GAETANO DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Donizetti: Don Pasquale (complete opera recorded in 2010) BLU-RAY Metropolitan Opera / Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, John Del Carlo / James Levine (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophone Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 26/May/2011 ] A red hot ticket at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010/2011 was Donizetti's comic gem, Don Pasquale, with Anna Netrebko reviving Norina, the part that made her a star in New York. |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Don Pasquale (complete opera recorded in 2010) Metropolitan Opera / Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, John Del Carlo / James Levine (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophone DVD / DVD - released 26/May/2011 ] A red hot ticket at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010/2011 was Donizetti's comic gem, Don Pasquale, with Anna Netrebko reviving Norina, the part that made her a star in New York. |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
DonizettI: Lucia di Lammermoor (complete opera recorded in 2009) Metropolitan Opera / Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczala, Mariusz Kwiecien / Marco Armiliato (conductor) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 16/Nov/2009 ] "Director Mary Zimmerman's…offers a Victorian gloss on the drama… which adds a fresh and fascinating resonance. This is reinforced by the filming, often steeply angled from front stage, and enjoys uncommonly strong choral and orchestral support." BBC |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Die Walkure (The Valkyries) (complete opera recorded live in 1941) Astrid Varnay / Helen Traubel / Lauritz Melchior / Kerstin Thorborg / Friedrich Schorr / Alexander Kipnis / Metropolitan Opera Orchestra / Erich Leins [ Naxos Great Opera Performances / 3 CD - released 1/Jan/2007 ] Saturday 6th December 1941 was a momentous afternoon in the history of the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, The opera - Die Walkure - was well enough known to the theatre and radio audiences that day, but this particular performance was eagerly... |
THOMAS ADES
Ades: The Exterminating Angel (complete opera recorded in 2017) Metropolitan Opera / Audrey Luna, Amanda Echalaz, Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan, Alice Coote, Christine Rice, Iestyn Davies / Thomas Ades (cond) [ Erato DVD / DVD - released 20/Feb/2019 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD NOMINATION 2019 TOP THREE - Contemporary |
WAGNER
Die Walkure (complete opera recorded in 1968) Birgit Nilsson, Thomas Stewart, Leonie Rysanek / Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Berislav Klobucar [ Sony Metropolitan Series / 3 CD - released 20/May/2011 ] The first of two Wagner operas, Die Walküre, boasts a cast of fine Wagnerian singers, including Birgit Nilsson, considered one of the greatest Brünnhildes, and iconic performances by Thomas Stewart as Wotan, Leonie Rysanek as Sieglinde, Jon Vickers... |
VERDI
La Traviata (Complete Opera recorded in 1992) Cheryl Studer, Luciano Pavarotti, Juan Pons / Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra, James Levine [ Deutsche Grammophon Grand Opera / 2 CD - released 20/Jun/2012 ] "Here is Cheryl Studer...The voice is full-blooded and warm, yet flexible enough to encompass the difficulties of Act 1...beautifully focused in the succeeding aria, with a nicely differentiated treatment of the second verse (happily included)."... |
GOUNOD
Romeo et Juliette (complete opera recorded live in 1935) Eide Norena / Charles Hackett / Leon Rothier / Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera / Louis Hasselmans [ Naxos Great Opera Performances / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2007 ] Norena characterizes Juliette as a real teenager: her singing is full of wide-eyed wonder and hope until the tragic dénouement. Hackett declaims Roméo’s music with a beauty of legato tone and an amplitude of phrasing which is rarely heard today.... |
VERDI
La Traviata (complete opera recorded live in 1949) Eleanor Steber / Giuseppe d Stefano / Robert Merrill / Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera / Giuseppe Antonicelli [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Performances / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2007 ] "For the most part, a vocal feast awaits you, broadcast live from the Met on January 22, 1949... The principals in this marvelous La Traviata are captured in their exultant primes." |
GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Carmen (complete opera recorded in 2010) Metropolitan Opera / Elina Garanca, Roberto Alagna, Barbara Frittoli, Teddy Tahu Rhodes / Yannick Nezet-Seguin (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 3/Jun/2010 ] "[Tahu Rhodes] prov[es] himself to be an ideal toreador, virile of voice, and very tall. All in all, a Carmen well worth seeing and hearing." The Times, 28th August 2010 |
CHARPENTIER
Louise (complete opera recorded in 1943) Grace Moore, Raoul Jobin, Ezio Pinza / Metropolitan Opera / Sir Thomas Beecham [ Naxos Historic Great Opera Performances / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Oct/2010 ] |
STRAVINSKY
The Rake's Progress (complete opera recorded in 1953 and conducted by the composer) Hilde Gueden / Blanche Thebom / Eugene Conley / Mack Harrell / Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra / Igor Stravinsky [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 2/Sep/2007 ] This 1953 recording was the first of the two complete recordings of Stravinsky's operatic masterpiece The Rake's Progress to be conducted by the composer. |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Complete at a budget price) Hildegard Behrens, Cheryl Studer, Matti Salminen, Metropolitan Opera, James Levine [ Deutsche Gramophon Collector's Edition / 14 CD Box Set - released 15/Jun/2002 ] "Hildegard Behrens is a marvellously engaging Brunnhilde, unusually fresh-voiced, feminine and vulnerable." (Gramophone) |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Ariadne auf Naxos (Complete opera recorded in 1988) Metropolitan Opera / Jessye Norman / Kathleen Battle / Tatiana Troyanos / James Levine (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon / DVD - released 29/Aug/2002 ] G : - "This performance represents an above-average night at the Metropolitan Opera in the late 1980s: three of its most popular stars, a generally distinguished cast, the house's musical director conducting its great orchestra in one of the works he... |
PUCCINI / LEONCAVALLO
Il Tabarro / Pagliacci James Levine / Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus / Teresa Stratas / Placido Domingo / Juan Pons / Luciano Pavarotti [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 15/Sep/2005 ] G :- Here the two pieces have been combined to celebrate the Metropolitan Opera's 1994/95 season opening - an operatic tour-de-force with Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo in the starring roles |
WAGNER
Die Walkure (Complete Opera) James Levine / Metropolitan Opera Orchestra / Hildegard Behrens / Jessye Norman [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 13/Oct/2002 ] The Metropolitan Opera sings deeply passionate Wagner in this 1991 production on a spare but darkly atmospheric stage. |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Maria Stuarda (complete opera recorded in 2013) Metropolitan Opera / Joyce DiDonato, Elza van den Heever, Matthew Polenzani / Maurizio Benini (cond) [ Erato DVD / 2 DVD - released 7/Apr/2014 ] "The two main protagonists brilliantly capture all the opera's drama and passion; DiDonato is magnificent and moving." Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice August 2014 |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Le Comte Ory (complete opera recorded in 2011) Metropolitan Opera / Juan Diego Flórez, Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato / Maurizio Benini (cond) [ Virgin Classics DVD / 2 DVD - released 12/Mar/2012 ] "The terrific cast was headed by the tenor Juan Diego Flórez as Ory..The soprano Diana Damrau brought her lustrous, agile coloratura soprano voice, and charisma galore, to Adèle." (NY Times) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Rigoletto (complete opera recorded in 1945) Jussi Bjorling (tenor) Bidu Sayao (soprano) Leonard Warren (baritone) / Chorus & Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, Cesare Sodero [ Naxos Historical Opera / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2008 ] "Taken as a whole, this is a remarkable document." Opera Now |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia [The Barber of Seville] (complete opera recorded in 1988) Metropolitan Opera / Kathleen Battle, Rockwell Blake, Leo Nucci / Ralf Weikert (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 17/May/2010 ] ""one of the most mechanically ingenious stagings that the company has offered in recent years. Robin Wagner's multifaceted set, rotating on the stage turntable, lets the action flow smoothly from place to place and makes possible an almost... |