There is much to admire in Masaaki Suzuki’s Bach performances with the Bach Collegium Japan, and this recording of excerpts from the St. Matthew Passion will remind the listener of the diverse ways in which this is so.
BEETHOVEN: Fidelio
Among the recent releases on DVD of Rolf Liebermann’s productions of operas from the Hamburg Opera conceived for television in the late 1960s, Beethoven’s Fidelio is impressive for the use of the medium of film to bring out the personal aspects of this intensive opera.
Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci — English National Opera, London Coliseum
For the opening of the 2008/09 season at ENO, Richard Jones has teamed up with two separate theatrical writers, Sean O’Brien and Lee Hall, to create unique new versions of the repertoire’s most famous double bill.
VERDI: Requiem / Quattro pezzi sacri
Presented in its fine line of ìOriginals,î Deccaís reissue of Soltiís famous 1967 recording of Verdiís Requiem is actually offered with another fine recording, the same conductorís 1977/78 performance of the Quattro pezzi sacri.
MONTEVERDI: Combattimento
In recent years, Emmanuelle HaÔm has achieved prominence at the helm of several baroque operas, including Monteverdiís LíOrfeo and Handelís Rodelinda and Giulio Cesare.
The Barber of Seville — English National Opera, London Coliseum
It can be difficult to inject life into a production which has been a staple of a company’s repertoire for over twenty years.
Macbeth at Bavarian State Opera
If Munichís new Macbeth production does anything, it stirs emotions and draws heated response.
On The Bonesetter’s Daughter
Decades ago a New Yorker cartoon showed a very little girl standing on tip-toe to return a book to a matronly librarian.
Korngold opera the “Hair” of its day
Back in the 19th century it was not smoke, but hair that got in one’s eyes.