FEATURED - DVD

PIETRO MASCAGNI - IRIS
Livorno 2017

Iris - Paoletta Marrocu
Osaka - Paolo Antognetti
Kyoto - Carmine Monaco d'Ambrosia
Il Cieco - Manrico Signorini
Dhia / Una guécha - Alessandra Rossi
Cenciaiolo - Didier Pieri

Orchestra Filarmonica Pucciniana, Coro Ars Lyrica
Daniele Agiman

Nuovo allestimento in coproduzione con Nikikai Opera Osaka, Teatro Goldoni di Livorno, Teatro del Giglio di Lucca e Teatro Verdi di Pisa.

Colore, stereo, 140 minuti - sottotitoli/subtitles: Italian, English/Inglese

FRANCO ALFANO - LA LEGGENDA DI SAKÙNTALA
Catania 2016

Sakùntala - Silvia della Benetta
Priyàmvada - Kamelia Kader
Anùsuya - Nelya Kravchenko
Il Re - Enrique Ferrer
Kanva - Francesco Palmieri
Lo scudiero Paolo La Delfa
Haríta / Durvàsas Alessandro Vargetto 
Il giovane eremita - Salvatore d'Agata

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania
Niksa Bareza 

Colore, 113 minuti, sottotitoli/Subtitles: Italian, English/Inglese

To understand La leggenda di Sakuntala means remembering that it is more of a mysterium than an ordinary opera, which is why, after seeing a performance in Bologna, Fritz Reiner pronounced it “the Italian Parsifal”. Of course, the religious atmosphere pervading Sakuntala is pagan – which is hardly surprising, given its setting – and its subject is not redemption but the power of love. Alfano used the poem by Kalidasa (5th century BC), also admired by Goethe and Wagner. Those musicologists who claim it is only of modest quality cannot even begin to appreciate the genius it required to combine conciseness with first-rate words and music in a score for orchestra and choir that is a model of its kind. The most impressive aspect of this masterpiece is the way it employs motifs and themes with the same profundity and refinement found in Wagner's own approach and in its development by Strauss. The melodies which the characters sing are almost always slow, somewhere between the ecstatic and the dreamlike, while the atmosphere varies from the solemnly oriental to the ethereal. This release is the first official recording of the work.

GAETANO DONIZETTI - Il Furioso All'isola Di San Domingo

Simone Alberghini, Cinzia Forte, Francesco Marsiglia, Filippo Morace, Leonardo Galeazzi, Giovanni Di Stefano

Francesco Esposito

PUCCINI - Manon Lescaut • Campori

Torino 1985

Manon Lescaut - Maria Chiara
Lescaut - Angelo Romero
Renato des Grieux - Nicola Martinucci
Geronte di Ravoir - Alfredo Mariotti
Edmondo - Mario Ferrara

Teatro Regio di Torino
Angelo Campori

Subtitles/sottotitoli English/inglese, Italian, French/francese, Spanish/spagnolo, Japanese/giapponese

Stereo, 108 minuti 

OTELLO
Venezia 1966

Otello - Mario Del Monaco
Desdemona - Rita Orlandi Malaspina
Iago - Tito Gobbi
Cassio - Ermanno Lorenzi
Rodrigo - Augusto Pedroni
Lodovico - Alessandro Maddalena
Montano - Giovanni Antonini
Emilia - Anna Di Stasio
Un Araldo - Giorgio Santi

Orchestra e coro del Teatro la Fenice
Nino Sanzogno

BONUS: Documentario / masterclass

Versione restaurata a cura dell'Associazione Musicale Tito Gobbi. Al DVD dell’opera è abbinato come bonus il documentario girato dalla televisione francese nel 1980 a casa di Gobbi: La Leçon de musique. Il DVD restaurato è stato richiesto dalla RAI per proiettarlo nei cinema in una serie Opera Vintage.

LA BOHÈME 
1965 movie (Zeffirelli) 

Rodolfo - Gianni Raimondi
Schaunard - Gianni Maffeo
Marcello - Rolando Panerai
Colline - Ivo Vinco
Mimi - Mirella Freni
Musetta - Adriane (Adriana) Martino
Benoit - Carlo Badioli
Alcindoro - Carlo Badioli
Parpignol - Franco Ricciardi

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala
Herbert von Karajan

103 minuti, colori. Sottotitoli/subtitles: italiano, inglese/English, tedesco/German, francese/French, spagnolo/Spanish, cinese/Chinese

VERDI - Attila • Muti 

Teatro alla Scala 1991

Attila - Samuel Ramey
Ezio - Giorgio Zancanaro
Odabella - Cheryl Studer
Foresto - Kaludi Kaludov
Uldino - Ernesto Gavazzi
Leone - Mario Luperi

Coro ed Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala

Riccardo Muti 

Colore, 118 minuti, sottotitoli/subtitles: Inglese/English

The Penguin Guide of Recorded Classical Music: 
"The relative brevity of the piece...makes a strong impact on DVD, in a production with traditional costumes and using minimal but atmospheric sets. [Ramey and Zancanaro] are ideally cast, with Cheryl Studer also outstanding as Odabella."

La Scena Musicale:
"If Attila is an example of lesser Verdi, somebody forgot to tell Riccardo Muti. He directs a superlative musical performance aided by a superb cast: Ramey as a swaggering devil-incarnate, Zancanaro in the role of an aggrieved Roman general, and a sword-wielding, revenge-minded Odabella from Cheryl Studer. This Attila is clearly the best production of the works under consideration here."

International Record Review: 
"Samuel Ramey made a speciality of the title role and he is inspired to give of his best, baring his vocal and chest muscles with much charisma. Cheryl Studer as Odabella offers vocal virtuosity to challenge Attila. Giorgio Zancanaro is a staunch…Ezio."

Gramophone: 
"Spectacular and pacy, it fills the stage with barbarians, gives them good tunes to sing and places them in a busy world where every moment may bring a reversal of fortune. Moreover, the four leading characters are fired with passionate determination which in turn fires their magnificent voices. There is sure to be something to write home about after a good Attila. This is a La Scala performance fully worthy of the great house and its best traditions. The singers match up to the challenge wonderfully well."

BELLINI - I Puritani • Basile

Teatro Verdi, Trieste 1966

Lord Gualtiero Valton - Silvio Maionica
Elvira - Gianna d'Angelo
Sir Giorgio - Agostino Ferrin
Lord Arturo Talbo - Luciano Saldari
Sir Riccardo Forth - Dino Dondi
Sir Bruno Roberton - Giuseppe Botta
Enrichetta di Francia - Maja Zingerle

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Verdi di Trieste
Arturo Basile
+ BONUS: Rarità Belliniane - Danilo Formaggia, tenore/Vincenzo Scalera, pianoforte

Bianco e nero/Black & white, 140 minuti; sottotitoli/subtitles: Italian, French/Francese, English/Inglese, Japanese/Giapponese

VERDI - La Forza Del Destino • Molinari-Pradelli

Teatro di San Carlo, Napoli 1958

Leonora- Renata Tebaldi
Don Alvaro - Franco Corelli
Don Carlo - Ettore Bastianini
Padre Guardiano - Boris Christoff
Preziosilla - Oralia Dominguez
Fra Melitone - Renato Capecchi

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro di San Carlo
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli

Bianco e nero/black & white, 160 minuti
Sottotitoli/subtitles: Inglese/English, Francese/French

VERDI - Rigoletto • Kraus

Parma 1987

Rigoletto - Leo Nucci
Duca di Mantova - Alfredo Kraus
Gilda - Luciana Serra
Sparafucile - Michele Pertusi
Maddalena - Ambra Vespasiani
Monterone - Angelo Nosotti

Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia Romagna "Arturo Toscanini", Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma
Angelo Campori

Colore, 136 minuti, sottotitoli/subtitles: inglese/English

VERDI - DON CARLO

Don Carlo - Jaime Aragall
Filippo II - Simon Estes
Rodrigo - Renato Bruson
Il Grande Inquisitore - Luigi Roni
Un Frate - Olim Sadoullalev
Elisabetta di Valois - Montserrat Caballé
La principessa Eboli - Grace Bumbry
Tebaldo - Pierrette Delange
Il Conte di Lerma - Jean-Louis Elie
Un Araldo Reale - Guy Gabelle
Una voce dal cielo - Ewa Godlewska

Orchestre National de France, Choeurs de Radio-France

Thomas Fulton
Registrazione dal vivo, Orange 1984

Subtitles/sottotitoli: Italian, English/inglese, French/francese, Spanish/spagnolo, German/tedesco 
Color, Dolby Digital/PCM Stereo, 191 minuti

GOMES - LO SCHIAVO 

Cagliari 2019

Ilàra - Svetla Vassileva
La contessa di Boissy - Elisa Balbo
Américo - Massimiliano Pisapia
Iberè - Andrea Borghini
Gianfèra - Daniele Terenzi
Il conte Rodrigo/Goitacà - Dongho Kim
Guarûco - Marco Puggioni
Tapacoà - Michelangelo Romero
Tupinambà/Lion - Francesco Musinu
Orchestra and Chorus Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Lirico di Cagliari

John Neschling  

DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN - THE COPENHAGEN RING

GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG (Il Crepuscolo degli Dei)

Stig Fogh Andersen - Siegfried
Irene Théorin - Brünnhilde
Peter Klaveness - Hagen
Guido Paevatalu - Gunther
Sten Byriel - Alberich
Ylva Kihlberg - Gutrune
Anette Bod - Waltraute
Djina Mai-Mai - Woglinde
Elisabeth Meyer-Topsøe - Wellgunde
Ulla Kudsk Jensen - Flosshilde
Susanne Resmark - 1. Norn
Hanne Fischer - 2. Norn
Anne Margrethe Dahl - 3. Norn

Royal Danish Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Michael Schonwandt 

247 minutes, subtitles English, German, French, Spanish, Danish

 

"The singing in these live performances might not be first rate. The production and direction by Kasper Bech Holten, however, are outstanding. This "Ring" is among the most interesting, entertaining, thought-through, witty and beautiful productions we have seen. The singers convince through great acting and dramatic presence, and forces of the Copenhagen Opera are, as usual, excellent. We cannot recommend the Copenhagen Ring high enough. This is one of the best productions of the past decades."

DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN - THE COPENHAGEN RING

SIEGFRIED (SIGFRIDO) 

Stig Fogh Andersen - Siegfried
Irene Théorin - Brünnhilde
Bengt-Ola Morgny - Mime
James Johnson - Der Wanderer
Steen Byriel - Alberich 
Christian Christiansen - Fafner
Susanne Resmark - Erda
Gisela Stille - Waldvogel

Royal Danish Opera Orchestra

Michael Schonwandt 

240 minutes, subtitles English, German, French, Spanish, Danish

 

"The singing in these live performances might not be first rate. The production and direction by Kasper Bech Holten, however, are outstanding. This "Ring" is among the most interesting, entertaining, thought-through, witty and beautiful productions we have seen. The singers convince through great acting and dramatic presence, and forces of the Copenhagen Opera are, as usual, excellent. We cannot recommend the Copenhagen Ring high enough. This is one of the best productions of the past decades."

DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN - THE COPENHAGEN RING

DIE WALKÜRE (LA VALCHIRIA/WALKIRIA) 

Siegmund - Stig Andersen
Sieglinde - Gitta-Maria Sjöberg
Wotan - James Johnson
Brünnhilde - Iréne Theorin
Hunding - Stephen Milling
Fricka - Randi Stene
Helmwige - Emma Vetter
Gerhilde - Ylva Kihlberg
Ortlinde - Carolina Sandgren
Waltraude - Hanne Fischer
Siegrune - Anna Rydberg
Rossweisse - Elisabeth Jansson
Grimgerde - Elisabeth Halling
Schwertleite - Ulla Kudsk Jensen

Royal Danish Opera Orchestra

Michael Schonwandt 

229 minutes, subtitles English, German, French, Spanish, Danish

"The singing in these live performances might not be first rate. The production and direction by Kasper Bech Holten, however, are outstanding. This "Ring" is among the most interesting, entertaining, thought-through, witty and beautiful productions we have seen. The singers convince through great acting and dramatic presence, and forces of the Copenhagen Opera are, as usual, excellent. We cannot recommend the Copenhagen Ring high enough. This is one of the best productions of the past decades."

MENOTTI - THE CONSUL

John Sorel - Eberhard Wächter
Magda Sorel - Melitta Muszely
Mother - Res Fischer
Police Agent - Willy Ferenz
Vera Boronel - Hilde Konetzni
Magician - László Szemére
Secretary - Gloria Lane

Orchestra of The Wiener Volksoper
Franz Bauer-Theussl 

"Directed by Rudolph Cartier, it's shot in relentless close-ups that give neither the performers nor the viewers anywhere to hide. Melitta Muszely charts Magda's progress from desperation to hope to suicidal despair with uncompromising veracity. There are equally impressive performances from Eberhard Waechter as her husband and Gloria Lane as the consular secretary." (The Guardian)

"Gian Carlo Menotti was one of the most important 20th-century composers of opera working in the United States. For his opera The Consul he won the Pulitzer Prize for Music and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. This unique studio recording from the early years of television is performed by an extraordinary cast featuring Melitta Muszely, Eberhard Waechter, Res Fischer and Hilde Konetzni. The plot of the politically charged drama takes place in Europe of the 1950s. The Orchestra of the Wiener Volksoper is conducted by Franz Bauer-Theussl. An important document of operatic and film history, this restored recording is available on DVD for the first time." (Art Haus)

 

GIUSEPPE VERDI - Aida

"This 1973 Aida stars two of the most celebrated singers of their time, tenor Carlo Bergonzi and Fiorenza Cossotto, both in prime form here. In true Italian tradition, their voices are as affective in the lyrical passages calling for velvety beauty of tone as in the fiery dramatic sections of the opera. The title role is sung by Orianna Santunione, a dramatic soprano of remarkable power, evenness, and intensity.
The other principal singers in this performance are Giampiero Mastromei, a commanding Amonasro, and Ivo Vinco, an imposing and dignified Ramfis, The forces of the NHK Symphony Orchestra are under the direction of conductor Oliviero De Fabritiis, who backs up the singers with an emotionally charged account of the masterful score. The beautiful and lavish sets and costumes are by the renowned designer Pier Luigi Pizzi." (VAI)

From the archives of Japanese Television (NHK) comes this magnificent document of tenor Mario Del Monaco and soprano Renata Tebaldi in a live 1961 performance of Giordano's verismo classic. The supporting cast includes baritone Aldo Protti, and the performance is conducted by Franco Capuana. 

GIORDANO - ANDREA CHÉNIER

Tokyo 1961

Andrea Chénier - Mario Del Monaco
Carlo Gérard - Aldo Protti
Madeleine di Coigny - Renata Tebaldi
La mulatta Bersi - Anna Di Stasio
La Contessa di Coigny - Amalia Pini
Madelon - Amalia Pini
Roucher - Silvano Pagliuca

NHK Symphony Orchestra, NHK Italian Opera Chorus - Fujiwara Opera Chorus - Tokyo Choraliers

Franco Capuana

Optional subtitles in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Black & White, mono, 132 minutes.

Donizetti - La Fille Du Regiment (The Daughter Of The Regiment) Sung In English

Marie - Beverly Sills
Tonio - William McDonald
Sulplice - Spiro Malas
La Maquise - Muriel Costa-Greenspon
Hortensius - Stanley Wexler
Caporale - Raeder Anderson
La Duchesse - Evelyn Freyman

Wolf Trap Festival 

Charles Wendelken Wilson

118 minutes, color

***

"At the center, of course, is Miss Sills, in supremely confident form, vocally and histrionically... (Her) zest and vivacity prove infectious with the other performers and the entire audience." (New York Times)

"In a brief interview, Sills describes Daughter of the Regiment as “a silly little story, one long episode of Lucille Ball. I play [Marie] as Lucille Ball with high notes.” That may tell you what to expect here. Except for one or two unavoidably poignant moments, the opera is milked for laughs. The characters ham it up shamelessly the acting is often cartoonish–an effect emphasized by the flat, painted sets and the colorful costumes. Sourpuss that I am, I would prefer the comedy to be less broad; but maybe it didn’t seem so overdone in the theater. The characters’ heavy makeup and exaggerated facial expressions need also to be seen at a greater distance.

The performance is in English, a great advantage in the spoken dialog, but the level of clarity is remarkable even in the sung passages. The supporting players act well, especially Costa-Greenspon, who has the vocal strength to back up her more frenzied effusions. Malas made something of a specialty of Sulpice (he recorded it for Decca with Sutherland and Pavarotti and sang a couple of performances at the Met), and he moves comfortably on stage. McDonald is a stiffer actor, though amiable enough. His voice is bright and keenly focussed, with the timbre we associate with the typical Irish tenor. He sings his high Cs without breaking a sweat, articulating the words cleanly even in the stratosphere. He lacks something in tonal variety and strength, sounding too feeble in the final scene when the regiment rushes in to rescue Mane.

The heroine herself is sometimes fluttery and pallid, but the trills are wonderful, the coloratura is dazzling, the high notes are in place, and the acting is enthusiastic. I can imagine better orchestral playing and more dynamic conducting, but you won’t notice all that much: it’s the singers’ show, and everyone is having a great time.

The sound is not perfect. The voices are recorded at too low a level; when you boost the volume to bring them closer, the thumping stage noises become deafening. No subtitles–you probably won’t miss them." (Ralph V. Lucano, American Record Guide)

GOUNOD - FAUST 

Teatro Regio di Parma, 1987

Faust - Alfredo Kraus
Marguerite - Anna Maria Gonzales
Mefistofele - Nicola Ghiuselev
Valentino - Roberto Coviello
Wagner - Tito Tortura
Siebel - Ambra Vespasiani
Marta - Wilma Colla

Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia Romagna "Arturo Toscanini", Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma

Alain Guingal

Registrazione del febbraio 1987

Audio PCM Mono, Dolby Digital - Sottotitoli: Italiano, inglese, francese

1 DVD NTSC  180'

VINCENZO BELLINI
LA STRANIERA

Alaide - Francesca Tiburzi
Arturo - Emanuele D'Aguanno
Il barone di Valdeburgo - Enrico Marrucci
Isoletta - Sonia Fortunato
Osburgo - Riccardo Palazzo
Il signore di Montolino - Alessandro Vargetto
Il Priore - Maurizio Muscolino

Orchestra E Coro Del Teatro Massimo Bellini Di Catania
Massimiliano Rolli

Registrazione dal vivo, Catania 2017
145 minuti, colori // subtitles: IT, EN