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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | L’alba separa dalla luce l’ombraDawn divides the light from the shadows
Anna Caterina Antonacci’s enchanting recital entitled 'L’alba separa dalla luce l’ombra' delves into a colourful landscape of French and Italian art song. She explores the rich tonal and emotional contrasts of works spanning almost three centuries, with deeply engaging interpretations throughout. Antonacci is famed for her profound and vivid appearances both on the opera stage [most recently in Covent Garden's The Trojans] and recital platform, and this recording manages to capture her spellbinding, dramatic performance and her ability to give clear voice to the varied, ever-shifting psychological states portrayed through this emotional programme, recorded live on 5th December, 2011. “Even without her magnetic stage presence, Antonacci presents a vivid 'face' in all she sings here...Antonacci's tone - fierily intense rather than especially rich - can sound a touch strained at climaxes. But she responds with quicksilver intelligence and empathy to the shifting emotional states of these yearning and/or disenchanted lovers...so gripping is Antonacci in everything she sings that it seems churlish to carp.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2012 “If one wants to be pernickety one could possibly say that Antonacci’s vibrato is sometimes over-generous and that she occasionally sounds slightly worn. Under some circumstances this could be quite serious criticism but with so expressive and life-enhancing a singer it hardly matters. This is a delightful programme, delightfully executed and with delightful accompaniments. I wish I had been there!” MusicWeb International, December 2012 “Antonacci and her scrupulous accmpanist Donald Sulzen, provide alert and imaginative accounts of all their material...Antonacci brings individuality to everything she sings, her colouristic range reinforcing her careful definition of text.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2013 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Ladies sing Baroque
Bach, J S: | St Matthew Passion, BWV244: Erbarme dich Angela Kazimiercszuk (soprano) Mass in B minor, BWV232: Agnus Dei Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto) | Handel: | The soft complaining flute (A Song for St Cecilia's Day) Lucy Crowe (soprano) Fido specchio (from Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno) Deborah York (soprano) Se la bellezza perde vaghezza (from Il Trionfo del tempo e del disinganno) Sara Mingardo (contralto) Se vive in te (from Radamisto) Sandrine Piau (soprano), Sara Mingardo (contralto) Se pietà di me non senti (from Giulio Cesare) Sandrine Piau (soprano) To thee, thou glorious son of worth (from Theodora) Karina Gauvin (soprano), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (contralto) | Monteverdi: | 'Amor, dicea' from Lamento della Ninfa Rosana Bertini (soprano) | Pergolesi: | Stabat mater: Opening duet Gemma Bertagnolli (soprano), Sara Mingardo (contralto) | Porpora: | Alto Giove (from Polifemo) Veronica Cangemi (soprano) | Purcell: | Bid the virtues (from Come ye Sons of Art, Z323) Patricia Petibon (soprano) | Strozzi: | Lagrime mie Anna Caterina Antonacci (soprano) Miei pensieri Roberta Invernizzi (soprano) | Vivaldi: | In furore iustissimae irae, RV626: Allegro Sandrine Piau (soprano) Zeffiretti che sussurate (from Ercole sul Termodonte) Sandrine Piau (soprano), Ann Hallenberg (mezzo) Veni, sequere fida (from Juditha Triumphans, RV644) Magdalena Kozena (soprano) Se l’acquisto di quel Soglio (from La Verità in cimento) Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto) Nel profondo from Orlando Furioso Marie-Nicole Lemieux (contralto) Stabat Mater, RV621: largo Marie-Nicole Lemieux (contralto) Gemo in punto e fremo (from L'Olimpiade RV725) Sara Mingardo (contralto) Anderò, volerò, griderò (from Orlando finto pazzo) Sonia Prina (contralto) Gelosia, tu già rendi l’alma mia from Ottone in villa Julia Lezhneva (soprano) |
The baroque woman was confined to a strictly domestic role. She was either saintly (mother of Christ and the subject of religious allegory as in Handel’s Trionfo del tempo e del disinganno), a diva, a queen (Poppea, Cleopatra) or the inevitable victim in classical tragedies like Semiramis, Berenice, Rodelinda and Agrippina. 'Ladies sing Baroque' is shaped as a nod to those ladies who have enchanted jazz, but composed of music from two centuries earlier: hymns to emotion, the tunes that disturb for eternity! Monteverdi's invention of opera, Vivaldi's music for the Pieta, Pergolesi and Bach bring the drama and emotion found in temples and churches. Highlights include the final duet from 'L'Incorronazione di Poppea' and Bach's sublime 'Erbarme dich' whilst two Canadians with strong characters, Marie-Nicole Lemieux and Karina Gauvin, successfully evoke the legendary association of Marilyn Horne and Montserrat Caballé. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Recorded in 1986 (for Claude d`Anna's film of the opera) “Nucci's Macbeth is full of the right sense of fear, foreboding and nervous energy, and it is predominantly well sung...Ramey provides quite the best singing, a sturdy, imposing Banquo...The smaller roles are very well taken...[Chailly's] direction seems direct, unfussy and keen” Gramophone Magazine, June 1987 “For a time Shirley Verrett was the world's favourite Lady Macbeth. And Chailly reminds us why. Nucci is a sweet-toned villain, but it's Ramey as Banquo who carries off the prizes.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2012 ***** | | | (Sorry, download not available in your country) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Leo Nucci (Rigoletto), June Anderson (Gilda), Luciano Pavarotti (Il Duca di Mantova), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Sparafucile), Shirley Verrett (Maddalena), Vitalba Mosca (Giovanna), Natale de Carolis (Monterone), Roberto Scaltriti (Marullo), Piero De Palma (Borsa), Carlo De Bortoli (Conte di Ceprano), Anna Caterina Antonacci (Contessa di Ceprano), Marilena Laurenza (Un paggio) Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Riccardo Chailly “the vigour and extreme originality of the score is realized...the best reason for acquiring this set is for Pavarotti's delightfully airy and confident Duke of Mantua. Surpassing even his own breezy account for Bonynge, the tireless tenor adds little touches of character and nuances of tone to bring the Duke to life...Ghiaurov, in splendid voice, is a wily, subtle assassin” Gramophone Magazine, January 1990 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
In a very short time, Yannick Nézet-Séguin has become one of the most sought-after young conductors in the world, popular with orchestras and audiences alike. Recently named as Music Director Designate of the Philadelphia Orchestra, he succeeded Valery Gergiev as Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008. He is also Chief Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. For the first of four projected discs with BIS, Nézet-Séguin and his Rotterdam players have recorded Hector Berlioz’ masterpiece Symphonie fantastique, in a full-blooded and luxurious performance which at the same time respects the work’s classical proportions The work is here followed by the ‘lyrical scene’ Cléopâtre (often referred to as La Mort de Cléopâtre), composed shortly before as Berlioz’ entry in the competition for the prestigious Prix de Rome. Performing the part of Cleopatra is the electrifying soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci in one of her rare appearances on disc. "He [Yannick Nézet-Séguin] makes the Rotterdam Orchestra sound word-class.” The Times “This a strong, clean-cut performance of the Symphonie fantastique...blessed with lucid playing that mirrors the translucency of Berlioz’s scoring. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts with rhythmic punch and, in the Scène aux champs, has the measure of the rustic tranquillity...Antonacci sings with thrilling intensity.” The Telegraph, 25th February 2011 **** “You'll hear things here all too routinely buried by others. Anna Caterina Antonacci's vocal heft and dramatic instincts help unlock the anguish of Cléopâtre in the symphony's ideal companion piece....First-rate surround sound adds to this recording's lasting appeal.” Classic FM Magazine, May 2011 ***** “[an] expressive, operatic reading of the Fantastique...He's not afraid of violence, noise or audience-rousing codas - try the end of the first movement or the sweep of the ball...The fill-up is gorgeous enough to make purchase obligatory.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2011 “his Fantastique is wonderful...the best of it is almost mind-bending in its hallucinatory vividness – the last two movements have rarely sounded more weird – and the whole thing captures the sense of self-dramatising Romantic shamelessness that lurks behind it. Ultimately, then, a very fine performance.” The Guardian, 7th April 2011 **** “one hears that what Nézet-Séguin offers (aided by a superlatively airy, open, yet richly resonant recording) is the orchestral equivalent of a Peter Hall staging - with a focus entirely on the text itself, not its extra-musical 'narrative', and with no whipped-up histrionics, just apt tempos and pinpoint placing of each note and accent.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2011 *** | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Recorded live at the Théâtre Musical de Paris/ Châtelet, October 2003.
Susan Graham (Didon), Anna Caterina Antonacci (Cassandre), Renata Pokupic (Anna), Gregory Kunde (Énée), Ludovic Tézier (Chorèbe), Nicolas Testé (Panthée), Laurent Naouri (Narbal), Mark Padmore (Iopas), René Schirrer (Priam/Mercure), Topi Lehtipuu (Hylas) Monteverdi Choir, Choeur du Théâtre du Châtelet & Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Sir John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) & Yannis Kokkos (stage director) Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Monteverdi Choir, Choeur du Théâtre du Châtelet and Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique in a landmark recording of Berlioz's towering opera. A tragic tale of love and fate, war and peace and the intertwined destinies of two cities, the opera is based on Virgil's imperial vision of the founding myth of Rome. The American tenor Gregory Kunde as Aeneas and the Italian soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci lead an international cast in this stunning production. Bonus features: Cast gallery. Illustrated synopsis. Documentary: The Trojans, a masterpiece revived – includes interviews with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Yannis Kokkos, Susan Graham, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Gregory Kunde and others. “...a performance that is now the best available on DVD. …an unforgettably dramatic experience… a superb authentic instrument performance… The magnificent high-definition recording does it ample sonic and visual justice.” Gramophone Running time 5 hours Region code All regions Video codec: AVC/MPEG-4 Disc size: 2 x BD50 Picture format 1080i High Definition / 16:9 Sound format 2.0 PCM & 5.0 DTS-Master Audio Menu language EN Subtitles EN/FR/DE/ES/IT “Les Troyens hasn't fared well on DVD, but this superb authentic-instrument performance of October 2003 from the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, equals Sir Colin Davis's pioneering original. Orchestrally it's everything we've come to expect from Gardiner's Berlioz, his tempi swift and dynamic, sharing the composer's delight in complex rhythmic interplay, yet always propelling the drama. Passages like Andromache's entrance and Hector's ghost nevertheless have their proper gravitas and sombre hues against the brighter shades of Carthage. Colour is the great gift of the period instruments, revealing a wide range of sonorities, and creating a sense of freshness and discovery.
The effect is sometimes rawer, sometimes more classical, but almost always more complex and dramatic than the homogenised modern sound.
Gardiner's singers, too, could hardly be more committed. Anna Caterina Antonacci is a fiery Cassandra, superbly classical-looking, so wrung and tormented that some moments of strain scarcely matter. Gregory Kunde tackles Aeneas with ringing tone, looks and acts pretty well, and brings a welcome bel canto touch to the gorgeous duet. Susan Graham, though, needs no caveats: a radiant Dido, queenly yet youthful, lyrical and lighter-toned than Janet Baker, but in her final despair no less tragically moving. Other roles are generally excellent. The mostly youthful chorus sounds marvellous, and is a constant force in Yannis Kokkos's moderately modern production.
The stage is plain and bare, capped by a reflector in which most of the décor appears: an Italian Renaissance cityscape for Troy, and the Horse only as a menacing head. Carthage is a classical vision of white walls and blue sea with stylised ships. The Trojans wear the inescapable greatcoats the brutal Greeks, inevitably, American combat gear, and the Carthaginians vaguely North African whites and pastels. This is a mostly straightforward, lively staging which lets characters and drama speak for themselves, and so works well on screen. The magnificent high-definition recording does it ample sonic and visual justice.
For anyone who loves Les Troyens, this is a revelatory and essential performance.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Anna Caterina Antonacci (Carmen), Jonas Kaufmann (Don Jose), Norah Amsellem (Micaela), Ildebrando D'Arcangelo (Escamillo), Jacques Imbrailo (Morales), Matthew Rose (Zuniga), Elena Xanthoudakis (Frasquita), Viktoria Vizin (Mercedes), Caroline Lena Olsson (Lillas Pastia), Jean Sebastien Bou (Le Dancaire), Jean-Paul Fouchecourt (Le Remendado) Royal Opera House Chorus & Orchestra, Antonio Pappano (conductor) & Francesca Zambello (stage director) The New Production from The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden filmed in high definition. ‘Two dazzling stars’ The Telegraph ‘Physical and sexy’ London Evening Standard ‘Kaufmann and Antonacci are that rare breed: superb singers who can also act with subtlety and passion’ The Guardian With Anna Caterina Antonacci and Jonas Kaufmann bringing rare erotic intensity to the drama of Carmen and Don Jose, this new Royal Opera production is a darkly passionate reading of one of the world's favourite operas. Under the baton of Music Director Antonio Pappano, Bizet's irresistible score drives the tragedy forward - powering a landmark staging of a musical masterpiece. Menus: English . Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese. Booklet notes in English, French, German “traditionalists can relax with the Royal Opera's Raymond Gubbay-style, grand-opera Carmen. Antonio Pappano…steers the music with panachet… The production has a star in Jonas Kaufmann's José, a dangerous, lived-in interpretation of the part, sung and acted with a rare ability... Antonacci's Carmen works hard - she's stylish and genuinely sexy... Norah Amsellem's Micaëla is well vocalised and presented but never quite breaks through into a complete character.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2008 “Pappano in the pit takes the whole thing at a tremendous lick while coaxing some lovely playing from the Royal Opera House Orchestra. For all that, this is opera as spectacle with good tunes attached.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2008 *** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Anna Caterina Antonacci (Carmen), Jonas Kaufmann (Don Jose), Norah Amsellem (Micaela), Ildebrando D'Arcangelo (Escamillo), Jacques Imbrailo (Morales), Matthew Rose (Zuniga), Elena Xanthoudakis (Frasquita), Viktoria Vizin (Mercedes), Caroline Lena Olsson (Lillas Pastia), Jean Sebastien Bou (Le Dancaire), Jean-Paul Fouchecourt (Le Remendado) The Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Antonio Pappano (conductor) & Francesca Zambello (stage director) The New Production from The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Filmed in HD “Two dazzling stars” (Daily Telegraph) "Physical and sexy" (Evening Standard) Kaufmann and Antonacci are that rare breed: superb singers who can also act with subtlety and passion (The Guardian) With Anna Caterina Antonacci and Jonas Kaufmann bringing rare erotic intensity to the drama of Carmen and Don Jose, this new Royal Opera production is a darkly passionate reading of one of the world's favourite operas. Under the baton of Music Director Antonio Pappano, Bizet's irresistible score drives the tragedy forward - powering a landmark staging of a musical masterpiece. Jonas Kaufmann smoulders as Don Jose in this acclaimed production recorded at the Royal Opera House, London in 2007. “Pappano in the pit takes the whole thing at a tremendous lick while coaxing some lovely playing from the Royal Opera House Orchestra. For all that, this is opera as spectacle with good tunes attached.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2008 *** “…traditionalists can relax with the Royal Opera's Raymond Gubbay-style, grand-opera Carmen. Antonio Pappano…steers the music with panachet… The production has a star in Jonas Kaufmann's José, a dangerous, lived-in interpretation of the part, sung and acted with a rare ability... Antonacci's Carmen works hard - she's stylish and genuinely sexy... Norah Amsellem's Micaëla is well vocalised and presented but never quite breaks through into a complete character.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2008 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Leo Nucci (Rigoletto), June Anderson (Gilda), Luciano Pavarotti (Il Duca di Mantova), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Sparafucile), Shirley Verrett (Maddalena), Vitalba Mosca (Giovanna), Natale de Carolis (Monterone), Roberto Scaltriti (Marullo), Piero De Palma (Borsa), Carlo De Bortoli (Conte di Ceprano), Anna Caterina Antonacci (Contessa di Ceprano), Marilena Laurenza (Un paggio) Orchestra e coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Riccardo Chailly “the vigour and extreme originality of the score is realized...the best reason for acquiring this set is for Pavarotti's delightfully airy and confident Duke of Mantua. Surpassing even his own breezy account for Bonynge, the tireless tenor adds little touches of character and nuances of tone to bring the Duke to life...Ghiaurov, in splendid voice, is a wily, subtle assassin” Gramophone Magazine, January 1990 | | | (Sorry, download not available in your country) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Gramophone Awards 2005
