Opera
Reviews of full operas as well as collections and recitals of arias
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
de Hartmann: Esther (Pentatone)
The first recording of de Hartmann’s only opera, finely sung and played, in first-rate sound [EJW]
Puccini: Heroines (Pentatone)
An impressive, if not vocally perfect, recital from an experienced Puccini singer [DJa]
The Story of Janáček’s Jenůfa (Moravské Zemské Muzeum)
A comprehensive, beautifully assembled and illustrated history of the genesis and first performances of one of the most performed operas in the world [JW]
Bizet: Carmen (Château de Versailles Spectacles)
Two decent principal singers adrift in a sea of poor voices – a dispiriting issue [RMo]
Strauss: Elektra (Chandos)
Wonderful orchestral playing but variable singing [SB]
Cilèa’s L’Arlesiana – A survey of the recordings
by Ralph Moore
Dédé: Morgiane, ou, Le sultan d’Ispahan (Delos)
The first opera by a Black American turns out to be revelatory, despite forces unequal to the composer’s imagination [MP]
Bellini: Norma (Decca)
Admirable in many regards [DBe]
Respighi: Maria Egiziaca (Naxos)
A more than respectable recording of Respighi’s pallid, mystic hybrid of opera and oratorio [MP]
