MAURICE RAVEL
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe (complete ballet) / Rapsodie espagnole / etc Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / London Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Monteux [ Decca Historic / CD - released 10/Apr/1990 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) "There is only one word for this work, this performance, and this recording, and that is - ravishing." Gramophone |
VERDI / PUCCINI / DONIZETTI / MASCAGNI / ROSSINI
Italian Opera Choruses Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Lamberto Gardelli [ EMI Studio / CD - released 25/Jan/1995 ] 11 masterpieces from Italian opera. |
GILBERT and SULLIVAN
Gilbert & Sullivan: Ruddigore (Complete opera) coupled with Sullivan's Cox and Box D'Oyly Carte Opera Company with John Reed; Kenneth Sandford; Jean Hindmarsh / Orchestra of The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Isidore Godfrey [ Decca Records / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2003 ] *** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo Guide. |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV / JOBY TALBOT
Two Ballet Favourites by Christophen Wheeldon: Prokofiev: Cinderella / Talbot: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Recorded 2011 & 2012) BLU-RAY Dutch National Ballet / Royal Opera House / Anna Tsygankova, Matthew Golding, Lauren Cuthbertson, Sergei Polunin / Ermanno Florio & Barry Wordsworth ( [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 15/Oct/2017 ] "Lauren Cuthbertson, as Alice, is excellent, her every movement suggesting the actions and emotions of this curious, spirited pre-adolescent...Christopher Wheeldon's choreography is very imaginative and fitting for every character" MusicWeb on Alice |
LIAM SCARLETT / LOWELL LIEBERMANN
The Royal Ballet's Frankenstein Federico Bonelli, Laura Morera, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Koen Kessels (cond.) [ DVD - released 22/Sep/2017 ] Inspired by Mary Shelley's Gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein is the world premiere of Liam Scarlett's new full-length ballet. A story of betrayal, curiosity, life, death and, above all, love, exploring the very depths of human nature. Federico... |
W. A. MOZART
Fernando Corena: Arias for Bass Fernando Corena (bass) / Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 20/Sep/2015 ] "'Corena sings with a fine, resonant, clean tone. His production is easy and completely natural, and his diction, phrasing and general musicianship are most praiseworthy" (Gramophone) |
DEBUSSY
Pelleas et Melisande (Complete opera recorded in 1970) George Shirley, Elisabeth Söderström & Yvonne Minton / Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra, Pierre Boulez [ Sony Opera House / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Feb/2010 ] "Boulez's sharply dramatic view of Debussy's atmospheric score is a performance which will probably not please the dedicated Francophile but it rescues Debussy from the lanquid half-tone approach which for long has been accepted as authentic. He is... |
VERDI / DONIZETTI / GOUNOD / ARDITI
La Stupenda Joan Sutherland (soprano) / Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden & Paris Conservatoire Orchestra [ Alto / CD - released 10/Aug/2013 ] (* Penguin Guide Rosette on Art of Prima Donna vol.2) "this 1959 recital** at once put her on the map as one of the greatest recording artists of all time" "most cherishable of all operatic recital records" (Penguin Guide) "breathtaking display" re... |
VINCENZO BELLINI
Bellini: I Puritani (complete opera) Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Piero Cappuccilli, Nicolai Ghiaurov / Royal Opera House Covent Garden / London Symphony Orchestra / Richard Bonyng [ Decca / 3 CD - released 10/Aug/2006 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1801-1850) -- Building a Library First Choice - January 2005 |
MOZART / WAGNER / DONIZETTI / SPOHR
The Golden Age of Covent Garden Joan Sutherland (soprano) Jon Vickers (tenor) / Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Rafael Kubelik / with Richard Bonynge (piano) [ Pearl / CD - released 1/Jan/2005 ] Joan Sutherland and Jon Vickers in roles they never recorded commercially, at the very peak of their powers in 1957 and 1958. |
VERDI
Un Ballo in Maschera (The Masked Ball) Complete Opera Jose Carreras, Montserrat Caballa / Royal Opera House / Colin Davis [ Philips Compact Opera / 2 CD - released 1/Nov/2002 ] Compact Opera - Great opera recordings repackaged |
JULES MASSENET
Massenet: Cendrillon [Cinderella] (the complete opera, recorded in 2011) Royal Opera House / Joyce DiDonato, Alice Coote, Eglise Gutierrez, Ewa Podles / Bertrand de Billy (conductor) [ Virgin Classics DVD / 2 DVD - released 11/May/2012 ] "Bertrand de Billy leads a highly sympathetic reading of the score...revelling in the pomposity of the court dances while conjuring magic in the duets." (International Record Review) |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: L'Ange de Nisida (complete opera) Joyce El-Khoury, David Junghoon Kim, Laurent Naouri, Vito Priante / Royal Opera Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Sir Mark Elder [ Opera Rara / 2 CD Box Set - released 20/Mar/2019 ] Opera Rara presents, 179 years after it was written, the world premiere recording of a Donizetti 'lost' masterpiece, restored and brought thrillingly back to life. Written in 1839 for the Theâtre de la Renaissance in Paris, rehearsals started but the... |
KIRI te KANAWA
I Could Have Danced all Night (Concert & Portrait) Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano) / New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, John Hopkins / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Stephen Barlow [ Arthaus DVD / DVD - released 1/Oct/2015 ] The Portrait Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's story has all the best elements of an operatic fairytale. Coming from a part-Maori background she went on to become one of the world's most famous opera stars. In this exciting portrait, Kiri Te Kanawa talks about... |
TCHAIKOVSKY
Cherevichki (The Slippers) (complete opera recorded in 2009) Larissa Diadkova / Maxim Mikhailov / Vladimir Matorin / Olga Guryakova / Vsevolod Grivnov / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Alexander Polianichko [ Opus Arte Royal Opera House Collection DVD / DVD - released 19/Dec/2010 ] |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Tosca (complete opera remastered recorded live 1964) Maria Callas, Renato Cioni, Tito Gobbi, David Sellar / Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Carlo Felice Cillario [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Live Remastered / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2019 ] There are obvious parallels between Tosca - the passionate, but vulnerable Roman diva - and Maria Callas. 'Vissi d'arte' (I lived for art), the character's moving Act II aria, has acquired a particular symbolism since the soprano's death in 1977.... |
PUCCINI / BELLINI / ROSSINI / BIZET / VERDI / BELLINI / etc
Maria Callas: In Concert London, Hamburg & Paris BLU-RAY Maria Callas (soprano) / Orchestra & Chorus of the Paris National Opera, Symphonieorchester des NDR, Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Cove [ Warner Classics Blu-ray / 3 Blu-ray Disc - released 25/Sep/2017 ] Callas at Covent Garden (London 1962 & 1964) Callas in Concert (Hamburg 1959 & 1962) Toujours (Paris 1958) |
PUCCINI / BIZET / VERDI
Maria Callas at Covent Garden: London 1962 & 1964 Maria Callas (soprano) / Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden [ Warner Classics Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Nov/2015 ] This Blu-ray disc is part of a collection of three that gather together concert and stage performances from the latter phase of Callas's career, 1958-1964. These are the only professional video recordings of Callas in performance on stage. |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake (complete ballet recorded in 2009) Royal Opera House / Marialela Nunez, Thiago Soares, Elizabeth McGorian, Christopher Saunders / Valery Ovsyanikov (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Aug/2011 ] 'The production as a whole is beautifully formed and dramatically convincing… And praise, too, for the corps, who made us feel the sorrow and anger of the swans' collective misfortune.' The Times |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Manon Lescaut (complete opera) Mirella Freni, Placido Domingo, Renato Bruson / Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / [ Deutsche Grammophon Grand Prix / 2 CD - released 1/May/2007 ] "The sound is consistently spacious and free to bring out the strongly dramatic and characterful qualities of Sinopoli's reading" - Gramophone |