Hermann Prey – The Schubert Song Cycles

“In his finest interpretations Hermann Prey sang Winterreise and Die schöne Müllerin with a captivatingly natural phrasing that flowed organically like a river and as such was the very opposite of the more intellectual approach of his rival, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.” – DIE ZEIT Online, 1998

“The velvety, silky timbre of his soft-grained and yet distinctively striking baritone voice, his charm, his excellent diction and the naturalness of his delivery spiced with a hint of emotion – it is all this that distinguishes the truly outstanding lieder singer.” – Opernglas, 1998. Progamme includes A0550868, A05504159, A05504158 , A05004949, A05501423, A05504146

Wagner: Das Rheingold

In the words of the prestigious German weekly “Die Zeit,” the stage production of Wagner’s “Rheingold” and “Walküre” by La Fura dels Baus “quite possibly shows us the path that musical theater will be taking in the future.” There’s no doubt about it: the Catalan city of Valencia is setting new accents in 21st-century opera not only with its spectacular new theater designed by Santiago Calatrava, but also with its visually transfixing production of Wagner’s “Ring” staged by Carlos Padrissa and his theater group La Fura dels Baus. The Barcelona-based Fura blends music, dance, acrobatics and technology into unforgettable stage events of sometimes raw but always captivating power. The Fura made its breakthrough in the classical establishment with its production of Berlioz’s “La damnation de Faust” at the 1999 Salzburg Festival. The Fura’s fertile visual fantasy and endless combinations of savvy video technology, lighting and props (often formed of human beings) are predestined for Wagner’s visionary expressive world. Wagner’s dream of a Gesamtkunstwerk becomes reality as this shape-shifting sequence of tableaux unfolds before our eyes: 3D computer projections that evoke computer games, organic structures built of athletic performers that recall the “Cirque du soleil,” and much more. In this production, “the visual codes of the digital era become elemental and dazzlingly employed means of narration” (Opernwelt). Musically, the first two parts of Wagner’s tetralogy – “Das Rheingold” and “Die Walküre” – are on a par with productions from historically more prestigious opera houses. Part Three, “Siegfried,” is scheduled for June 2008, and Part Four, “Götterdämmerung,” for June 2009. Legendary conductor Zubin Mehta leads world-class Wagner singers such as Peter Seiffert, Petra-Maria Schnitzer and Matti Salminen, and promising young talents that include Jennifer Wilson (Brünnhilde), John Daszak (Loge) and Juha Uusitalo (Wotan), whom the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung hailed as a new “Number One among the opera gods.” Equally outstanding is the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, an ensemble of top musicians hand-picked by Music Director Lorin Maazel.

Masterworks in Vienna

Combining the forces of two of the 20th century´s greatest musicians – Yehudi Menuhin and Herbert von Karajan in their only recorded performance together – this magnificent programme marks a high point in filmed classical music. Both features, Mozart´s Violin Concerto No. 5 and Dvorák´s “New World” Symphony, were directed by master film-maker and long-time Karajan collaborator Henri-Georges Clouzot (The Wages of Fear).

Bonus: Herbert von Karajan in conversation with Yehudi Menuhin (on Mozart) and Prof. Joachim Kaiser (on Dvorák). Special bonus feature: Previously unreleased rehearsal session prior to Violin Concerto No. 5!

Tietaejien Lahja (The Gift of the Magi)

Created specially for television and recorded in studio, this short opera by one of today’s most eminent Finnish composers is based on a Christmas story by the American writer O. Henry.

Rautavaara sets The Gift of the Magi in a poor district of Helsinki in the 19 Minna (Pia Freund) and Joel (Jaako Kortekangas), two young newly-weds, are having trouble paying their rent, let alone buying Christmas presents. Yet they both long to give the other something special as an expression of their love.

So that she can buy Joel a chain for his watch, his most treasured possession, Minna sells her beautiful hair. Joel adores his wife’s shining locks and parts with his watch so that he can purchase the magnificent set of jewelled combs she covets. Though their gifts are now useless, their joy in each other’s love is precious beyond value. In the words of O. Henry: “Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are the wisest. Everywhere they are the wisest, They are the magi.”

The telling of the story is unsentimental, Hannu Heikinheimo’s staging exquisitely observed, and Rautavaara’s music powerfully compelling. The Christmas message finds a truly imaginative and unequivocal expression in The Gift of the Magi.

Let’s Make an Opera!

This operatic entertainment for young people starts in the form of a play, with a group of children preparing an opera, a Victorian tale called The Little Sweep. Then comes the opera itself. Prix Italia-winning director Petr Weigl adds yet another ‘frame’ to Britten’s original in the form of his own zany preamble: a surreal, slapstick sequence introducing a cast of quirky characters who later form the audience for the children’s performance. He sets his film at the turn of the nineteenth century with elegant period costumes and settings.

Ariodante

Sung in English. When this production of Handel’s Ariodante – directed by David Alden and conducted by Ivor Bolton – had ist premiere, it met with unanimous critical and popular acclaim. Alden, as a theatrical modernist, transformed the opera seria into an eroticallycharged nightmare of lust, betrayal and violated innocence. With a superlative cast including Ann Murray, Joan Rodgers and Gwynne Howell this rich and strange Ariodante is a surprisingly modern drama of psychological and physical cruelty.

Ariodante is Handel’s 1735 setting of an episode from Ariosto, in which the King of Scotland’s daughter is treacherously accused of infidelity to her promised husband. The central situation of sexual jealousy and mistaken identity is set amidst a web of intense family

relationships. The range of feelings provoked as the characters develop is caught in music of quite extraordinary emotional power, even by Handel’s own exalted standards.

The Rake’s Progress

From the Salzburg Festival 1996: This striking Salzburg Festival production is the result of a collaboration between director Peter Mussbach and the leading German artist Jörg Immendorff, whose spectacular, self-referential and humorous designs were hailed as a triumph. Their fascinating and complex interpretation of the moral tale has Tom Rakewell as an artist in search of his aesthetic position. An exceptionally fine musical performance features Jerry Hadley as Tom, Dawn Upshaw as Anne, and Monte Pederson as Nick Shadow. Sylvain Cambreling conducts the Camerata Academica. (Sung in English)

The Fairy Queen

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.