“Those in search of a thoroughly teutonic Fidelio should speed to The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It moves swiftly and surely, is powerfully cast and is conducted with fine muscular authority by Christoph von Dohnányi,” wrote The Times of this production by Adolf Dresen, which starred Gabriela Benacková and Josef Protschka. Designed in an austere but traditional style by Margit Bardy, it conveys Beethoven’s theme – the triumph of love and freedom over the forces of evil and oppression – with a natural, unadorned simplicity.
Mefistofele
From the San Francisco Opera 1989: Samuel Ramey’s powerful bass voice and compelling stage presence make him unforgettable in the demonic title role of Boito’s version of the Faust legend, a jewel of the nineteenth-century repertoire. Robert Carsen’s sumptuous production, steeped in a vivid and timeless symbolism, “breathes a sensitivity to the music and to Boito’s intentions that is rare on the operatic stage” (New York Times). Dennis O’Neill sings Faust, with Gabriela Benacková as Margherita. (Sung in Italian)
Arabella
A “lyric comedy” is how Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal described their final collaboration, on which they worked between 1927 and 1929. Arabella revolves around the true
love between two very different couples – the love that unites two people forever “in joy and sorrow, hurt and forgiveness”, as Arabella herself puts it at the end of the opera. With Renée
Fleming in the title role and a supporting cast that includes Thomas Hampson, Gabriela Benacková and the young tenor Daniel Behle – surely a star of the future – this production from the Salzburg Easter Festival was the first of the piece at the Festival since 1958. Under the Strauss specialist Christian Thielemann, it featured a Strauss ensemble that could hardly be bettered today. Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson are a “dream couple for Richard Strauss” (Salzburger Nachrichten).
Missa Glagolitica
In this recording, Janácek’s great choral work, the Glagolitic Mass, is performed by the Czech Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by Václav Neumann, with Jan Hora on the organ. The soloists are Gabriela Benackova (soprano), Drahomira Drobkova (contralto), Josef Kundlak (tenor) and Sergej Kopcak (bass).
Gabriela Benackova (soprano), Drahomira Drobkova (contralto), Josef Kundlak (tenor) and Sergej Kopcak (bass).