Victor Torres

Marlis Petersen, Tom Randle, Victor Torres, Pietro Spagnoli, Magnus Staveland, Sunhae Im, Arttu Kataja, Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Nigel Lowery, Amir Hosseinpour Freiburger Barockorchester René Jacobs In the Summer of 2009, the British director Nigel Lowery and the Iranian choreographer Amir Hosseinpour brought to the stage of the Berlin State Opera “Unter den Linden”, with colour and full of humour, the fantastic and imaginative adventures of “Racing Roland”. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn, the composer’s most renowned opera during his lifetime,“Orlando Paladino”, was performed, a heroic-comical stage piece based on Ariost’s famous “Versepos”. Singers such as Marlis Petersen (Angelica), Tom Randle (Orlando), Alexandrina Pendatchanska (Alcina), Pietro Spagnoli (Rodomonte), Sunhae Im (Eurilla) and Victor Torres (Pasquale) performed under the musical direction of period-music specialist René Jacobs. The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra completed this high-class production giving the music a beautiful sound and lively swing.

Toru Takemitsu - Film Music by Toru Takemitsu (2006) {7CD Box Set Victor Entertainment Japan VICG-60593~9}
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© 2006 Victor Entertainment Japan | VICG-60593~9
Classical / Film Score / Contemporary Classical / Avant-Garde / Modern Composition

These are probably the rarest Takemitsu recordings around. Toru Takemitsu composed music for at least 70 films (I have read that it's actually around 90 but I haven't researched this) and the music can be exceptionally wide-ranging: traditional Japanese soloists and ensembles, Western classical tradition, avant-garde and everything in between (jazzy lounge and space age music, anyone?) I feel that some of his best film scores are those which have his delicate Debussian touches combined with traditional Asian music and soloists.

A live performance from October 2011 at the Theatre de Caen affords a superb introduction to Cavalli’s rarely performed 1641 opera La Didone. William Christie leads Les Arts Florissants in beautifully realized period style, while French stage actor Clement Hervieu-Leger, in his operatic directorial debut, draws powerful and moving characterizations from a large, versatile cast.

A disc that includes just three-and-a-half minutes’ worth of the delectable Maria Cristina Kiehr sounds like tantalization taken a step too far. Yet, as so often with Alpha, a theme lies behind this apparently disparate collection, although you’d have to be a Buxtehude scholar to spot it from the list of contents. The clue is in the word “Ciaconna” in the disc’s title, “Ciaccona: il mondo che gira.” Got there yet? Well, the answer is that all these works include an ostinato, or repeated bass pattern.

Monteverdi - Madrigali Guerrieri Ed Amorosi - Concerto Vocale, René Jacobs (2002) {2CD Set Harmonia Mundi HMC 901736.37}
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© 2001 Harmonia Mundi | HMC 901736.37
Classical / Baroque / Vocal Music

Monteverdi was seventy-one when he published his Eighth Book of madrigals. This collection, a monumental work of remarkable beauty, is a synthesis of all Monteverdi's experience in the realm of secular music. It is the culmination of a genre, the Italian madrigal, which here achieves a rare state of perfection. INDISPENSABLE!

A flamboyant manifesto of the Baroque Revolution. In autumn of 1610 Monteverdi dedicated a luxuriant collection of religious music to Pope Paul V, of which the "Vespers of the Blessed Virgin" is by far the most prodigious work. A spectacular synthesis of Franco-Flemish polyphony and Italian innovations, this impressive monument imposed itself as the standard-bearer of the Monteverdian revolution. But the real miracle is his ability to reconcile solemnity and suavity with the most genuine fervour.

This is a great set. The main competition to this production comes from Gardiner, with Anthony Rolfe Johnson as Orfeo. His is a superbly attractive voice, and he remains the best Orfeo I've heard. But Victor Torres is excellent too and his performance is very distinctive and rich in character. What's more, he is better recorded, as is the whole of Garrido's interpretation…”