Opus Arte
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Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream - incidental music, Op. 61
Patricia Barker, Paul Gibson, Seth Belliston, Lisa Apple, Julie Tobiason, Ross Yearsley, Jeffrey Stanton & Timothy Lynch
Pacific Northwest Ballet & BBC Concert Orchestra, Stewart Kershaw
Pacific Northwest Ballet’s presentation of Balanchine’s Midsummer Night’s Dream [blew my mind] this evening. … Wonderful Balanchine choreography, excellent dancing and a terrific production. —
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Special offer. Verdi: Il Trovatore
José Cura (Manrico), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Il Conte di Luna), Yvonne Naef (Azucena), Verónica Villarroel (Leonora), Tomas Tomasson (Ferrando), Gweneth-Ann Jeffers (Ines), Edgaras Montvidas (Ruiz), Thomas Barnard (Old Gypsy)
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Conducted by Carlo Rizzi & Directed...
Elijah Moshinsky’s production is surely as lively and moving as Verdi’s intricate masterpiece deserves. Jose Cura sizzles. Dimitri Hvorostovsky is everything one could want to see and hear in... —
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Liszt: Mayerling
Irek Mukhamedov, Viviana Durante, Darcey Bussell & Lesley Collier
The Royal Ballet & The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Barry Wordsworth
Kenneth MacMillan's choreography for this haunting tale is transcendent … stunning set and costume designs … John Lanchbery's truly remarkable score … The Royal Ballet is unbeatably good —
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Special offer. Verdi: Otello
Plácido Domingo (Otello), Kiri Te Kanawa (Desdemona), Sergei Leiferkus (Iago), Robin Leggate (Cassio), Ramon Remedios (Rodrigo), Mark Beesley (Lodovico), Roderick Earle (Montano), Claire Powell (Emilia)
The Royal Opera & The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Georg Solti
Sergei Leiferkus's dark Russian tone… suits Iago down to the ground. Kiri Te Kanawa's limpid tone makes her a near-ideal Desdemona… Plácido Domingo… is noble and heroic. —
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Special offer. Bellini: Norma
Hasmik Papian, Hugh Smith, Irini Tsirakidis, Giorgio Giuseppini, Anna Steiger & Carlo Bosi
Netherlands Chamber Orchestra & Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera, Julian Reynolds
Any production of Norma stands or falls on the performance of the title-role. In this attractive but ultimately bizarre and cold staging, Hasmik Papian proves herself equal to the part's demands.... —
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Special offer. Bizet: Carmen
Benazir Hussain, Daryl Brandwood, Errol Pickford & Melissa Aurisch
West Australian Ballet & West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Nicolette Fraillon
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Special offer. Wagner: Das Rheingold
John Bröcheler (Wotan), Henk Smit (Alberich), Reinhild Runkel (Fricka), Chris Merritt (Loge), Peter Mikulás (Fasolt), Carsten Harboe Stabell (Fafner), Graham Clark (Mime), Jürgen Freierin (Donner), Albert Bonnema (Froh), Anne Gjevang (Erda), Carola Höhn (Freia), Gabriele Fontana (Woglinde), Hanna...
The drama is played straight, the mythical elements respected, with towering giants, sinister Nibelungen, and suitable god-like gods… musically this is equally promising. Haenchen's studied... —
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Special offer. Tan Dun: Marco Polo
Charles Workman (Polo), Sarah Castle (Marco), Stephen Richardson (Kublai Khan), Nancy Allen Lundy (Water), Zhang Jun (Shadow 1/Rustichello/Li Po), Tania Kross (Shadow 2/Sheherazada/Mahler/Queen), Stephen Bryant (Shadow 3/Dante/Shakespeare) & Mu Na (Chinese/Arabian dancer)
Netherlands Chamber...
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Special offer. Torroba: Luisa Fernanda
Plácido Domingo (Vidal Hernando), Nancy Herrera (Luisa Fernanda), José Bros (Javier Moreno), Mariola Cantarero (Duchess Carolina), Raquel Pierotti (Mariana)
Chorus & Orchestra of the Teatro Real (Madrid Symphony Orchestra & Chorus), Jesús López Cobos (conductor) & Emilio Sagi (stage...
…Emilio Sagi's elegant, minimal and warm-hearted staging gives it a full-scale operatic stylishness that is captured vividly for disc… Torroba's score pours enticing melody over traditional... —
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Great Opera Arias
A Gala Concert From The Royal Opera House
Plácido Domingo, Roberto Alagna & Angela Gheorghiu
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Asher Fisch
