On any list of great but seldom-performed operas, Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freisch¸tz must rank high.
Author: James Sohre
Jan·?ek: Jen?fa and K·tya Kabanov·
Recorded four years apart, these two classic recordings of Leos Jan·?ek’s dramatic masterpieces now reappear in Decca’s The Originals series, thankfully still with full librettos and excellent booklet essays.
Franz Leh·r: Das Land des L‰chelns
Doris Sennefelder’s booklet essay for this CPO recording of Lehar’s Das Land des L‰chelns details how close the composer was to Puccini.
Walter Braunfels’s Die Vˆgel at Los Angeles Opera
The Recovered Voices series at Los Angeles Opera, in its second season, springs from James Conlon’s fascination and love for the operas of composers whose lives and/or careers came to an end under the Nazi regime.
Barbers in Baghdad and Seville
Razor-wielding rascals involve themselves in romantic complications in the two sets considered here, with a fine performance of a rarity and an even finer performance of a classic.
Gounod’s RomÈo et Juliette at Salzburg, 2008
In 2008 the Salzburg Festival intended to bring back the two stars of their triumphant 2005 La Traviata, Rolando VillazÛn and Anna Netrebko, for Gounod’s RomÈo et Juliette.
Die Walk¸re at Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera audiences seem to have decided that no matter how they may really feel about Achim Freyer’s “performance art” staging of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, the singers and musicians are giving them at long last a chance to hear these monumental works at the Dorothy Chandler.
Domingo sings Wagner
This two-CD budget series collection brings together two Placido Domingo Wagner recitals, the first from 2000, with Deborah Voigt receiving co-billing, and the second from 2002.
Benjamin Britten: Owen Wingrave
In the parlance of a Hollywood film pitch, Britten’s penultimate opera might be described as “War Requiem” meets “Turn of the Screw.”
Nadja Michael as Salome and Tosca
Like Violetta Urmana, Nadja Michael had a substantial career as a mezzo before deciding to venture into soprano territory.