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VERDI
La Traviata (complete opera recorded in 2006) Teatro Real Madrid / Norah Amsellem / Jose Bros / Renato Bruson / Itxaro Mentxaka / Maria Espada / Jesus Lopez Cobos (cond) [ Kultur / Opus Arte DVD / 2 DVD - released 2/Feb/2009 ] G :- 'Norah Amsellem's Violetta flourishes - vocally and dramatically, nothing is a challenge to her… Thanks to Pizzi's intelligence, every detail in the action works in this production... Jesus Lopez Cobos' maturity is astonishing... his perfect... |
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RICHARD WAGNER
Der Fliegende Hollander [The Flying Dutchman] (complete opera recorded in 2016) DVD + BLU-RAY Teatro Real Madrid / Samuel Youn, Ingela Brimberg, Kwangchul Youn, Nikolai Schukoff / Àlex Ollé (cond) [ Harmonia Mundi DVD + Blu-ray / 2 Blu-ray Disc/DVD - released 1/Mar/2018 ] "it's an impressive and engaging show." Gramophone |
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VERDI
Un Ballo in Maschera [The Masked Ball] (complete opera recorded in 2008) Teatro Real / Marcelo Alvarez, Violeta Urmana, Marco Vratogna, ElenaZaremba / Jesus Lopez-Cobos (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Aug/2011 ] Passion, loyalty and political conspiracy are the three pillars of Un ballo in maschera (1859), the 'most operatic of all operas'. Set in XIX century Boston, Mario Martone's atmospheric production for the Teatro Real in Madrid brings out all the... |
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ROSSINI
Il barbiere di Siviglia (opera recorded 2011) Teatro Regio di Parma / Ketevan Kemoklidze, Luca Salsi, Dmitry Korchak / Andrea Battistoni (cond) [ Arthaus Musik DVD / 2 DVD - released 7/Aug/2011 ] "A traditional approach, neatly conducted by the youthful Andrea Battistoni. It's a lively show, though the singing varies from Bruno Pratico's expert Bartolo to Luca Salsi's careless Figaro." (BBC Music) |
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GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Nabucco (opera recorded 2012) Teatro Regio di Parma / Leo Nucci, Bruno Ribeiro, Riccardo Zanellato, Dimitra Theodossiou / Michele Mariotti (cond) [ C Major / Unitel Classics DVD / DVD - released 7/Apr/2015 ] "the two main roles - Nabucco and Abigaille - are taken by two outstanding artists who are convincing both musically and dramatically." (MusicWeb) |
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ERICH KORNGOLD
Korngold: Violanta (complete opera recorded in 2020) Teatro Regio Torino / Annemarie Kremer, Michael Kupfer-Radecky, Norman Reinhardt, Peter Sonn / Pinchas Steinberg (cond) [ Dynamic DVD / DVD - released 19/Jun/2020 ] "The lyric sound of the soprano Annemarie Kremer is well suited to the title role - and the orchestra likewise revels in the opera's eroticism." Seth Colter Walls - The New York Times |
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MODEST MUSSORGSKY
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov (complete opera recorded in 2010) Teatro Regio, Torino / Orlin Anastassov, Alessandra Marianelli, Pavel Zubov / Gianandrea Noseda (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Aug/2011 ] ''Orchestrally and vocally outstanding'' The Opera Critic |
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VERDI
Don Carlo (complete opera recorded in 2013) Teatro Regio Torino / Svetlana Kasyan, Ramón Vargas, Ildar Abdrazakov, Ludovic Tezier / Gianandrea Noseda (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/May/2015 ] "Gianandrea Noseda's conducting is excellent, combining large-scale grandeur with finesse, and the orchestra and chorus are world class. Ramón Vargas's protagonist is elegantly voiced, supply phrased and with admirable heft for his outbursts...If you |
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ROSSINI
Torvaldo e Dorliska (complete opera recorded in 2006) Teatro Rossini, Pesaro / Darina Takova, Michele Pertusi, Francesco Meli / Victor Pablo Perez (cond) [ Dynamic DVD / 2 DVD - released 19/Jan/2008 ] G - This world première DVD recording features singers that have attained world-wide renown, such as the bass-baritone Michele Pertusi and the soprano Darina Takova. |
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GIAN CARLO MENOTTI
Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors (complete opera, sung in German, recorded in 2022) Tempu Ishijima (boy soprano), Dshamilja Kaiser, Paul Schweinester / Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Wiener Symphoniker, Magnus Loddgard [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 1/Dec/2023 ] Long a Christmas favourite, this new Viennese production, sung in German, boldly re-examines the story finding its key elements to be fantasy, empathy and the enduring power of love. |
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GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera recorded in 2009) Teodor Ilincai / Hibla Gerzmava / Gabriele Viviani / Inna Dukach / Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra / Andris Nelsons [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Aug/2010 ] "In every sense this Boheme glows...Teodor Ilincai is a splendid Rodolfo...radiating Italian lyricism and boyish good nature. Hibla Gerzmava is a gorgeous Mimi...Inna Dukach is a splendid Musetta...On DVD it looks and sounds wonderful - but on... |
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FRANZ SCHUBERT
Alfonso und Estrella (complete opera recorded in 1997) Theater an der Wien / Olaf Bar / Luba Orgonasova / Thomas Hampson / Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] G - Filmed at the Theater an der Wien during performances in Wiener Festwochen, May 1997. |
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JULES MASSENET
Massenet: Cendrillon [Cinderella] (complete opera recorded in 2017) Theater Freiburg / Kim-Lillian Strebel, Anja Jung, Anat Czarny, Katharina Melnikova / Fabrice Bollon (cond) [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 1/Oct/2018 ] The timeless nature of this Freiburg production derives from an 'Alice in Wonderland' look that stimulates the imagination as much as it does the senses. |
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GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Theodora (complete opera recorded in 2015) Theatre des Chams-Elysees / Katherine Watson, Philippe Jaroussky, Stéphanie d'Oustrac, Callum Thorpe / William Christie (cond) [ Erato / Warner Classics DVD / 2 DVD - released 20/Feb/2017 ] Handel's Theodora, a tale of Christian martyrdom in 4th century Antioch, is a dramatic oratorio rather than an opera, but it achieved a new currency in 1996, when William Christie conducted a staging at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Christie, who... |
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GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (complete opera recorded in 1992) Theatro La Scala / Renato Bruson / Mariella Devia / Vincenzo La Scola / conducted by Stefano Ranzani [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 23/Jul/2004 ] "A powerfully dramatic and memorable La Scala production. Recommended." (MusicWeb) |
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WAGNER
Rienzi (complete opera recorded in 2012) Theâtre du Capitole, Toulouse / Torsten Kerl, Marika Schönberg, Daniela Sindram / Pinchas Steinberg (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/Oct/2013 ] Championing love and personal heroism in the face of ecclesiastical oppression and political chicanery, Wagner's third opera explores characteristic themes with terrific energy which culminates in the eponymous Roman tribune's famous prayer to the... |
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POULENC
Dialogues des Carmélites (Complete opera recorded in 2013) Théâtre des Champs-Elysées / Patricia Petibon, Sophie Koch, Véronique Gens, Sandrine Piau / Jérémie Rhorer (cond) [ Warner Erato Classics DVD / 2 DVD - released 15/Dec/2014 ] "Patricia Petibon gives the performance of a lifetime as Blanche...[Plowright's] performance has a dramatic veracity that is disturbing in the extreme...Long sceptical about the piece, I was completely won over - the highest complement I can pay it." |
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GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: L'Elisir d'Amore (complete opera recorded in 2002) Valeria Esposito, Aquiles Machado, Enrico Marrucci, Erwin Schrott / Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana / Niels Muus [ ArtHaus Musik DVD / DVD - released 25/Aug/2011 ] Slowly the camera roams through the narrow streets of Macerata, past the cathedral, the monuments, the library and the university, until it reaches the Arena Sferisterio...The stage, which is 14.5 meters deep and 40 meters wide, is sufficiently large... |
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VERDI
Don Carlo (complete opera recorded in 2004) Netherlands Opera / Rolando Villazón, Robert Lloyd, Amanda Roocroft / Riccardo Chailly (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / 2 DVD - released 15/Jul/2011 ] "a fabulous summation of Chailly's qualities as a Verdi conductor… A wonderful piece of stagecraft" (The Guardian) |
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MONTEVERDI
Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (complete opera) Vesselina Kasarova / Dietrich Henschel / Klaus-Michael Gruber / Giacomo Badoaro / Nikolaus Harnoncourt [ Arthaus Musik DVD / DVD - released 1/Apr/2003 ] G :- "Fine vocal contributions and a typically purple score adorn this fresh production." (Gramophone) |