DVD Videos

Set Design by GILLES AILLAUD

Il Ritorno d‘Ulisse in Patria is based closely on the fi nal books of Homer‘s Odyssey and is hailed as the key work marking the threshold between the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Together with producer Klaus Michael Grüber, Nikolaus Harnoncourt strikes a new balance between musical polish and distillation of the essence of dramatic action. „It is a kind of ‘théâtre pauvre’, which works with a few carefully chosen and powerful symbols“, was how the newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung reviewed the production. The main action takes place on little more than an angled revolving stage in front of a whitewashed wall which hints at the landscape of a Greek island. The sets have an apt simplicity, eschewing fussy detail and spectacular effects. The colours are cool, predominantly white, blue and black, transporting us to a modern day. Harnoncourt’s musical drive has become „a touch gentler“, wrote the Berlin daily Tagesspiegel. „Not that Harnoncourt is now leaving things to chance or to the discretion of his exquisite musicians. But the way he communicates – his entire rostrum manner – seems to have become more relaxed, calmer, rounder, and both he and the listener are amply rewarded by the sound which results.“

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitles: IT (Original Language), DE, GB, FR, ES, JP. KOR

Running Time: 155 mins

FSK: 0

World Premiere Recording.

Early Rossini has something buoyant, vibrant, youthful about it – even when it is a „dramma per musica“ such as Sigismondo, a dark swirl of an opera revolving around a mad king and his delusions, his wife who is allegedly dead but very much alive, the fate of Poland and much more. Premiered in 1814 but rarely played thereafter, the work deserves to be resurrected, if only for its many beautiful and original arias and ensembles, some of which were such brilliant little masterpieces that he reused them in his later successes such as Il turco in Italia, La Cenerentola and Il barbiere di Siviglia.

The work was given its first performance from the critical new edition at the 2010 Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. The press hailed the production as a „perfect symbiosis of music and stage work“ that yields „truly brilliant theater“. Director Damiano Michieletto sets the first act in a startlingly realistic „insane asylum“ of around 1900, where King Sigismondo has been placed after losing his mind over his wife’s death, which he, convinced of her infidelity, had ordered. The second act takes place in an elegantly appointed royal palace, where Sigismondo, who has now recovered, must confront an assault by the Bohemian army and decide upon Poland’s fate.

Mezzo Daniela Barcellona – a sought-after Rossini and Verdi singer – portrays the mad King Sigismondo with fi erce intensity and effortlessly flowing coloraturas; restored to health in the second act, her Sigismondo dominates the stage as ruler of Poland, alongside Olga Peretyatko, Antonino Siragusa and Andrea Concetti. Bringing youthful exuberance and supreme musicality to his conducting is Michele Mariotti, principal conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and acclaimed maestro at La Scala, the Met and other leading houses.

Special Feature: Making Of Sigismondo

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1 (DVD)

Format: DVD 9, NTSC, 25 GB (Single Layer)

Subtitle Languages: IT (Original Language), GB, DE, FR, ES, Korean, JP

Running Time: 164 mins + 19 mins (bonus)

FSK: 0

Staged by LA FURA DELS BAUS

World Premiere Recording

Barcelona’s Grand Teatre del Liceu presents György Ligeti’s sole opera “Le grand macabre” in a stunningly imaginative and highly theatrical production by La Fura dels Baus - a production that already claimed enormous success in Brussels, London and Rome and - as the British Independent proclaimed - “only comes along once a decade”.

Ligeti’s (1923-2006) absurd-tragicomical masterpiece of the highest order blends popular theater, comics, pop art, cabaret, caricature and the Apocalypse with fascinating imaginativeness. The orchestra, for example, is enhanced with “instruments” such as car horns and doorbells. Ligeti himself – one of the great composers of the later 20th century – called his work an “anti-anti-opera.” Premiered in Stockholm in 1978, the work is based on a play by Michel de Ghelderode (1898-1962) and unfolds in an imaginary land inspired by the famous Dutch painter Pieter Brueghel the Elder: Nekrotzar, the Grand Macabre, announces the end of the world; but in a land ruled by eros, alcohol and corruption, his plan to unleash the Apocalypse bursts like a soap bubble. The people continue to lead their lives as before and refuse to be frightened by thoughts of death and a dark future… Masterfully rendering the colorful score is conductor Michael Boder and the orchestra and chorus of the Liceu. The top-notch cast includes Werner Van Mechelen as Nekrotzar, Chris Merritt as Piet the Pot, Barbara Hannigan as Chief of the secret police, and Brian Asawa as Prince Go-Go.

Special Features: „Fear to Death“ - Making Of Le Grand Macabre & Interview with Michael Boder.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1 (DVD)

Format: 1 x DVD 5 / DVD 9, NTSC, 25 GB (Single Layer)

Subtitle Languages: GB (Original Language), IT, DE, FR, ES, Korean, Catalan, JP

Running Time: 122 mins + 42 mins (bonus)

FSK: 12

Set Design by JOSÉ CURA

In this saga of hatred and holy war, of power and desire, there is no victor and no truth. The god-like is diminished, power restricted, taboos are broken, love betrayed. Only the composer can afford uninterrupted pathos in the wonderful duet of Samson and Dalila in the second act, which misleads us to believe in a moving story of love. Perhaps it truly is. The story of Samson is contradictory, it is human. Camille Saint-Saëns completed the work in 1876, but was only able to bring about its first performance in 1877 through the mediation of his friend Franz Liszt – with pre-eminent success – in Weimar. In France, where the elements of oratorio and the influence of Wagner were not well received, the first performance would not follow for another 13 years. Samson et Dalila ranks among the masterpieces of 19th century French Opera - and among the showpieces favored by the Argentine tenor José Cura. In the recorded production he saw himself celebrated on stage as a unified three-in-one: eponymous hero, director and stage designer.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: FR (Original Language), GB, DE, ES, IT, Korean

Running Time: 125 mins

FSK: 12

Designer Carl Freidrich Oberle

Light design Nigel Levings

Don Giovanni, a libertine, a rake with a devil-may-care attitude, is portrayed magnificently by Teddy Tahu Rhodes in this Opera Australia production, where he first appears on stage in a costume where less is definitely more! Charismatic and sexy, Rhodes’ acting and singing are magnificent. His misused servant, Leporello, is played by Conal Coad, who skilfully promotes the opera’s comic elements whilst delivering a thumping bass full of drama.

The classic stage designs of Carl Friedrich Oberle form the backdrop to the drama of Don Giovanni’s last day on earth, before he is hurled in to Hell’s flames by the Commendatore, Daniel Sumegi, whose basso profundo is befittingly momentous.

Rachael Durkin (Donna Anna), Jacqueline Dark (Donna Elvira), Taryn Fiebig (Zerlina), Henry Choo (Don Ottavio) and Andrew Jones (Masetto) all deliver superlative singing as Mozart’s enthralling music flows from the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, adeptly guided by the baton of Mark Wigglesworth. A triumphant production from the director, Göran Järvefelt.

Set Design by EZIO FRIGERIO

The story of the beautiful but cruel princess Turandot has a unique place among Puccini‘s works, displaying the composer‘s ability to reflect the musical trends of his time more convincingly than any of his other operas. Despite its wealth of inspired melodies (among them Calaf‘s aria „Nessun dorma“ in the third act), even today the opera‘s chief fascination remains its imaginative tonality and subtle instrumentation.

The title role is performed by Luana DeVol, who has been on the international opera scene for more than three decades and whose versatile, dramatic soprano perfectly suits the character of the despising, yet vulnerable Turandot. Lirico-spinto soprano Barbara Frittoli, one of the best-known Puccini/Verdi performers on the current scene, presents her lyrical vocal qualities in the role of the slave Liù.

The director, Núria Espert, retained the lavish settings and magnificent sets traditionally associated with the opera. None the less, Espert‘s approach to the work is founded on the doubts that Puccini himself expressed about the final scene of the work. In Espert‘s conception, Turandot remains incapable of turning into an ordinary, docile woman defeated by male strength, and so she stabs herself to death.

BONUS: Luana DeVol – Following the Dream / Directed by Stephen DeVol

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitles: IT (Original Language), DE, GB, FR, ES, Catalan

Running Time: 132 mins + 19 mins (Bonus)

FSK: 0

Stage direction and lighting design: Giorgio Strehler

The legendary production by Giorgio Strehler filmed at the Paris Opera with a cast that unites the finest Mozartians of our time.

A revival of Strehler's 'Marriage of Figaro' is always an event. In 2010, 37 years after its creation, it rose again in triumph at the Opera Bastille with a new generation of performers: Ludovic Tézier (Count Almaviva), Barbara Frittoli (Countess), Ekaterina Siurina (Susanna), Luca Pisaroni (Figaro) and Karine Deshayes (Cherubino).

Conductor, Philippe Jordan directs the Orchestra and Chorus of the Paris Opera.

Also in this bonus edition, there is an interview with Humbert Camerlo who has worked extensively with Giorgio Strehler and achieved this staging for the revival, which continues from September 15 to October 25, 2012 at the Opera Bastille for 14 special performances.

• This lesser-known opera has a prologue and three acts and is based on the play Attila, King of the

Huns by Werner

• It was premiered in La Fenice in Venice in 1846

• This DVD is a joint production with La Scala and RAI

Recorded live at La Scala in 1991

Skin-tight rubber and lacrosse sticks bring contemporary chic to this timeless fantasy of warriors and witches in Robert Carsen's fun-filled transformation of Handel's first London triumph. Conducting from the keyboard just as Handel himself did, Ottavio Dantone leads a youthful cast of today's luminaries in the dramatic art of Baroque opera, the 'affecting' Sonia Prina, the 'unadorned intensity' of Anett Fritsch and 'fire-breathing flair' (The Observer) of Brenda Rae.

Glyndebourne continues to celebrate the genius of Handel with its first staging of Rinaldo, the work with which he made his sensational London debut – and the first Italian opera specifically created for the British stage.

Rinaldo is given a contemporary new twist through the eyes of Director Robert Carsen, who made his Festival debut with L’incoronazione di Poppea in 2008.

Early music specialist Ottavio Dantone, Music Director of the acclaimed Italian period ensemble Accademia Bizantina conducts the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

The cast is headed by Sonia Prina in the title-role of the heroic crusader, with Anett Fritsch as his beloved Almirena, Brenda Rae as the seductive Saracen sorceress Armida, and Luca Pisaroni (last summer’s Leporello) as her duplicitous ally Argante, the King of Jerusalem.

Running time: 190 minutes

Subtitles: EN/FR/DE

Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS

One of the first operas deserving of the name, Didone is our first surviving musical version of the famous episode in Virgil's Aeneid where the Trojan hero loves and then cruelly leaves the noble Dido. Cavalli learnt at the feet of Monteverdi, and his dramatic transformation of the story is all the more expressive for its intimacy, worthy of the examples set by his master. At the centre of this bold and simple staging – the first opera production by comic actor Clément Hervieu-Léger – is the Queen of Carthage herself, sung with uncompromising intensity by Anna Bonitatibus. William Christie and his singers and players show themselves entirely attuned to the world of Cavalli, where meaning and music fuse.

Running time: 176 minutes

Subtitles: EN/FR/DE

Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS