DVD Videos

Bellini, unlike many of his colleagues - among them Donizetti - did not have to endure the disappointments and difficulties of rising from the ranks. His Bianca e Gernando, in 1826, was well received at Naples’s Teatro San Carlo, and one year later, at the age of twenty-six, the composer triumphed at Milan’s La Scala with Il Pirata. Norma is not only the high point of Bellini’s artistic parabola but also the quintessence of Italian belcanto.

The present DVD was recorded at the Massimo Bellini theatre of Catania, native town of the great Sicilian composer, and features, in the title role, the famous Greek soprano Dimitra Theodossiou, one of today’s best interpreters of Norma. Subtitles in 6 languages (Italian, English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese).

It was customary for Rossini to modify his scores and develop second and third versions for theatres that wanted to stage his operas. The Maometto II here recorded corresponds only in part to the original score (Naples, 1820), which is the version generally performed nowadays; it is, instead, the revision made for Venice’s Teatro La Fenice staged on 26th December 1822 as opening title of the 1823 Carnival season, the same season which, on February 3rd, would also see the debut of Semiramide. For Venice Rossini tried to soften the monolithic character of his Neapolitan score, introducing an opening symphony, making changes - some of them quite substantial - to the score and, especially, giving the plot a happy ending. The title role is sung by the young Italian bass Lorenzo Regazzo, internationally renowned; Claudio Scimone, on the podium, is responsible for the revision of the score.

Subtitles in 7 languages.

In recent years not only music festivals but also important opera theatres have turned their attention towards the neglected masterpieces of the lyrical repertoire. Thus also Venice’s Teatro La Fenice, in a commendable effort, staged this Pia de’ Tolomei by Donizetti, with some of the best singers available today for this type of repertoire. Initial response to this opera, which was performed for the first time in 1837, was ambiguous, so much so that Donizetti re-worked it as many as three times. The version here recorded is that of the critical edition recently published by Ricordi, with the tragic finale originally conceived by the composer. The listener will undoubtedly wonder, once more, at Donizetti’s wealth of melodic inspiration, especially when it comes to the character of Pia, wonderfully interpreted, here, by Patrizia Ciofi.

Subtitles in 7 languages.

First DVD recording

First recording of the new critical edition

Every operatic composer has a title that marks a turning point, one that raises him from being almost unknown to sudden fame. For Bellini, in 1827, this was Il Pirata, for Verdi, in 1842, Nabucco. For Massenet this opera was Le Roi de Lahore. Performed for the first time in 1877 at the Palais Garnier to a resounding success - the opera ran to no fewer than 57 performances in the great Paris opera house within two years - this work contains all the characteristic elements of grand-opéra: marches and solemn processions, a ballet, use of countless extras, spectacular choral scenes, concertante sections of great length, a general exotic tint that was much appreciated at the time and a great wealth of melodic invention. The present Venetian production features a high quality cast and documents the last performance of the late conductor Marcello Viotti, who had made the critical edition of the score.

Subtitles in French, Italian, English, German, Spanish. Plot available also in Japanese.

Live Performance, 1980

Produced by Music Department of Soviet TV

Director: Boris Pokrovsky

Production Design: Fedor Fedorovsky

Video Director: Alexander Barannikov

173 minutes, colour, mono, 4:3, All regions. Subtitles in English, French, Italian, Spanish, & Romanized Russian.

Director: Oleg Moralev

Production Design: Nikolay Zoloatarev

Video Director: Alexander Barannikov

Camera: V. Berdnikov

92 minutes, colour, mono, subtitles in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Romanized Russian; all regions

Rimsky-Korsakov lavished a gorgeous score on this rustic tale of love and the supernatural. This acclaimed 2008 production by the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre marks the opera’s first appearance on DVD. The company’s brilliant staging is modern in its dramatic intensity yet firmly rooted in the traditional heart of the work.

Subtitles in English, French, Italian, Russian & Spanish

Embedded Japanese subtitles remain on screen throughout. Optional subtitles in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. 127 min., Black & white, mono, 4:3, All regions

Recorded live in 1959