The new production of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen launched in 1995 by the English National Opera (ENO) was received with great enthusiasm by both the public and musical press. This atmospheric production was prepared by David Pountney, Robert Israel created the stage set, Dunya Ramicova was responsible for costume design and Quinny Sacks was responsible for the choreography of the dance roles as well as the numerous breathtaking ballet scenes. Under the musical direction of Nicholas Kok, the English National Orchestra played a baroque music which was as crystal clear as it was expressively infectious. Next to outstanding performers of the dancing roles such as Puck (Simon Rice) and the Indian boy (Arthur Pita), an entire armada of excellent singers was summoned up such as one seldom experiences together on the baroque opera stage. These included Yvonne Kenny as Titania, Thomas Randle as Oberon and Richard Van Allan as King Theseus. Jonathan Best, with his comic portrayal of the drunken poet, was loved by the audience and praised highly by the press, while other singers like Michael Chance, Mary Hegarthy, Janis Kelly, Marc Le Brocq and Christopher Ross all contributed their talents to produce an unusual musical theatre experience.
Ruslan and Lyudmila
From the Maryinsky Theatre St. Petersburg 1995
This live recording from the Kirov Opera provides a rare opportunity to see Glinka’s magical masterpiece in its entirety, in a magnificent production which brought together the formidable talents of conductor Valéry Gergiev, producer Lotfi Mansouri and stage designer Thierry Bosquet. The staging, though new, is in fact a meticulous recreation of an historic original, a spectacular piece of stagecraft from the height of Russia’s pre-Revolutionary Golden Age. The cast features some of Russia’s finest singers, including Anna Netrebko in one of her first major parts, Galina Gorchakova and Larissa Diadkova. The ballet contained in the opera is performed by the internationally-acclaimed Kirov Ballet. (Sung in Russian)
The Palace
This recording features the world premiere of Aulis Sallinen fifth opera: The Palace.
The opera is based on the libretto by the distinguished writers Hans-Magnus Enzensberger and Irene Dische. Inspired by Mozart’s Entführung aus dem Serail and Ryszard Kapuscinski’s The Emperor, they created a satirical story of the collapse of a thoroughly corrupt court. It shows how absurd an autocrat can get in the setting of ludicrous ceremonies and bizarre rules of precedence.
Sallinen’s music is like a kaleidoscope: rich, multi-coloured and many faceted. It is instantly appreciable and approachable. The production by Kalle Holmberg earned thunderous ovations from audience and critics alike.
Peter Grimes
From the English National Opera 1994: Tim Albery’s startlingly original treatment of Britten’s vivid tragedy was hailed as a landmark production when it was staged at the English National Opera. The critics were unanimous in their praise of Philip Langridge’s remarkable portrayal of Grimes, and the whole company, including Janice Cairns, Alan Opie and Ann Howard, won countless accolades, as did the inspired musical direction of conductor David Atherton. The individual set against the community: this is the theme of the opera and never has this stark opposition been so sharply realised as in Albery’s very abstract vision. Hildegard Bechtler’s stark but beautiful sets underline Grimes’ alienation. (Sung in English)
From the House of the Dead
From the Salzburg Festival 1992
Based on Dostoevsky’s ‘diary’ of his years as a political detainee, Janácek’s singular opera, with ist profoundly disturbing, but ultimately uplifting, message about the human condition, is set in a nineteenth-century Siberian prison camp. This Salzburg Festival production by Klaus-Michael Grüber graphically depicts the grinding tedium of life in this penal colony. A superb cast is headed by the great Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov, and Claudio Abbado conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance hailed as a musical triumph. (Sung in the original Czech version)
Examen
To produce this special television version of his work, which was first conceived as music theatre, Stockhausen worked in close collaboration with television director José Montes-Baquer to exploit to the full the possibilities offered by the electronic media. Video techniques provided the means to create a stunningly innovative mise-en-scène to match Stockhausen’s music, libretto, dance actions and gestures. This performance programme is also available with an introductory interview with the composer, illustrated with rehearsal footage, giving an insight into his creative processes.
Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades)
From the Glyndebourne Festival Opera 1992: Producer Graham Vick, designer Richard Hudson, conductor Sir Andrew Davis, the London Philharmonic and the full cast of singers won unanimous critical acclaim for their revelatory interpretation of this mesmeric and psychologically harrowing work. Hudson’s eighteenth-century costumes are sumptuously realistic, while his set is abstract and modern. The cast features three top Russian singers – Sergei Leiferkus, Dimitri Kharitonov and Yuri Marusin. Nancy Gustafson, Felicity Palmer and Louise Winter also won high praise for their performances in this “marvellous and brilliant piece of modern music-theatre” (Financial Times). (Sung in Russian)
Greek
A Film by Peter Maniura and Jonathan Moore: Turnage’s critically-acclaimed opera, set in London’s backstreets, is a modern version of the Oedipus myth, based on a play by Steven Berkoff. The composer has matched the raw potency of Berkoff’s graphic language and bold imagery with a rasping lyricism and remorseless drumbeat. This powerful television production was adapted by Jonathan Moore from his original stage version. The cast includes Helen Charnock, Fiona Kimm, Quentin Hayes and Richard Suart. Richard Bernas conducts The Almeida Ensemble. (Sung in English)
Death in Venice
From the Glyndebourne Touring Opera 1990. Stephen Lawless’s production, conducted by Graeme Jenkins, won universal critical praise, typified by The Financial Times: “One may wonder whether the score has ever sounded fuller, richer in colour and content, more beautiful, than it did in [this] production… It opens a new chapter in the opera’s performance history.” Britten’s final opera, a haunting rendering of Thomas Mann’s story of obsessive, self-deluding love, features outstanding performances by Robert Tear and Alan Opie.” (Sung in English)
Die Soldaten
Harry Kupfer’s harrowing realisation of Zimmermann’s radical opera reveals the ful compassion and humanity of the work, and harnesses to maximum effect the vast theatrical and musical resources it requires. It tells the story of the degradation of a young girl in the hands of a corrupt and egotistical military aristocracy, and several courses of dramatic action unfold simultaneously, so that past, present and future merge in tableaux of the monstrous, dehumanising effects of war. The cast includes Nancy Shade, Michael Ebbecke and William Cochran. Bernhard Kontarsky conducts.