Verdi Ernani

From the innovative and gorgeous "Tutto Verdi" project comes a chance to catch all the high points! The "Tutto Verdi" highlights DVD and Blu-ray discs include arias from 20 Verdi operas. The selections hail from the best-known and -loved productions like Aida, La Traviata, and Rigoletto as well as lesser-known beauties, all in HD and surround sound.

Over a four-decade span Liszt turned to a sequence of transcriptions drawn from operas by Verdi and Auber. Auber’s La muette de Portici (‘The Mute Girl of Portici’) marks the beginnings of French grand opera, to which Liszt responded with two versions of a Tarantelle that differ relatively little from each other but offer formidable challenges to the performer in their increasingly complex virtuosity. His elaborate variations on Auber’s La fiancée and his concert paraphrase on Verdi’s Ernani and on a prayer from I Lombardi (called Jérusalem in the French staging) offer their own profoundly expressive textures.

In 1998 Ludovic Tézier sang his first Verdi role on stage, taking the part of Ford in a Falstaff production in Tel Aviv. At his side was Alessandro Corbelli, giving his début in the title role. “I could sing Ford with a sort of lyrical technique“, the baritone recalls; ”I was still young at the time.” He was 30 years old when he delivered the grim, brooding aria “È sogno? O realtà?” from Act II of Falstaff, and it formed the starting point of his career as a Verdi baritone. But he also associates the role with a different, highly personal experience: “Two days before the première of my second Ford my father passed away”, he relates. “It’s amazing how much energy Verdi has, both for the audience and for us singers. Of course his roles are often very demanding, but the music also works like a fountain of youth. Verdi is full of vitality. That’s the only reason why I could stand on stage and sing two days after my father’s death.”

The 19th century was a significant time for both opera and the guitar. Opera was everywhere, and its characteristics gradually began to appear in other styles of music as composers tried to encapsulate the expressiveness and flexibility of the voice into their works. At the same time, the guitar underwent major changes in construction; this disc showcases pieces that combine these two major elements of 19th? century music, all of which are played by Roch Modrzejewski – praised in Les Cahiers de la Guitare as an ‘extraordinary, demanding, gifted and clever guitarist’.

The fame and legacy of Maria Callas are nearly unsurpassed in the modern history of opera. Her fame has transcended the usual boundaries of classical music, and she has been the inspiration for several movies, an opera, and a successful Broadway musical. Her extensive catalogue of recordings remains among the most coveted and controversial for both her fans and detractors.