From the Deutsche Oper Berlin 1987: This live recording stars the great baritone Renato Bruson and soprano Mara Zampieri as the murderous couple in Verdi’s opera, based on Shakespeare’s tragedy. Luca Ronconi’s production won huge critical acclaim at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, in particular for the conductor, Giuseppe Sinopoli, whose individual virtuosity brought fresh colour to the dramatic score. The cast also features David Griffith as Malcolm, James Morris as Banquo and Dennis O’Neill as Macduff. (Sung in Italian)
Don Giovanni
The opening of the Deutsche Oper Berlin on 24 September 1961 is always seen in the context of partition of Germany, cemented six weeks earlier, and the construction of the Berlin Wall. Although already in the early stages of a terminal illness, Ferenc Fricsay conducted the inaugural performance. Fricsay died in 1963. Staged by Carl Ebert, the performance featured a cast of singers unparalleled to this day, including Dietrich Fischer- Dieskau in the title role, Elisabeth Grümmer and Pilar Lorengar as Donna Anna and Donna Elvira, Donald Grobe, who stepped in at short notice and built an international career on his performance, Walter Berry as Leporello and Erika Köth as Zerlina. The recording of the dress rehearsal on 23 September 1961 was broadcast on German national television simultaneously with the premiere on 24 September.
Falstaff
The stout Sir John Falstaff has financial problems. To refill his empty pockets he strives for amorous affairs with Alice and Meg, the wives of the rich citizens Ford and Page. The two ladies might even have consented, had they not received identical love letters. So they decide to play a trick on him. At the same time Alice exposes her husband’s chronic jealousy. In the end, Nannetta, the Fords’ daughter, is allowed to marry for love against her father’s plans.
Finally, a nightly masquerade in Windsor park brings out the moral of the story: „Tutto nel mondo è burla – All the world’s a burlesque“.
Towards the end of his operatic work, Giuseppe Verdi succeeds in a brilliant comedy of characters with philosophical wisdom and sparkling musical wit. The libretto of Arrigo Boito is based upon William Shakespeare’s comedy „The Merry Wives of Windsor“ and scenes from „Henry IV“.
Bernd Weikl’s witty production shows the simultaneity of tragedy and comedy. The opera’s motto „All the world’s a burlesque“ is also reflected in the stage design of Thomas Doerfler and in the costumes of Julia Holewik. Both set and clothes are inspired by Shakespeare’s theatre, the Italian tradition of „Commedia dell’ arte“ and the world of circus.”
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Mozart composed his Singspiel “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” in 1781, encouraged by no one less than the Austrian emperor Joseph II in order to emphasise the importance of this “national” form of music theatre as opposed to the Italian opera. It was a great success during Mozart’s lifetime and has until today lost none of its magic. In 1976 the Deutsche Oper Berlin presented a new stage direction, after Gustav Rudolf Sellner’s had been played there for many years, by the renowned Günther Rennert. Besides widely known soloists like Horst Laubenthal and Zdzislawa Donat, or the actor Hans Peter Hallwachs as Selim, the star of the evening was undoubtedly the Finnish multi-talented bass Martti Talvela. The premiere in December 1976 was recorded live and broadcast on ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen).
Don Carlos
In 1964 Deutsche Oper Berlin still had no General Music Director. But Artistic Director Gustav Rudolf Sellner made a virtue out a necessity and – in addition to the permanent conductor Heinrich Hollreiser and the regular guest conductor Karl Böhm – brought in further conductors from home and abroad for individual productions. For “Don Carlos” he invited Wolfgang Sawallisch, who since 1957 had been making a name for himself at the Bayreuth Festival, above all with “Tannhäuser” and the “Flying Dutchman” and since 1960 had been acting General Music Director in Hamburg. He had at his disposal an ensemble of outstanding soloists. In addition to Josef Greindl and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, they included James King in the title role, Pilar Lorengar, Martti Talvela, Patricia Johnson and Lisa Otto as the Voice from Heaven. Sung in German.
Madama Butterfly
In 2012, the Hamburg State Opera presented a new production of Giacomo Puccini’s masterpiece Madama Butterfly. The internationally renowned director Vincent Boussard stages the opera, collaborating with star fashion designer Christian Lacroix and set designer Vincent Lemaire. Together they succeed in bringing to life the moving tragedy of the young Japanese geisha Cio-Cio San in a stylish and sophisticated production that focuses on the title role, impressively portrayed by Greek soprano Alexia Voulgaridou. Subtly conducted by Alexander Joel, the dynamic cast includes Romanian Tenor Teodor Ilincai as Cio-Cio San’s love interest, B.F. Pinkerton and Estonian baritone Lauri Vasar as Consul Sharpless. Madama Butterfly contains an enormous wealth of psychological poetry. Through his music, Giacomo Puccini lends his characters extremely rich and complex profiles and created an extraordinary explosive force.
Nederlands Dans Theater 3
According to the ancient Greek legend, Prometheus brought fire and culture to mankind, thus saving the world from being destroyed by Zeus. Through the ages, this story has inspired countless artists, poets and musicians to some of their grandest creations.
Christopher Swann’s film is based on a 1993 televised concert from Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall.
The program features music by Beethoven, Liszt, Skriabin and Nono based on the legend of Prometheus. The four compositions could not be more diverse in style and conception, representing highly different approaches: from the Prometheus as bringer of plague and destruction to the punished Prometheus chained to a rock.
In this film, Christopher Swann stresses a visual approach to this variety of ideas, using a number of modern film techniques to underscore and illustrate the musical presentation.
Performances by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Claudio Abbado are first-rate, although it is the presence of Argerich that will make this DVD an obligatory purchase.
Otello
When Renata Tebaldi sang “Desdemona” in Verdi’s Otello at London’s Covent Garden in 1950, it was her first operatic performance outside Italy. It was also the role in which she made her last appearance on the opera stage, at the Metropolitan Opera New York in 1973. Between these two performances she made close to a hundred stage appearances as Desdemona, not to mention two studio recordings with Alberto Erede and Herbert von Karajan. It was Arturo Toscanini who coined for her the moniker “voce d’angelo” (voice of an angel). She made her highly acclaimed debut as “Desdemona” at the Metropolitan Opera in 1955 and from that moment on made New York the focus of her life. From there she made regular and extended concert tours all over the world, but opera appearances in Europe – particularly northern Europe – were extremely rare. Tebaldi visited Berlin on just two occasions. She gave a rapturously received concert in the Deutschlandhalle in May 1961. On that occasion she promised her fans she would return, and the Berliner Morgenpost even heard it “rumoured” she would appear in her classic role as Desdemona at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, which was about to reopen. This Otello production was planned as a media event from the outset, with cameras in attendance even at the preliminary rehearsal stage. Whereas the first performance took place before an invited audience on 30 August 1962 and was given over entirely to a TV recording by Sender Freies Berlin (SFB), the second performance was open to the opera-going public and was broadcast by SFB-Hörfunkprogramm.
Symphony No. 4 in F minor Op. 36
Hailed by the press as “the definitive video production” of Tchaikovsky’s music, this exceptional concert series, recorded live from the Alte Oper Frankfurt, features the leading Russian conductor Vladimir Fedoseyev and the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra. Fedoseyev’s perceptive reading of the works of his fellow countryman, the masterly playing of the orchestra and guest soloists combine to produce performances which are revelatory in their execution and understanding of Tchaikovsky’s music and the Russian heritage.
La belle Hélène
A superficial view may regard Offenbach’s lightweight masterpiece, La belle Hélène, as „merely“ an opera buffa. But closer scrutiny of this charming, imaginative firework of intrigue makes one thing clear: the story of the Greek queen who started off the Trojan war is, in this version, a humorous and satirical caricature of the vulgar, decadent Parisian upper classes of Offenbach’s own day. Who better suited to produce a modern rendering of this work than the now highly acclaimed Nikolaus Harnoncourt, who also ensured the work’s historical accuracy? Employing a small string section, shining, colourful brass and richly varied percussion, the opera still strikes one as exceptionally modern. This impression is also enhanced by the designers of the production, recorded in 1997 at the Zurich Opera House: no less a figure than the fashion designer Jean–Charles de Castelbajac was responsible for the humorously expansive costumes; and the highly subtle stage–set was the work of Paolo Pivas.