Drei Groschen Oper

Mozart - Die Zauberflote - Chor und Orchester der Oper Zurich (Nikolaus Harnoncourt) [2DVD Set] (2007) {Deutsche Grammophon}
2xDVD -> 13.3 Gb | All Regions | NTSC 16:9 | Deutsch (LinearPCM, 2 ch / DTS, 5 ch) | ~ 226m | ISO Images
Subs: Deutsch, English, Francais, Espanol, Chinese
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 111 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2007 Deutsche Grammophon / Universal | 00440 073 4367
Classical / Opera

This latest European re-imagining of a classic opera, directed by Martin Kusej and featuring the Chor und Orchester der Oper Zurich conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, is a splendid performance that was taped from a live television broadcast. Director Kusej, in the 45 minute bonus behind the scenes film on disc one, complains of "fuddy-duddy performances of opera, such as directed by Zeffirelli." Ouch! His intention to avoid such old-style productions is successful. The set represents a combination of a labyrinth and a modern building lobby. It rotates on the stage while cleverly designed moveable walls constantly produce new shapes so that no architectural space duplicates any other.

Richard Wagner’s early opera “Rienzi” is stylistically closer to Meyerbeer and bel canto than to Wagner’s later masterworks. Yet even this early work – especially as presented in this recording – is “so fantastically beautiful that it takes one’s breath away” (Berliner Zeitung). And in this staging by Philipp Stölzl, who condensed the five-act opera into a little over two hours, “Rienzi” becomes a startlingly powerful and timeless parable of power and abuse. Though the story of the rise and fall of a charismatic leader and his totalitarian regime takes place in 14th-century Rome, Stölzl sets it somewhere in the recent past.

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's birth in 1970, German television took Fidelio into the studio and filmed the Deutsche Oper Berlin's production of the composer's only opera. Karl Böhm, well-known as a master conductor of this opera, leads an astonishing performance which emphasizes orchestral clarity and emotional depth. The conductor leads a strong cast headed by the glorious Gwyneth Jones and powerful James King in the starring roles. First time on DVD! "Gwyneth Jones sang a passionate Leonore…James King was a Florestan on the summit of his vocal expression." (Berliner Morgenpost)

Perhaps the least performed of Italian master Giacomo Puccini’s mature operas, La Rondine (The Swallow) was originally conceived as Puccini’s first (and only) operetta. But, as stage director Rolando Villazón puts it, “Puccini is Puccini”. Thus the work turned out to be an artful blend of operetta and opera, with a somewhat lighter mood and simpler plot than most of the composer’s more serious masterpieces. But its gorgeous music makes it a “must see” for any opera fan. This riveting and beautifully portrayed video account of La Rondine stars the rapidly emerging soprano (and Delos artist) Dinara Alieva and widely acclaimed tenor Charles Castronovo in the lead roles. Filmed live at the top-ranked Deutsche Oper Berlin, the action unfolds in a dazzling and profound production under the direction of legendary tenor and stage director Rolando Villazón and conducted by the renowned maestro Roberto Rizzi Brignoli.

Macbeth signifies the beginning of Verdi"s life-long preoccupation with William Shakespeare where he came close to emulating the master with his congenial composition of Othello and whom he even surpassed with Falstaff. Aware of the great musical as well as literary challenge, Verdi wrote the scenario himself and essentially concentrated the piece on three main protagonists: Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the prophecy of the witches . . . During the first performance on 14 March 1847 in Florence the audience reacted with great displeasure. The piece only gradually established itself in the world of opera. Luca Ronconi’s new production of Verdi’s early masterpiece which was first performed in June 1987 at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin was received in Germany and around the world with great praise.

With a terrific cast including Maria Bengtsson and Katharina Magiera, and under the baton of Sebastian Weigle, OehmsClassics and Opera Frankfurt bring back to live a nearly forgotten jewel of comic opera in the 19th century. After the premiere at the Viennese Kärntnertortheater in 1847, Friedrich von Flotow’s Martha or The fair at Richmond became for nearly half a century one of the most popular operas in Europe. Full of charming melodies and with a plot as hilarious as racy, the story of bored Lady Harriet Durham and her friend Nancy, who disguised themselves as Martha and Julia and travel to the servant’s fair of Richmond, where they actually not only find a job, but also true love, is an enchanting example for the 1850’s civic opera and also Friedrich von Flotow’s wonderful light hearted music. After “Der Graf von Luxemburg” OehmsClassics is happy to continue the collaboration with Opera Frankfurt with this remarkable recording.

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.