TCHAIKOVSKY
The Sleeping Beauty (complete ballet recorded in 2004) The Dutch National Ballet / Sir Peter Wright / Marius Petipa / Philip Prowse / Sofiane Sylve / Gael Lambiotte [ Opus Arte / Kultur / 2 DVD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] G :- Tchaikovsky and Petipa's timeless ballet - acknowledged to be the most pure and demanding piece in the classic romantic repertoire - brings out Petipa's rich dance vocabulary with the sparkling virtuosity a superb performance needs. |
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG
Schoenberg: Gurrelieder (Complete 'opera' recorded in 2016) BLU-RAY Dutch National Opera / Burkhard Fritz, Emily Magee, Anna Larsson, Markus Marquard / Marc Albrecht (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Mar/2017 ] Begun in the year 1900, amidst the art nouveau curlicues of Klimt and the Jugendstil, Schönberg's grand cantata is written in a lush, late-romantic style indebted to Wagner and Mahler and pre-dating his pioneering atonal works. This setting of the... |
STEFANO LANDI
Landi: Morte d'Orfeo (complete opera recorded in 2018) Dutch National Opera / Cecilia Molinari, Renato Dolcini, Alexander Miminoshvili, Gaia Petrone / Christophe Rousset, conductor [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 20/May/2020 ] Stefano Landi wrote the operas La morte d'Orfeo (1619) and Il Sant'Alessio (1632), as well as masses, psalms, madrigals and arias. He was maestro di cappella in Padua and Rome, and later a singer in the Sistine Chapel. |
STEFANO LANDI
Landi: Morte d'Orfeo (complete opera recorded in 2018) BLU-RAY Dutch National Opera / Cecilia Molinari, Renato Dolcini, Alexander Miminoshvili, Gaia Petrone / Christophe Rousset, conductor [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/May/2020 ] La morte d'Orfeo is regarded as the first Roman-style secular opera and is considered a milestone in the development of the genre opera as a whole. The substantial ensemble numbers are typical of the Roman opera style. |
ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINCK
Humperdinck: Konigskinder [The King's Children] (complete opera recorded in 2022) Dutch National Opera / Daniel Behle, Olga Kulchynska, Josef Wagner, Doris Soffel / Marc Albrecht (cond) [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 11/Aug/2023 ] Hänsel und Gretel brought Humperdinck worldwide fame but his tragic fairy storybrought Humperdinck worldwide fame but his tragic fairy story KönigskinderKönigskinder ('The King's Children') offers a stark contrast to it and has only begun to be... |
ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINCK
Humperdinck: Konigskinder [The King's Children] (complete opera recorded in 2022) BLU-RAY Dutch National Opera / Daniel Behle, Olga Kulchynska, Josef Wagner, Doris Soffel / Marc Albrecht (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 11/Aug/2023 ] Hänsel und Gretel brought Humperdinck worldwide fame but his tragic fairy storybrought Humperdinck worldwide fame but his tragic fairy story KönigskinderKönigskinder ('The King's Children') offers a stark contrast to it and has only begun to be... |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Tosca (complete opera recorded in 2022) Dutch National Opera / Malin Byström, Joshua Guerrero, Gevorg Hakobyan / Lorenzo Viotti (cond) [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 14/Apr/2023 ] "...this must be one of the bloodiest Toscas shown on stage, in a world where the characters' Christian faith is clearly a personal defence against the horror of the tyranny under which they live." Gramophone Editor's Choice July 2023 |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Die Zauberflote (complete opera recorded in 2014) Dutch National Opera / Maximilian Schmitt, Christina Landshamer, Thomas Oliemans, Brindley Sherratt, Íride Martínez / Marc Albrecht (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/May/2015 ] "It is sparkily conducted in light, historically aware tempi by Marc Albrecht, and acted and sung as a tightly worked ensemble piece....Subtle touches ease what we now find chauvinist and racist in the original...Ingenious. Recommended." (Gramophone) |
W. A. MOZART
Die Zauberflote [The Magic Flue] (completeopera recorded in 2014) BLU-RAY Dutch National Opera / Maximilian Schmitt, Christina Landshamer, Thomas Oliemans, Brindley Sherratt, Íride Martínez / Marc Albrecht (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/May/2015 ] "Subtle touches ease what we now find chauvinist and racist in the original...Ingenious. Recommended." (Gramophone Blu-ray of the Month May 2015) |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOSVKY
Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame (complete opera recorded in 2017) Dutch National Opera / Misha Didyk, Alexey Markov, Vladimir Stoyanov / Mariss Jansons (cond) [ C Major DVD / DVD - released 1/Jun/2018 ] "Musically, standards are extremely high, led by Mariss Jansons's inspired presence in the pit...Aksenova sings a steely Lisa...Diadkova is remarkable as the Countess - singing rather than growling her role." Gramophone |
EDUARDAS BALSYS
Eduardas: Violin Concerto No. 1 / Dramatic Frescoes / Reflections of the Sea Dzeraldas Bidva (violin), Indre Baikstyte (piano), Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Modestas Pitrenas [ Ondine / CD - released 2/Apr/2021 ] This new album introduces to international audience the music of Eduardas Balsys (1919-1984), a key figure in Lithuania's music from the 1950s until his death in 1984. This album release by the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra conducted by... |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss, (R,): Symphony No. 2, Op. 12 / Romanze in F major / Six Songs, Op. 68 Eileen Hulse (soprano) Raphael Wallfisch (cello) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Neeme Jarvi (conductor) [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 12/Oct/2004 ] 'Järvis Strauss series is an important set of recordings that will hold an honoured place alongside Chandos Prokofiev and Bax cycles.' Fanfare |
ARTHUR SULLIVAN
Sullivan: The Beauty Stone (complete opera) Elin Manahan Thomas, Toby Spence, Rebecca Evans, Alan Opie, Stephen Gadd, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Richard Suart / BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Rory [ Chandos Classics / 2 CD - released 15/Nov/2013 ] "It has never been recorded by professional singers before, and Rory Macdonald seems to have prepared with academic scrupulousness...it's very strongly cast, too, but there's no sense of an important rediscovery here." (Guardian) |
GIACOMO MEYERBEER
Meyerbeer: L'étoile du nord (complete opera) Elizabeth Futral, Darina Takova, Agnete Munk Rasmussen, Patrizia Cigna, Juan Diego Flórez / National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Vladimir Jurowski [ Naxos / 3 CD Box Set - released 13/May/2022 ] After composing a spectacular series of grand operas for the Paris Opéra, Meyerbeer turned to two comic operas with spoken dialogue. One of these was L'Étoile du Nord ('The North Star'). |
ALVARS / ALBRECHTSBERGER / SAINT-SAENS
Harp Concertos Elizabeth Hainen (harp) / Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra / Rossen Milanov [ Avie Records / CD - released 2/May/2011 ] "a complete harpist who knows and uses her instrument's strength and brilliance and strikes its fire" - Miami Herald |
JANACEK
Jenufa (Complete opera in English) Elizabeth Vaughan; Nigel Robson; Dame Josephine Barstow / Orchestra and Chorus of Welsh National Opera. Sir Charles Mackerras [ Chandos / 2 CD - released 1/May/2004 ] "There are few opera composers whose language seems totally to defy time and remain as startlingly new and potent 100 years on. Janá?ek is one of them and his Jen<=fa of 1904 is as powerful today as it must have been a century ago. In the hands of... |
EDGARD VARESE
Orchestral Works Vol 2 (Incls 'Ameriques' & 'Ionisation') Elizabeth Watts (soprano) Maria Grochowska (flute) Thomas Bloch (Ondes MArtenot) / Polish National Orchestra / Christopher Lyndon-Gee [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Jun/2008 ] "An excellent disc, which serves as a welcome introduction to the work of this largely under-valued composer. Varèse's music divulges a creative genius who was undoubtedly a long way ahead of his time, and one can only listen in awe at his work. The... |
JOHN PICKARD
Pickard: Symphonies 2 & 6; Verlaine Songs Emma Tring (soloist) BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martyn Brabbins [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 3/May/2024 ] John Pickard is best known for his powerful orchestral and instrumental works, and his music has been widely praised for its large-scale sense of architecture and bold handling of an extended tonal idiom. This recording brings together three works... |
ADOLPHE ADAM
Adam: Le Corsaire (complete ballet recorded August 2014) English National Ballet / Alina Cojocaru, Vadim Muntagirov, Erina Takahashi / Gavin Sutherland (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/May/2015 ] Set in the exotic surroundings of the Ottoman Empire and with a narrative encompassing abduction, murder and shipwreck, Le Corsaire is a swashbuckling pirate drama that delights for its spectacular nature and which includes some of the most bravura... |