Opera
Reviews of full operas as well as collections and recitals of arias
Puccini: Le Villi (naïve)
(Déjà Review) Not just for anoraks, this is a marvellous introduction to Puccini [CF]
Puccini: Turandot (Pristine Audio)
Not an ‘icon’ perhaps, but unmissable for admirers of Callas and Puccini [WH]
Verdi: Falstaff (Pristine Audio)
Pristine revitalises another indispensable gramophone classic but the improvement over the RCA issue is only marginal [RMo]
Gluck: Écho et Narcisse (Chateau de Versailles)
This recording is superb in every respect; nobody is likely to be disappointed by either the singing or the music [GF]
Grosz: Achtung, Aufnahme!! (Channel Classics)
Werner Herbers’s swansong with his Ebony Band: more previously unrecorded Weimar delights [JW]
Britten: Albert Herring (Opus Arte)
An unmatchable and irreplaceable video makes a welcome return to the catalogues [PCG]
Atterberg: Aladin (cpo)
A decent performance of Atterberg’s last opera, a tuneful rendition of a fairy tale in an exotic musical setting [EJW]
Handel: Acis and Galatea (Dorian)
A delightful recording that captures the energy of a live performance [KM]
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov (Opus Arte)
Sir Bryn Terfel triumphs in Mussorgsky’s original vision of his conscience-stricken Tsar [PCG]
Graun: Silla (cpo)
A premiere recording that is mainly of interest to Opera Seria completionists [MP]
Rossini: Il turco in Italia (C Major)
A delightfully entertaining modern take on Rossini brings overtones of Fellini to the action [PCG]
Handel: Theodora (Opus Arte)
A radical feminist staging for a very well-sung account of Handel’s late masterpiece [RWe]
Mozart: Arias for Aloysia Weber (Glossa)
An attractive collection no lover of Mozart will regret acquiring [GF]
d’Albert: Die Toten Augen (cpo)
(Déjà Review) You will want to luxuriate in this fine score [RB]
Remembering Tebaldi (Pentatone)
A lovely recital presenting Melody Moore as a worthy inhabitant of the pantheon of the present generation of sopranos [GF]
Lully: Acis et Galatée (Dynamic)
A premiere filming of Lully’s major stage work: intelligent production, convincing performance [RWe]
Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex (Dynamic)
A decent concert performance of Stravinsky’s great work, with a rarity to precede it [SB]
Weill: Propheten (Capriccio)
An interesting world premiere and a masterly reading of the Whitman songs [GF]
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (Morrison Music Trust)
(Déjà Review) With the frisson of live recording and none of the drawbacks, this set can confidently be recommended on all counts [TH]
Albéniz: Henry Clifford (Decca)
(Déjà Review) Recommended for those looking for a vivid unfamiliar score to get their teeth into [LF]
Verdi: Un ballo in maschera (Pentatone)
In no way does this new recording displace its illustrious predecessors except in terms of the clarity of its digital sound [RMo]
Monologues (Prospero)
An outstanding album, groundbreaking in repertoire and programming, beautifully performed and recorded [GPu]
Herrmann: Wuthering Heights (Chandos)
Cathy finally comes home in Herrmann’s magnum opus superbly performed [NB]