King Priam

This specially-staged studio recording of King Priam features a strong cast.

Rodney Macann heads a strong cast in the title role, giving a compelling performance as Priam, alongside Sarah Walker’s moving portrayal of Hector’s wife, Andromache. Howard Haskin plays Priam’s rebellious son Paris, who elopes with Helen, wife of the Greek King of Sparta, thus instigating the great Trojan war.

Nicholas Hytner’s innovative production is matched by the starkly stylised setting designed by David Fielding, which creates a timeless arena of war. Minimal costume and colour, frozen action and white light further enhance Tippett’s marvellously sparse music played with fearless conviction and driving impetus by the youthful Kent Opera Orchestra under the direction of Roger Norrington.

Gesualdo the Prince

The story of Carlo Gesualdo (1560-1613) is one of the most famous and most blood-curdling in musical history: it tells of a crime of passion involving a great composer who was also a prince. This dramatised film takes the form of a mystery – Gesualdo’s terrible secret surfaces slowly until the events that shattered his life and set a dark tone to his music are revealed. Peter Eyre is Gesualdo and the Schütz Consort, directed by Sir Roger Norrington, plays his music.

Norrington conducts Haydn: “Paris” Symphonies Nos. 83 & 84

Contemporaries nicknamed Haydn’s Symphony No. 83 “La Poule” because a particularly quirky melody seemed to suggest the pecking of a hen. But don’t be deceived: even at its most playful, Haydn’s imagination burned with unquenchable fire. In this concert given at the Salzburg Mozarteum in 2000, both “La Poule” and its companion piece – the noble Symphony No. 84 – receive performances of irrepressible animation, commitment and wit. Sir Roger Norrington conducts Camerata Salzburg: a pioneer of historically informed performance working with modern-instrument players steeped in central European style. The result is as energising – and as delightful – as you could possibly wish.

Norrington conducts Haydn: “Paris” Symphonies Nos. 85 & 87

Of all the great pioneers of the early music revival, few can match Sir Roger Norrington for the originality, the experience and the pure, unbuttoned joie-de-vivre that he brings to everything he conducts. Certainly, it’s hard to think of a wittier or more congenial interpreter for two of Haydn’s “Paris” symphonies: controlled explosions of fantasy, colour and symphonic argument, performed here with historically informed flair by the (modern instrument) virtuosi of the Salzburg Camerata. No.85 – nicknamed “La Reine” – is the most stately of the “Paris” symphonies. No. 87 is the most headlong. But both receive performances of quite irresistible playfulness and panache.

Haydn, Symphony in C major, Hob.I:60 “Il Distratto” (with addition) (Mozartwoche 2001)

The former “Camerata academica Salzburg” was renamed simply “Camerata Salzburg” in 2001. It was founded in 1951 by Bernhard Paumgartner, who was its head and mentor for many years. From 1978 to 1997 its artistic director was Sándor Végh and in 1997 Roger Norrington was appointed principal conductor of the ensemble. The Camerata Salzburg can be heard every year at the Salzburg Mozartwoche and Salzburg Festival. Roger Norrington was born in Oxford and studied in Cambridge and London. From 1969 to 1984 he was musical director of the Kent Opera and conducted productions at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Milan’s La Scala and the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. He founded the London Classical Players and is principal conductor of the Camerata Salzburg and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Mozart, Symphony in C major, K.208 and Finale, K.102 (Mozartwoche 2001)

Witty and irreverent, unconventional yet profoundly serious about the music he breathes life into, conductor Sir Roger Norrington leads the Camerata Academica Salzburg in this recording of Mozart’s Symphony in C major K. 208 and K. 102, a work consisting of arrangements of the overture and first aria of “Il Re Pastore” (K. 208) followed by K. 102, a finale written expressly to conclude this work. The former “Camerata academica Salzburg” was renamed simply “Camerata Salzburg” in 2001. It was founded in 1951 by Bernhard Paumgartner, who was its head and mentor for many years. From 1978 to 1997 its artistic director was Sándor Végh and in 1997 Roger Norrington was appointed principal conductor of the ensemble. The Camerata Salzburg can be heard every year at the Salzburg Mozartwoche and Salzburg Festival. Roger Norrington was born in Oxford and studied in Cambridge and London. From 1969 to 1984 he was musical director of the Kent Opera and conducted productions at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Milan’s La Scala and the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. He founded the London Classical Players and is principal conductor of the Camerata Salzburg and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Mozart, Rondo in C major for Violin and Orchestra, K.373 (Mozartwoche 2001)

Violinist Christian Tetzlaff was born in Hamburg and trained in Lübeck and Cincinnati. He has appeared with the world’s leading orchestras, and as chamber musician he concertizes with prominent partners. Roger Norrington was born in Oxford and studied in Cambridge and London. From 1969 to 1984 he was musical director of the Kent Opera and conducted productions at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Milan’s La Scala and the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. He founded the London Classical Players and is principal conductor of the Camerata Salzburg and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. The former “Camerata academica Salzburg” was renamed simply “Camerata Salzburg” in 2001. It was founded in 1951 by Bernhard Paumgartner, who was its head and mentor for many years. From 1978 to 1997 its artistic director was Sándor Végh and in 1997 Roger Norrington was appointed principal conductor of the ensemble. The Camerata Salzburg can be heard every year at the Salzburg Mozartwoche and Salzburg Festival.

Mozart, Violin Concerto No.4 in D major, K.218 (with additions) (Mozartwoche 2001)

Violinist Christian Tetzlaff was born in Hamburg and trained in Lübeck and Cincinnati. He has appeared with the world’s leading orchestras, and as chamber musician he concertizes with prominent partners. Roger Norrington was born in Oxford and studied in Cambridge and London. From 1969 to 1984 he was musical director of the Kent Opera and conducted productions at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Milan’s La Scala and the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. He founded the London Classical Players and is principal conductor of the Camerata Salzburg and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. The former “Camerata academica Salzburg” was renamed simply “Camerata Salzburg” in 2001. It was founded in 1951 by Bernhard Paumgartner, who was its head and mentor for many years. From 1978 to 1997 its artistic director was Sándor Végh and in 1997 Roger Norrington was appointed principal conductor of the ensemble. The Camerata Salzburg can be heard every year at the Salzburg Mozartwoche and Salzburg Festival.

Idomeneo, Re di Creta (Mozart 22)

Written for the court of Munich in 1780/81, “Idomeneo” is often regarded as the first of the seven undisputed masterworks in Mozart’s dramatic oeuvre. Never before had he cast such bold, impassioned music into a dramatic form or devised such a well-calibrated dramaturgy. Was it the plot that drove Mozart to such extremes of expressive power? The story evokes countless other opera seria subjects: King Idomeneo has promised to sacrifice to Neptune the first person he meets if he is saved from shipwreck; this turns out to be his son Idamante, who stands between two women, the Trojan Princess Ilia, whom he loves, and the Greek princess Elettra, who loves him. Four people on the edge of the abyss, drawn together by passion, torn apart by reasons of state… Though respecting the tenets of opera seria, Mozart repeatedly burst out of the rigid corset of the genre. Arias are heightened by unexpected twists and turns, accompagnato recitatives reach unheard-of levels of jagged emotional rawness, and stereotyped set pieces such as the vengeance become entire scenes in themselves. Mozart also treats the instruments in a far more liberal and imaginative manner than ever before, blending the voices with solo instruments and creating new tone colors that prefigure the Romantic era. Such an extraordinary work deserves an exceptional interpretation. And this is ensured by Sir Roger Norrington and the Camerata Salzburg playing on an “island” (the action unfolds on Crete) surrounded by narrow ramps on which the singers, literally “on the edge of the abyss,” pace about in search of one another, of love, of redemption… Simplicity and elegance stamp both the production of Ursel and Karl-Ernst Herrmann, and the playing of the Camerata Salzburg. Norrington entices entire catalogues of nuances from his players, but never yields to manneristic over-refinement. His Mozart is slender and suave, rigorous and concise. Under his baton, the soloists blossom. First and foremost is Ramón Vargas as Idomeneo, who colors his despair with exquisite delicacy and rousing bravura. Magdalena Kozená is a passionate, glowing Idamante and Ekaterina Siurina a lyrical Ilia. As Elettra, Anja Harteros triumphs with dramatic fire and intensity. Every inch a noblewoman, she hurls out her vengeance aria with repressed fury rather than scenery-chewing theatrics. They and their colleagues Jeffrey Francis, Robin Leggate and Günther Groissböck, along with the Salzburger Bachchor, lend their artistry to this unforgettably intense performance.