All recordingsPrices shown exclude VAT. (UK tax is not payable for deliveries to United States.) See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Verdi: Luisa Miller
Lilian Sukis (Luisa), Giuseppe Taddei (Miller), Bonaldo Giaiotti (Graf von Walter), Franco Bonisolli (Rodolfo), Christa Ludwig (Federica), Malcolm Smith (Wurm), Milkana Nikolova (Laura) & Horst Nitsche (Bauer) Chorus & Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, Alberto Erede The first performance at the Vienna State Opera of Verdi’s rarely played drama of love and deadly intrigue. Musically superb, it has a protagonist possessed of a virginal tone in both timbre and expression, three of the best Italian male singers of their generation, first-rate singers in the secondary roles, and a conductor at home both north and south of the Alps and thus ideally suited to the work. It took a long time – more than 120 years – before Vienna’s opera fans were able to experience Verdi’s Luisa Miller (based on the spoken drama Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich Schiller) in its original Italian. This first performance did not take place until January 1974, though the impressive cast assembled for it could be said to have made up for the fact. It is this production that can now be heard on CD. Under the baton of Alberto Erede, the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera gave a superb performance such as is sadly all-too-rare for Verdi’s early and middle-period works. The instrumental tone is supple and full of colour across the whole orchestra, which plays as it were in ‘high definition’, whether at dramatic climaxes or when accompanying the singers. But the protagonists themselves could hold their own too. Lilian Sukis sang the title role of the bourgeois girl Luisa – innocence personified, but doomed by the intrigues of her lover’s aristocratic family. Sukis was from Canada and had already in the 1960s sung at the New York Met. She here gives impressive proof of why she also acquired an excellent reputation in Europe as a lyric soprano. Her slender, but always open, floating voice is a joy in this portrayal of a young girl; here, any artificiality or affectation in the high notes would have been doubly damning. The role of the count’s son Rodolfo is played with lyric-dramatic aplomb by Franco Bonisolli, though without sacrificing nuance or elegance of tone in favour of his brilliant top notes. Giuseppe Taddei was ideal for the role of Miller, finding just the right tone for both the tender love of Luisa’s father and for his anger at those whom society has placed above him, and who misuse their position shamelessly to their own advantage. The villain in question, Count Walter, was given music by Verdi that was almost too “beautiful” for him, though this is no problem in Bonaldo Giaiotti’s authoritative characterization. And that even this powerful man is manipulated by his own secretary is evident from the portrayal by Malcolm Smith, whose bass voice is no less memorable. This extravagantly gifted team of singers is completed by Christa Ludwig as Rodolfo’s fiancée, Federica. She has a brief role with just two appearances, but Ludwig’s unmistakeable mezzo-soprano allows her to convey in succinct fashion the human aspect of this character, swaying as she does between sympathy and jealousy. | 
| | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Verdi: Luisa Miller
Aprile Millo, Plácido Domingo & Vladimir Chernov Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra, James Levine Each release includes a booklet with a three-language synopsis (English/French/German), full cast list and detailed track list. | 
| | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Verdi: Luisa MillerLibretto by Salvatore CammaranoDirector: Arnaud Bernard / Sets: Alessandro Camera and Video director: Tiziano Mancini
Darina Takova (soprano), Giuseppe Sabbatini (tenor), Alexander Vinogradov (bass), Damiano Salerno (baritone), Ursula Ferri (contralto), Arutjun Kotchinian (bass), Luca Favaron (tenor) & Elisabetta Martorana (soprano) Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro La Fenice, Maurizio Benini Subtitles: Italian and English. Filmed at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice, Italy, May 2006 “This mediocre opera needs stronger atmosphere than it gets in this strangely monumental staging for a domestic drama. The singing and conducting is strong, but it is more convincing to just listen than to watch.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2009 **** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |  | Verdi: Luisa Miller
Luciano Pavarotti, Gilda Cruz Romo, Raffaele Arié, Ferrucio Mazzoli, Matteo Manuguerra, Cristina Angelakova, Anna di Stasio & Walter Artioli Chorus & Orchestra of the Sinfonica RAI of Turin, Peter Maag | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
|
|
| |  | Verdi: Luisa Miller
Montserrat Caballé, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, Bonaldo Giaiotti, Richard Van Allan, Anna Reynolds, Annette Céline & Fernando Pavarotti London Opera Chorus & National Philharmonic Orchestra, Peter Maag "Caballé gives a splendidly dramatic portrait of the heroine and Pavarotti's performance is full of creative, detailed imagination. Maag's sympathetic reading, by underlining the light and shade, consistently brings out the atmospheric qualities of Verdi's conception ... brilliantly played and vividly recorded."
The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs “Verdi's early score receives here one of its best studio accounts, with Caballé splendid in the title role, Pavarotti stylistically apt as her lover and Sherrill Milnes reliable as her father. Maag is the committed conductor.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2007 **** | | | This item is currently out of stock at the UK distributor. You may order it now but please be aware that it may be six weeks or more before it can be despatched. |
|
|
| |  | Verdi: Luisa Miller
Mara Zampieri, Gianfranco Cecchele, Giorgio Zancanaro, Jone Josi & Carlo De Bortoli Orchestra Stabile della Emilia Romagna, Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |  | Verdi: Luisa Miller
Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Bonaldo Giaiotti, James Moris, Jean Kraft, Ariel Bybee & Dale Daldwell Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, James Levine Live from the MET January 20, 1979 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| | Verdi: Luisa Miller(complete opera)
Giacomo Vaghi, Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, Miti Truccato-Pace, Duilio Baronti, Scipio Colombo, Lucy Kelston, Grazia Colarescu Orchestra Sinfonica, Mario Rossi | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
|
|
| |  | Verdi: Luisa Miller(complete opera)
Gwynne Howell, Plácido Domingo, Elena Obraztsova, Wladimiro Ganzarolli, Renato Bruson, Katia Ricciarelli, Audrey Michael, Luigi de Corato Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Lorin Maazel | | | This item is currently out of stock at the UK distributor. You may order it now but please be aware that it may be six weeks or more before it can be despatched. |
|
|
| |  | Verdi: Luisa Miller
Ahlersmeyer (Mathieu), Böhme (Kurt), Berliner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester, Cebotari (Maria), Chor der Staatsoper Dresden, Eipperle (Trude), Grossmann (Walter), Hann (Georg ), Herrmann (Josef), Hopf (Hans), Rott (Helena) Sächsische Staatskapelle, Elmendorff (Karl), Rother (Artur) | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |
|