Blu-Ray Video, Opus Arte (label)
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Barber: Vanessa
RecommendedEmma Bell (Vanessa), Virginie Verrez (Erika), Edgaras Montvidas (Anatol), Rosalind Plowright (The Old Baroness)
The Glyndebourne Chorus & London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jakub Hrůša (conductor) & Keith Warner (director)
Veteran Rosalind Plowright, moving down from soprano to mezzo repertoire, is an effective Baroness; Edgaras Montvidas is a fine Anatol with a handsome presence, if not quite in Nicolai Gedda’s... — More…
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 7th June 2019
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Gramophone Magazine, August 2019, DVD/Blu-ray of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Video Performance
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020, Winner - DVD/Blu-ray
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Gramophone Awards, 2020, Finalist - Opera
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Britten: The Rape of Lucretia
RecommendedChristine Rice (Lucretia), Allan Clayton (Male Chorus), Kate Royal (Female Chorus), Duncan Rock (Tarquinius), Matthew Rose (Collatinus), Michael Sumuel (Junius), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Bianca) & Louise Alder (Lucia)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Leo Hussain (conductor) & Fiona Shaw...
The production, set during an archaeological excavation, packs a punch — More…
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 22nd July 2016
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Gramophone Awards, 2017, Finalist - Opera
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Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2017, DVD/Blu-ray of the Month
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Opera, November 2016, Recording of the Month
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Puccini: Il Trittico
RecommendedIl Tabarro
Lucio Gallo (Michele), Aleksandrs Antonenko (Luigi), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Giorgetta), Alan Oke (Tinca), Jeremy White (Talpa), Irina Mishura (La Frugola), Ji-Min Park (Venditore), Robert Anthony Gardiner (Due Amanti)
Suor Angelica
Ermonela...
a triumph...three wonderfully directed and expertly acted productions. Add in Pappano's impeccable conducting and his valuable introductions to the pieces, and you have a nigh-on ideal Trittico. — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, October 2012, Blu-ray of the Month
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BBC Music Magazine, September 2012, DVD & Blu-ray Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2013, Winner - Opera
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Janáček: Jenůfa
Asmik Grigorian (Jenůfa), Karita Mattila (Kostelnička), Saimir Pirgu (Števa Buryja), Nicky Spence (Laca Klemeň), Elena Zilio (Grandmother Buryjovka), David Stout (Stárek), Jacquelyn Stucker (Karolka)
Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Henrik Nánási, Claus Guth
Guth has a fine cast to work with...Nánási understands the architecture of Janáček’s score, too, building each climax with proper care as the Royal Opera House Orchestra plays its heart out.... — More…
Awards:
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Nominated - Video: Opera
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Strauss, R: Ariadne auf Naxos
Soile Isokoski (Ariadne), Laura Claycomb (Zerbinetta), Sergey Skorokhodov (Bacchus), Thomas Allen (Music Master), Kate Lindsey (Composer)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski, Katharina Thoma
Ariadne and Bacchus have rarely been so 'absolutely human'. Soile Isokoski's suicidal patient rings truer than any heroine I've ever seen - and perhaps this is the role's most luminously sung... — More…
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, October 2014, Opera Choice
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Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress
Miah Persson (Anne Trulove), Topi Lehtipuu (Tom Rakewell), Clive Bayley (Father Trulove), Matthew Rose (Nick Shadow), Susan Gorton (Mother Goose), Elena Manistina (Baba the Turk) & Graham Clark (Sellem)
The Glyndebourne Chorus & London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski (conductor)...
Full of colour and light, and brimming with wit, this is a production that lifts the performers...Lehtipuu conveys [Tom's] fresh-faced innocence, making his gradual demise all the more heart-breaking.... — More…
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, January 2012, DVD/Blu-ray Choice
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Britten: Billy Budd
RecommendedJohn Mark Ainsley (Captain Vere), Jacques Imbrailo (Billy Budd), Phillip Ens (Claggart), Iain Paterson (Mr Redburn), Matthew Rose (Mr Flint), Darren Jeffery (Lieutenant Ratcliffe), Alasdair Elliott (Red Whiskers), John Moore (Donald), Jeremy White (Dansker), Ben Johnson (Novice), Colin Judson (Squeak)...
[Elder paces] the developing tragedy with airily lyrical detail and brooding, ominous power. John Mark Ainsley' s plangent, dark-toned tenor and intense diction show us a more neurotic Vere... — More…
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 23rd May 2011
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2012, DVD Finalist
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2011, DVD Choice
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Britten: Death in Venice
RecommendedJohn Graham-Hall (Gustav von Aschenbach), Andrew Shore (Traveller/Elderly Fop/Gondolier/Barber/ Hotel Manager Player/Dionysus), Tim Mead (Apollo), Sam Zaldivar (Tadzio), Laura Caldow (The Polish Mother), Mia Angelina Mather/Xhuliana Shehu (Her Two Daughters), Joyce Henderson (The Governess), Marcio...
It's not often one can say a production is improved by viewing on a small screen but, for me, this one was...Graham-Hall is a real stage-animal, convincing us utterly of his descent into obsession...Above... — More…
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2014
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Gramophone Awards, 2015, Finalist - Opera
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Szymanowski: Król Roger
Mariusz Kwiecien (King Roger II of Sicily), Georgia Jarman (Roxana), Saimir Pirgu (Shepherd), Kim Begley (Edrisi), Alan Ewing (Archbishop), Agnes Zwierko (Deaconess)
Royal Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Antonio Pappano (conductor) & Kasper Holten (director)
all the imagination of Kasper Holten's production coheres compellingly, and Antonio Pappano shapes an extremely lucid performance that somehow manages to be taut and lush at the same time. Mariusz... — More…
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, Opera Choice
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Opera, February 2016, Recording of the Month
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Puccini: Madama Butterfly
Ermonela Jaho (Cio-Cio San), Marcelo Puente (Pinkerton), Scott Hendricks (Sharpless), Carlo Bosi (Goro), Elizabeth DeShong (Suzuki), Jeremy White (Bonze)
Royal Opera House, Antonio Pappano. Moshe Leiser/Patrice Caurier
Pappano is particularly alert to Puccini borrowing traditional Japanese melodies; at times he makes you hear this score, as well as the drama on stage, as a tug of war between East and West…It’s... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2018, DVD/Blu-ray of the Month
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