C Major
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Verdi: Aida
Kristin Lewis (Aida), Fabio Sartori (Radames), Anita Rachvelishvili (Amneris), George Gagnidze (Amonasro), Matti Salminen (Ramfis), Carlo Colombara (Il Re), Azer Rza-Zada (Messagero), Chiara Isotton (La gran Sacerdotessa)
La Scala, Zubin Mehta
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Strauss, R: Elektra
Ingela Brimberg (Elektra), Susanna Levonen (Chrysothemis), Ingrid Tobiasson (Klytaemnestra), Thomas Lander (Orestes), Magnus Kyhle (Aegisthus)
Norrlands Operan's Symphony Orchestra, Rumon Gamba
This is more than the souvenir of a showy occasion…and its sheer hallucinatory power holds the watcher —
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Strauss, R: Elektra
Ingela Brimberg (Elektra), Susanna Levonen (Chrysothemis), Ingrid Tobiasson (Klytaemnestra), Thomas Lander (Orestes), Magnus Kyhle (Aegisthus)
Norrlands Operan's Symphony Orchestra, Rumon Gamba
This is more than the souvenir of a showy occasion…and its sheer hallucinatory power holds the watcher —
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Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Recorded live at Bregenz Festival
Daniel Johansson (Hoffmann), Kerstin Avemo (Olympia, Giulietta), Mandy Fredrich (Antonia), Rachel Frenkel (Muse, Niklausse, Die Stimme der Mutter), Michael Volle (Lindorf, Coppélius, Dr. Miracle, Dapertutto)
Wiener Symphoniker, Johannes Debus, Stefan Herheim
Johansson’s big-voice Hoffmann lacks a genuine pianissimo but phrases elegantly…Fredrich and Frenkel are nicely stylish…playing and choral singing are both excellent —
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Puccini: Turandot
Maria Guleghina (Turandot), Marco Berti (Calaf), Alexia Voulgaridou (Liù), Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Timur), Javier Agulló (Altoum), Fabio Previati (Ping), Vincenç Esteve (Pang), Roger Padullés (Pong), Ventseslav Anastasov (Un mandarino)
Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, Zubin Mehta
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Puccini: La Bohème
Daniela Dessì (Mimì), Fabio Armiliato (Rodolfo), Alessandro Luongo (Marcello), Alida Berti (Musetta), Federico Longhi (Schaunard), Marco Spotti (Colline), Angelo Nardinocchi (Benoit/Alcindoro), Ugo Tarquini (Parpignol), Marco Simonelli (Sergente dei doganieri), Jacopo Bianchini (Un doganiere)
Orchestra...
Traditionally staged, this captivating performance does justice to Puccini’s masterpiece —
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Bellini: Norma
Sondra Radvanovsky (Norma), Gregory Kunde (Pollione), Ekaterina Gubanova (Adalgisa), Raymond Aceto (Oroveso), Ana Puche (Clotilde) & Francisco Vas (Flavio)
Symphony Orchestra & Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Renato Palumbo (conductor) & Kevin Newbury (stage director)
[Radvanovsky’s] ‘Casta diva’ is dispatched with juicy flair, but it’s in the preceding lines tht the soprano really shows her mettle. Here Radvanovsky astutely establishes Norma’s divided loyalties... —
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Schubert: Fierrabras D 796
Michael Schade (Fierrabras), Julia Kleiter (Emma), Benjamin Bernheim (Eginhard), Dorothea Röschmann (Florinda), Markus Werba (Roland), Georg Zeppenfeld (Charlemagne), Marie-Claude Chappuis (Maragond), Manuel Walser (Brutamonte)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Ingo Metzmacher
...the Vienna Philharmonic supplying focused playing under Ingo Metzmacher, and several worthwhile principal performances, especially from Georg Zeppenfeld’s firm Karl, Michael Schade’s engaged... —
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Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera
Piotr Beczala (Riccardo), Keri Alkema (Amelia), Carlos Álvarez (Renato), Dolora Zajick (Ulrica), Katerina Tretyakova (Oscar)
Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Gran Teatre Del Liceu, Vincent Boussard, Renato Palumbo
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Wagner: Tannhäuser
Peter Seiffert (Tannhäuser), Petra Maria Schnitzer (Elisabeth), Béatrice Uria-Monzon (Venus), Günther Groissböck (Hermann), Markus Eiche (Wolfram)
Orquestra Simfònica del Gran Teatre del Liceu & Cor del Gran Teatre del Liceu, Sebastian Weigle
Peter Seiffert sings powerfully and expressively as Tannhauser, and Petra Maria a bit too powerfully as Elisabeth. The orchestra, under Sebastian Weigle, gives a strong account of the score —
