Tannhaeuser

This exciting modern-day adaptation of Tannhäuser, Richard Wagner’s fable of love and redemption, features one of the great Wagner singers of our time in the lead role, Peter Seiffert. Using the magnificent space of Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu in its entirety, renowned Canadian director Robert Carsen has transformed this mythic narration of medieval troubadours into a compelling and at times very amusing tale that plays out in a world of contemporary painters and art dealers. Thus, the work’s original message of

salvation takes on a new edge: it is now about artistic glory and expressing the inexpressible. “Heldentenor Peter Seiffert ruled the stage” (Opera News).

The Makropoulos Affair (Vec Makropulos)

Premiered in 1926, Leoš Janác?ek’s absorbing masterpiece Ve?c Makropulos reflects all the dominant musical styles of the early 20th century, from Bohemian tunefulness to big Straussian phrases, Berg-like jaggedness and primeval rhythms. With the “breathtakingly grandiose” (Salzburger Nachrichten) Angela Denoke in the lead role, this emotionally

powerful opera was given superior treatment at the hands of the Wiener Philharmoniker under Esa-Pekka Salonen. They and the entire cast joined forces to make this production one of the highlights of the 2011 Salzburg Festival. “Ms. Denoke is a compelling actress … Salonen ensures a brilliant reading of Janác?ek’s fascinating score.” – The New York Times

Andrea Chénier

Umberto Giordano’s verismo masterpiece Andrea Chénier is set against the background of the horrors of the French Revolution and tells the tragic tale of a doomed love affair involving the historical figure of the poet André Chénier, who initially champions the Revolution but later turns against its leaders, before ending up on the scaffold. A vast sculpture rising up out of Lake Constance depicts one of the leaders of the Revolution, Marat, lying dead in his bath, creating a spectacular set of a kind possible only on the lakeside stage in Bregenz. “A gigantic set with iconic qualities – a masterly achievement.” (Die Welt) “The Mexican tenor Héctor Sandoval was brilliant in the title role.” (ORF) “The

singing was magnificent, the effects hit home. Bregenz has done it again.” (RP Online)

Parsifal

A timelessly classical Parsifal from the 1998 Bayreuth Festival in a mystically poetic staging that exerts an unbroken fascination not least as a result of its expressive lighting effects. Under the direction of the great Wagner conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli, the four main roles are taken by Poul Elming, Linda Watson, Falk Struckmann and Hans Sotin – one of the strongest line-ups in Bayreuth´s more recent history. “Giuseppe Sinopoli coaxed an outstanding performance from the Festival Orchestra and Chorus, throwing light on the elaborate score from an agreeable distance and investing the music with a meditatively flowing quality rather than the usual bombast” (Opernglas)

Madama Butterfly

The story of Cio-Cio-San, called Butterfly, a young Nagasaki geisha who, abandoned by her American lover after giving birth to their son, ultimately kills herself, continues to impress audiences today. In this outstandingly authentic and elegant production from the Sferisterio Opera Festival, Puccini´s highly emotional music is expertly delivered. The superior cast is headed by Raffaella Angeletti, “certainly one of the best Butterflies of our time” (ForumOpera.com), who has performed this role in many Italian theatres, as well as in Madrid and the Vienna Staatsoper.

Donizetti: Maria Stuarda

Maria Stuarda is the most popular work in Gaetano Donizetti´s triology of bel canto operas on Tudor queens, a triology that also includes Anna Bolena and Roberto Devereux. The production of Venice´s beautiful Teatro La Fenice, which was gloriously rebuilt after the fire of 1996, shows Queen Mary and her embittered foe Elizabeth both as prisoners of passion for the same man, trapped in a labyrinth that is the central set-element in Italian-based Franco-Tunisian director Denis Krief´s staging. “To conjure up… hatred and jealousy, you don´t need a stage setting, just two splendid prima donnas: Sonia Ganassi and Fiorenza Cedolins.” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

Der Ring – Highlights

Special budget-priced DVD and Blu-ray

100 minutes of the most stunning visual and musical highlights of this production by La Fura dels Baus

Incl. two new documentaries about Franc Aleu and Carlus Padrissa

Il Mondo della Luna

2009 marked Haydn´s anniversary year as well as Nikolaus Harnoncourt´s 80th birthday. For this occasion the maestro chose Il mondo della luna, a delicious mixture of satire, comedy and science fiction based on a popular comedy by Carlo Goldoni. Haydn´s music unleashes a display of fireworks performed with irresistible energy by Harnoncourt and his ensemble. Renowned actor and director Tobias Moretti relates the story as a magical fairy tale infused with slapstick and fantasy costumes. “This piece is extreme, completely insane and very funny. Wherever you puncture the surface of Haydn, you come upon sheer madness.” Nikolaus Harnocourt

Der Ring des Nibelungen

Press Quotes

In this production “the visual codes of the digital era become elemental and dazzlingly employed means of narration” (Opernwelt).

„Quite a spectacle, brilliantly sung.“ The Sunday Times

“It looks like a landmark Ring cycle, it is outstanding.” BBC Magazine

4 Stars in Rondo

“Wagner like this is fun even for pop fans” Spiegel Online

“Wagner’s music drama ingeniously illustrated” Fono Forum

“This production positively crackles with tension” Crescendo

Awards

Rheingold: Echo Klassik 2010

Der Ring des Nibelungen: German Record Critics’ Award of New Releases for the Second Quarter 2010

Die Walküre: German Record Critics’ Award of New Releases for the First Quarter 2010

Das Rheingold: Diapason d´Or, DIAMANT d’Opera Magazine

Der Ring des Nibelungen: Choc de Classica

King Roger

It is hard to believe that for decades Karol Szymanowski´s masterpiece, his magnificant opera King Roger of 1926, led such a shadowy existance until it was revealed for what it is by such powerful champions as Simon Rattle: one of the 20th century´s finest operas. The visually strong production by David Pountney provided the Bregenz Festival with one of it´s most abiding successes in recent years. Scott Hendricks in the baritone title role and Olga Pasichnyk as his queen, Roxana, were both rapturously applauded. “What grandiose music!” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)