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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder, Siegfried-Idyll & Overtures
In June 2013 the Swedish Chamber Orchestra under the expert direction of Thomas Dausgaard are joined by one of today's foremost Wagner singers. Named 'Singer of the Year' by Opernwelt magazine in 2012, Nina Stemme has been the Isolde of choice at Glyndebourne, Bayreuth and Covent Garden. For this new release Nina performs the five Wesendonck-Lieder, of which two in particular, Im Treibhaus and Träume, were referred to by Wagner as 'studies' for Tristan and Isolde. Wagner himself prepared a version for violin and orchestra of Träume, and the ensemble includes this setting featuring principal violinist, Katarina Andreasson, as soloist. The Wesendonck-Lieder are framed by two versions of the overture to Der fliegende Holländer, the rarely heard 1841 original version and the composer's final creation from 1860, with its new ending inspired by Tristan, composed three years earlier. “[Stemme] brings heroic refulgence as well as sensibility to music that luxuriates in the chromatic agony and ecstasy of Tristan und Isolde.” Sunday Times, 26th May 2013 “Surprisingly, these performances don’t come across as anaemic, thanks to a very vivid, closely-miked recording...There’s no excess fat, but no absence of drive or drama either...Stemme’s rapt account of the Wesendonck-Lieder is among the best around.” The Arts Desk, 1st June 2013 | 
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Recorded live at the Lucerne Festival 2010 with the Festival Orchestra, this Fidelio is led by the legendary conductor Claudio Abbado − making this release a major operatic event. The central tenor role of Florestan is known as one of the most demanding and difficult in all opera. For his first complete opera recording for Decca, Jonas Kaufmann, “the world’s greatest currently performing tenor” (London’s Daily and Sunday Express), delivers everything the role demands: fearless tone, peerless style, and heart-stopping dramatic intensity. “Abbado’s command of the score and its structure is consummate, the atmosphere palpable through his perceptive application of orchestral colour. The detail he elicits from his hand-picked Lucerne Festival Orchestra is phenomenal, the blend of sonorities aglow, the clarity of texture refined with a masterly touch.” The Telegraph, 23rd June 2011 ***** “Abbado and his hand-picked Lucerne orchestra certainly do not disappoint here, as Beethoven’s epic score is delivered with drama and incandescence...Kaufmann’s thrilling Florestan emerges with a gut-wrenching cry from his dungeon. The set is worth sampling for him alone.” Sunday Times, 26th June 2011 *** “Jonas Kaufmann’s first note alone is a good reason to buy this new recording of Beethoven’s stirring opera...The effect makes your jaw drop, your pulse pause, your hairs stand on end...Abbado conducts with magisterial but selfless understanding. In the overture alone (Beethoven’s punchy fourth version is used) you feel electricity and humanity in every jabbing rhythm and lyrically sculptured phrase.” The Times, 1st July 2011 **** “Abbado's contribution is without doubt extraordinary – a loving if slow interpretation, noble in its anguish and elation...An exceptional Florestan – arguably the finest since Jon Vickers's – from Jonas Kaufmann wonderfully conveys his moral greatness as well as the extremity of his suffering.” The Guardian, 7th July 2011 **** “this is a “modern” Fidelio in so far as it espouses lightly pointed rhythms, transparent textures and attention to detail – but it also captures the hallowed glow of Beethoven tradition...Interest for opera fans lies primarily in Jonas Kaufmann’s Florestan: his aria, beginning on a thread of sound, is as much a meditation as a cry from the depths.” Financial Times, 9th July 2011 **** “Under Claudio Abbado’s assured direction, the Mahler Chamber and Lucerne Festival orchestras derive a fantastic amount of energy...[Stemme] manages to imbue her Fidelio/Leonore role with the requisite disguised anguish...High praise also must go to the spellbinding ensemble work...Jonas Kaufmann also impresses, most of all in his lachrymose opening to the second act...Due in part to the relative infrequency of recordings of Fidelio, this is one in particular to be cherished.” Daniel Ross, bbc.co.uk, 1st July 2011 “the instrumental performance is faultlessly sensitive to the drama it is illustrating. The singing is heroic, both from Nina Stemme as Leonore/Fidelio and Jonas Kaufmann as Florestan. Rachel Harnisch is a touching Marzelline, Falk Struckman a terrifying Don Pizarro.” The Independent on Sunday, 24th July 2011 “Abbado leads a viscerally charged performance that flies to the very heart of the matter...One of the many glories of this thrillingly articulated Fidelio is the playing of the basses and lower strings sharp-featured and black as the pit of Acheron...This is the best-conducted Fidelio since Furtwängler's; a joy to experience and a privilege to possess.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2011 “The real star of this performance...is the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, in whose hands the music seems to glow from within. The playing is thrilling throughout, with Claudio Abbado caressing every detail of Beethoven's score...The Arnold Schoenberg Choir rises to the occasion, too, producing hushed singing of great beauty in the Act 1 prisoners' chorus...Kaufmann is a commanding Florestan. His opening phrase as he lies in the depths of the dungeons is spine-tingling.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2011 **** “Abbado brings elegance to everything he touches. In the event, Kaufmann is superb, Stemme sings with technical control and warmth of tone, and Abbado conducts with exemplary clarity.” Classic FM Magazine, October 2011 *** “I could be in the minority when I state that I find this performance almost clinical...[Kaufmann] can do no wrong and, in fact, he does no wrong here, articulating his despair as well as his hope and desperation with great sincerity...Abbado is obviously going for a lean performance, and he succeeds; one hears things in both orchestra and vocal lines that are frequently smudged elsewhere.” International Record Review, September 2011 “this is a lean, chamber-sized account, every note precisely placed, but with enough punch for the drama to hit home...for superb technical playing, transparency of sound and with Stemme and Kaufmann in glorious voice, this is a Fidelio to treasure.” Opera Britannia, 6th October 2011 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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1. Act I - Einleitung (Orchester) 2. Sritte Szene - Weh, ach wehe! Dies zu dulden! (Brangäne/Isolde) 3. Fünfte Szene - Tristan!/Isolde!/Treuloser Holder (Isolde/Tristan/Schiffsvolk Ritter und Knappen/Brangäne/Kurwenal) 4. Zweite Szene - O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe (Tristan) 5. Zweite Szene - Lausch, Geliebter!/Laß mich sterben! (Isolde/Tristan) 6. Zweite Szene - So starben wir, um ungetrennt (Tristan/Isolde/Brangäne) 7. Dritte Szene - O König, das kann ich dir nicht sagen...Als für ein frem des Land (Tristan/Isolde) 8. Zweite Szene - O diese Sonne! Ha, dieser Tag! (Tristan/Isolde) 9. Dritte Szene - Kurwenal! Hör! Ein zweites Schiff (Der Hirt/Kurwenal/Der Steuermann/Brangäne/Melot/Marke) 10. Dritte Szene - Mild und leise wie er lächelt (Isolde)
Placido Domingo (Tristan), Nina Stemme (Isolde), Mihoko Fujimura (Brangäne), Olaf Bär (Kurwenal), Jared Holt (Melot), René Pape (König Marke), Ian Bostridge (Hirt), Rolando Villazon (Junger Seeman) & Matthew Rose (Steuermann) The Royal Opera Chorus, Covent Garden & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Antonio Pappano Enhanced CD with Libretto | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Stage Director: Nicolas Joël; Sets: Ezio Frigerio; Lighting: Hans-Rudolf Kunz; Choreography: Stefano Giannetti “Nicolas Joël's… cleverly circumvents the traditional imagery by setting the action at roughly the time of composition (1870-1), in the… context of the scramble for Africa. The exoticism of Aïda is preserved, yet the characters (costumed by Franca Squarciapino) are brought closer to 'home'. It helps that Zurich's excellent cast play their roles with such dramatic and musical conviction, a rare combination in Aïda. Making her debut in the title role, Nina Stemme... gives a beautiful and touching performance.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2007 ***** “At last an Aida on DVD that can hold its head high and surpass its lesser rivals. Last year's production from the Zürich Opera is a traditional one by Nicolas Joël in veteran Ezio Frigerio's wonderfully evocative, highly coloured sets. Stemme offers a deeply considered, expressive and superbly sung Aida, one for whom the work's vocal perils do not seem to exist. Add to that acting that goes to the heart of the matter, and one is left breathless in admiration... Licitra has done nothing better than his Radames here. He and Stemme make their Act 3 duet the highlight it should be.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2007 “This 2006 production from the Zurich Opera is a traditional one by Nicolas Joël in veteran Ezio Frigerio's wonderfully evocative, highly coloured sets. Then Adám Fischer in the pit leads a remarkably strong yet subtle account of the score, which – when played and sung like this – is once more revealed as one of Verdi's greatest masterpieces.
Four of the principals easily surpass their DVD rivals. Stemme offers a deeply considered, expressive and superbly sung Aida, one for whom the work's vocal perils do not seem to exist. Add to that acting that goes to the heart of the matter, and one is left breathless in admiration after so many sopranos not truly fitted to the part. Licitra has done nothing better than his Radames here. At last fulfilling his potential, he sings the role with an open-hearted sincerity and a heroic voice up to the part's exigent demands.
He and Stemme make their Act 3 duet the highlight it should be.
D'Intino, an experienced Amneris, sings her role with intense feeling allied to a mezzo of generous proportions. The demands of her Act 4 scena are fully met, and she storms off to a well earned burst of applause. Stemme and Licitra give the final scene with the utmost sensibility. Salminen remains a force to be reckoned with, but Pons – as Amonasro – no longer is the baritone he once was, although dramatically he is up to the part.
The showpiece close to Act 2 is the one comparative disappointment, not offering the frisson it ought to. And here Andy Sommer's video direction is uncertain, too often dividing the screen into three for no discernible purpose, but he directs the principals with a deal of senstivity.
So this is the DVD Aida we have long awaited.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010  BBC Music Magazine
DVD Choice - August 2007 |
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Speaking of Nina’s interpretation of the Four Last Songs, Pappano enthuses: “I trust the warmth of Nina's voice. There are a lot of lighter voices that have recorded the piece but you have to remember that Kirsten Flagstad sang the premiere and it's that kind of ample voice with warmth and body - Nina's voice - that I think is too rarely heard in this repertoire.” “Pappano and his orchestra (what solo playing!), while never hurrying, keep the forward pace of an attentive Lied accompanist - emotional points are made without milking, matching the cool beauty of the soloist's timbre. Stemme has vocal height and weight in equal measure and (again) really uses her text.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2007 “…Antonio Pappano never gets to record more than bleeding chunks of the Strauss operas… Yet nothing illustrates better his genius for going straight to the theatrical heart of the matter than the opening blaze of this Salome finale. It's both beautifully textured and keenly energised, and his sense of the drama seems to have rubbed off on Nina Stemme's Salome, poised between anger and nostalgia, and Gerhard Siegel's anxious Herod.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2007 ***** “To borrow a phrase from Richard Osborne, mighty tents are already pitched on these fields – for the Four Last Songs Schwarzkopf/Szell, Della Casa/Böhm, Norman/Masur; for the Salome finale Krauss/Cebotari, Welitsch/ Reiner and so on. But the conductor who has already got onto record a newly thoughtthrough Bohème, a Tosca that can hold its own with de Sabata's, and a modern Tristan with Domingo need fear no competition. All the hounds of hell are let loose by the ROH's percussion section to launch a wild, but always intricately shaped and detailed, account of young Princess Salome's sickly Liebestod.
Being already a searching, grown-up Isolde, Stemme, like her 1950s forerunners, now really manages to be a teenage Isolde too, by turns sweet, spooky and growing up.
The discs's running order is cunning and effective, and both conductor and soprano are in command of the switch to Madeleine's musicor- words dilemma. In Capriccio's Moonlight Interlude, as in the Songs, Pappano achieves richness without overweighting; his rubato lingers rather than indulges (like… but let's not compare). Stemme is a more torn and dramatic Countess than, say, Janowitz, Schwarzkopf or Della Casa; this performance harks back to Clemens Krauss and Viorica Ursuleac, emotion shaping the (fine) text, rather than vice-versa.
As if to create a valedictory survey of Strauss, the soprano voice and the orchestra, the start of 'Frühling' aptly seconds the Countess's mood.
Michael Tanner's note for the new remastering of Flagstad's creator's performance (see above) remarks how tempi in this work have got slower over the past 50 years. Pappano and his orchestra (what solo playing!), while never hurrying, keep the forward pace of an attentive Lied accompanist – emotional points are made without milking, matching the cool beauty of the soloist's timbre. Stemme has vocal height and weight in equal measure and (again) really uses her text. Finally, the record is produced and engineered with sensitivity to the layout of Strauss's instrumental and vocal textures.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Vienna State Opera 2nd December 2007
In Richard Wagner’s 'Ring of the Nibelung', the first act of 'Die Walküre' takes up a special place. The love-triangle of the twins Siegmund and Sieglinde and the ominous Hunding stands out in the context of this tetralogy because it possesses its own dramatic tension and self-enclosed trajectory within what is otherwise such a complex, richly interconnected series of works. In musical terms it goes from one climax to the next, from the turbulent orchestral prelude through to Siegmund’s love song “Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond” and the passionate union of the sibling couple. At the most recent production at the Vienna State Opera, the twins were sung by Nina Stemme and – for the first time in the role – Johan Botha. Their antagonist Hunding was sung by Ain Anger, whose mighty bass voice was paired with a subtle art of characterisation. All three received a tumultuous reception, from the public and critics alike. The soprano and tenor have since enjoyed international success in even more dramatic Wagner roles – Nina Stemme, for example, has sung Brünnhilde in San Francisco, Vienna and Milan, and will perform at the BBC Proms with Barenboim; while Johan Botha has sung Tannhäuser in Vienna and London. But already as Sieglinde and Siegmund it was evident that they would retain their vocal beauty and legato phrasing despite the heavy-duty nature of the roles. Both Stemme and Botha are possessed of remarkably clear diction and capable of light and shade. This is no 'stand and deliver' barking. Johan Botha will sing the role of Siegmund at this year's Bayreuth concert to celebrate Wagner’s 200th birthday and will do so again on the Bayreuth stage this summer. The luxury accompaniment is the Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, conducted in 2007 by its General Music Director, Franz Welser-Möst, and was also on top form. Wagner is rarely heard with such opulence and iridescence while still so transparent and unforced. This CD release of the live performance is an absolute must - just listen to the cheers at the end. Nina Stemme was awarded Best Female Singer at the International Opera Awards 2013. She sings all the Brünnhildes in Barenboim's 'Ring' this summer and also appears on the Mariinsky 'Walküre' with Valery Gergiev. |
| | | Scheduled for release on 1 July 2013. Order it now and we will deliver it as soon as it is available. |
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Staged by David Poutney “The cast is a dream team” wrote the Financial Times after the premiere of this production of Verdi’s La forza del destino at the Wiener Staatsoper. Topping the list is Nina Stemme, who gives a full-blooded portrayal of Leonora. Passionate forceful readings are also provided by Salvatore Licitra as Alvaro and Carlos Álvarez as Don Carlo. Zubin Mehta leads Staatsoper Orchestra with agility, subtleness and relaxed mastery, and right from the start David Poutney establishes an atmosphere of entrapment by fate. With the aid of a bizarre, unforgettable stage construction, the acclaimed director finds an ideal setting to illustrate the merciless powers of chance and destiny. Running Time Total: 161 minutes DVD: DTS 5.1, PCM Stereo “Pountney's unfussily direct handling of the tragic side of the drama plays to his cast's strengths. Compared to his colleagues here, the late Salvatore Licitra may not have been the stage's most natural actor but...a terrific passion carries all before it....And Nina Stemme's Leonora? A hugely well-acted assumption of the role, with (in the 'Pace! Pace, mio dio' scena) the uncanny presence and vocal fury offered by Price, Barstow or Freni.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2012 “Dramatically convincing, [Alvarez] broods darkly and his burnished baritone, although not ringing out as freely as one would wish, is powerful...Stemme is an involving Leonore, with a lovely rich lower and mid-register tone, but she is strained and variable above the stave...Krasteva throws herself into cowgirl Preziosilla with gusto, although her fruity mezzo noticeably lacks a trill...Mehta conducts effectively.” International Record Review, February 2012 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Staged by David Poutney “The cast is a dream team” wrote the Financial Times after the premiere of this production of Verdi’s La forza del destino at the Wiener Staatsoper. Topping the list is Nina Stemme, who gives a full-blooded portrayal of Leonora. Passionate forceful readings are also provided by Salvatore Licitra as Alvaro and Carlos Álvarez as Don Carlo. Zubin Mehta leads Staatsoper Orchestra with agility, subtleness and relaxed mastery, and right from the start David Poutney establishes an atmosphere of entrapment by fate. With the aid of a bizarre, unforgettable stage construction, the acclaimed director finds an ideal setting to illustrate the merciless powers of chance and destiny. Running Time Total: 161 minutes BD: DTS-HD MA 5.1, PCM Stereo “Pountney's unfussily direct handling of the tragic side of the drama plays to his cast's strengths. Compared to his colleagues here, the late Salvatore Licitra may not have been the stage's most natural actor but...a terrific passion carries all before it....And Nina Stemme's Leonora? A hugely well-acted assumption of the role, with (in the 'Pace! Pace, mio dio' scena) the uncanny presence and vocal fury offered by Price, Barstow or Freni.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2012 “Dramatically convincing, [Alvarez] broods darkly and his burnished baritone, although not ringing out as freely as one would wish, is powerful...Stemme is an involving Leonore, with a lovely rich lower and mid-register tone, but she is strained and variable above the stave...Krasteva throws herself into cowgirl Preziosilla with gusto, although her fruity mezzo noticeably lacks a trill...Mehta conducts effectively.”” International Record Review, February 2012 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Live Recording from The Gran Teatre Del Liceu, Barcelona, 2005
Nina Stemme (Jenůfa), Eva Marton (Kostelnička Buryjovka), Victoria Cortez (Stařenka Buryjovka), Jorma Silvasti (Laca Klemeň) & Pär Lindskog (Števa Buryja) Gran Teatre Del Liceu, Peter Schneider (conductor) & Olivier Tambosi (director) Set Design & Costumes by Frank Philipp Schlössmann Arthaus presents a staging of Jenůfa sung in the original Czech language. The production was directed by French-Austrian opera director Olivier Tambosi. For Janáček, opera was a vehicle for describing reality, and he pushed this idea to the point of fashioning a new theory about verismo. Its basis was that the two major strands, music and drama, were to be linked indivisibly in his operas. Olivier Tambosi takes up the challenge in a Jenůfa that is realistic, clear and direct in its exposition of the characters’ feelings. Yet he is also concerned to make key motifs in the work visible through symbolic elements on stage. The director’s haunting dramaturgy is admirably brought to life by a cast of outstanding singer-actors. The result is a Jenůfa of immediately accessible emotions, with altogether physical characterization, explicit and more brutal than other stagings of the opera. Sound Format: LPCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1 Picture Format: 16:9 DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC Subtitle Languages: DE, GB, FR, ES, IT, Catalan Running Time: 127 mins FSK: 0 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Lidholm, I.: A Dream Play
Sten Wahlund (baritone), Anders Bergstrom (baritone), Ingrid Tobiasson (contralto), Hillevi Martinpelto (soprano), Hakan Hagegard (baritone), Curt Appelgren (baritone), Staffan Sandlund (baritone), Nina Stemme (soprano), Carl Unander-Scharin (tenor), Lars Kullenbo (tenor), Arild Helleland (tenor), Henrik Westberg (baritone), Rolf Cederlof (bass), Harriet Andersson (narrator), Carina Jarlemark (vocals) Stockholm Royal Philharmonic Choir, Adolf Fredrik Girls Choir, Stockholm Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Adolf Fredriks Gosskor, Kjell Ingebretsen | |
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Gramophone Awards 2012
Gramophone Magazine
