAlti der Oper Zürich, and the Statistenverien am Opernhaus Zürich (Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger). Set and lighting design by Klaus Grünberg; costume design by Silke Willrett; dramaturgy by Claus Spahn. Directed for TV by Michael Beyer; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreFrancesco Cilea Adriana Lecouvreur opera to libretto by Arturo Colautti. Directed 2009 by Lorenzo Mariani at the Teatro Regio Torino. Stars Micaela Carosi (Adriana Lecouvreur of the Comédie Française), Marcelo Álvarez (Maurizio, Count of Saxony), Marianne Cornetti (La Principessa di Bouillon), Alfonso Antoniozzi (Michonnet, stage director of the Comédie Française), Simone Del Savio (Il Principe di Bouillon), Luca Casalin (L'abate di Chazeuil, or the Abbé), Antonella De Chiara (Madamigella Jouvenot), Patrizia Porzio (Madamigella Dangeville), Carlo Bosi (Poisson), Diego Matamoros (Quinault), Giuseppe Milano (Un Maggiordomo), and Carola Iannuzzi (Una Cameriera). Renato Palumbo conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio Torino (Chorus Master: Claudio Fenoglio). Sets by Nicola Rubertelli; costumes by Luisa Spinatelli; choreography by Michele Merola; lighting by Claudio Schmid. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti. Sung in Italian. Released in 2010, disc has 7.1 dts-HD Master Audio surround sound. Grade: B-
Read MoreMozart Così fan tutte opera to libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Directed 2016 by Jan Philipp Gloger at the Royal Opera House. Stars Corinne Winters (Fiordiligi), Angela Brower (Dorabella), Daniel Behle (Ferrando), Alessio Arduini (Guglielmo), Johannes Martin Kränzle (Don Alfonso), and Sabina Puértolas (Despina). Semyon Bychkov conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Concert Master Peter Manning) and the Royal Opera Chorus (Chorus Director William Spaulding). Set design by Ben Baur; costume design by Karin Jud; lighting by Bernd Purkrabek; dramaturgy by Katharina John; directed for the screen by Rhodri Huw. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreUmberto Giordano Fedora opera to a libretto by Arturo Colautti. Directed by Rosetta Cucchi at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova (assistant director Stefania Panighini). Stars Daniela Dessì (Fedora), Fabio Armiliato (Loris), Alfonso Antoniozzi (De Siriex), Daria Kovalenko (Olga), Margherita Rotondi (Dimitri), Manuel Pierattelli (Desirè), Alessandro Fantoni (Baron Rouvel), Luigi Roni (Cirillo), Claudio Ottino (Boroff), Roberto Maietta (Gretch), Davide Mura (Lorek), Sirio Restani (Lazinski), and Sebastiano Carbone (Peasant Boy). Valerio Galli conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Carlo Felice Theatre (Chorus Master Patrizia Priarone). Set design by Tiziano Santi; light design by Luciano Novelli, costume design by Claudia Pernigotti. Video Director was Matteo Ricchetti. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreVerdi La forza del destino opera to libretto by Francesco Piave. Directed 2008 by David Pountney at the Wiener Staatsoper. Stars Alastair Miles (Il Marchese di Calatrava/Padre Guardiano), Nina Stemme (Leonora), Carlos Álvarez (Don Carlo di Vargas), Salvatore Licitra (Don Alvaro), Nadia Krasteva (Preziosilla), Tiziano Bracci (Fra Melitone), Elisabeta Marin (Curra), Dan Paul Dumitrescu (Un alcalde), Michael Roider (Mastro Trabuco), Clemens Unterreiner (Un chirurgo), and dancers of the Wiener Staatsballett. Zubin Mehta conducts the Chor und Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper (Chorus Master Thomas Lang). Set and costume design by Richard Hudson; lighting design by Frabrice Kebour; choreography by Beate Vollack; video by fettFilm (Momme Hinrichs & Torge Møller). Directed for TV by Karina Fibich; video editing by Gernot Arendt; sound by Gregor Hornacek. Released 2018, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B-
Read MorePuccini Tosca opera to libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. Directed 2017 by Philipp Himmelmann (apparently replacing director Bartlett Sher on short notice) at the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden. Stars Kristine Opolais (Tosca), Marcelo Álvarez (Mario Cavaradossi), Marco Vratogna (Baron Scarpia), Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Cesare Angelotti), Peter Rose (Il Sagrestano), Peter Tantsits (Spoletta), Douglas Williams (Sciarrone), Philippe Tsouli (a Boy), and Walter Fink (the Jailer). Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Philharmonia Chor Wien (Chorus Masters Walter Zeh), and Cantus Juvenum Karlsruhe (Chorus Master Anette Schneider). Set design by Raimund Bauer; costume design by Kathi Maurer; lighting by Reinhard Traub; video designs by Martin Eidenberger. Executive Producer was Alexander Pereira. Directed for TV by Andres Morell. Sung in Italian. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: F+
Read MoreJohn Adams Doctor Atomic opera to libretto of historically accurate statements and a clutch of poems assembled by Peter Sellars. Directed 2007 by Peter Sellars at De Nederlandse Opera. Stars Gerald Finley (J. Robert Oppenheimer), Jessica Rivera (Kitty Oppenheimer), Eric Owens (General Leslie Groves), Richard Paul Fink (Edward Teller), James Maddalena (Jack Hubbard), Thomas Glenn (Robert Wilson), Jay Hunter Morris (Captain James Nolan), Ellen Rabiner (Pasqualita), and Ruud van Jijk (Lieutenant Bush). Lawrence Renes conducts the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera (Chorus Director Martin Wright). Sets by Adrianne Lobel; costumes by Dunya Ramicova; lighting by James F. Ingalls; choreography by Lucinda Childs; sound effects by Mark Grey. Directed for TV by Peter Sellars. Sung in English. Released 2009, disc has Dolby 5.1 TrueHD sound. Grade: B
If you're new to a work, I usually suggest that you watch it cold. But Doctor Atomic is a profound opera, and it likely will seem difficult on first encounter. So watch the extras first. Start with the 27 minute interview with Peter Sellars. You probably already know that Doctor Atomic depicts the personalities and events surrounding the first atomic bomb explosion achieved by the Manhattan Project under Dr. Robert Oppenheimer on July 16, 1945. Sellars in his interview gives you backstory and discusses the moral issues that arose in 1945 and which still haunt us today.
Read MoreDes Königs Zauberflöteopera produced as a motion picture film of live theater performances. Based on Die Zauberflöte opera with music by Mozart and a libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, with additional dialogue by Klaus Jörg Schönmetzler. Directed by Enoch zu Guttenberg at the Prinzregententheater München in 2013. Video made at the 2013 performances was made into the Des Königs Zauberflöte movie, which was shown in theaters in 2016; the Blu-ray was released in 2017. Grade: NA
Read MoreTchaikovsky Pique Dame opera (The Queen of Spades) to a libretto by Modest Tchaikovsky. Directed 2016 by Stefan Herheim at the Dutch National Opera. Stars Misha Didyk (Herman), Alexey Markov (Count Tomsky/Plutus), Vladimir Stoyanov (Prince Yeletsky), Andrei Popov (Chekalinsky), Andrii Goniukov (Surin), Mikhail Makarov (Chaplitsky), Anatoli Sivko (Narumov), Larissa Diadkova (The Countess), Svetlana Aksenova (Liza), and Anna Goryachova (Polina/Daphnis). Mariss Jansons conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Chrous of the Dutch National Opera (Chorus Master Ching-Lien Wu), and the Nieuw Amsterdams Kinderkoor (Chorus Master Caro Kindt). Decor and costumes by Philipp Fürhoffer; lighting by Bernd Purkrabek; video direction by Misjel Vermeiren. Released 2017, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreMozart Le nozze di Figaro opera to libretto by Lorenza da Ponte. Directed 2004 by Jean-Louis Martinoty at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées. Stars Pietro Spagnoli (Il Conte d'Almaviva), Annette Dasch (La Contessa d'Almaviva), Rosemay Joshua (Susanna), Luca Pisaroni (Figaro), Angelika Kirchshlager (Cherubino), Sophie Pondjiclis (Marcellina), Alessandro Svab (Antonio), Antonio Abete (Bartolo), Enrico Facini (Don Basilio), Pauline Courtin (Barbarina), and Serge Goubioud (Don Curzio). René Jacobs conducts the Concerto Köln and the Chœur du Théâtre des Champs Elysées. Set design by Hans Schavernoch; costume design by Sylvie de Segonzac; lighting design by Jean Kalman; choreography by Cookie Chiapalone. Produced by François Duplat; directed for video by Pierre Barré. Released 2017, has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreWagner Der Fliegende Holländer opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2016 by Àlex Ollé at the Teatro Real de Madrid. Stars Kwangchul Youn (Daland), Ingela Brimberg (Senta), Nikolai Schukoff (Erik), Kai Rüütel (Mary), Benjamin Bruns (Der Steuermann), and Samuel Youn (Der Holländer). Pablo Heras-Casado conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Real de Madrid (Chorus Master Andrés Máspero). Sets by Alfons Flores; costumes by Josep Abril; lighting by Urs Schönebaum; videos by Franc Aleu. Directed for TV by Stéphane Vérité; produced by Jean-Romain Sales. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts sound. Grade: NA
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