DVDs Page 6
Hans Heiling
Markus Werba; Anna Caterina Antonacci; Herbert Lippert; Gabriele Fontana
Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari/Renato Palumbo
Approx. 186 mins, Subtitled in Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese
An opera with a rich vein of musical ideas; sumptuous and original sets; a little-known German Romantic composer; high-level interpreters (among them Anna Caterina Antonacci, a star of international renown): these are the ingredients of Hans Heiling, staged in 2004 in Cagliari under the scrupulous and refined baton of Renato Palumbo. There is no doubt that this timeless story of gnomes and spirits, love and suffering, supernatural powers and mortal beauty will captivate many opera lovers. (2 DVDs)
33467
 $29.99
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Les Contes d’Hoffmann
Vincenzo La Scola, tenor; Ruggero Raimondi, bass-baritone; Desirée Rancatore, soprano; Sara Allegretta, soprano; Annalisa Raspagliosi, soprano
Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana/Frédéric Chaslin
Pier Luigi Pizzi, director, set and costume designer
Approx. 155 mins
Subtitled in Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese
Les Contes d’Hoffmann is a great, unfinished masterpiece. In 1880 Hoffenbach’s health began to deteriorate rapidly. Les Contes d’Hoffmann had already been programmed for the 1880/81 season of the Opéra-Comique but Offenbach was having a hard time finishing it and worked only in the moments of respite from his illness. He died on October 5th, leaving the opera incomplete (we still do not know to what extent). And so Ernest Guiraud, a “specialist” who had already transformed into recitatives the spoken parts of Bizet’s Carmen, was called to finish the task. The opera was first staged at the Opéra-Comique on 10th February 1881 and met with great success. Soon it was being performed in the most important theatres of the world. Dynamic’s edition has an Italian cast of exceptional quality, in which stand out the amazing voice of Desirée Rancatore, the extraordinary artistry of Ruggiero Raimondi and the fascinating direction of Pier Luigi Pizzi.Pizzi, one of today’s most creative directors. (2 DVDs)
33470
$29.99
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Pia De’ Tolomei
Patrizia Ciofi, soprano; Dario Schmunck, tenor; Andreas Schroeder, baritone; Laura Polverelli, mezzo; Daniel Borowski; Francesco Meli; Clara Polito; Carlo Gigni; Luca Favaron
Teatro La Fenice di Venezia/Paolo Arrivabeni
Christian Gangneron, director
Approx. 137 mins
Subtitled in Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese
In recent years not only music festivals but also important opera theatres have turned their attention towards the neglected masterpieces of the lyrical repertoire. Thus also Venice’s Teatro La Fenice, in a commendable effort, staged this Pia de’ Tolomei by Donizetti, with some of the best singers available today for this type of repertoire. Initial response to this opera, which was performed for the first time in 1837, was ambiguous, so much so that Donizetti re-worked it as many as three times. The version here recorded is that of the critical edition recently published by Ricordi, with the tragic finale originally conceived by the composer. The listener will undoubtedly wonder, once more, at Donizetti’s wealth of melodic inspiration, especially when it comes to the character of Pia, wonderfully interpreted, here, by Patrizia Ciofi. Subtitles in 7 languages. First DVD recording. First recording of the new critical edition. (2 DVDs) .
33488
$29.99
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Maometto Secondo
Lorenzo Regazzo; Fedrico Lepre; Carmen Giannatasio; Maxim Mironov; Anna Rita Gemmabella; Nicola Marchesini
Teatro La Fenice di Venzia/Claudio Scimone
Pier Luigi Pizzi, director
Approx. 174 mins.
Subtitled in Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese
It was customary for Rossini to modify his scores and develop second and third versions for theatres that wanted to stage his operas. The Maometto II here corresponds only in part to the original score (Naples, 1820), which is the version generally performed nowadays; it is, instead, the revision made for Venice’s Teatro La Fenice staged on December 26, 1822 as opening title of the 1823 Carnival season, the same season which, on February 3rd, would also see the debut of Semiramide. For Venice Rossini tried to soften the monolithic character of his Neapolitan score, introducing an opening symphony, making changes – some of them quite substantial – to the score and, especially, giving the plot a happy ending. The title role is sung by the young Italian bass Lorenzo Regazzo, internationally renowned; Claudio Scimone, on the podium, is responsible for the revision of the score. (2 DVDs)
33492.
$29.99
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La Roi de Lahore
Giuseppe Gipali; Ana Maria Sanchea; Vladimir Stoyanov; Riccardo Zanellato; Federica Sacchi; Cristina Sogmaister; Riccardo Zanellato; Carlo Agostini
Orchestra e Coro de la Teatro La Fenice di Venezia/Marcello Viotti
Aprox. 160 mins
Subtitled in Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese
Every operatic composer has a title that marks a turning point, one that raises him to sudden fame. For Bellini, in 1827, this was Il Pirata, for Verdi, in 1842, Nabucco. For Massenet this opera was Le Roi de Lahore. Performed for the first time in 1877 at the Palais Garnier to a resounding success - the opera ran to 57 performances in the great Paris opera house within two years – this work contains all the characteristic elements of grand-opéra: marches and solemn processions, a ballet, use of countless extras, spectacular choral scenes, concertante sections of great length, a general exotic tint that was much appreciated at the time and a great wealth of melodic invention. The present Venetian production features a high quality cast and documents the last performance of the late conductor Marcello Viotti, who had made the critical edition of the score. (2 DVDs for the price of 1)
33487
 $27.95
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Norma
Dimitra Theodossiou; Nidia Palacios; Carlo Ventre; Riccardo Zanellato
Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania/Giuliano Carella
Walter Pagliaro, director
Subtitled in Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, & Japanese
Bellini, unlike many of his colleagues - among them Donizetti - did not have to endure the disappointments and difficulties of rising from the ranks. His Bianca e Gernando, in 1826, was well received at Naples's Teatro San Carlo, and one year later, at the age of twenty-six, the composer triumphed at Milan's La Scala with Il Pirata. Norma is not only the high point of Bellini's artistic parabola but also the quintessence of Italian belcanto. The present DVD was recorded at the Massimo Bellini theatre of Catania, native town of the great Sicilian composer, and features, in the title role, the famous Greek soprano Dimitra Theodossiou, one of today's best interpreters of Norma. Subtitles in 6 languages (Italian, English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese). (2 DVDs)
33493
 $29.95
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Idomeneo
Kurt Streit; Angeles Blancas Gulin; Iano Tamar; Sonia Ganassi; Jorg Schneider; Dario Magnabosco; Deyan Vatchkov; Antonietta Bellone; Lucia Gaeta; Carmine Durante; Carmine Mennella
Orchestra e Coro del Teatro San Carlo di Napoli/Maroc Guidarini
Subtitled in Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese
Even though in recent years Idomeneo has been staged more frequently, this Mozart masterpiece can hardly be counted among the operas (the Da Ponte trilogy in primis) that made of the Salzburg composer one of the greatest operatic composers of all times. Yet Idomeneo was, in its day, a revolutionary work, animated by music that appears remarkably innovative and profoundly theatrical. This double DVD set presents the Teatro San Carlo of Naples's staging, signed by Pier Luigi Pizzi, one of today's most creative directors. Marco Guidarini, on the podium, conducts a cast of international renown. (2 DVDs)
33463.
$27.95
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La Giaconda
Recorded at Arena di Verona, Italy, June 17th, 2005
Subtitled in Italian, English, French, German & Japanese
Gioconda, an opera that is rarely performed (except for the famous Dance of the Hours, featured in Walt Disney's Fantasia) brings back memories to Arena di Verona concert-goers: it was iin La Gioconda that Maria Callas debuted at that venue on 2nd August 1947. Pier Luigi Pizzi is the director, set and costume designer of this truly beautiful staging, made in co-production with Barcelona's Teatro Eliseo and Madrid's Teatro Real. In the cast are Andrea Gruber, Carlo Colombara, Marco Berti, Ildiko Komlosi, Elisabetta Fiorillo and, debuting in the Dance of the Hours, the dancer Roberto Bolle, star of La Scala. This music, on which Ponchielli worked for 26 years, seems to prefigure Puccini while, at the same time, echoing Verdi. None of the operas that Ponchielli wrote after Gioconda was as successful, and none attained such intense and dramatic lyricism. The opera was filmed in High Definition (HDTV) (2 DVDs)
33500
$29.95
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Bianca e Falliero
Maria Bayo; Daniela Barcellona; Francesco Meli; Carlo Lepore. Prague Chamber Choir. Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia/Renato Palumbo
Jean-Louis Martinoty, director
Subtitled in Italian, English, French, German & Japanese
FILMED IN HIGH DEFINITION
WORLD PREMIERE DVD RECORDING!!! (2 DVDs)
This first DVD in the history of the Rossini Opera Festival, was recorded live in high definition in 2005. Composed for La Scala in Milan in 1819, Bianca e Falliero is an opera of extraordinary dramatic originality, rich in highly spectacular stage solutions, and a fundamental work for our understanding of the full significance of the authentic revolution that the composer from Pesaro brought about in opera; a revolution that was destined to have a decisive influence on the development of Italian opera in the nineteenth century.
33501
 $28.99
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