In this concert, recorded live from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the esteemed Bernard Haitink conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the body he led and developed for a quarter century (1963-88) and with whom his professional relationship dates to 1956, in Mahlers masterly, mammoth Third Symphony, the longest of the composers symphonies, with 6 movements divided in two parts, …
The Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg is one of the most prestigious opera and ballet venues in the world. Built in 1860 and named in honour of Maria Alexandrovna of Hesse-Darmstadt, wife of Czar Alexander II, it is home to the famous Kirov Ballet as well as numerous international stars and ensembles. After the turn of the millennium …
Mauro Bigonzetti, Bruno Moretti & Claudio Monteverdi: Caravaggio [Blu-ray]
Mauro Bigonzetti is one of the leading choreographers of the Italian ballet which freed itself from the predominance of mainly classical opera companies in the 80s. He created his choreographies mainly for the Aterballetto in Reggio Emilia that helped him to fame and worldwide attention. When I think of Caravaggio, I think of the artist and the human …
Elena Kats-Chernin & Claudio Monteverdi: Odysseus, Orpheus & Poppea [Blu-ray]
Monteverdis operas are rightly considered as the fi rst masterpieces in opera history. Much like DNA, they contain all characteristics of todays opera, 400 years later. Elena Kats-Chernin, a successful international composer from Tashkent, used Monteverdis musical material, even though it barely contains any concrete orchestration details, and has provided a new and idiosyncratic instrumentation. Similar to what …
Continuing its tradition of unearthing little-known 20th-century operas, the Bregenz Festival presented the fi rst staged production of Polish- Russian composer Mieczyslaw Weinbergs The Passenger in 2010. Written in 1967/68, the opera relates the chance meeting of a former concentration camp guard and one of her former inmates on an ocean liner years after the war. Bringing the …
The Lautten Compagney, conducted by Wolfgang Katschner, and the Carlo Colla e Figli puppet theatre unite the charm of the stage and of marionettes in this performance of Handels Rinaldo. Carlo Colla e Figli is one of the best-known companies in the world, performing for more than 200 years. Special features interviews and …
Gioachino Rossinis Aureliano in Palmira celebrated its first premiere on 26 December 1813 at La Scala in Milan. Soon afterwards the work was played in different theatres all over Europe. Nevertheless Rossinis piece fell into oblivion more and more compared to its great competitors like Tancredi or the Barber of Seville for which Rossini recycled musical parts …
Giuseppe Verdi: Nabucco 9 (Legendary Performances) [Blu-ray]
Wiener Staatsoper 2001 – After personal tragedies and the fiasco of his last opera Un giorno di regno, Verdi wanted to give up composing for ever. Fortunately he made a further attempt: Nabucco. His fi rst real success, the fi rst genuine ”Verdi opera”, was born. Nabucco the complex story of Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, who proclaims …
Benjamin Britten: Gloriana (Legendary Performances) [Blu-ray]
Gloriana came into being when Benjamin Britten was asked to compose an opera celebrating the Coronation of HRH Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. ¬The tragic relationship between the ageing Queen and the brilliant young Earl of Essex provided Britten with great scope for his strong sense of theatre, the opera combining scenes of great pageantry with moments …
David Pountneys landmark English National Opera, 1986 staging of Antonín Dvoráks haunting fairy tale opera left critics and audiences spellbound. ¬ The production is set in a Victorian nursery where an adolescent girl, on the brink of sensual awakening, dreams of first love. Her story is that of Rusalka the wood nymph who sacrifices all for a …