Billy Budd at ENO ó Two Reviews

ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA: ëUnder no circumstances to be missedí (The Guardian), Neil Armfieldís illuminating reading of Billy Budd receives its long-awaited London premiere. In the season in which Benjamin Britten becomes ENOís House Composer, this engrossing WNO/Opera Australia production is the perfect salute to a great British masterpiece.

An American Tragedy ó Three Reviews

THE METROPOLITAN OPERA: The American author Theodore Dreiser published An American Tragedy in 1925 and it quickly became a classic. Based on a true story of a man who was found guilty of murdering the woman who was carrying his baby, while he was simultaneously pursuing another woman of a higher social class, Dreiserís novel tells the story of a mid-western preacherís son who tasted a little sophistication on his way to death in the electric chair.

DONIZETTI: Lucia di Lammermoor

A superstar in Europe, Edita Gruberova can rest assured that future generations have the opportunity to appreciate her artistry: the record label Nightingale Classics exists primarily, it seems, to record her in her greatest roles.

FAUR…: The Complete Songs, Vol. 2

As the second of four of the thematically organized recording of the Complete Songs of Gabriel FaurÈ (1845-1924), Un paysage choisi is an excellent offering of chansons that concern selected natural places, that is to say, the ìchosen landscapeî indicated in the title of this volume.

PROKOFIEV: Ivan the Terrible

Sergei Prokofievís Ivan the Terrible? Which one? Prokofiev composed music for Sergei Eisensteinís film (part 1, 1942-44; part 2, 1945) about the sixteenth-century ruler, and the score is catalogued as op. 116. After the composerís death, music for the film was arranged first into an oratorio (with speaker, soloists, chorus, and orchestra) by Alexander Stasevich (1961) and later into a concert scenario by Christopher Palmer (1990).

Songs of Vaughan Williams and Ives

Ralph Vaughan Williams and Charles Ives; both known more for their symphonic music than anything else, receive superb tributes in these recordings of some of their early songs. Only two years separate the birth dates of these composers; but the musical language each speaks seems to put far more distance than that between them.

BIZET: Carmen

Two recent releases document performances of Georges Bizetís Carmen that took place within just a few months of each other. The casts share many of the same performers, most notably the conductor and the interpreter of the operaís title role.

Michele Pertusi – Recital

Bass-baritone Michele Pertusiís voice is captured in this recital disc after only two years of formal studies. Taking this into account one can forgive what he calls ìimperfections: a few, slight musical errors, some invented or switched words, a Neapolitan pronunciation that is not quite perfect, an English one which could be improved on, a few marred notes.î

ROSSINI: Guillaume Tell

On 24 October 1998, the Vienna State Opera presented the opening night of its staging of Gioachino Rosssiniís Guillaume Tell. It was the first Staatsoper production in 91 years of Rossiniís final opera and masterpiece, as well as the Vienna premiere of the 1829 operaís original French-language version.

MACMILLAN: Seven Last Words from the Cross

The compositions of John Tavener, Arvo P‰rt, and Henryk GÛrecki have accustomed us to the degree that religious spirituality has found serious musical voice in the late twentieth century. In their works, a profound language of musical mysticism is wed to various liturgical evocations, creating compositions that seem both authentic in their expression and unusually personal in their genesis.