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.
Author: James Sohre
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.
Rigoletto at San Diego Opera
In the current weak economy many an opera company has retrenched its programming to present primarily the most popular operas.
Farinelli — Il Castrato
NaÔve re-releases the soundtrack to the film Farinelli here in a handsome “book” casing, appending a second disc of highlights from the discography of Christophe Rousset’s recordings with Les Talens Lyriques, the artists also responsible for the soundtrack.
Paul Robeson: The Complete EMI Sessions 1928-1939
Seven discs, of 170 tracks, amounting to over eight hours of music – this EMI set somehow manages to be both voluminous and narrow in its portrait of Paul Robeson.
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Soprano
This DVD contains the contents of four televised recitals of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, with no way of telling from the information provided whether the recitals are presented complete or not.