Set in Paris immediately before and during the French Revolution, Andrea Chénier is Giordano’s passionate and most successful opera. José Carreras stars in the title role as the idealistic poet of the French Revolution, and Maddalena, the object of Chénier’s adoration, is portrayed by Hungarian soprano Eva Marton. A servant-turned-revolutionary, Gérard, also loves Maddalena, and when he is elevated to the revolutionary court, he wreaks his revenge against Chénier who is condemned to death – Maddalena joins him in his cell and they go to the guillotine together. Gérard, torn between political and amorous loyalties, is the Italian baritone Piero Cappuccilli.
Coppélia
Coppélia is a classical ballet in the true sense, and with its touch of East European folklore, continues to enjoy worldwide popularity. It combines the romance between Swanilda and Franz with the story of the doll-maker Coppelius, whose greatest desire is to create a doll with a soul. Franz immediately falls in love with Coppélia, who he thinks is real, but eventually recognises is just a doll. He returns to Swanilda, after which the final grand divertissement sees everyone reconciled.
Don Carlos
Set in 16th-century France and Spain, Don Carlos tells of the political and amorous rivalry between King Philip II and his son, Don Carlos, over Elisabeth de Valois. Boasting an international cast in one of Verdi’s most popular operas, Luc Bondy’s moving production is the original French version restored to five acts.
Aida
Originally commissioned to celebrate the completion of the Suez Canal and the opening of Cairo’s new opera house, Verdi’s Egyptian epic Aida is here seen in a spectacular new staging specially mounted by the Teatro Regio Torino to celebrate the re-opening of Turin’s historic Museo Egizio, home to the world’s largest collection of Egyptian antiquities outside of the Cairo Museum. Conducted by the Teatro Regio’s Music Director, Gianandrea Noseda – one of the world’s finest Verdians and Musical America’s Conductor of the Year 2015 – Turin’s authentically Egyptian staging is directed in true Hollywood style by the Oscar-winning American film director William Friedkin, creator of such famous movies as “The Exorcist” and “The French Connection”. Amongst the first-rate cast, critics singled out the American soprano Kristin Lewis, who exhibits “a remarkable voice, which she uses with powerful dramatic instinct” (La Stampa), and the Georgian mezzosoprano Anita Rachvelishvili, whose Amneris “dominates the stage with her dark, rounded, irrestistible voice and extraordinary stage presence” (La Gazzetta Musicale).
La Sonnambula
La Sonnambula at the Stuttgart Opera has proved a “great triumph. Not only for the directing duo but for the ensemble as a whole, for they have delivered a heart-warming miracle in their coordination of stage and orchestra, voice and roleplay” (Süddeutsche Zeitung): the production by Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito was honoured at the International Opera Awards as “new production of the year” and ensemble member Ana Durlovski won the coveted theatre prize “Der Faust” for her portrayal of the somnambulist. Opernwelt magazine made her “newcomer of the year”, while the Stuttgart Opera chorus was named “opera chorus of the year” for the ninth time in 13 years.
Salome
Her ‘voice and acting are utterly overwhelming’ wrote the FAZ in its glowing review of Angela Denoke’s performance in Baden-Baden as the enigmatic young woman with a morbid interest in a captured prophet. The stellar cast also includes Alan Held as the doomed prophet; Kim Begley as the lustful Herodes; and Doris Soffel as the imperious Herodias. In a monumental set dominated by the panther-like Salome, director Nikolaus Lehnhoff depicts the inner tragedy of this young woman, who is both strong and weak, victim and perpetrator.
The Nutcracker
Never before had Rudolf Nureyev’s world-famous choreography of the “Nutcracker” been performed by the Wiener Staatsballett. The present recording presents Nureyev’s final, 1985 Paris version of the original 1967 choreography for the Royal Swedish Ballet with two magnificent young soloists and the splendid Vienna corps de ballet. With its accent on the psychological contents of the work’s underlying tale, Nureyev’s choreography is truly revolutionary. Many formerly stereotyped characters are now transformed into flesh-and-blood figures who infuse the work with wit and lightness.
Verdi, Messa da Requiem
In time for the Verdi Year 2013 the Teatro alla Scala has come up with a special project: Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with an exquisite quartet of soloists – Anja Harteros, Elina Garanca, Jonas Kaufmann and René Pape – conducted by Daniel Barenboim, the Teatro’s Maestro scaligero. This first performance in Milan is followed by performances at the Lucerne and the Salzburg Festival and in the Berlin Philharmonie in 2013.
La Traviata
Hugo De Ana’s larger-than-life production of La Traviata is “compelling…a triumph,” (Opera Critic) when it fills the stage at the Arena di Verona, Italy. Albanian lyric soprano Ermonela Jaho, hailed as a “revelation” in the role of Violetta, is paired with Sardinian tenor Francesco Demuro as her impassioned lover, Alfredo.
Lulu
Following the acclaimed production of Wozzeck, the German director Andrea Breth returns to the Staatsoper with a new staging of Berg’s operatic masterpiece with sets by Erich Wonder and costumes by Moidele Bickel. Berg’s radical yet sumptuous score depicts the world of the iconic femme fatale Lulu, whose seemingly endless sexual charm takes her from love to love and finally to a murderous end. To realize the opera, Daniel Barenboim leads a stellar cast that includes Mojca Erdmann, Deborah Polaski, Anna Lapkovskaja and Michael Volle.