New Releases

La forza del destino (The Force of Fate), premiered in St. Petersburg 1862, is one of Verdi’s most important opera compositions.

Its plot is complicated and combines a sequence of interlaced unfortunate strokes of fate. Donna Leonora is the centre of events, together with her brother Don Carlo di Vargas and her lover Don Alvaro.

The story was originally set in 18th century Spain, however the French director Nicolas Joël established the action in a slightly later period, in the time of the Empire, the early 19th century.

The 2007 performance at the beautiful Maggio Musicale theatre in Florence, conducted by Zubin Mehta, who is a frequent guest artist there, stars Violeta Urmana as Donna Leonora with Carlo Guelfi and Marcello Giordani as Don Carlo and Don Alvaro.

“The singing and playing are fantastic, and the production is faithful and unobtrusive. [...] To my mind this set now leads the field and takes its place as one of the great Verdi productions [...] A real classic.” MusicWeb International

With Olimpiade the famous poet Metastasio created one of the most popular librettos of the 18th century. It was set to music by over 60 baroque and classical composers including Vivaldi, Caldara, Hasse, Cimarosa and Donizetti. Pergolesi’s composition from 1735 was one of the earliest adaptations.

In the 2011 Jesi production of L’Olimpiade a large part of the auditorium is taken up by a cross-shaped platform. This is where the characters of the drama are introduced, where they elaborate their plans and express their innermost feelings, their sufferings and hopes, while the supreme ritual of the ancient Greek world, the Olympic Games, is celebrated on a distant stage: that event upon which their lives – and all prospects of happiness or otherwise – depend.

L’Olimpiade stars a superb cast of young singers, especially to be named are the ladies in the leading roles – Lyubov Petrova, Yetzabel Arias Fernández, Jennifer Rivera and Sofi a Soloviy – as well as famous Raúl Giménez in the role of King Clistene.

Alessandro De Marchi has been involved in the interpretation of early music for a long time. His orchestra, specialized on the interpretation of baroque and classical compositions on period instruments, Academia Montis Regalis, was also involved in this project.

“It is hard to imagine a happier or more enthralling presentation of [Pergolesi’s] ‘Olimpiade’ ... more natural in the theater than one would think possible.” La Stampa

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1 (DVD)

PCM Stereo, dts-HD Master

Audio 5.1 (Blu-ray)

Picture Format: 16:9, 1080i FULL HD

Format: DVD 9 & DVD 5 / NTSC, 50 GB (Dual Layer)

Subtitle Languages: IT (Original Language),

GB, DE, FR, ES, JP, Korean

Running Time: 170 mins

World Premiere Recording

„It can be truly said of Adelaide di Borgogna that, like a rose, it bloomed but a day - l’espace d’un matin.” First performed in Rome on the 27th December 1817, it enjoyed very few revivals. In 2011 the Rossini Festival in Pesaro presented the second staged performance of Adelaide di Borgogna since 1825.

The story of the opera was taken from a historical event that took place in the medieval period, marking the end of an independent Italian kingdom and leading to the birth of the German Holy Roman Empire through the efforts of Otto I of Saxony. Caught between political rivalry and the love of two men, Adelaide of Burgundy struggles to fight for her people and chooses Otto, the better ruler, for herself and her kingdom.

Adelaide stars sought-after mezzo Daniela Barcellona as Ottone, young Australian soprano Jessica Pratt, who possesses a natural-born bel canto voice, in the role of Adelaide, and Bogdan Mihai gives proof of his versatile coloratura-tenor.

Director Pier’ Alli devised a modern, stylish look for his production, which interweaves medieval aspects with ironically used elements from the time of the opera’s genesis. His video installations create a beautifully abstract world for Rossini’s colourful music.

SPECIAL FEATURE: Making Of Adelaide di Borgogna

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9, 1080i FULL HD

25 GB (Single Layer)

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

Running Time: 137 mins + 17 mins (Bonus)

FSK: 0

World Premiere Recording.

Pergolesi’s first opera “La Salustia” is filled with emotions and dramatic elements. It portrays the battle of two women, their struggle for power and justice. Further, it is the story of failing deceitful plots and mistrust.

Salustia is the strong empress, wife of the Roman emperor Alessandro, whose mother-in-law Giulia would rather see dead than accept as ruler. Strangely however, it is Salustia who saves Giulia from her own death more than once. She fights not only for her own justice – ruling together with her love Alessandro – but also for justice amongst all the other battling parties. At the end she is rewarded for her moral strength. The drama around the unbreakable Salustia takes its course in the setting of ancient Rome. Young French director Juliette Deschamps, known for various opera productions in Jesi, made the old story come alive on a stage that suggests an ancient palace with large windows, later on the coliseum. The cast features well-loved Pergolesi interpreters such as Serena Malfi, Laura Polverelli or Vittorio Prato. The Accademia Barocca de I Musici Italiani, well-known for productions in historic performance practice, are led by Corrado Rovaris. This is a world premiere recording of one of the very few Salustia-productions that exist worldwide.

Choreography PATRICE BART after JEAN CORALLY and JULES PERROT

Costumes & Sets ANGELO SALA

Patrice Bart’s choreography for the Teatro alla Scala in Milan alludes to the original by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, who had created it for the Paris Opera ballet company. The costumes and sets by Angelo Sala, reconstructions of those designed by Alexandre Benois at the beginning of the 20th century for Sergei Diaghilev and his “Ballets russes”, succeed in evoking the unique flair of the originals. The orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala under Paul Conelly interpret Adolphe Adam’s colourful score masterfully and in perfect correlation with the magical images presented on stage.

The Italian prima-ballerina Alessandra Ferri is to be acknowledged especially amongst all of the brilliant performers. She is doubtless the star of this traditionally based new production of the well-loved ballet classic Giselle – one of the most famous Romantic ballets of all time.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9 NTSC

Running Time: 116 mins

FSK: 0

World Premiere Recording.

Pergolesi’s first opera “La Salustia” is filled with emotions and dramatic elements. It portrays the battle of two women, their struggle for power and justice. Further, it is the story of failing deceitful plots and mistrust.

Salustia is the strong empress, wife of the Roman emperor Alessandro, whose mother-in-law Giulia would rather see dead than accept as ruler. Strangely however, it is Salustia who saves Giulia from her own death more than once. She fights not only for her own justice – ruling together with her love Alessandro – but also for justice amongst all the other battling parties. At the end she is rewarded for her moral strength. The drama around the unbreakable Salustia takes its course in the setting of ancient Rome. Young French director Juliette Deschamps, known for various opera productions in Jesi, made the old story come alive on a stage that suggests an ancient palace with large windows, later on the coliseum. The cast features well-loved Pergolesi interpreters such as Serena Malfi, Laura Polverelli or Vittorio Prato. The Accademia Barocca de I Musici Italiani, well-known for productions in historic performance practice, are led by Corrado Rovaris. This is a world premiere recording of one of the very few Salustia-productions that exist worldwide.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1 (DVD)

Format: DVD 5 + DVD 9, NTSC, 50 GB (Double Layer)

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

Running Time: 185 mins

FSK: 0

This film tells the story of one of the greatest and most controversial conductors of the 20th century. The Hungarian born Georg Solti had huge drive, energy and ambition.

A combination of willpower and extraordinary talent took him to the peak of musical power and prestige. It shows how Solti took music making in opera houses and orchestras to new levels, how he harnessed recording, and later television, to reach out to new audiences and how he nurtured remarkable new talent through a winning, if not always endearing, combination of ambition, technique, charm, sheer-bloody mindedness and genius. The film includes remarkably candid interviews which Solti gave just before his death, in which he talked with great honesty about his life, his challenges and achievements. It also includes new interviews with artists and musicians who worked closely with him.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 5 NTSC

Audio Language: GB

Subtitle Languages: DE, FR, ES, JP

Running Time: 59 mins

FSK: 0

Set and Costume Design by LESLIE TRAVERS

WHY JENUFA?

We can talk about a moving drama set to wonderful music, or constantly recall the tragic realities of our own time, honour killings being among them. Not long ago this was a controversial work by a composer from the European margin. Today this opera about strong yet vulnerable women, seemingly bearers of their own repression, is recognized as one of the great masterpieces in the opera repertoire. It was created by a radical young female playwright, who preferred to write about other peoples‘ lives rather than her own, and a male composer, passionate up to old age about new aspects of man and human existence. Why does one want others to be hit by Jenufa – a tragedy of “ordinary human beings” that affects deeply, beyond historical and cultural differences? A strong music drama of unsentimental compassion – how could one not want to share it with as many people as possible?

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: GB, DE, FR, Svenska

Running Time: 121 mins

FSK: 0

World Premiere Recording.

Libretto by Wolfgang Rihm after Friedrich Hölderlin’s translation of Sophokles “Oedipus der Tyrann” and texts by Friedrich Nietzsche and Heiner Müller As one of the most versatile and best-known contemporary German composers, Wolfgang Rihm has always impressed and shocked with the powerful expressiveness of his music. And his “Oedipus”, originally commissioned by the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1987 has lost nothing of its musical impact over the years. Rihm’s opera – in an impressive production by the intendant and principal director at the time, Götz Friedrich, with baritone Andreas Schmidt (at the start of his international career) in the title role – was praised by audiences and critics alike. Schmidt was subsequently not only much in demand as a performer of the classical repertoire and a lieder recitalist but also gained a reputation for his interpretations of works by other contemporary composers ranging from Hans Werner Henze to Peter Ruzicka.

The literary figure of Oedipus – the man who unknowingly killed his father and fathered four children with his mother, thereby fulfi lling the prophecy of the oracle – is a staple of western culture. The process by which he develops towards eventual recognition of his guilt is a painful one. In the end, Oedipus punishes himself in a theatrical gesture by gouging out his eyes. With its exploration of the theme of guilt and responsibility it is a legend that never fails to fascinate – and is ideal material for the operatic stage.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

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

Running Time: 105 mins

FSK: 0

Sets and Costumes by ANNA VIEBROCK

With „Alcina“ Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito show how modern Handel can be. The production is fascinating, definitive and full of eroticism. Helene Schneiderman is absolutely overwhelming as Ruggiero‘s fi ancée and the brilliant soprano Catherine Naglestad is more blissful than seductive. Directors Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito and conductor Alan Hacker rendered the baroque opera a fascinating masterpiece of sensuality and singing which fi lled the audience with enthusiasm at the premiere in Stuttgart.

In the 1734-1735 season Handel published both “Ariodante” and “Alcina” for the Covent Garden Theatre. The libretti of the two operas illustrate episodes from Orlando furioso (1516/32) by Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533). This marvellous epic poem, which makes free use of the handed-down images of the chivalrous world of medieval knights, was for several centuries the standard model for the genre of heroic-comic verse narrative as employed by Voltaire and Wieland and of which later echoes can be heard in the works of Byron, Musset and Pushkin.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

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

Running Time: 159 mins

FSK: 6