A beautiful young woman travels to a remote estate to seek employment as a biochemist for Baron Janos Dalmar. She finds herself attracted to him, so immerses herself in her work to suppress her lusty desires. A rash of rather brutal murders occurs in the area and she soon discovers that the Baron is not what he seems. Not long thereafter, the Baron transforms into a demon, and the beautiful young woman becomes his very own love slave.
Two orderlies pretend to be surgeons to impress two young doctors and conquer, through several scenarios. Finally, they are discovered when they had to operate on a mafia boss to remove a bullet.
In 1988 when this period-instrument Figaro was released, the style was still a novelty, and Ostman gained some notoreity for his rushed tempos as well as the scrawniness of his chamber orchestra, by far the smallest to play this great opera on CD. Yet when I read a glowing review by Andrew Porter in the New Yorker, I immediately bought the performance, shortly discovering that it was a true gem in the extensive Figaro catalog.
By Santa Fe Listener
Apprehended by the Mexican authorities, Driver is sent to a hardcore prison where he enters the strange and dangerous world of 'El Pueblito'. Not an easy place for an outsider, unless it's with the help of someone who knows the ropes - a 10-year-old kid.
Jordi Savall, viol player, conductor, expert in early music performance practice, and founder of the ensembles Hespèrion XXI and La Capella Reial de Catalunya is responsible for what must be one of the most creatively and sumptuously packaged recordings ever produced. This two-SACD set gathers vocal and instrumental music from the era of Cervantes' Don Quixote, some of it directly related to the novel. Savall and Manuel Forcano selected and adapted sections of the novel and interspersed the music and readings, allowing the listener to follow the events of the novel accompanied and surrounded by appropriate music.
‘A dancer’s blood runs in my veins’ announces the heroine of Léhar’s Giuditta in the beguiling bolero-cum-waltz ‘Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß!’ which blazes into life around fifteen minutes into today’s Recording of the Week from Egyptian soprano Fatma Said, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo and special guests including lutenist David Bergmüller, Quinteto Ángel and the vision string quartet.