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hm
a little lack of sim bio
cym baeo
sym
it doesn't work that well together.
I'll have to come back to this one. One day.
Sorry, that's all I've got.
Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea
Philippe Jaroussky (Nerone), Danielle de Niese (Poppea), Anna Bonitatibus (Ottavia), Max Emanuel Cencic (Ottone)
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Teatro Real, Madrid, May 2010
Les Arts Florissants and William Christie are opera Gods. That's what I'm going to put on the next national census under religion.
After Poppea has secured the trophy, nurse asks Christie for some new harmonies and Christie responds by blowing her a kiss! Brilliant.
This is an excellent production, on top of Les Arts Florissants and William Christie, there are superb performances from Phillipe Jaroussky (it's performances like this where Almaviva is probably thinking Jaroussky is one of the greatest male performers on stage today) and Danielle de Niese. It is a different Danielle from the one who performed in the 2006 Glyndebourne Giulio. This one is rather more developed, much greater depth and expression in her voice though still the same superstar charisma. There is a little ambiguity in her Poppea but I like it.
Anna Bonitatibus brings us a Ottavia sad, angry, heavy heart, pathetic and beautiful. Wonderful. A good cast through out actually.
The staging is very impressive and the costumes are a bit hit and miss (though more hit).
Yes I enjoyed that very much.
hm
a little lack of sim bio
cym baeo
sym
it doesn't work that well together.
I'll have to come back to this one. One day.
Sorry, that's all I've got.
Mozart : Die Zauberflote.
Fabulous cast:
Popp/ Gruberova/ Aaraiza/ Moll
Wonderful production to
Yes, that is a fabulous cast and very cool dragon ! I found it on utube with good sound and picture. I want to watch it now but I have to get some work done.
Last edited by Soave_Fanciulla; January 4th, 2018 at 09:21 PM.
This just arrived. Watched first half hour and so far it is very wonderful. Queen of England definitely looks mean and nasty (good make up job and good acting).
"Music is enought for a whole lifetime--but a lifetime is not enough for music." --Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff
Please let us know about the rest as well!Originally Posted by Florestan
Rimsky Korsakov: The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia
Recorded live at the De Nederlandse Opera, February 2012
Svetlana Ignatovich (Fevroniya), John Daszak (Grishka Kuterma), Vladimir Vaneev (Prince Yuriy Vsevolodovich), Maxim Aksenov (Prince Vsevolod Yuryevich), Ante Jerkunica (Bedyay), Vladimir Ognovenko (Burunday), Alexey Markov (Fyodor Poyarok) & Mayram Sokolova (Page)
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus of Netherlands Opera, Marc Albrecht (conductor) & Dmitri Tcherniakov (director)
Very, very good performance by the Netherlands Philharmonic and the chorus with also very, very good treatment by Albrecht who brings out all the very best of Rimsky-Korsakov's beautiful music. So beautifully performed, if I was any less of a butch geezer it could have brought tears to my eyes just listening.
Handsome Prince Vsevolod but near perfect Fevroniya; beautiful, pure, love, hope, faith, charity, angelic and just all round fairytale beautiful. The performance of Svetlana Ignatovich alone makes this a must buy for all TLOTICOKATMF fans.
The first act is also very beautifully presented, warm and delicious with wheat (who doesn't love the sight of wheat?), honey, milk and apples. It's a lovely fairytale opening.
After that I'm afraid the stage dramatization removes the fairy from fairytale. Then we just simply have a tale. And a pretty messy one at that. All TLOTICOKATMF fans be warned it is a bit of a shocker but as I said, the music is magical. Worth the buy even if you do turn the video off after act one.
This is a superb Maria! Just look at the cast: it's strong across the board, especially the two lead women, Antonacci and Devia.This just arrived. Watched first half hour and so far it is very wonderful. Queen of England definitely looks mean and nasty (good make up job and good acting).
Just posted it on the Complete Operas On You Tube Thread.
"Music is enought for a whole lifetime--but a lifetime is not enough for music." --Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff
Donizetti : la Fille du Regiment.
Joan Sutherland/ Anson Austin as main principals
Recorded at 1986 La Stupenda was 60 at that time.
She steals the show despite that age.
Funny, and vocally still very acceptable.
Last night we watched the SFO's 2011 Lucrezia Borgia, one of Donizetti's best efforts IMHO. The cast is uniformly excellent and Riccado Frizza is at his usual high level of conducting.
Saariaho: L'Amour de loin
Directed by Peter Sellars
Dawn Upshaw, Monica Groop & Gerald Finley
Finnish National Opera, Esa-Pekka Salonen
This is a very good opera and a very good DVD. It is hovering between this thread and the desert island DVDs thread.
I'm going to stop saying "a must for all Gerald Finley fans" until he sends me a free ticket to his next London gig but his performance and Dawn Upshaw and Monica Groop are all brilliant here.
The opera is a good old fashioned love story, in fact it's so old it is based on a tale from the twelfth century. It has the does he/she love me, what did he/she say, shall I call him/her first (oh okay, I made that last bit up) of all young love stories set to some fantastic music with a very organic feel. It is quite intense, almost relentless with the attention is draws, all the way through changing from quite dramatic emotions to soft romances with a range of colours in between.
The stage is quite brilliant here too (everything about this is brilliant), complimenting the music and story very well and is visually very exciting (and if I had a Chelsea footballer's mansion I would want that boat in my living room).
Oh so thrilling.
@ Clayton - great, I'm so thrilled that you loved this contemporary opera! I agree with you that it is brilliant. This post qualifies as a review of this DVD, so I think you should also post a copy of it in our Modern and Contemporary Opera DVD review thread.
"J'ai dit qu'il ne suffisait pas d'entendre la musique, mais qu'il fallait encore la voir" (Stravinsky)
What do you mean by that? What is turn-offish about what happens after act one? I'm asking because I'm considering the purchase. This is an opera I've never seen/heard and I need to patch the gap in my exposure. Should I buy it?
"J'ai dit qu'il ne suffisait pas d'entendre la musique, mais qu'il fallait encore la voir" (Stravinsky)
I think Almaviva might be okay with it; it is just a bit too violent for me and I think all this gratuitous imagery just removes a bit of the magic of the fairytale. I like my fairytale with buttefly wings and pink cotton candy floss tutus.
I would still rate it a buy. The maiden is a perfect portrayal and the music is stunning.
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