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Recorded live on 20th December 1980 “set at the turn of the 20th century, it's played naturalistically and with considerable restraint. But its toned-down quality also emphasises the underlying idea of a society unable to confront its own hang-ups, and the performances are faultless. Julia Migenes's Lulu is at once self-consciously provocative and disturbingly naive...Levine ratchets up the tension; the closing scenes are unforgettable.” The Guardian, 8th December 2011 | | | Usually despatched in 8 - 10 working days. |
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| |  | Sung in English and abridged
Matthew Polenzani (Tamino), Nathan Gunn (Papageno), Ying Huang (Pamina), Erika Miklósa (Queen of the Night), René Pape (Sarastro), Greg Fedderly (Monostatos), David Pittsinger (Speaker), Jennifer Aylmer (Papagena), Wendy Bryn Harmer, Kate Lindsey, Tamara Mumford (Drei Damen) The Metropolitan Opera & Chorus, James Levine “The best performance comes from Nathan Gunn as Papageno, with his irrepressible energy and sense of comic timing...Matthew Polenzani and Ying Huang make a believably young pair of lovers. The production is a visual delight, with its bright colours, puppets and masks. It is, predictably, entirely politically correct. James Levine's conducting is well-judged, save for a funereal 'Tamino mein!' Give this to your children, then take them to the opera house.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2011 | | | Usually despatched in 8 - 10 working days. |
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Recorded live on 25th September 1978 “Call it old-fashioned, but there’s a size and style about this 1978 Met performance of Verdi’s opera that you don’t get today. Otello was one of Vickers’s signature roles, and he is partnered by the hugely watchable Renata Scotto and the big-boned Iago of Cornell MacNeil.” Financial Times, 27th August 2011 *** “Vickers appears as if he's ripping his own heart out. His wounds are so deep that one is tempted to avert one's eyes...Yet 90 per cent of the time he is on top of his vocal game: the sheer heft of his voice...is terrifying...Scotto interprets Desdemona as no other singer...here Desdemona is a woman of strength who can't win...this may be the only Otello video you'll ever need: it's the one that captures the pity and sadness best” International Record Review, January 2012 | | | Usually despatched in 8 - 10 working days. |
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| |  | Waldbühne: A Romantic Opera NightLive Recording from The Waldbühne Berlin, 1999
Based on the amphitheatre in the ancient Greek city of Epidaurus, and nestled in a natural valley, the Waldbühne theatre seats 22,000 in leafy comfort and remains one of Berlin‘s favourite open air concert venues, with magnificent views of the stage. World class conductors lead the Berlin Philharmonic in evening concerts of popular favourites. Conducted by the celebrated James Levine, the 1999 Waldbühne concert for the Berlin Philharmonic features music by Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner. The orchestra is joined by the accomplished Canadian tenor Ben Heppner, who is renowned for his electrifying Wagner performances. Sound Format: PCM STEREO, DD 5.1 Picture Format: 4:3 DVD Format: DVD 9, PAL Running Time: 116 mins FSK: 0 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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A red hot ticket at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010/2011 was Donizetti’s comic gem, Don Pasquale, with Anna Netrebko reviving Norina, the part that made her a star in New York. Opera summed up the simple truth: “. . . everyone adored her”. John Del Carlo’s impressive singing and acting chops as the Don are given every boost by Otto Schenk’s hilarious staging and James Levine’s witty conducting. Leading this opera for the first time at the Met, the renowned maestro demonstrates that his gifts suit Donizetti as perfectly as Wagner. Mariusz Kwiecień and Matthew Polenzani scintillate as Malatesta and Ernesto. When Norina slaps Pasquale, the old man sees how deluded he has been to believe that the young beauty loves him. The San Francisco Chronicle paid homage to this turning point thus: “Netrebko captures the moment that gives the opera a heart it otherwise would lack”. Filmed in November 2010, the DVD features backstage intermission interviews caught during the hubbub of performance. “Donizetti's modest little domestic comedy almost sinks under the weight of such production values. That is stays afloat is a tribute to Netrebko who unleashes some fearsome coloratura; and to John de Carlo and Marius Kwiecien, who deliver 'Cheti, cheti, immantinente' with the speed of a Bugatti at full throttle” BBC Music Magazine, October 2011 **** “With its huge sets and period costumes, Otto Schenk's 2006 production looks like a good old-fashioned Met warhorse, but it still has enough amusing choreography and dramatic truth to keep things ticking along nicely. Anna Netrebko steals the show both vocally and theatrically...but tenor Matthew Polenzani is also terrific as her lover...Levine's conducting is spirited.” Classic FM Magazine, September 2011 *** “[Netrebko] is alert to every note and movement, the voice bigger than the usual soubrette we get in this part, and her top notes gleam...Kwiecien is the ideal playmate for Netrebko: their sounds and styles blend perfectly; both ooze charm...Polenzani's smooth delivery, sweet tone and utter sincerity make him a valuable asset...it's clear that James Levine has the measure of this often witty, occasionally ravishing score.” International Record Review, July/August 2011 | | | DG - 0734645 (Blu-ray) Normally: $26.50 Special: $19.87 |
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| |  | A Performance for Children
Live Recording from The Felsenreitschule Salzburg, 1982 Concept and Script: Christian Boesch Based on a staging by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle The Magic Flute had been the sensation of the season in 1978. It received enormous and unanimous approval, endless applause on the night and brought on an unusual state of accord in the international press, where enthusiastic reviews soon gave the staging legendary status. Christian Boesch became one of the progenitors of this movement when he created a new version of Mozart’s popular opera, in which Papageno becomes the storyteller. He worked with director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle to develop a concept that presents Mozart’s wondrous mystery play – based on the Salzburg Festival production 1978 – in such a way that it encourages young audiences to relate to the genre and exposes them to the magic inherent in this particular work. This DVD captures the incomparable atmosphere of the fi rst ever staging of The Magic Flute for Children. Sound Format: LPCM Stereo Picture Format: 4:3 DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC Subtitle Languages: GB, DE, FR Running Time: 106 mins FSK: 0 “Delivered with energy and great expertise” BBC Music Magazine, February 2011 *** “From the start, with James Levine at his most brilliant and perceptive as conductor, it struck an ideal medium between the pantomime element and the weightier implications of the Masonic background...it makes ideal entertainment on film.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Mirella Freni: Opera Arias 1963 - 1995Digitally remastered from Austrian Radio 1963–1995
Giordano, U: | Loris Ipanoff, oggi lo Czar (from Fedora) Mia madre, la mia vecchia madre (Fedora) Vedi, io piango (from Fedora) 14th June, 1995 Luis Lima (Loris) Fabio Luisi | Puccini: | Si, mi chiamano Mimi (from La Bohème) 9th November, 1963 Gianni Raimondi (Rodolfo) Herbert von Karajan Mimì!…Marcello, finalmente (from La Boheme) Donde lieta usci (from La Bohème) 29th December, 1987 Plácido Domingo (Rodolfo), Alberto Rinaldi (Marcello) García Navarro Sono andati? Fingevo di dormire (from La Bohème) 18th January, 1985 Luciano Pavarotti (Rodolfo), Orazio Mori (Schaunard), Margarita Guglielmi (Musetta), Wolfgang Brendel (Marcello) Carlos Kleiber Sola, perduta, abbandonata (from Manon Lescaut) Fra le tue braccia (from Manon Lescaut) 2nd February, 1986 Peter Dvorsky (Des Grieux) Giuseppe Sinopoli | Tchaikovsky: | Puskay pogibnu ya 'Tatiana's Letter Scene' (from Eugene Onegin) O! Kak mnye tyazhelo! ? Onegin! Ya togda molozhe (from Eugene Onegin, Op. 24) 20th May, 1988 Wolfgang Brendel (Onegin) Seiji Ozawa Uzh polnoch' blizitsya (from Pique Dame) Pique Dame: O da, minovali stradanya 16th May, 1992 Vladimir Atlantov (Hermann) Seiji Ozawa | Verdi: | Io vengo a domandar (from Don Carlo) 7th October, 1989 Luis Lima (Don Carlo) Claudio Abbado Tu che la vanità (from Don Carlo) 6th May, 1979 Herbert von Karajan Dio ti giocondi, o sposo (from Otello) 2nd June, 1982 Plácido Domingo (Otello) James Levine Come in quest'ora bruna (from Simon Boccanegra) 20th May, 1984 Hans Graf Ritorna vincitor! (from Aida) La fatale pietra (from Aida) 5th September, 1990 Luciano Pavarotti (Radamès) Roberto Abbado |
Mirella Freni (soprano) Chorus and Orchestra of the Wiener Staatsoper Mirella Freni, who celebrated her 75th birthday a few weeks ago, is one of the exceptional singers who have emerged from Italy, the home of opera. And unlike those other 'exceptional' talents who crop up every few years (and who often disappear just as quickly), Mirella Freni’s standing is heightened by the exceptional length of her career, which was so rich in peaks and free of troughs. That success finds confirmation in this selection of archive recordings chosen from more than the three decades Mirella Freni sang at the Vienna State Opera. She began with a sensational debut as Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème. Within the space of six months, her Mimì had won the public’s heart at both La Scala, Milan and in Vienna, both under Herbert von Karajan. Her Rodolfo at the time was Gianni Raimondi, though the Viennese archives also document her longstanding partnerships with Luciano Pavarotti (Carlos Kleiber) and Plácido Domingo. It was with Domingo (under the baton of James Levine) that Mirella Freni repeated her Salzburg Festival success, in Vienna, as Desdemona. As with her Mimì, her Elisabetta in Don Carlo under Claudio Abbado in 1989 was astonishing, for her voice had lost none of its freshness in the ten years since singing the role under Karajan. In that same decade, she was also able to portray, convincingly, the youthful roles of Amelia in Simon Boccanegra and Manon Lescaut. Once again at Pavarotti’s side, this time for a Verdi concert in 1990, her public was inspired by excerpts from Aïda – unusual reprertoire for her. She also proved with two Tchaikovsky roles that she was a diva in more than her mother tongue alone. Neither her Tatyana in Eugene Onegin nor her Lisa in Pique Dame (both with Seiji Ozawa at the helm) can be left out of this 'Vienna' portrait of her, as with her last role at the Vienna State Opera: her assumption of the title role in Giordano’s Fedora brought back this operatic rarity to a renewed appreciation. “the spontaneity of the theatre brings a special vividness to all of these interpretations...Freni portrays every character very touchingly indeed, especially Elisabetta...[She] blazes through the Letter Scene, recorded in 1988, seemingly consumed by Tatyana's feelings” International Record Review, November 2010 | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | Metropolitan Opera Gala 199125th Anniversary at Lincoln Center
Mirella Freni, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Cheryl Studer, Anne Sofie von Otter, Barbara Daniels, Justiano Díaz, Leo Nucci, Hermann Prey, June Anderson, Kathleen Battle, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Thomas Hampson, Uwe Heilmann, Barbara Kilduff, Aprile Millo, Sherrill Milnes, Paul Plishka, Samuel Ramey, Birgitta Svendén & Frederica von Stade The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet, James Levine The Metropolitan Opera celebrates 25 years at Lincoln Center. The cast-list for the evening reads like a Who's Who of 20th-century opera. Thrill to “hours and hours of glorious opera...A triumphant celebration of virtuosity (Toronto Globe and Mail) as New York’s legendary opera company celebrates its first quarter century at Lincoln Center with “one of the most exquisitely refined and extravagant assemblages of vocal artistry the Met stage has yet hosted” (New York Times). “Not just another night at the opera” (Los Angeles Times), this extraordinary gala features complete acts from three favorite works, starring dozens of the world’s greatest singers, all conducted by Met music director James Levine. | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Bellini’s opera initially received a rather cool reception but went on to achieve the reputation it has today as one of the most challenging and demanding roles in the repertory, and represents a pinnacle of vocal and dramatic achievement for those divas who take on the role. Release includes a booklet with a three language synopsis [English / French / German], full cast list and detailed track list. “…Scotto's Druid priestess grows in stature to give us an unbearably moving scene in which she contemplates the murder of her children and, best of all, the duets with the rival priestess of Tatiana Troyanos, who offers the most sheerly beautiful legato singing of the set in 'Mira, o Norma'.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2009 **** | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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A period of sixteen years separates Aida and Verdi’s penultimate opera, Otello— Verdi’s second opera based on Shakespeare. Otello was greeted with great enthusiasm when it was first given at La Scala in 1887 and today ranks, along with Wagner’s Tristan, as one of the greatest challenges to any tenor who needs both supreme vocal and acting abilities to do justice to the role. Plácido Domingo is without doubt one of the greatest interpreters of this hugely challenging role. Release includes a booklet with a three language synopsis [English / French / German], full cast list and detailed track list. Recorded in 1978 “The revelation is Scotto as Desdemona: imbuing every phrase with colour and meaning, stunning in the Act III ensemble and shattering in her final cry of farewell to maid Emilia.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2009 **** “The earliest of Placido Domingo's studio recordings of Otello, made in London in 1978 just two years after he sang the role for the first time, is a must-have at this price...full of ardent, intensely lyrical singing” The Guardian, 28th August 2009 | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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