Opera
Reviews of full operas as well as collections and recitals of arias
Mozart: Airs d’opéras (Forgotten Records)
(Déjà Review) All lovers of elegant stylish Mozart singing should lend an ear to this disc [GF]
Musgrave: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge & Green (NMC)
(Déjà Review) Three magnificent works, superbly performed and recorded [WH]
Rachmaninov: Aleko (Chandos)
Déjà Review) Noseda conducts intelligently, sensitively, with full structural awareness of the dramatic trajectory [CC]
Bellini’s Il pirata – a survey of the recordings
by Ralph Moore
Verdi: La Traviata (Opus Arte)
(Déjà Review) Renée Fleming triumphs but this Covent Garden production is less than perfect [IL]
Rangström: Kronbruden (Sterling)
A curious conflation of rural folktale and Symbolist myth in a compelling, convincing performance [NB]
R Strauss: Elektra (Opus Arte)
(Déjà Review) A terrific Elektra to which I will, without doubt, return [GF]
Halévy: La Juive (Naxos)
Halévy’s neglected colossus arrives on Blu-ray with fine singing, but in a somewhat muddled staging [DHa]
Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto (MDG)
(Déjà Review) A knock-out from the very first bars of the overture [GF]
Telemann: Sieg der Schönheit (cpo)
Superbly produced and significant period opera with much to commend it [DC]
Mozart: Don Giovanni (C Major)
A fitfully interesting, ultimately disappointing Don Giovanni from Barrie Kosky [DHa]
Wagner: Götterdämmerung (Hallé)
(Déjà Review) Strongly competitive in a hotly contested field [BW]
Rangström: Kronbruden (The Crown Bride) (Sterling)
The only recording of Rangström’s opera, best enjoyed whilst closely following the libretto [EJW]
Puccini: Gianni Schicchi (Regis)
A classic recording, which captures the spirit of the opera superbly [GPu]
Vivaldi: L’Olimpiade (1734) (cpo)
One of Vivaldi’s best operas receives a recording which succeeds in most regards [MP]
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (C Major)
(Déjà Review) A great success overall and this DVD needs watching just once before you go out and buy the whole thing [DBi]
Puccini: Tosca (Naxos)
This latest version of the perennial favourite is dramatically convincing, if not always quite adequate vocally [DJa]
Strauss: Salome & Elektra (Pristine Audio)
Straussian excellence from seven decades ago silences any of the more recent competition [MP]
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Pristine Audio)
A fine performance in excellent sound for the provenance, well enhanced, but with attendant flaws and failings [RMo]
Puccini: Manon Lescaut (Warner Classics)
(Déjà Review) A dramatic and engaging performance [DBe]
Inessa Galante: a retrospective of some of her recordings
by Ralph Moore
Martinů: Le Jour de Bonté (Arco Diva)
(Déjà Review) Charming and interesting, and leaves you hungry for more [ST] One of the highlights and discoveries of the Martinů celebrations [RB]
Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Warner Classics)
(Déjà Review) A starry cast, with a classic performance from Gottlob Frick, achieving not quite the sum of its parts [DBe]
The recordings of Ewa Podleś
A survey by Ralph Moore
