fyglia

After public and critical acclaim for his Eugene Onegin (available on DVD from BelAir), "Macbeth" on Blu-ray and DVD is the latest production from Russian stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov, recorded at the Paris Opera. Coproduced with Siberia's Novosibirsk Opera, this new Macbeth uses cutting-edge multimedia technology to give the viewer a fresh perspective on the work. Google Earth satellite images plunge us into the heart of the action: a gloomy square surrounded by soulless buildings, and the interior of an aristocratic residence. Witches are no more a part of Tcherniakov's Macbeth that the duel was of Onegin, but once again the atmosphere is one of brooding claustrophobia. Tcherniakov has chosen a great cast, beginning with the marvellous Lithuanian soprano Violeta Urmana as Lady Macbeth. Greek baritone Dimitris Tiliakos is a powerful presence as Macbeth, while the Italians Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass) and Stefano Secco (tenor) are sumptuous as, respectively, Banquo and Macduff. In this, his second production at the Paris Opera, Teodor Currentzis, music director of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre conducts with verve and a splendid theatrical sense.

Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei, based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name. Shirley Verrett, Leo Nucci, Samuel Ramey, Veriano Luchetti, and Antonio Barasorda star in this Verdi opera with Riccardo Chailly conducting the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna. This 2 DVD set includes over 1 hour of backstage footage and interview.

Verdi’s 1855 Paris opera which followed Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La Traviata is treated to a performance of blazing energy and intimate refinement with a superb cast which includes Cheryl Studer and Chris Merritt. The rarely-seen third act ballet is included complete, with the internationally-acclaimed dancers Carla Fracci and Wayne Eagling.

Placido Domingo‘s triumphant “return” to his baritone roots (his first debut with the Mexican National Opera, in 1959, was as a baritone), is captured in this stunning DVD of the Teatro alla Scala’s 2010 production of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. Domingo is joined by Anja Harteros, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Fabio Sartori in this Daniel Barenboim conducted performance, directed by Federico Tiezzi. Plácido Domingo’s intention had been to bring down the curtain on his career in the (baritone) role of Simon Boccanegra. One can only hope – for our sake as well as his – that this truly great tenor of the modern era reneges on his promise and remains a unique vocal and dramatic presence on the opera stage long after the 70th birthdaycelebrations that were held in his honour on 21 January 2011.

Sliding marble walls, a mosaic-like floor, a leafless tree centre-stage, elegant costumes with its young cast and a superlative performance by Roberto Frontali as Simon Boccanegra, this production has all the ingredients to leave a lasting impression. The Italian baritone is a regular guest at the world's major opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala Milan, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Zurich Opera House, the Staatsoper Berlin and Dresden's Semperoper. Born in 1979 and already principal conductor in Bologna, Michele Mariotti directs the ensemble in a bravura performance. Simon Boccanegra is perhaps not one of Verdi's best-known operas. The composer himself returned to revise the work on several occasions. The original opera was premiered in Venice in 1857, this revised version not until 1881. Although never considered one of Verdi's crowd pullers, it remains one of the composer's most beautiful creations. Verdi's music underpins this human drama in all its surprising twists and turns ... This captivating performance of the opera is now available on Blu-ray.

Verdi's Luisa Miller opera was based on the play Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich von Schiller and features a Great cast of singers including Marcelo Álvarez, Leo Nucci, Fiorenca Cedolins and Giorgio Surian. To celebrate Giuseppe Verdi's bicentenary in 2013, C Major is proud to present the truly unique project, TUTTO VERDI; All 26 operas released on DVD and Blu-ray, together with his immortal Requiem and special documentary.

Jon Vickers one of the great Othellos of the 20th century brings his remarkable vocal power and dramatic intensity to the role, with Renata Scotto as Desdemona at the height of her powers and Cornell MacNeil's manacing Iago in one of the baritone's greatest roles. James Levine conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus in one of the most thrilling performances of the decade.

Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villzon, and Thomas Hampson perform Verdi's opera with Carlo Rizzi conducting the Vienna Philaharmonic. Also included are an introduction by Villazon, behind-the-scenes, trailer for Netrebko - The Woman, The Voice, picture gallery.

C Major Entertainment presents, in both single-disc DVD and Blu-ray editions, the Best of Verdi Opera Choruses. During the course of the following ninety minutes, viewers will both see and hear the choir hits from an array of Verdi Operas, including Nabucco, La Traviata, Aida, Il Trovatore, and several others. Among the Verdi choruses to be heard sung by the Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma and the Orchestra e Coro del Teatro di San Carlo, among others, are Tre volte miagola la gatta in fregola Patria oppressa! from Macbeth, Vedi! Le fosche notturne spoglie from Il Trovatore, Noi siamo zingarelle ... Di Madride noi siam mattadori from La Traviata, Tutto nel mondo e burla from Falstaff, and more.

Love and revenge are fatally interwoven in Il trovatore, and barely any character survives the somber action. Based on a Spanish play in the tradition of gothic horror, it proved to be a triumph for Verdi. Within a few years it saw performances in major opera houses across the world and remains one of the most popular operas in international repertoire.

I due Foscari (The Two Foscari) is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on a historical play, The Two Foscari by Lord Byron. Renato Bruson, Alberto Cupido, Linda Roark-Strummer, Luigi Roni, Renato Cazzaniga, Monica Tagliasacchi, Aldo Bottion, and Aldo Bramante star in this 1988 La Scala performance of the Verdi opera with Gianandrea Gavazzeni conducting.

No opera is more romantic than Giuseppe Verdi's Ernani. Three rivals risk everything for a hot-blooded woman, plotting abductions, hatching conspiracies, swearing fatal oaths. This 1983 Metropolitan Opera production brought together a superb cast of singers, well able to take on the challenge of Verdi's searing music. Stars: Luciano Pavarotti, Leona Mitchell, Sherrill Milnes, Ruggero Raimondi. Chorus, Ballet and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera. Conductor: James Levine

Passion, loyalty and political conspiracy are the three pillars of Un ballo in maschera (1859), the most operatic of all operas . Set in XIX century Boston, Mario Martone s athmospheric production for the Teatro Real in Madrid brings out all the innate theatricality and drama of Verdi s work. World famous Argentinean tenor Marcelo Álvarez in the role of Riccardo leads a fabulous cast including Lithuanian soprano Violeta Urmana as his love Amelia and Elena Zaremba playing the witch Ulrica. Jesús López Cobos conducts the Madrid Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a performance that shows the lyricism and grandeur of this beautiful work, which marries grand opera and opera comique features with Verdi's classical Italian opera tradition.

Aida is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario often attributed to French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, although Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz has argued that the scenario was actually written by Temistocle Solera. Aida was first performed at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo on 24 December 1871. This opera is conducted by James Levine and featuring the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and Orchestra anc Chorus. Stars Dimitri Kavrakos, Dolora Zajick, Aprile Millo, Placido Domingo and Sherill Milnes.

Riccardo Muti conducts a fine cast in the powerful and atmospheric 1991 production of Verdi’s ninth opera, whose story of the heroic tussle between Ezio, a Roman general, and Attila, the Nordic invader was written for the 1846 Teatro la Fenice season and premiered there to huge acclaim.

Macbeth occupies a special place in Verdi’s overall output: it is his only opera without an amorous intrigue, and it is also his first Shakespearean opera. Shakespeare was one of his “favourite poets,” the composer admitted, “a poet whose works I have had in my hands from my earliest youth and one whom I read and reread constantly.” Macbeth is one of the most multi-layered, profound and demanding roles that Verdi ever wrote for a baritone and the Italian singer Leo Nucci is arguably the most distinguished in his field. The role has repeatedly brought him lasting success and he enacts it with an intensity that only the very experienced stage personality can muster. French singer Sylvie Valayre is known for her versatile interpretations of spinto and dramatic coloratura soprano parts, especially for particularly gruelling roles like Lady Macbeth. Supported by Italian bass Enrico Iori as Banco and tenor Roberto Iuliano as Macduff, they make up a wonderful cast under the baton of Bruno Bartoletti, musical director of the Teatro Regio di Parma.

Not until 1855 did Verdi have a chance to try his hand at French grand opera. A setting of a libretto by Eugene Scribe, Les Vepres siciliennes proved a success in Paris despite its problematic subject matter: the Sicilian uprising against occupying french forces in Palermo in 1282. Today, the opera is usually given in the Italian version of 1861 as I Vespri Siciliani. To celebrate Giuseppe Verdis bicentenary in 2013, C Major is proud to present the truly unique project, TUTTO VERDI: All 26 operas released on DVD and Blu-ray, together with his immortal Requiem and special documentary.

Opera superstars Renée Fleming and Rolando Villazón star in this sumptuous 2006 production at the Los Angeles Opera of Verdi's masterpiece. Both singers, world-renowned for their portrayals of the doomed lovers, are joined by veteran operatic baritone Renato Bruson and the conductor James Conlon making this the most dynamic ensemble available on Blu-Ray. Filmed in high definition, this production is now available in Blu-Ray for the first time. With an image up to six times sharper than conventional DVD and superior high-definition sound, Blu-ray lets you watch opera from the front row and experience every detail with exceptional clarity.

Celebrating the work of Italy’s greatest musical dramatist, this Opus Arte exclusive box set of 12 operas includes definitive performances from some of the finest Verdi singers of our age in productions which reflect the contemporary richness of our perspective of the composer as both a man of his time and also a man of theatrical genius as timeless as his adored Shakespeare, whose anti-heroes Macbeth and Falstaff stand as the poles of tragedy and comedy in this survey of modern stagings.

C Major's Tutto Verdi project arrives at arguably Verdi's most popular opera: La traviata. This 2007 production from the Teatro Regio di Parma is conducted by Yuri Termirkanov. He has appeared with many leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and La Scala. To celebrate Giuseppe Verdi's bicentenary in 2013, C Major is proud to present the truly unique project, TUTTO VERDI: All 26 operas released on DVD and Blu-ray, together with his immortal Requiem and special documentary.