Verdi revelled in the power and fantasy of Shakespeare, and when he recreated Macbeth as an Italian opera he practically redefined the genre – demanding a Lady Macbeth who was a sublime actor as well as an outstanding singer. He’d have been thrilled with this production from Zurich Opera House, with its boldly imaginative staging by David Pountney and urgent, nuanced conducting from Franz Welser-Möst. But above all, he’d have been gripped by the young Sardinian soprano Paoletta Marrocu as Lady Macbeth, and an interpretation that Gramophone magazine compared to Maria Callas: “from first to last, a truly stunning performance”.
Simon Boccanegra
Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra is regarded by connoisseurs as an insider tip of oppressive topicality: men make history and women are the victims. A gloomy atmosphere, political power struggles, family dramas – live from the Vienna State Opera in the production of grandmaster Peter Stein with an excellent cast, starring Thomas Hampson in the title role, Francesco Meli as Gabriele Adorno and Marina Rebeka as the all-outshining Amelia. In the orchestra pit: Evelino Pidò.
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.
La Traviata
Within only a few years, Anna Netrebko has become one of the most acclaimed performers of our time, whose popularity transcends by far the boundaries of classical music. With her CDs garnering phenomenal sales and her stage appearances causing worldwide box-office stampedes, Anna Netrebko is on her way to becoming the new diva assoluta. This recording of Verdi’s “La Traviata” from the 2005 Salzburg Festival – the uncontested and hopelessly sold-out highlight of the festival season – captures the triumphal performance not only of Anna Netrebko as Violetta Valéry, but also of Rolando Villazón as her lover Alfredo. The glamorous Russian soprano and the heartthrob Mexican tenor have become the new dream team of the opera world.
Bernstein at 100: The Centennial Celebration At Tanglewood
The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood spotlights Bernstein’s wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, and his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe. The gala concert features a kaleidoscopic array of artists and ensembles from the worlds of classical music, film, and Broadway. The entire first half of the program is dedicated to selections from such brilliant Bernstein works as Candide, West Side Story, Mass, and Serenade. Music from the classical canon very dear to Bernstein’s heart-selections includes from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn, the finale of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony and music by Aaron Copland, plus a new work by John Williams.
Maria Callas: Magic Moments of Music – Tosca 1964
This film tells the story of one of the most magic moments of music. The beginning of 1964 held a great surprise for the music world: Maria Callas returns to the opera stage as prima donna. Her “Tosca” at the Royal Opera House becomes a sensation. Not even the Beatles received more press coverage. All this, for an artist whose glorious career was said to be over, with the singer herself passing over to legend. It is no longer her performances, but her scandals that, are dominating the headlines. Unlucky in love with her billionaire boyfriend Aristotle Onassis, Maria Callas wants to show them all that the title of ”Primadonna assoluta” is still rightfully hers. On condition that famed stage director Franco Zeffirelli takes on the production, the exceptional vocalist is prepared to take on the role of Tosca. Her fans queue outside the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden for four, even five nights. To get their hands on the sought after tickets, they spend the freezing winter nights in sleeping bags and on fold up chairs. The film tells the story of the event from today´s perspective and features interviews with Antonio Pappano, Rolando Villazón, Rufus Wainwright, Thomas Hampson, Anna Prohaska Wolfgang Joop, Jürgen Kesting, Brian McMaster, Kristine Opolais. As bonus the performance of Tosca´s second act is included. It is one of the most dramatic acts in opera history. The film recording is one of the few opportunities to see Maria Callas on stage and witness her emotional dramatics and vocal competence.
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).
The Odeonsplatz Concert, Verdi & Wagner, Rolando Villazon & Thomas Hampson
Take super-tenor Rolando Villazón, baritone legend Thomas Hampson and the fast-rising baton star Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Add one of the world’s greatest orchestras, a summer’s night on Munich’s magnificent Odeonsplatz and a bouquet of famous opera arias, duets, overtures and choruses performed in celebration of Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner. The result: a scintillating opera gala offering you the chance to experience and revisit the Odeonsplatz Concert 2013 in all ist glory and grandezza!
Doktor Faust
For Philippe Jordan, the conductor of this production from the Opernhaus Zürich, ‘Doktor Faust’ is one of the greatest operas of the 20th century, ranking alongside ‘Wozzeck’ and ‘Lulu,’ and resplendent with lush, lateromantic harmonies and motivically derived melodies reminiscent of Wagner, Verdi and even Mahler. Director Klaus Michael Grüber has produced a staging that ‘emphasizes the sensuality and operatic quality of the work’ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). Adding the final touch to the sensuality
of Busoni’s music, Jordan’s expressive control of the complex score and Grüber’s stage magic is Thomas Hampson in the lead role.
Mariss Jansons – The Farewell Concert
For one last time, Mariss Jansons – who will bear the title of conductor emeritus as of now – descends down the red carpeted stairs of the Great Hall as Principal Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. After his resignation, this concert turnes out to be his last in this capacity. The final performance assisted by Thomas Hampson is part of the AAA Festival based on the theme “Origins – Folk Art as Inspiration”, an adventurous series exploring composers inspired by folk music. PROGRAM Mahler: “Des Knaben Wunderhorn”; Copland: “Old American Songs”; Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Padding: Ick seg adieu (World premiere)