Produkt Der Deutsch Amerikanischen Freundschaft

Orpheus in the Underworld represents a quantum leap in Offenbach’s operetta output, for it would have been unthinkable to have created a stage work of such opulence and extravagance in Paris prior to that time. Strict regulations dating from the era of Napoleon I assigned to each of the city’s theatres a specific dramatic genre and a proportionate number of employees and performers. For Offenbach this meant writing for no more than three actors on stage at any one time. He openly flouted the regulations, however, ingeniously increasing his dramatic possibilities by adding puppets to his cast list and conveying what he had to say by means of banners held up by mute actors.

"The central part of the "Ring" tetralogy is precisely this: a hero has been created who would actually have had all the attributes of freedom, but nobody remembered to tell him…" (Patrice Chéreau). "One can only marvel at how enthrallingly Chéreau has made visible every ramification of this malignant idyll and bitter comedy. In its faithful service to this fabulously polished staging Brian Large's video direction is a model" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).

In 1976 French director Patrice Chéreau's cenentenary staging of Wagner's "Ring"-Cycle unleashed the greatest scandal in Bayreuth Festival history but, by the end of its last performance in 1980, this epoch-making production was acclaimed with an hour and a half of thunderous applause. "Götterdämmerung presents a world in which no values exist any more. The only refuge is in the past" (Chateau). "The videotaped Bayreuth Ring succeed triumphantly."

“Kurt Rydl crowns a fine stage career with a gloriously eccentric impersonation of La Roche…The singing honours belong entirely to Angelika Kirchschlager as Clairon.” (BBC Music Magazine). “this Countess's preference for 'Ton' over 'Wort' is clear from the start…The greatest pleasure of the performance, for me, undoubtedly comes in the wonderful playing of the Staatsoper orchestra, the sweet, tender strings and the mellifluous horns in particular; and Christoph Eschenbach conducts a leisurely and loving account of Strauss's gorgeous score.” (Gramophone Magazine)

Götz Friedrich’s controversial Tannhäuser production from 1978 scandalized the Bayreuth old guard while revealing Tannhäuser’s revolutionary qualities to a new age of Wagner lovers.This brilliantly iconoclastic production, superbly sung and conducted, ushered in a new age of Wagner interpretation. Choreography of the ‘Bacchanal’ by John Neumeier and set design and costumes by the international well known stage designer Jürgen Rose. A superb cast led by Spas Wenkoff as Tannhäuser, Gwyneth Jones as Venus as well as Elisabeth and Bernd Weikl as Wolfram.

Franz Liszt's songs remain the least-often-heard segment of his output, even as serious historians of 19th century music, including Alfred Brendel, have praised them. They are a bit uneven, and they are, for a composer who made his living with the grand gesture, uncharacteristically quiet. Various singers have taken them up, however, and this major release by Jonas Kaufmann, with the invaluable Helmut Deutsch on the piano, marks a kind of milestone. The songs are striking for how little they resemble Schumann or anything else written anywhere near the same time (until perhaps Hugo Wolf), and Kaufmann absolutely gets their originality.

This Bartered Bride ’s acting and singing is generally of a high level. Lucia Popp was caught at a perfect time for this role. She’d gradually been developing her voice into a larger, more dramatic instrument, and here displays a lyric’s warmth with the power of a spinto. She clearly enjoys the challenge of the only serious aria in the entire work (in act III; performed in German as “Wie fremd und tot”), providing many fine interpretative points and a great deal of tonal variety. The audience goes wild, as well they might.

This legendary Bayreuth Festival production of Wagner’s 'Der Ring des Nibelungen', directed by Harry Kupfer, with designs by Hans Schavernoch, and conducted by Daniel Barenboim, is considered perhaps the finest video recording of these four operas ever made. For their innovative modernist staging, Kupfer and his team turned away from the work’s time of origin and located The Ring at a “road of history”, a meeting-place of past, present and future, which sets the scene for the story’s struggles of power and love. Barenboim’s authoritative yet highly responsive reading of the immense score and the extraordinary performances of the cast help to make this a truly memorable Ring.

This German version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, with set and costumes by Ita Maximowna, dates from the year 1967. The Hamburg State Opera Choir and the Philharmonic State Orchestra of Hamburg are conducted by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, who worked as the opera company’s first conductor between 1935 and 1942 as well as from 1945 to 1971 and was chief conductor of the North German Radio Orchestra, which he had personally been responsible for reorganizing in the post-war years. It may come as a surprise to learn that the singers, all of whom are now international stars, were drawn exclusively from the Hamburg State Opera ensemble - further proof of Rolf Liebermann’s skill in identifying up-and-coming musicians!

What better legacy could an opera-house director leave behind him than a string of excellent theatrical productions! Rolf Liebermann (1910-1999), who was actually a composer, certainly succeeded in doing this – particularly during the 14 years from 1959 to 1973 that he spent in charge of Hamburg State Opera. During the Liebermann era the company in this northern German city embarked on a new artistic and administrative course that had - and still has - an impact on the entire operatic scene in central and Western Europe. It is significant in terms of Rolf Liebermann’s artistic credo that he selected Joachim Hess’ 1969 production of Zar und Zimmermann to be included amongst the august ranks of his 13 opera films.