Browse: Blu-Ray Video, Decca (label)
New, Puccini: Madama Butterfly
María José Siri (Butterfly), Bryan Hymel (Pinkerton), Carlos Álvarez (Sharpless), Annalisa Stroppa (Suzuki)
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Riccardo Chailly
There are undoubtedly passages of juvenile stylistic autopilot here that Puccini was right to cut…But it’s genuinely fascinating to hear what the first-night audience would have heard…The superb... — More…
Awards:
Strauss, R: Der Rosenkavalier
Recommended
Renée Fleming (Marschallin), Elīna Garanča (Octavian), Günther Groissböck (Baron Ochs), Erin Morley (Sophie), Markus Brück (Herr von Faninal), Matthew Polenzani (An Italian singer)
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus, Sebastian Weigle
Carsen reminds us that this is Vienna waltzing on the edge of a volcano…There’s no denying the care with which [Fleming] sings the role, even if she never quite manages to act from within…[Garanča]... — More…
Awards:
Puccini: Turandot
Nina Stemme (Turandot), Aleksandrs Antonenko (Calaf), Maria Agresta (Liù), Alexander Tsymbaluk (Timur), Angelo Veccia (Ping), Roberto Covatta (Pang), Blagoj Nacoski (Pong), Carlo Bosi (Altoum), Gianluca Breda (Mandarino)
Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Riccardo Chailly
it is a measure of Lehnhoff's authority that you never question his choices...Chailly digs deep into Puccini's score...And the La Scala orchestra plays as if their life depended on it...Stemme... — More…
Awards:
Lehár: The Merry Widow
sung in English
Renée Fleming (Hanna Glawari), Nathan Gunn (Danilo), Kelli O’Hara (Valencienne)
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus & Ballet, Sir Andrew Davis
Davis keeps Lehar's effervescent score bubbling along and this would be the perfect, light-hearted operatic fare to see in the New Year...There's a great sense of fun running through the entire... — More…
Dvorak: Rusalka, Op. 114
Renée Fleming (Rusalka), Piotr Beczala (Prince), Dolora Zajick (Jezibaba), John Relyea (Water Goblin), Emily Magee (Foreign Princess)
Orchestra, Ballet & Chorus of The Metropolitan Opera, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
For sumptuously costumed, traditionally picturesque opera productions, you don't need to look much further...This is favourite Fleming role and it is beautifully sung very beautifully, her creamy... — More…
Verdi: Giovanna d'Arco
Anna Netrebko (Giovanna), Francesco Meli (Carlo VII), Carlos Álvarez (Giacomo), Michele Mauro (Delil) & Dmitry Beloselskiy (Talbot)
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Riccardo Chailly
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s production was the 2015-16 season-opener at La Scala…It’s as camp as a row of tents, but visually striking all the same…Netrebko is in magnificent voice, especially... — More…
Rossini: Guillaume Tell
Recommended
Nicola Alaima (Tell), Marina Rebeka (Mathilde), Juan Diego Flórez (Arnaud), Amanda Forsythe (Jemmy), Veronia Sieoni (Hedwige), Simon Orfila (Walter Furst), Luca Tittoto (Gesler), Alessandro Luciano (Rodolphe)
Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Michele Mariotti
Flórez, the finest stage Arnold of modern times, [is] here at the very peak of his powers...Vick is at his best directing one-to-one encounters...Alaimo's burly Tell looks every inch Rossini's... — More…
Awards:
Bizet: Carmen
Recommended
Anna Caterina Antonacci (Carmen), Jonas Kaufmann (Don Jose), Norah Amsellem (Micaela), Ildebrando D'Arcangelo (Escamillo), Jacques Imbrailo (Morales), Matthew Rose (Zuniga), Elena Xanthoudakis (Frasquita), Viktoria Vizin (Mercedes), Caroline Lena Olsson (Lillas Pastia), Jean Sebastien Bou (Le Dancaire),...
Pappano in the pit takes the whole thing at a tremendous lick while coaxing some lovely playing from the Royal Opera House Orchestra. For all that, this is opera as spectacle with good tunes... — More…
Awards:
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64
Carlos Acosta (Romeo) & Tamara Rojo (Juliet), José Martín (Mercutio) & Thiago Soares (Tybalt)
Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Boris Gruzin