Opus Arte
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Handel: Saul
RecommendedChristopher Purves (Saul), Iestyn Davies (David), Lucy Crowe (Merab), Sophie Bevan (Michal), Paul Appleby (Jonathan), Benjamin Hulett (High Priest) & John Graham-Hall (Witch of Endor)
The Glyndebourne Chorus & Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Ivor Bolton (conductor) & Barrie...
Pivotal is Christopher Purves’s Saul – surely the father-in-law from hell should the Goliath-slaying David choose his daughter Michal (or son Jonathan – tenderly sung by Paul Appleby). Purves... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2016
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Opera, December 2015, Recording of the Month
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Special offer. Pergolesi: Adriano in Siria
Marina Comparato (Adriano), Lucia Cirillo (Emirena), Annamaria Dell’Oste (Farnaspe), Nicole Heaston (Sabina), Stefano Ferrari (Osroa) & Francesca Lombardi (Aquilio Tribuno)
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone (conductor) & Ignacio García (director)
Top marks go to conductor and director for giving the music space to breathe. The vocal cast is almost uniformly brilliant. The tension between unbridled feeling and duty's constraints - a tension... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, February 2012, Blu-ray of the Month
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BBC Music Magazine, February 2012, DVD & Blu-ray Choice
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Special offer. Verdi: La Traviata
Ermonela Jaho (Violetta), Charles Castronovo (Alfredo), Placido Domingo (Germont)
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and Royal Opera Chorus, Antonella Manacorda, Richard Eyre (director)
[Jaho's] tone is never what one could call ‘lustrous’, but she gets inside the character so thoroughly that one cannot help but suffer with her...and she battles so hard in Act 3 that one harbours... —
Awards:
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Nominee - Female Singer of the Year (Jaho)
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Nominee - Male Singer of the Year (Castronovo)
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Special offer. Verdi: La Traviata
Ermonela Jaho (Violetta), Charles Castronovo (Alfredo), Placido Domingo (Germont)
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and Royal Opera Chorus, Antonella Manacorda, Richard Eyre (director)
[Jaho's] tone is never what one could call ‘lustrous’, but she gets inside the character so thoroughly that one cannot help but suffer with her...and she battles so hard in Act 3 that one harbours... —
Awards:
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Nominee - Female Singer of the Year (Jaho)
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Nominee - Male Singer of the Year (Castronovo)
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Special offer. Cavalli: La Didone
Anna Bonitatibus (Didone), Kresimir Spicer (Enea), Xavier Sabata (larba), Maria Streijffert (Ecuba) & Katherine Watson (Cassandra)
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie (conductor) & Clément Hervieu-Léger (director)
It's a fascinating piece. Cavalli treats Giovanni Busenello's libretto with dignity in a responsive setting...So, too, does Hervieu-Leger, capturing its complex narrative and emotional interactions... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, November 2012, DVD/Blu-ray Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2012, Editor's Choice
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Special offer. Glass, P: Einstein on the Beach
RecommendedThe Philip Glass Ensemble, Michael Riesman, Robert Wilson (director), Lucinda Childs (choreographer)
The static tableaux are as much art installation as music theatre, and need to be seen rather than just heard —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2016
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Diapason d’Or de l’Année, 2017, Winner - Opéra
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Special offer. Britten: Death in Venice
RecommendedJohn Graham-Hall (Gustav von Aschenbach), Andrew Shore (Traveller/Elderly Fop/Gondolier/Barber/ Hotel Manager Player/Dionysus), Tim Mead (Apollo), Sam Zaldivar (Tadzio), Laura Caldow (The Polish Mother), Mia Angelina Mather/Xhuliana Shehu (Her Two Daughters), Joyce Henderson (The Governess), Marcio...
It's not often one can say a production is improved by viewing on a small screen but, for me, this one was...Graham-Hall is a real stage-animal, convincing us utterly of his descent into obsession...Above... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2014
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Gramophone Awards, 2015, Finalist - Opera
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Delibes: Coppelia
RecommendedThe Royal Ballet, conductor: Nicolae Moldoveanu, choreographer: Dame Ninette de Valois
Awards:
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Special offer. Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, K620
Günther Groissböck (Sarastro), Saimir Pirgu (Tamino), Albina Shagimuratova (Queen of the Night), Genia Kühmeier (Pamina), Ailish Tynan (Papagena), Alex Esposito (Papageno) & Peter Bronder (Monostatos)
Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala & Choir of the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala, Roland...
This is a wonderful performance...I was more moved and enchanted by this than by any other Magic Flute I have seen on DVD...[Esposito's Papageno] sung with glorious abandon, while his acting... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2012, DVD of the Month
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BBC Music Magazine, April 2012, DVD Choice
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Special offer. Szymanowski: Król Roger
Mariusz Kwiecien (King Roger II of Sicily), Georgia Jarman (Roxana), Saimir Pirgu (Shepherd), Kim Begley (Edrisi), Alan Ewing (Archbishop), Agnes Zwierko (Deaconess)
Royal Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Antonio Pappano (conductor) & Kasper Holten (director)
all the imagination of Kasper Holten's production coheres compellingly, and Antonio Pappano shapes an extremely lucid performance that somehow manages to be taut and lush at the same time. Mariusz... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, Opera Choice
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Opera, February 2016, Recording of the Month
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