Arthaus Musik
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Wagner: Siegfried
Lance Ryan (Siegfried), Peter Bronder (Mime), Terje Stensvold (Der Wanderer), Johannes Martin Kränzle (Alberich), Anna Larsson (Erda) & Nina Stemme (Brünnhilde)
Teatro alla Scala, Daniel Barenboim (conductor) & Guy Cassiers (stage director)
Stensvold (Wanderer) sings with perfectly centred tone, terrific staying power and command of broad legato phrases...Surprisingly, though, it's Alberich here who possesses the more beautiful... —
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Martha Argerich & Friends
Nelson Freire (piano), Martha Argerich (piano) & Nicolas Economou (piano), Martha Argerich (piano) & Nelson Freire (piano), Martha Argerich (piano) & Mischa Maisky (cello)
Virtuoso performances of electrifying pizazz, above all in the Rachmaninov. A highlight is Argerich-Freire's Ravel La valse, ending in cathartic oblivion. —
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Mariss Jansons conducts Mahler Symphony No. 2
Anja Harteros (soprano) & Bernarda Fink (alto)
Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra), Mariss Jansons
I hadn't taken on board quite how expressive a master Jansons can be: the face and above all the eyes change in an instant through absorption in the Resurrection's drama...These are superlative... —
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Janáček: The Cunning Little Vixen
Thomas Allen (The Forester), Eva Jenis (The Vixen), Hannah Minutillo (The Fox), Libuše Márová (The Forester’s Wife/The Owl) & Ivan Kusnjer (Harašta, the Poacher)
Orchestre de Paris & Choeur du Chatelet, Charles Mackerras (conductor) & Nicholas Hytner (stage director)
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Beethoven: Fidelio, Op. 72
Jonas Kaufmann (Florestan), Camilla Nylund (Leonore), Alfred Muff (Don Pizarro) & László Polgár (Rocco)
Orchestra and Chorus of The Zurich Opera House, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Jonas Kaufmann and Camilla Nylund fearlessly [pack] every phrase with compellingly truthful shades of meaning. Harnoncourt's Beethoven is famously raw and earthy: strong on struggle and on the... —
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Verdi: Un ballo in maschera
Plácido Domingo (Gustavo III), Leo Nucci (Count Anckarström), Josephine Barstow (Amelia) & Florence Quivar (Madame Arvidson)
Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor & Wiener Philharmoniker, Georg Solti (conductor) & John Schlesinger (director)
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Kuda, kuda: Famous Russian Arias & Scenes
Galina Gorchakova (soprano), Anna Netrebko (soprano), Larissa Diadkova (mezzo), Konstantin Pluzhnikov (tenor), Vladimir Ognovenko (bass), Nikolai Okhotnikov (bass), Alexander Gergalov (baritone), Orla Boylan (soprano), Vladimir Glushchak (baritone), Yuri Marusin (tenor), Michael König (tenor)
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William Walton London Concert
Live from the Royal Festival Hall, London, 1982
Thomas Allen (baritone), Kyung-Wha Chung (violin)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia Chorus, Andre Previn
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Handel: Admeto, Re di Tessaglia HWV22
Matthias Rexroth (Admeto), Romelia Lichtenstein (Alceste), Mechthild Bach (Antigona), Tim Mead (Trasimede), Raimund Nolte (Ercole), Melanine Hirsch (Orindo), Gerd Vogel (Meraspe)
Handel Festival Orchestra Halle (on Historical Instruments), Howard Arman (conductor) & Axel Köhler (director)
