DVD Video
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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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Gramophone Awards, 2020, Finalist - Opera
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020, Winner - DVD/Blu-ray
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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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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Video Performance
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Korngold: Die tote Stadt
RecommendedJonas Kaufmann (Paul), Marlis Petersen (Marietta), Andrej Filonczyk (Frank/Fritz), Jennifer Johnston (Brigitta), Mirjam Mesak (Juliette), Corinna Scheurle (Lucienne), Manuel Günther (Gaston/Victorin), Dean Power (Graf Albert), Bayerische Staatsoper, Kirill Petrenko, Simon Stone (director)
There’s a depth and emotional intelligence to this staging that disarmed my initial resistance...on every level, a glorious achievement. — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2022, Winner - Opera
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Gramophone Awards, 2022, Recording of the Year
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2021
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2021, DVD/Blu-ray of the Year
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2021
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Presto Recording of the Week, 23rd July 2021
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Opera, October 2021, Disc of the Month
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Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2021, DVD/Blu-ray of the Month
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International Classical Music Awards, 2022, Winner - Video Performance
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Opus Klassik, 2022, Winner - Opera
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Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana & Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (DVD)
RecommendedJonas Kaufmann (Turiddu), Liudmyla Monastyrska (Santuzza), Ambrogio Maestri (Alfio), Annalisa Stroppa (Lola), Stefania Toczyska (Mamma Lucia), Jonas Kaufmann (Canio), Maria Agresta (Nedda), Dimitri Platanias (Tonio), Alessio Arduini (Silvio), Tansel Akzeybek (Beppe)
Staatskapelle Dresden, Sachsischer...
We have plenty of the thrilling, untrammelled and ringing sound that the tenor is capable of at his best...Happily, Kaufmann’s outstanding central performances are well matched, both musically... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2016, Shortlisted - Opera
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2016
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Presto Recording of the Week, 18th March 2016
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2016, DVD/Blu-ray 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 Awards, 2013, Winner - Opera
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2013, DVD Finalist
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Gramophone Magazine, October 2012, DVD of the Month
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BBC Music Magazine, September 2012, DVD Choice
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Puccini: Tosca
RecommendedAngela Gheorghiu (Tosca), Jonas Kaufmann (Cavaradossi), Bryn Terfel (Scarpia), Lukas Jakobski (Angelotti), Jeremy White (Sacristan)
Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Sir Antonio Pappano (conductor), Jonathan Kent (director)
Pappano's mastery of Puccinian pace and phrasing intensifies this turbulent score's onward surge, but he's also noticeable attentive to his singers...[Kaufmann's] cries of 'Vittoria!' are thrilling...and... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2013, Finalist - Opera
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2014, DVD Award (Performance)
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2013, DVD of the Month
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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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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2012, DVD Finalist
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Presto Recording of the Week, 23rd May 2011
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2011, DVD Choice
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Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites
RecommendedSophie Koch (Mère Marie), Patricia Petibon (Blanche), Véronique Gens (Madame Lidoine), Rosalind Plowright (Madame de Croissy), Sandrine Piau (Soeur Constance), Topi Lehtipuu (Le Chevalier), Philippe Rouillon (Le Marquis)
Philharmonia Orchestra & Chœur du Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Jérémie...
taken as a whole, this is visually by far the best recent Carmelites. It also has a dream cast...Petibon masterfully conveys the complexities of her contradictory character...Piau is a wonderfully... — More…
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2016, Video Winner
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BBC Music Magazine, March 2015, Opera Choice
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Berg: Wozzeck
RecommendedChristian Gerhaher (Wozzeck), Brandon Jovanovich (Drum Major), Mauro Peter (Andres), Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke (Captain), Lars Woldt (Doctor) & Gun-Brit Barkmin (Marie)
Chor der Oper Zurich & Philharmonia Zurich, Fabio Luisi (conductor) & Andreas Homoki (stage director)
While the Lieder-like beauty of Gerhaher’s singing Is matchless – he can act too – this is no star vehicle. It is ensemble work of the highest order…the relationships are brilliantly drawn,... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2017, Winner - Opera
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2017, DVD/Blu-ray Winner
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Gramophone Magazine, November 2016, DVD of the Month
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International Classical Music Awards, 2017, Winner - Video Performance
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Igor Stravinsky/Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Mavra/Iolanta
RecommendedMirjam Mesak (Iolanta), Long Long (Vaudémont), Boris Prýgl (Robert), Markus Suihkonen (King René), Oğulcan Yilmaz (Ibn-Hakia); Anna El-Khashem (Parasha), Freddie de Tommaso (Vassili), Noa Beinart (Mother/Marta)
Opernstudio der Bayerischen Staatsoper, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Axel Ranisch,...
[Mesak] makes an entirely convincing Iolanta, poised between innocence and experience, and singing with blazing conviction opposite Long Long’s lyrically ardent Vaudémont. — More…
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 16th December 2022
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2023, Nominated - Young Talent (Mesak & Ioffe)
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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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Gramophone Awards, 2015, Finalist - Opera
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2014
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