Author: James Sohre

Some opera aficionados who take a look at the contents of this two-CD Fritz Wunderlich collection from Profil might shake their heads in bemused wonder: the German lyric tenor as Turridu, let alone Pinkerton and Rodolfo?

The CEO of the Ravenna Festival, one Cristina Mazzavillano Muti, understandably takes top billing at the top of this DVD booklet’s three – count ’em, 3! – pages of credits for the Festival, not counting the single page of credits for the production of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale itself.

A sticker on the cover of the Decca DVD Jessye Norman a portrait describes the contents as “An intimate new film portrait of the great soprano.”

The first solo operatic recital from the great German bass RenÈ Pape bears a title that serves as an homage to an esteemed predecessor, George London.

A traditional production of Mozart and Schikaneder’s singspiel Die Zauberflˆte can go for charm, fantasy, and enjoyable camp. It can also turn trite and cloying.

The title of Anna Netrebko’s most recent recital disc apparently springs from the musical selections’ ability to prompt memories in the singer.

On this 1955 recording of Dvo?·k’s folk-tale based comic romp Kate and the Devil, conductor Zden?k Chalaba offers a lighter, faster approach than that heard on the modern studio version Supraphon released in 1981, under conductor Ji?Ì Pinkas.

More than just three letters distinguishes “rarity” from “oddity.” In opera, a rarity would be an admired work seldom performed.

This performance of Le Nozze di Figaro, recorded live at the ThÈ‚tre des Champs-…lysÈes in June 2004, prompts much admiration for RenÈ Jacobs, its conductor.

Dynamic offers devotees of classical era opera a rare and quite rewarding opportunity to hear I Giuochi d’Agrigento, a little-known opera by Giovanni Paisiello, best known as the man who composed a popular Barbiere di Siviglia before Rossini came along and eclipsed his predecessor.