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GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Manon Lescaut (complete opera with libretto recorded in 1957) Giuseppe Di Stefano, Maria Callas, Franco Calabrese / La Scala Orchestra and Chorus / Tullio Serafin [ EMI / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Feb/1985 ] "In general this is Callas at her most girlish: light-voiced, lyrical and with the power to make the dramatic climaxes thrilling." MusicWeb |
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J. S. BACH
Glenn Gould: A State of Wonder - The Complete Goldberg Variations 1955 & 1981 Glenn Gould (piano) [ Sony Classical / 2 CD Box Set - released 7/Aug/2020 ] 50 GREATEST RECORDINGS OF ALL TIME (No 4) - BBC MUSIC |
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet (recorded live at the Globe Theatre London in August 2009) BLU-RAY Globe / Andrew Vincent / Philip Cumbus / Michael O'Hagan / Atetomiwa Edun, Ellie Kendrick [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jun/2010 ] Dominic Dromgoole's production brings refreshing clarity to one of Shakespeare's most famous and best-loved tragedies, drawing out the contemporary relevance of this passionate teenage love story. Ellie Kendrick, a truly youthful Juliet, and... |
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare: Hamlet (recorded live at Shakespeare's Globe, 2018) Globe / Catrin Aaron, James Garnon, Colin Hurley, Michelle Terry / Federay Holmes, Elle While (director) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 23/Oct/2020 ] Encompassing political intrigue and sexual obsession, philosophical reflection and violent action, tragic depth and wild humour, Hamlet is a colossus in the story of the English language and the fullest expression of Shakespeare's genius. |
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice (recorded live at Shakespeare's Globe, May 2015) Globe / Jonathan Pryce, Rachel Pickup, Daniel Lapaine, Dominic Mafham, Phoebe Pryce [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Oct/2016 ] In some of his most highly-charged scenes, Shakespeare dramatises the competing claims of tolerance and intolerance, religious law and civil society, justice and mercy; while in the character of Shylock he created one of the most memorable outsiders |
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare: The Tempest (recorded live at Shakespeare's Globe, August 2013) Globe / Roger Allam, Jason Baughan, Jessie Buckley, Sam Cox / Jeremy Herrin (director) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/Aug/2014 ] Prospero, Duke of Milan, usurped and exiled by his own brother, holds sway over an enchanted island. He is comforted by his daughter Miranda and served by his spirit Ariel and his deformed slave Caliban. When Prospero raises a storm to wreck this... |
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare: Richard II (recorded live at the Globe Theatre London in 2015) Globe Theatre / Charles Edwards, Henry Everett, William Gaunt, Jonny Glynn , David Sturzaker [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/Feb/2017 ] Ruling by divine right, but himself ruled by caprice, King Richard exiles Henry Bolingbroke and seizes his father's vast states. While Richard is distracted by a rebellion in Ireland, Bolingbroke returns to England, intent on recovering... |
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare: All's well that ends well (recorded live at the Globe Theatre London in 2011) Globe Theatre / Michael Bertenshaw, Sam Cox, Sam Crane, Naomi Cranston, John Cummins [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/Feb/2013 ] G: - Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well centres on the tale of Helena's quest to marry the man she loves, the rather unimpressed Bertram, who initially refuses her due to her lack of social standing. |
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GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: L'Elisir D'Amore (Complete opera recorded in August 2009) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Ekaterina Siurina, Peter Auty, Alfredo Daza / Annabel Arden (Director) / Maurizio Benini (Conductor) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Aug/2011 ] "An enchanting account. Set in Mussolini's Italy...it is wonderfully cast and a perfect team effort." (BBC Music) |
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SAMUEL BARBER
Barber: Vanessa (Complete opera recorded in 2019) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Emma Bell, Virginie Verrez, Edgaras Montvidas, Rosalind Plowright / Jakub Hrůša (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 5/Jun/2019 ] BBC Music Award WINNER 2020 - DVD/Blu-ray |
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W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro [The Marriage Of Figaro] (Complete Opera recorded in 1994) Glyndebourne Opera / Gerald Finley, Alison Hagley, Renee Fleming / Bernard Haitink (conductor) [ Warner Music Vision DVD / DVD - released 10/Sep/2009 ] "Pure magic….Bernard Haitink conducted the LPO in an eloquent performance, beautifully played…….One listened, as Haitink, Hagley, and Finley lifted a loving, carefully prepared performance to greatness" Opera Magazine |
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BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Billy Budd (complete operetta recorded in 2010) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / John Mark Ainsley, Jacques Imbrailo, Phillip Ens / Mark Elder (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2011 ] "..this is the most compelling Billy Budd on video, and superb in Blu-ray." (DVD Choice - July 2011 BBC Music *****) |
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GIOACCHINIO ROSSINI
Rossini: La Cenerentola [Cinderella] (complete opera directed by Peter Hall in 2005) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Raquela Sheeran / Lucia Cirillo / Ruxandra Donose / Nathan Berg / Vladimir Jurowski (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2008 ] DVD Blu-Ray - "The BD disc offers an excellent reproduction of the "live" experience that will surely warm the hearts of those who cannot make it to the opera house often enough." (Blu-Ray.com) |
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W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte (complete opera recorded in 2006) Glyndebourne Opera / Topi Lehtipuu, Luca Pisaroni, Miah Persson, Anke Vondung / Ivan Fischer (conductor) [ Opus Arte / Rai Trade DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/May/2007 ] 'I had to search long and hard down memory lane to recall a Così that so vividly revealed both the pleasure and the overwhelming pain of this evermore disturbing masterpiece, and I failed.' Opera |
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GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (Complete Opera recorded at the New Zealand Festival 2000) Gordon Hawkins, Vladimir Vaneev, Yaron Windmuller, Nuccia Focile / New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Chapman Tripp Opera Chorus, Marco Guidarini [ Trust / 2 CD Box Set - released 25/Feb/2006 ] Verdi's sombre and powerful operatic masterpiece, with its themes of love, hate, treachery and reconciliation, is brought to life in this production from the 2000 New Zealand Festival, featuring the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Chapman... |
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JULES MASSENET
Massenet: Manon (complete opera recorded in 2007) Gran Teatre del Liceu / Natalie Dessay/ Rolando Villazon / Samuel Ramey / Victor Pablo Perez (cond) [ Virgin Classics DVD / 2 DVD - released 4/Apr/2008 ] G : - "Natalie Dessay and Rolando Villazón bring to their characters the generosity of their commitment...the French soprano Natalie Dessay is poised to succeeding brilliantly her evolution towards the repertoire of lyric sopranos" www.forumopera.com |
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LARCHET / STANFORD / BAX / NELSON /HARDEBECK / O/BRIEN / VICTORY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: A Sheaf Of Songs From Ireland Bernadette Greevy (mezzo) Hugh Tinney (piano) [ Marco Polo / CD - released 2/Feb/1997 ] A Sheaf Of Songs represents the great literary and musical flowering of the turn of the last century, A continuation of Irish national traditions of song. |
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W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Complete Viola Quintets Vol 1 Guarneri Quartet, with Ida Kavafian & Steven Tenenbom (violas) [ RCA Victor Red Seal / CD - released 1/Jun/1988 ] Recorded live at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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VARIOUS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE; The Hoffnung Festival of Music - Royal Festival Hall 1988 Guests include Bill Oddie, Jane Glover, Jill Gormez, Robin Ashby, Felicity Lott, Joseph Horovitz,, Richard Watkins, etc [ Double Decca / CD - released 27/Aug/2014 ] On February 12th & 13th, 1988, two reprise concerts were performed and recorded at the Royal Festival Hall and released by Decca. Many distinguished guests appeared, including Donald Swann, Annetta Hoffnung (playing the role of "orchestral maid"),... |
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ROBIN MILFORD
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Milford: Fishing by Moonlight Guildhall Strings, with Julian Sperry (flute) Julian Milford (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 11/Aug/2004 ] 'This is music for an English summer evening, rewarding in its unpretentious, melodious, nicely crafted way; especially when played with sympathy and elegance by Robert Salter and the excellent Guildhall Strings' Gramophone |