Opera
Reviews of full operas as well as collections and recitals of arias
Ravel: L’Enfant et les sortilèges & L’heure Espagnole (Deutsche Grammophon)
A sparkling pair of Ravel’s contrasting operas, justifying their status as “gramophone classics” [RMo]
Mozart: Idomeneo (BR Klassik)
A new Idomeneo and another excellent release from Rattle and the Bavarians [PH]
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas (Erato)
An enjoyably theatrical recording [SWe]
d’Orléans: Suite d’Armide ou Jérusalem délivrée (Château de Versailles)
A Baroque masterpiece that has been skillfully prepared but is compromised by irritating microphone placement [MP]
Donizetti: Zoraida di Granata (Dynamic)
A classy production of an unfamiliar opera with a more than respectable cast of singers [MP]
Eccles: The Judgment of Paris (Chandos)
(Déjà Review) A forgotten gem which deserves to be rediscovered [RH]
Boito: Nerone (Naxos)
An intriguing rarity, mostly adequately sung but musically very patchy and dramatically incoherent [RMo]
Suppé: Die Schöne Galathée (Capriccio)
(Déjà Review) Pleasantly lyrical and pure-toned [RW]
The Phoenix Opera Company
by Philip Harrison
Maria Callas (soprano): Arias Volume 1 (Pristine Audio)
Once again, Pristine breathes new life into two established and indispensable recital classics [RMo]
Verdi: I Vespri Siciliani (Dynamic)
(Déjà Review) A generally well sung performance in the composer’s home town should be watched by opera producers as well as Verdi lovers [RJF]
Salieri: Cublai, Gran Kan De’ Tartari (Aparté)
The buffa side of Italian Opera in the heyday of Vienna’s pre-eminence [PH]
Cilea: Gloria (Naxos)
An unjustly neglected opera by the composer of Adriana Lecouvreur and L’Arlesiana [WK]
Gassmann: Gli Uccellatori (Dynamic)
A pleasant diversion which does not engage one’s deeper emotions [MP]
Verdi: Il trovatore (Pristine Audio)
This fast and furious performance of Il trovatore will please some more than others [PT]
Donizetti: Il diluvio universale (Naxos)
A pleasing, generally very well sung performance of what remains essentially second-rank Donizetti but one with some rewarding passages [RMo]
The Royal Opera Season of 1925
by Philip Harrison
Gilbert & Sullivan: Utopia, Limited (Opus Arte)
Hurrah for the Joint Stocks Companies Act of 1862! Ulahlica! [PH]
Prokofiev: War and Peace (BSO Recordings)
An interpretation of Prokofiev’s epic for our times [DHa]
Wagner: Siegfried (Opus Arte)
This Siegfried definitely had me hooked from beginning to end [GF]
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (CRQ Editions)
Tito Gobbi in one of his great roles at Covent Garden, by way of the BBC [PH]
Donizetti: Alfredo il Grande (Naxos)
Alfred battles with the Danes and the lack of star-quality singers in this slightly disappointing release [MP]
Kennedy-Fraser/Bantock: The Seal Woman (Retrospect Opera)
Neglected Hebridean songs fused into a folk opera [EJW]
Wagner: Tannhäuser (Warner Classics)
A swings-and-roundabouts recording of the Dresden version of Tannhäuser – stick with Konwitschny and Solti [RMo]
