Reply With QuoteAre you sure that you don't mean this one?Originally Posted by Amfortas
Sadly, no. You can see the complete program listing on the Metropolitan Opera Database (it won't let me link directly to the specific pages, but you can do a Key Word Search on "Centennial" to get to the two-part list). The DVD, though lengthy, is only a selection from that all-day concert.
Are you sure that you don't mean this one?
Yes, that one. If you go to Amazon, several of the reviewers mention that it's incomplete. The back cover even describes the DVD as containing only "the greatest moments" from the gala.
Tanks for the link to The Met data base .
Interesting to see what happened there over the years.
(bit jealous)
Am over two hours into this one with about half an hour to go. Love it. What a wonderful opera.
And then am 15 minutes into my third trip through this delightful opera (watching it with my son):
"Music is enought for a whole lifetime--but a lifetime is not enough for music." --Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff
While we have watched some old favorites, such as L'Elisir with Netrebko and Villazon, the Met's Don Pasquale, as well as later Rossini works like the Petite Messe Solennelle and Stabat Mater, all of these have been discussed here enough without wasting more bandwidth on them. However ...
Last night we watched Gemma di Vergy from Bergamo. It's a 2013 Bongiovanni release, and while I dislike that label because of their refusal/inability to produce Blu ray discs with HD MA sound, this little known Donizetti opera, written after Anna Bolena, but before Lucia, is a gem. It was, I believe, Maria Agresta's first DVD release. She sings the socks off a role that is both vocally and dramatically challenging. In a nutshell, Gemma is the wife of the Count di Vergy, who is set aside in favor of a younger woman because of her sterility. She is very unhappy about this situation.
Agresta is a find! Marvellous voice and technique! It's always with a sense of both wonderment and gratitude that I stumble onto yet another new (to me) singer of talent and promise.
Is this strong enough to hold interest in audio - or does it need the visual element supplied by DVD? There is an Opera Rara recording I've been holding on my wish list, but find Donizetti to sometimes be a little sporadic in the quality of his compositions.
Yes, and I suspect that at $21.57 it would be cheaper than an Opera Rara recording. These days, we are almost exclusively watching performances, because we like the theatrical aspect of opera. This has a pretty sound cast and is staged traditionally. Agresta alone is worth the money, (in case my enthusiasm for her is not readily apparent!)
Oh, this was almost exactly my question too! I wanted to ask JohnGerald if he has the Opera Rara and if it is one of his recommendations...
The DVD has 13 five star reviews on Amazon; it's unusual for an opera not to be hated by someone, nomatter how good a performance it really is. But I am wondering if you guys are confusing Opera Rara's Gabriella di Vergy with Gemma di Vergy? They are two different works, and I do not see Gemma on Opera rara's site.
oops! yes I was confusing the two.
Yes, now that I look, so was I.
This is also one of my favorites. I watched this a couple of weeks ago, shortly after I saw the Met's recent broadcast. I was disappointed with Eva-Marie Westbroek and the Cav production, so pulled this one out and enjoyed it !
Cavalleria Rusticana - Pietro Mascagni
Watched with friends last night who never seen it before.
One of my all time favourites, as is Troyanos is
My husband and I recently watched these two:
Glinka : Ruslan and Lyudmila
2003
Kit/Netrebko/Ognovenko/Diadkova/
Bezzubenkov/Gorchakova/Pluzhnikov/
Bogacheva/Marusin
Kirov Ballet/Kirov Opera Chorus & Orchestra
Valery Gergiev
Directed by Lotfi Mansouri
Bizet: Carmen
Anne Sofie von Otter (Carmen)
Marcus Haddock (Don José )
Laurent Naouri (Escamillo)
Lisa Milne (Micaëla)
The Telegragh UK was streaming the Glyndebourne Festival Opera's David McVicar's production recorded in 2002.
On Culture Box, unmissable productions of Rachmaninov's Aleko and Francesca da Rimini - a double bill with clever but not intrusive links between the two stories which both involve unrequited love. Aleko is a bit of a Don Jose, whose gypsy lover is having an affair with a younger man (doesn't end well); and Francesca Da Rimini has been tricked into marrying the deformed older brother of the man she loves; allowing the former a wonderful monologue that is as sad and powerful as "Ella giammai m'amo " from Don Carlo.
I am now officially in love with:
1. Rachmaninov for writing such gorgeous music
2. Opéra de Lorraine/Nancy for putting on such adventurous fare (remember, they also did the fabulous feathered Cage aux Folles Vinci Artaserse).
3. Stunningly talented bass Alexander Vinogradov for making me cry like a baby two nights in a row. Who could resist this:
Natalie
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