Gioacchino Rossini ended his career as an opera composer at the early age of 37. “Guillaume Tell” (1829), his last stage work, was commissioned by the Paris Opéra. After this Rossini would only compose a few smaller vocal and instrumental pieces. Up to then, however, he had been the most important opera composer between Mozart and Verdi. Since the 1970s, the musical world has steadily been rediscovering Rossini’s oeuvre, much of which has long vegetated in the shadow of “Il barbiere di Siviglia” or “La rentola.” His musical dramas are now frequently encountered on leading operatic stages and at renowned festivals. This Milan production of “Guglielmo Tell” was an important milestone in the Rossini Renaissance. The aristocrat of conductors, the autocrat of the baton, Riccardo Muti cuts a noble figure at the head of any orchestra, and ennobles every ensemble through his charismatic personality and red-blooded musicality. In many respects, including his unwillingness to compromise over artistic matters, he is reminiscent of Arturo Toscanini, who was also a demanding ruler at the podium. His rise to international fame set in with his guest conductorships at the Salzburg Festival in 1971 and at the head of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1972. Muti became principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra a few years later, and was named its music director in 1980. Always a conductor of both the symphonic and operatic repertoire, Muti advanced to the post of music director of La Scala in Milan in 1986. The 1990s saw Muti consolidating his reputation at the head of this venerable institution, as well as in countless other high-caliber venues around the world. Today he is one of the undisputed giants among the leading conductors of the world.
I due foscari
Giuseppe Verdi was just 31 years old when his sixth opera “I due Foscari” was given its world premiere in Rome. He was then still at the beginning of his career, which later led to his fame as Italy’s leading opera composer, and he wrote his stage works at a brisk pace: in March 1844 “Ernani” was premiered in Venice, in November came the “Due Foscari” in Rome. “Verdi is now the man of the day in the musical world,” write Heinrich Heine after the world premiere. The literary source of the opera is a drama from the history of Venice by the English poet Lord Byron (1788-1824), whose works inspired many musicians, above all in the 19th century. His “Two Foscari” is not particularly effective on the stage, but Verdi took precisely this lack of theatricalness as an occasion to bring to the stage the interpersonal conflicts through a psychological characterization of the singers. He wrote enchantingly impressive music for this opera, which never ranked among the great successes of the master; from the very beginning, it vegetated on the outskirts of the repertoire as a special insider tip among connoisseurs. “I due Foscari” was recorded in 1988 at Milan’s La Scala with Renato Bruson, Alberto Cupido and Linda Roard-Strummer in the lead roles; stage director was Pier Luigi Pizzi, the musical direction was in the hands of Gianandrea Gavazzeni, who was an outstanding personality in Italian music life of the20th century as conductor and music author.
I vespri siciliani
Verdi’s opera “I vespri siciliani” was written after “Rigoletto,” “Il Trovatore” and “La Traviata,” this triumvirate of immortal stage works. It was commissioned by the Paris Opéra and was designed to respect the French taste for large choral scenes and lengthy ballets. The libretto of the “Vêpres siciliennes” was written in verse form by Eugène Scribe and was based on a historical event from the 13th century, when Sicily rose up against the French occupiers. Verdi achieved great success with this work in 1855, and the Opéra continued its collaboration with him twelve years later by commissioning “Don Carlos.” The Italian version of the work was premiered that same year and became known throughout the world. La Scala of Milan brought out several major productions of this work, including the one recorded here in 1990. The aristocrat of conductors, the autocrat of the baton, Riccardo Muti cuts a noble figure at the head of any orchestra, and ennobles every ensemble through his charismatic personality and red-blooded musicality. In many respects, including his unwillingness to compromise over artistic matters, he is reminiscent of Arturo Toscanini, who was also a demanding ruler at the podium. His rise to international fame set in with his guest conductorships at the Salzburg Festival in 1971 and at the head of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1972. Muti became principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra a few years later, and was named its music director in 1980. Always a conductor of both the symphonic and operatic repertoire, Muti advanced to the post of music director of La Scala in Milan in 1986. The 1990s saw Muti consolidating his reputation at the head of this venerable institution, as well as in countless other high-caliber venues around the world. Today he is one of the undisputed giants among the leading conductors of the world.
La donna del lago
Giocacchino Rossini (1792-1868) is known today above all as a composer of comic operas. However, he was much more than the admittedly brilliant creator of “Il barbiere di Siviglia” and “La Cenerentola.” The intensive study of his oeuvre over the past decades has brought to light Rossini’s multi-facetedness: Rossini was an important figure and major musical precursor both in the field of opera buffa and opera seria. Following a popular trend, Rossini wrote a number of works in which the rigid boundaries between opera buffa and opera seria are blurred. One example is the romantic melodrama in two acts “La donna del lago”, which was premiered in Naples in 1819. It was based on the novel “The Lady of the Lake” by the Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. (Donizetti’s successful “Lucia di Lammermoor,” written about 15 years later, was also based on a source by Scott, who was extremely popular in Italy at that time.) It is the most romantic of all of Rossini’s operas: the beautiful Elena, the daughter of a Scottish rebel, wins the heart of the king who, without knowing her true identity, offers her a ring that ultimately helps Elena find happiness. Love, jealousy, political intrigues and royal benevolence set the accents in this melodrama, which is closely connected to the nature, forests, lakes and mountains of the Scottish highlands. Rossini’s wish to depict the Scottish spirit on the opera stage led him onto musical paths that he had never trodden before. Acclaimed movie director Werner Herzog stages this production from Milan’s La Scala. The title role is sung by the fascinating American belcanto soprano June Anderson. The aristocrat of conductors, the autocrat of the baton, Riccardo Muti cuts a noble figure at the head of any orchestra, and ennobles every ensemble through his charismatic personality and red-blooded musicality. In many respects, including his unwillingness to compromise over artistic matters, he is reminiscent of Arturo Toscanini, who was also a demanding ruler at the podium. His rise to international fame set in with his guest conductorships at the Salzburg Festival in 1971 and at the head of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1972. Muti became principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra a few years later, and was named its music director in 1980. Always a conductor of both the symphonic and operatic repertoire, Muti advanced to the post of music director of La Scala in Milan in 1986. The 1990s saw Muti consolidating his reputation at the head of this venerable institution, as well as in countless other high-caliber venues around the world. Today he is one of the undisputed giants among the leading conductors of the world.
La fanciulla del West
Like “Madama Butterfly,” Giacomo Puccini’s opera “La fanciulla del west” was based on a stage play by the American author David Belasco. At its triumphal world premiere in 1910 in New York, Enrico Caruso sang the part of Johnson.
Don Carlo
Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Don Carlos” was based on Schiller’s drama and exists in several versions. Commissioned by the Paris Opéra, it was given its world premiere there in 1867. The work comprised five acts and a large ballet – in conformity with the conventions of the French grand opera at that time. Five years later, Verdi created a heavily cut Italian version which is still the version generally performed today, as in this recording from Milan’s La Scala. For many years, “Don Carlos” was generally given in four acts; the first act was often completely cut and other scenes were left out. A return to the complete, five-act French-language version was ushered in during the second half of the 20th century. The aristocrat of conductors, the autocrat of the baton, Riccardo Muti cuts a noble figure at the head of any orchestra, and ennobles every ensemble through his charismatic personality and red-blooded musicality. In many respects, including his unwillingness to compromise over artistic matters, he is reminiscent of Arturo Toscanini, who was also a demanding ruler at the podium. His rise to international fame set in with his guest conductorships at the Salzburg Festival in 1971 and at the head of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1972. Muti became principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra a few years later, and was named its music director in 1980. Always a conductor of both the symphonic and operatic repertoire, Muti advanced to the post of music director of La Scala in Milan in 1986. The 1990s saw Muti consolidating his reputation at the head of this venerable institution, as well as in countless other high-caliber venues around the world. Today he is one of the undisputed giants among the leading conductors of the world.
Fedora
Assassinio nella Cattedrale
Pizzetti, one of Italy’s leading lyrical composers of the first half of the 20th century, composed several operas, of which ‘Assassinio nella Cattedrale’ is one of his most famous. Pizzetti’s religiosity manifests itself in his choice of T.S. Eliot’s modern-day miracle play about St. Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who returns from a seven-year-exile only to be confronted by various torments, including Four Temptations; he succumbs to the fourth, the temptation of martyrdom … . Internationally acclaimed bass-baritone Ruggero Raimondi, at home on all of the world’s major stages and unforgotten as Don Giovanni in Joseph Losey’s celebrated 1979 film, brings the firmness and authority of his vocal artistry to this role.
Also available: Making of Pizzetti’s ‘Assassinio Nella Cattedrale’ (15’ – A00501028)
Adriana Lecouvreur
Cilea’s four-act opera of jealousy and tangled love, first performed in Milan in 1902, is based on the true-life story of Adriana Lecouvreur, an 18th-Century actress at the Comédie Française, whose rival for the love of Maurizio, Count of Saxony, is the married Principessa di Bouillon. Mirella Freni sings the title part in this production, Gianandrea Gavazzeni conducts the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala.
Bayreuth Festival 2015: Tristan und Isolde
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Tristan & Isolde this production was premiered on 25 July 2015 and marked the high-point of the Bayreuth Festival. An important and highly-anticipated new production of Wagner’s take on this ultimate, immortal tale of love and longing by the composer’s great-granddaughter Katharina Wagner. Enjoy some of today’s most prominent vocalists and Christian Thielemann, arguably the most important Wagner conductor of our day and age. “… a sensationally good musical realisation.” BBC Music