DVD Videos

“This Capuleti e i Montecchi is one of the best versions of this opera on disc. The edition used is the one Bellini made for La Scala a few months after the Venice premiere in 1830. The main difference is that Friar Lawrence here is a tenor (the excellent Nicola Amodio), and Juliet's solo in Act 2 is a continuous aria, rather than being punctuated by interjections from her father. Patrizia Ciofi gives this a really passionate performance: she is an ideal Juliet, youthful in appearance, in no way over-extended by Bellini's long vocal lines.
Clara Polito makes a tremendous Romeo, adding some effective flourishes in the cabaletta to her Act 1 aria and joining Danilo Formaggia as Tybalt in an exciting account of their fight duet in Act 2. Federico Sacchi is a thunderous Capulet, and the chorus makes an always positive contribution.
Luciano Acocella and the Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia make the opera sound quite the equal of Bellini's later, more famous works, but as Wagner wrote of it, 'there is true passion and emotion there'. Denis Krief's production is straightforward and always concentrated on the drama. It is played in modern dress, the Montagues and Capulets obviously on opposite sides in some unforgiving sectarian civil war, the men brandishing machine guns and revolvers. It works extremely well on its own terms, and the setting of the Ducal Palace in Martina Franca makes a perfect backdrop: recommended.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Patrizia Ciofi gives this a really passionate performance: she is an ideal Juliet, youthful in appearance, in no way over-extended by Bellini's long vocal lines. Clara Polito makes a tremendous Romeo, adding some effective flourishes in the cabaletta to her Act 1 aria and joining Danilo Formaggia as Tybalt in an exciting account of their fight duet in Act 2. Federico Sacchi is a thunderous Capulet, and the chorus makes an always positive contribution. Denis Krief's production is straightforward and always concentrated on the drama. It is played in modern dress, the Montagues and Capulets obviously on opposite sides in some unforgiving sectarian civil war... It works extremely well on its own terms, and the setting of the Ducal Palace in Martina Franca makes a perfect backdrop: recommended.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2006

“Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni turned in incandescent performances as Puccini's young lovers.” San Francisco Times 1988

“This recording received a complimentary review from John Steane when it appeared in LaserDisc format back in May 1993. One can share his enthusiasm for the restraint and experience of Freni and Pavarotti, who (even in 1988, when the performance took place) didn't look like the young lovers predicated by the libretto, but who made up for it with the 'rich humanity' (JBS's words) of their portrayals, although both evinced the occasional moment of strain that confirms they were no longer in the full flush of vocal youth. Ghiaurov, at 59, remains a tower of strength as Colline, although his voice sounds a shade rusty. These veterans tend to show up the relatively casual, upfront performances of the remaining singers.
The conductor is sympathetic to the needs of singers and score.
The staging is traditional in the best sense, even if it can't rival the great Zeffirelli/La Scala production, also with Freni (reviewed above). Brian Large has his cameras in the right place at the right time, with a fine balance of distant and closeup shots. The sound has plenty of atmosphere, but the voices aren't given enough prominence.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Distinguished by its accuracy, and its special aura, especially in the form of Barbara Bonney, who eschews angelic purity for an affectingly feminine interpretation of Brahm's memorial to his mother.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2008

“Even in its final form from 1858 (the original dates from 10 years earlier), Halka is uneven and derivative, but it is precisely its variable quality that makes the work so fascinating. For all the reliance on early-19th-century German and Italian models, one can hear a national operatic language begin to take shape.
The plot is straightforward. The engagement party of the noble Janusz is disturbed by Halka, a peasant girl with whom he had fathered a child, now dead. Halka refuses to accept that Janusz has deserted her despite the promptings of Jontek, whose love for Halka is utterly unrequited.
As Halka's despair deepens into madness, she contemplates burning down the church in which the wedding takes place but relents; on forgiving Janusz, she drowns herself.
Wrocpaw Opera's account, given to mark the 60th anniversary of the company's stage, is full-blooded and vivid. Laco Adamik's sensitive video direction of his own production is a model of clarity, capturing the sweep of the grander passages as well as the more intimate moments. Despite the predominantly monochrome costumes – the aristocrats are mostly in white, the commoners in black – the use of colour throughout is telling, especially in the vivid dance numbers in Acts 1 and 3. The light of the first-act party gradually darkens as Halka's anguish deepens and the action moves back to Janusz's estate. Yet it is in Acts 3 and 4 that Moniuszko's music becomes its most affecting and emotional, in contrast to the superficiality of Stolnik's house.
Tatiana Borodina catches the heroine's fluctuating mental states, from radiant joy to dark desperation, with equal force, her voice rich and powerful although showing some strain in the highest passages. Oleh Lykhach and Mariusz Godlewski are excellent as Jontek and Janusz, the latter especially catching the character's vacillation between cowardice and guilt. The company as a whole is excellent and the orchestra is strongly directed by Ewa Michnik. Recommended.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The best of all possible Candides” (Fono Forum-Newsweek)

‘Beautiful and descriptive stage design by Ezio Frigerio … he has looked into every minimal detail… Bravissimo Carlos Alvarez, on top of his spectacular vocal power, full of harmonics, he creates a powerfully deep character, with textbook dramatic and stage determination… José Bros is a luminous vocalist, showing a confident and perfect line of singing.’ L’Opera

“Updating is more or less de rigueur in today's operatic circles and Madrid once again comes up with the goods in a wholly plausible re-siting of Giovanni to 1940s Spain. The transfer of the various scenes is by and large convincing and Lluis Pasquel's perceptive ideas about the characters illuminate afresh the familiar story, with the opera's saturnine side very much to the fore.
Carlos Álvarez, a Giovanni recalling in voice George London in the part, wholly dominates this opera with a nasty, driven reading of the lecher and bully. Like London, he sings with dark-hued intensity throughout. His must be the best Don about today. By his side is Lorenzo Regazzo as Leporello: he proves a wonderfully resourceful actor and singer, and a proper alter ego to his master. Their enactment of the cemetery scene is masterly in all respects.
José Bros is a concerned Ottavio, whose longbreathed 'Il mio tesoro' is a wonder. Much the most exciting of the female singers is Sonia Ganassi's deeply felt, urgently sung Elvira, her 'Mi tradì' a bravura performance. María Bayo seems over-parted and uninteresting as Anna, and the Zerlina is ordinary, as is her Masetto.
Underlining the whole venture is the keenly shaped, fast-moving musical direction of Victor Pablo Pérez, a conductor obviously worth watching. Speeds are on the fast side, welcome in this long work and well tailored to the cast.
The Madrid Symphony is its customary alert self. The same can be said for Robin Lough's video direction.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

‘Armenian soprano Hasmik Papian… portrays her Norma confidently, with lyrical and passionate passages, flexible and temperamental…’ NRC Handelsblad°

“Any production of Norma stands or falls on the performance of the title-role. In this attractive but ultimately bizarre and cold staging, Hasmik Papian proves herself equal to the part's demands. The action is played as if at a dress-rehearsal of the opera. The three principal singers are shown preparing backstage, unpacking their costumes, applying make-up, and it soon becomes clear that the plot of the opera is being reproduced in their own private lives: the prima donna has the mezzo-soprano as her real-life rival for the tenor's affection. Julian Reynolds conducts the Netherlands CO in a satisfyingly vigorous account of this notoriously difficult score.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2006