DVD Video, Metropolitan Opera (opera company)
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Wagner: Parsifal
RecommendedJonas Kaufmann (Parsifal), Katarina Dalayman (Kundry), Peter Mattei (Amfortas), René Pape (Gurnemanz), Evgeny Nikitin (Klingsor), Rúni Brattaberg (Titurel), Maria Zifchak (Stimme)
Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet of the Metropolitan Opera, Daniele Gatti, Francois Girard (dir.)
Kaufmann is the Parsifal we've all been waiting for...Matching his agonies are those of Peter Mattei's Amfortas and Katarina Dalayman's lustrous, secure Kundry, while the relaxed, minimal gestures... — More…
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 17th February 2015
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Gramophone Awards, 2015, Finalist - Opera
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Presto Favourites, Recommended Recording
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2014
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Diapason d’Or de l’Année, 2014, Winner - Opéra
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Puccini: La Bohème
RecommendedAngela Gheorghiu (Mimi), Ramón Vargas (Rodolfo), Ludovic Tézier (Marcello), Ainhoa Arteta (Musetta), Oren Gradus (Colline), Quinn Kelsey (Schaunard), Paul Plishka (Benoit/Alcindoro), Meredith Derr (Parpignol), Robert Maher (Sergente dei doganieri), Richard Pearson (Un doganiere)
The Metropolitan...
…the spectacular Zeffirelli staging, now rather showing its age. It still makes a good frame… for Ramón Vargas's engaging Rodolfo, sung with ardour, and Gheorghiu's fine-toned but rather grand... — More…
Awards:
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Puccini: La Rondine
RecommendedAngela Gheorghiu (Magda), Roberto Alagna (Ruggero), Lisette Oropesa (Lisette), Samuel Ramey (Ramblado), Marius Brenciu (Prunier)
Orchestra & Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Marco Armiliato
Armiliato's conducting...captures the right warmth, and the former Dream Team still look superb...The lyrical young Ruggero still suits Alagna...Ramey's now leathery tone embodies Ramblado's... — More…
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 6th September 2010
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Special offer. Donizetti: Maria Stuarda
RecommendedJoyce DiDonato (Maria Stuarda), Elza van den Heever (Elisabetta), Matthew Rose (Talbot), Joshua Hopkins (Cecil), Matthew Polenzani (Leicester), Maria Zifchak (Anna Kennedy)
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Maurizio Benini
handsomely designed...well acted and strongly sung. Elza van der Heever delivers a statuesque Elizabeth, if with tomboyish tendencies...DiDonato offers a physically plain, emotionally determined... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, August 2014, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2014
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Presto Favourites, Recommended Recording
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Special offer. Bellini: Norma
Live at the Metropolitan Opera, 2017
Sondra Radvanovsky (Norma), Joyce DiDonato (Adalgisa), Joseph Calleja (Pollione), Matthew Rose (Oroveso), Michelle Bradley (Clotilde), Adam Diegel (Flavio)
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Carlo Rizzi, Sir David McVicar
Radvanovsky is the international Norma of choice at the moment and she sings ‘big’, lacking perhaps the legato that Bellini’s long-limbed melodies demand,. But Joyce DiDonato, making her debut... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2019, DVD/Blu-ray of the Month
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Diapason d’Or, January 2019, Vidéo
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Special offer. Rossini: Le Comte Ory
RecommendedJuan Diego Flórez (Comte Ory), Diana Damrau (Comtesse Adèle), Joyce DiDonato (Isolier), Susanne Resmark (Ragonde), Michele Pertusi (Tutor), Stéphane Degout (Raimbaud)
Orchestra and Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera, Maurizio Benini
Sher's production is wise, witty and completely faithful to the spirit of the piece...Damrau is peerless, giving a bravura comic performance made from winks and nudges, heavy theatrical sighing... — More…
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 9th April 2012
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Bizet: Les Pêcheurs de Perles
RecommendedDiana Damrau (Leïla), Matthew Polenzani (Nadir), Mariusz Kwiecien (Zurga), Nicolas Teste (Nourabad
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Gianandrea Noseda, Penny Woolcock (dir.)
Woolcock finds a double drama in Bizet's opera..., Noseda drawing sumptuous playing from the Met Orchestra...The Met fields a magnificent cast. Matthew Polenzani is a puppyish Nadir...whil Mariusz... — More…
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 13th January 2017
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2017
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Grammy Awards, 60th Awards (2017), Nominee - Opera Recording
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Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
James Morris (Hans Sachs), Ben Heppner (Walther von Stolzing), Karita Mattila (Eva), Thomas Allen (Beckmesser), Jill Grove (Magdalena), Matthew Polenzani (David), René Pape (Pogner), John Relyea (Nachtwächter)
Metropolitan Opera & Chorus, James Levine
Thank goodness for no quirky ideas...The singers are all outstanding, led by James Morris's warmly genial Sachs...and by Ben Heppner, who is an equally convincing Walther...Mattila not only... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2005, DVD of the Month
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Special offer. Rossini: La donna del lago
Joyce DiDonato (Elena), Juan Diego Florez (Giacomo V), John Osborn (Roderigo), Daniela Barcellona (Malcolm), Oren Gradus (Douglas)
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Michele Mariotti, Paul Curran (dir.)
Florez is his usual exuberant self, throwing off top notes casually and deserving his Niagaras of applause...DiDonato as the much sought-after heroine is, as always, in tremendous form, not... — More…
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, January 2016, Opera Choice
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Opera, March 2016, Recording of the Month
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Verdi: Otello
RecommendedPlácido Domingo (Otello), Renée Fleming (Desdemona), James Morris (Iago), Richard Croft (Cassio), Charles Anthony (Rodrigo), Alexander Anisimov (Lodovico), Jane Bunnell (Emilia), Christopher Schaldenbrand (Un Araldo), Ted Lambrinos (Monatano)
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, James...
It is good to have so telling a reminder on DVD of Placido Domingo's masterly assumption of the role of Otello...[Fleming was] then at her freshest and purest, yet also with power, looking and... — More…
Awards:
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Presto Favourites, Recommended Recording
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