GOUNOD / VERDI / BIZET / MASCAGNI / OFFENBACH / PUCCINI / etc.
50 Best Choruses Choeurs du Capitole de Toulouse / Chorus del Teatro alla Scala, Milano / Ambrosian Opera Chorus / etc. [ Warner Classics 50 Best / 3 CD - released 12/Dec/2011 ] This three-CD set contains a collection of 50 operatic choruses performed by some of the world's leading ensembles. |
ADOLPHE ADAM & OTHERS
Adam: Le Corsaire (complete ballet recorded May 2013) BLU-RAY Teatro alla Scala / Nicoletta Manni, Martina Arduino, Timofej Andrijashenko / Patrick Fournillier (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Dec/2008 ] With fairytale-like staging and a "Pas de deux" that made Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn a legend and always awaited in the ballet galas, Le Corsaire is considered a choreographic milestone in the history of ballet. |
FRANCESCO CILEA
Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur (complete opera) Teatro alla Scala / Giandrea Gavazzeni / Mirella Freni / Peter Dvorsky / Ivo Vinco [ Opus Arte / Rai Trade La Scala Collection DVD / DVD - released 16/Dec/2004 ] G - Cilea's four-act opera of jealousy and tangled love, first performed in Milan in 1902, is based on the true-life story of Adriana Lecouvreur, an 18th-Century actress at the Comédie Française |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
VerdI Aida (complete opera recorded in 1986) BLU-RAY Teatro alla Scala / Maria Chiara, Luciano Pavarotti, Ghena Dimitrova, Leo Nucci / Lorin Maazel (conductor) [ Arthaus Legendary Performances BLU-RAY / Blu-ray Disc - released 12/Jul/2015 ] "An opera for Cairo!", Verdi is said to have exclaimed. He would certainly have been delighted with this magnificent production. It was a triumphant success when it opened at la Scala in December 1985 |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Aida (Complete opera) Ruggero Raimondi, Elena Obraztsova, Katia Ricciarelli, Placido Domingo, Nicolai Ghiaurov / Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala / Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon Opera House / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2005 ] 'None is better or more thoroughly and thoughtfully conducted - and in Verdi, that is of the essence.' Gramophone |
CILEA / PURCELL / TCHAIKOVSKY / VERDI / PUCCINI / WAGNER
Anna Netrebko - Amata dalle tenebre Anna Netrebko (soprano) / Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Riccardo Chailly [ Deusche Grammophon / CD - released 19/Nov/2021 ] "She's in her element [as Manon Lescaut], as she is with Tchaikovsky's Lisa, where the voice sounds beautiful and the emotional trajectory is wonderfully plotted and detailed." Gramophone |
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: Barber of Seville, The [Il barbiere di Siviglia] complete studio recording of the opera recorded in 1972 Teresa Berganza / Luigi Alva / Hermann Prey / Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala / Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon / DVD - released 21/Jun/2005 ] G :- All Regions - Regular 1.33:1 / 4:3 - PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1 Surround - Colour - 142 Minutes - NTSC In the 1970s, the era from which this production emanates, the director Jean Pierre Ponnelle was reaching the height of his powers. In his... |
LUIGI CHERUBINI
Cherubini: Medea (complete opera recorded live in 1953) Gino Penno, Maria Callas, Maria Luisa Nache, Fedora Barbieri, Giuseppe Modesti, Enrico Campi / Teatro alla Scala, Leonard Bernstein [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Live Remastered / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2019 ] The character of Medea became closely associated with Maria Callas. In 1969, several years after she had left the opera stage, she even played the betrayed and finally infanticidal sorceress in a film directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. |
W. A. MOZART
Die Zauberflote [Magic Flute] (Complete, recorded live in 2011) BLU-RAY La Teatro alla Scala / Günther Groissböck, Saimir Pirgu, Albina Shagimuratova, Genia Kühmeier, Ailish Tynan, Alex Esposito / Roland Böer (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Apr/2012 ] "This is a wonderful performance...I was more moved and enchanted by this than by any other Magic Flute I have seen on DVD." (BBC Music DVD & Blu-ray Choice - April 2012) |
W. A. MOZART
Die Zauberflote [Magic Flute] (Complete, recorded live in 2011) La Teatro alla Scala / Günther Groissböck, Saimir Pirgu, Albina Shagimuratova, Genia Kühmeier, Ailish Tynan, Alex Esposito / Roland Böer (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/Apr/2012 ] "It is very much 'producer's opera' and it will annoy some people. I found it fascinating...Lively musical direction, incorporating Rene Jacobs's superfluous keyboard interjections. Don't miss this visually enchanting and thought-provoking... |
VERDI / BIZET / BEETHOVEN / MOZART / GOUNOD / HANDEL / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Dies Irae - The Essential Choral Collection The Monteverdi Choir. Coro Del Teatro Alla Scala, Münchener Bach-Chor, Wandsworth School Boys' Choir, Choir Of Westminster Abbey, etc [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/1997 ] 30 of the greatest classical choral works ever written. From Monteverdi to Orff, here are the choral bangers absolutely guaranteed to make your heart sing. |
LUDWIG MINKUS
Minkus: Don Quixote (complete ballet recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Teatro alla Scala / Natalia Osipova, Leonid Sarafanov, Riccardo Massimi, Matthew Endicot / Alexander Titov (cond) [ C Major BLU-RAY / Blu-ray Disc - released 15/May/2016 ] Choreography: Rudolf Nureyev Staged By: Raffaele Del Savio In this production from Teatro alla Scala the ballet Don Quixote is shown in the legendary choreography of Rudolf Nureyev. Nureyev´s intention by fusing together the worlds of Commedia... |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore (Complete Opera recorded in 1958) Rosanna Carteri, Luigi Alva, Giuseppe Taddei, Rolando Panerai / Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Tullio Serafin [ Warner Classics The Home of Opera / 2 CD - released 25/Apr/2018 ] L'elisir d'amore is an 'essential' Italian comic opera and this 1958 recording, recorded with the forces of La Scala, Milan has a distinctively Italian pedigree. If its Nemorino, Luigi Alva, was born in Peru, he trained and established his reputation... |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Poliuto (complete opera remastered recorded live 1960) Maria Callas, Franco Corelli, Ettore Bastianini, Nicola Zaccaria / Teatro alla Scala, Antonino Votto [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Live Remastered / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2019 ] Donizetti's rarely-performed Poliuto, based on a play by the great French dramatist Corneille, opened La Scala's season in 1960 and marked Callas's return to the iconic Milanese theatre after an absence of two seasons. |
RACHMANINOV / MASSENET / AUBER / BIZET / SAINT-SAENS / PROKOFIEV / etc
Gala des Ètoiles (Ballet recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Teatro alla Scala / Svetlana Zakharova, Roberto Bolle, Massimo Murru, Nicoletta Manni, Claudio Coviello, Mick Zeni, Maria Eichwald / David Coleman (co [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 16/Nov/2016 ] A very special dance occasion in honour of a celestial alignment of events, the Gala des Étoiles celebrates the Ballet Corps' time-honoured tradition of a Grand Gala at La Scala as it coincides with Milan's tenure as host city of EXPO 2015.... |
UMBERTO GIORDANO
Giordano: Andrea Chénier (complete opera recorded in 2017) Teatro alla Scala / Yusif Eyvazov, Anna Netrebko, Luca Salsi, Annalisa Stroppa / Riccardo Chailly [ C Major DVD / DVD - released 16/Apr/2021 ] By choosing to work with director Mario Martone, known for his films as well as his work in opera and theatre, Chailly has given overall coherence to his cinematic vision. |
UMBERTO GIORDANO
Giordano: Andrea Chénier (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Teatro alla Scala / Yusif Eyvazov, Anna Netrebko, Luca Salsi, Annalisa Stroppa / Riccardo Chailly [ C Major Blu-ray / DVD - released 16/Apr/2021 ] Riccardo Chailly conducted with vitality and drive' (Financial Times) and in the main roles Yusif Eyvazov 'proved to be technically very skilled' and Anna Netrebko´s 'beautifully timbred and perfectly tuned voice'. |
WAGNER
Götterdämmerung (complete opera recorded in 2013) Teatro alla Scala / Lance Ryan, Iréne Theorin, Mikhail Petrenko, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Gerd Grochowski, Waltraud Meier / Daniel Barenboim (cond) [ Arthaus DVD / 2 DVD - released 20/Aug/2014 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD NOMINATION 2014 |
VERDI
I Due Foscari (complete opera recorded in 1988) Teatro alla Scala / Renato Bruson / Alberto Cuido / Linda Roark-Strummer / Giandrea Gavazzeni [ Opus Arte / Rai Trade La Scala Collection / DVD - released 1/Nov/2004 ] G - Renato Bruson takes the role of the Venetian Doge - Francesco Foscari - in Verdi's dark, three-act tragedy based on a drama by Lord Byron set in 15th century Venice. |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Il Trovatore (Complete Opera recorded 1956) Maria Callas, Rolando Panerai, Giuseppe di Stefano, Fedora Barbieri / Teatro alla Scala di Milano, von Karajan [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Remastered / 2 CD - released 10/Oct/2014 ] "The combination of Karajan and Callas is formidably impressive. There is toughness and dramatic determination in Callas's singing, whether in coloratura or in dramatic passages." Penguin Stereo Guide |