IMMORTAL

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IMMORTAL
CLASSICAL DVD
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IMMORTAL - CLASSICAL DVD
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Gioacchino Rossini
Il Barbiere Di Siviglia
Francesco Cilea
Adriana Lecouvreur
Pietro Mascagni
Cavalleria Rusticana
Luciano Pavarotti - Joan
Sutherland - Richard
Bonynge
Live From The Sydney
Opera House
Magic Fairy Tales - The
Prince And Cinderella Ninel Kurgapkina Benefit
Performance
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Il Conte d’Almaviva - Nicola Monti
Bartolo - Marcello Cortis
Rosina - Antonietta Pastori
Figaro - Rolando Panerai
Basilio - Franco Calabrese
Fiorello - Eraldo Coda
Berta - Fernanda Cadoni
Orchestra Della radio Televisione
Italiana
Chorus master: Roberto Benaglio
Conductor: Carlo Maria Giullini
Broadcast date: April 23, 1954
Maurizio, Conte di Sassonia - Nicola
Filacuridi
Il Principe di Bouillon - Carlo Badioli
L’Abate di Chazeuil - Gino del Signore
Michonnet - Otello Borgonovo
Quinault - Eraldo Coda
Posson - Mario Vincenzi
Adriana Lecouvreur - Marcella Pobbe
La Principessa di Bouillon - Fedora
Barbieri
Mad. lla Jouvenot - Sandra Ballinari
Mad. lla Dangeville - Miti Truccato Pace
Un Maggiordomo - Egidio Casolari
Turiddu - Mario Ortica
Alfio - Giuseppe Valdengo
Santuzza - Carla Gavazzi
Mamma Lucia - Maria Amadini
Lola - Rosita Gilardi
Orchestro e Coro di Milano della RAI
Conductor: Arturo Basile
Milan, July 11, 1956
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Luciano Pavarotti and Joan Sutherland two of the greatest singers that opera
has ever known - join forces in this
astonishing concert, deftly filmed at
the Sydney Opera House in 1983.
The veteran Sutherland is in fantastic
coloratura voice. Pavarotti, already a
world-renowned leading tenor, is still
solely an opera star, a few years away
from his household-word pop fame. The
focus is on great arias and duets from
the grand repertoire.
The dazzling music and grand
choreography of the Kirov Ballet,
Russia’s earliest and most enduring
ballet company.
And the orchestra is led by the great
Australian conductor Richard Bonynge Sutherland’s husband, and her
all-important musical collaborator for
many years.
Orchestra & Chorus of Radiotelevisione
taliana Milan
Chorus Master: Roberto Benaglio
Conductor: Alfredo Simonetto
Choreography: Ugo Dall’Ara
Prima ballerinas & ballerino: Luciana
Novaro, Vera Colombo, Ugo Dall’Ara
Gorgeous duets include ‘Brindisi’
and ‘Parigi, o cara’ from ‘La Traviata’
and ‘Prendi l’anel ti dono,’ from ‘La
Sonnambula.’ Sutherland brings down
the house with, among other great arias,
‘Qui la voce sua soave,’ from ‘I Puritani.’
And Pavarotti brings his beautiful tone
and sheer star power to ‘Recondita
armonia’ from ‘Tosca,’ ‘La mia letizia
infondere’ from ‘I Lombardi,’ ‘Vesti la
giubba’ from ‘Pagliacci,’ and more. A
powerful and unforgettable evening.
Broadcast date: March 26, 1955
Track List:
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Jules Massenet
Werther
Giuseppe Verdi
Aida
A Crazy Day - Pages Of The
Russian Ballet
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Werther - Juan Oncina
Carlotta - Leyla Gencer
Alberto - Enzo Sordello
Il Podestà - Marcello Cortis
Schmidt - Mario Carlin
Johann - Nestore Catalani
Sofia - Sandra Ballinari
Katchen - Elsa Alberti
Bruhlmann - Walter Artioli
Orchestra e Coro di Milano della RAI
Conductor: Alfredo Simonetto
Milan, April 23, 1955
Aida: Renata Tebaldi - Sophia Loren
Amneris: Ebe Stignani - Lois Maxwell
Amonasro: Gino Bechi - Afro Poli
Radamès: Giuseppe Campora Luciano Della Marra
Ramfis: Giulio Neri - Antonio Cassinelli
Il Faraone: Enrico Formichi - Enrico
Formichi
Un’Ancella: Giovanna Russo - Marisa
Valenti­­­‑­­
Il Messagero: Paolo Caroli - Domenico
Balini
Una Schiave: Marisa Ciampaglia Marisa Ciampaglia
Un Guerrero Etiope: George Petroff George Petroff
Ballerini: Alba Amova, Victor Ferrari,
Ciro di Pardo
Orchestra e Coro di Roma della RAI
Conductor: Giuseppe Morelli
Corpo di Ballo del Teatro dell’Opera di
Roma, Rome, 1953
Directed by Clemente Fracassi
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Two important and beautiful ballet
films, showcasing the work of the great
choreographers and dancers of Russia.
‘Pages of the Russian Ballet’ is a
concert film in which the majesty of
grand Russian tradition is fully on view.
We are treated to dances from a Glinka
opera and the great Borodin’s ‘Prince
Igor’ and ‘Polovtsian Dances’ - with
classic choreography by Michel Fokine,
leading light of both the avant garde
of the early 1900’s and of modern
ballet in the first half of the twentieth
century. Just as exciting: the pieces are
danced by the Kirov Ballet - and feature
Gabriella Komleva, one of the modern
world’s best-loved ballerinas.
‘A Crazy Day’ is the work of the
idiosyncratic Russian genius Boris
Eifman, who has made his name as
a choreographer by bringing wit and
insight to the grand traditions of Russian
and international ballet. Here he offers
a gorgeous, complex, funny, and sexy
riff on ‘The Barber of Seville’ - typical
of Eifman’s work, which brings the
great Russian ballet traditions into the
postmodernist world.
I Capuleti Ed I Montecchi (Vincenzo
Bellini): Sinfonia - Orchestra / La
Traviata (Giuseppe Verdi): Brindisi Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti /
Tosca (Giacomo Puccini): ‘Recondita
armonia’ - Luciano Pavarotti / La
Traviata (Giuseppe Verdi): ‘Tenesta la
promessa… Addio, del passato’ - Joan
Sutherland / I Lombardi (Giuseppe
Verdi): ‘La mia letizia infondere’ Luciano Pavarotti / I Puritani (Vincenzo
Bellini): Qui la voce sua soave’ - Joan
Sutherland / La Sonnambula (Vincenzo
Bellini): ‘Prendi l’anel ti dono’ - Joan
Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti / Adriana
Lecouvreur (Francesco Cilea): ‘Io son
l’umile ancella…’ - Joan Sutherland /
Werther (Jules Massenet): ‘Pourquoi
me réveiller’ - Luciano Pavarotti / Thaïs
(Jules Massenet): Meditation - Ladislav
Jásek / Hamlet (Ambroise Thomas): ‘A
vos jeux, mes amis’ - Joan Sutherland /
Pagliacci (Ruggiero Leoncavallo): ‘Vesti
la giubba’ - Luciano Pavarotti / Lucia
di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizzetti):
‘Sulla tomba che rinserra’ - Joan
Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti / L’Elisir
d’Amore (Gaetano Donizetti): ‘Una
furtiva lagrima’ - Luciano Pavarotti /
Crispino e la Comare (Luigi & Frederico
Ricci): ‘Io non sono più l’Annetta’ - Joan
Sutherland / La Traviata (Giuseppe
Verdi): ‘Parigi, o cara’ - Joan Sutherland,
Luciano Pavarotti
Choreographic riches preserved in
these rare dance films include part of
Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Sleeping Beauty’
- with the great Gabriella Komleva
dancing Aurora, and with the traditional
19th-century choreography of Marius
Petipa, who established the grandeur of
the early Kirov style when it was known
as the Imperial Russian Ballet.
Also seen here is ‘The Prince and
Cinderella,’ a fantasia on Prokofiev’s
‘Cinderella,’ choreographed by the
modern master Constantine Sergeev,
who helped sustain Russian dominance
in ballet in the twentieth century. And
as a climax we’re treated to a wealth of
dancing from Ninel Kurgapkina, one of
the most beloved of modern Russian
ballerinas. When Kurgapkina dances
the repertoire from ‘Don Quixote’ to a
Strauss waltz to Drigo’s ‘Harlequinade,’
we are reminded yet again of the
greatness of Russian ballet, the Kirov,
and the tradition of ballet itself.
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Asami Maki Ballet Group
Ballet Miniatures
Everything Is Fine / Good
Mood
The Kirov Ballet
Cinderella
St. Petersburg Ballet
Everything Turns Into
Dancing / Don Juan
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The beauty, wit, and grand classical
technique of the world-renowned
Asami Maki Ballet Company are fully
on display in this gorgeous selection
of widely varying performances,
deftly captured on film at the fabled
St.Petersburg home of the Kirov Ballet.
Three great Russian ballets, expertly
filmed, full of color, costume, and - of
course - the unparalleled dancing of
Russian ballet stars.
Faroukh Ruzimatov - star dancer of the
fabled Kirov ballet - in a rich program
of fascinating dancing, music, and
discussion. In two compelling films,
this great Russian dancer delves into
his love of both classical repertoire and
classic swing and pop, bringing to full,
balletic life music by Louis Armstrong
and Ella Fitzgerald and modern
versions of a number of classical
pieces. Ruzimatov is joined by his wife,
the ballerina Olga Obukhovskaya, as
well as by ensemble dancers of the
Kirov.
A gorgeous production - gorgeously
filmed - of the ballet Cinderella, with
music by the great modern Russian
composer Sergei Prokofiev. This
production comes from the fabled Kirov
Ballet, which originally commissioned
Prokofiev’s great score in the 1940’s.
The beautiful colors and astonishing
dancing are fully captured in the film,
which adds some brilliant effects of its
own as well.
A dazzling collection of gorgeous
Russian ballet on film: Everything Turns
into Dancing, with its series of brilliant
choreographic miniatures, created by
the great Leonid Yakobson; and a bonus
film of Don Juan, with music by Richard
Strauss.
Under the tireless creative leadership
of Asami Maki, the veteran Japanese
ballerina and choreographer - she
made her debut in 1948 and has been
breaking new ground in Japanese
ballet for the 21st century - the Asami
Maki Ballet has become one of the
world’s best loved and most impressive
companies. With deep roots in both
Japanese traditions and classical
Russian technique, the company has
fostered the careers of hundreds of
internationally recognized dancers,
choreographers, and designers.
Pieces excerpted here include four
choreographed by Asami Maki herself,
as well as two exciting entries from
the late American choreographer and
pioneer of modern ballet William Dollar.
A thrilling introduction to some of the
best in classical ballet and Japanese
dance.
The program includes fragments of:
Love at Times of War - music by Taitiro
Kosugi, choreography by Asami Maki
Constantia - music by Frederic Chopin,
choreography by William Dollar
The Spider Web - music by Yasushi
Akutagawa, choreography by Asami
Maki
Tryptyque - music by Yasushi
Akutagawa, choreography by Asami
Maki
The Duel - music by Raffaelo de
Banfield, choreography by William
Dollar
Mandala Symphony - music by Toshiro
Mayuzumi, choreography by Asami
Maki
Directed by Eugenia Popova
‘Egyptian Night’ and ‘Carnival’ are works
by the great Russian choreographer
Mikhail Fokine, the former set to music
by Anton Arensky, the latter to music
by Robert Schumann. These light,
pretty, seductive ballets, though so
different in theme and setting, are alike
in showcasing the amazing artistry
of the fabled Kirov Ballet, with its star
dancers Faroukh Ruzimatov, Altynai
Asylmuratova, and Margarita Kullik,
who delve into the sheer pleasure and
gorgeousness of movement, clothing,
color, and sound.
By contrast, this fully packed program
concludes with ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ set
to famous music by Tchaikovsky and
danced by Choreoraphic Miniatures,
the well-loved company from St.
Petersburg. This brooding, tragic
narrative, with its intense color palette
and athletic solos and duets, reminds us
of the depth and passion that are also
part and parcel Russian ballet. All in all,
a rich, varied, and thrilling program of
beautiful ballet.
Track List:
Egyptian Night: Music by Anton
Arensky, Choreography by Mikhail
Fokine, The Kirov Ballet, Students of
the A.Y. Vaganova Leningrad Institute
of Choreography, Kirov Orchestra
conducted by Victor Fedotov
Carnival: Music by Robert Schumann,
Choreography by Mikhail Fokine,
The Kirov Ballet, Students of the
A.Y. Vaganova Leningrad Institute of
Choreography, Leningrad Philharmonic
Orchestra conducted by Victor Fedotov
Romeo and Juliet: Music by Peter
Tchaikovsky, Choreography by Sergey
Vikulov, Choreographic Miniatures
ballet group, Moscow Philharmonic
Orchestra conducted by Dmitry
Kitaenko
The program contains two complete
films: Everything Is Fine intersperses
revealing interviews with Ruzimatov discussing the creative nourishment he
takes in jazz and in the choreography
of his teacher Nikolai Tagunov - scenes
of the dancer in a club listening to
the highly accomplished Leningrad
Jazz Ensemble, and some brilliant
improvising to the music of the
ensemble’s leader David Goloshchekin.
And Ruzimatov and the others fly
through songs by Ella and Louis.
Good Mood is more of a full-scale
concert film, again showing the
amazingly athletic and versatile
Ruzimatov in jazz settings and to the
sounds of some adventurous updates
of classical music. Together, these two
beautifully shot films offer a complete
portrait of a daring, highly creative
approach to the art of ballet.
The lead role is performed by the great
Gabriella Komleva, who before her
retirement in the late 1980’s was one of
Russia’s most exciting and best-loved
ballerinas. Bringing to life Konstantin
Sergeev’s famous choreography - which
premiered in Soviet Leningrad in 1946 Komleva shows why Cinderella was
considered one of her great roles.
Komleva is especially ably supported
by Lyudmila Galinskaya and Margarita
Kullik as the Ugly Sisters, Repulsa
and Obnoxa, whose dark comedy
plays neatly off the moodiness of
the romance. And young students
of the A.Y. Vaganova Institute of
Choreography do a beautiful job in the
ensemble roles.
A lovely and stirring production of a
ballet classic.
The main program, Everything Turns
into Dancing is at once a thrilling dance
document and a daring experiment in
bringing Yakobson’s choreographic
miniatures to the screen. Pieces set
to a wide variety of musical styles Baroque to classical to modernist, Bach
to Rossini to Honegger - become a
stunning collage, interspersing footage
of St. Petersburg’s streets and traffic
as well as a grand ensemble piece to
music by Tchaikovsky. A fascinating
achievement in both dance and film.
Both the story and the music of Don
Juan are classics. Kirov stalwart
Sergey Berezhnoy brings enormous
vigor and grace to the old story of the
great seducer whose coming doom
is foretold by the ghost of the man he
kills. Together, these two beautiful films,
mixing the modern and the classic, are
a testament to the variety and power of
Russian ballet.
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Anna Karenina
The Kirov Ballet
The Firebird & Petrushka
Elena Obraztsova, Ileana
Cotrubas & Renata Scotto
Three Sopranos
The Moscow Virtuosi
Virtuosos of St. Petersburg
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Tolstoy’s great novel of passion and
retribution is brought to new dramatic
and musical life in this operatic stage
adaptation from the great Russian
composer Vladislav Uspensky and
the brilliant Finnish director Jotaarkka
Pennanen.
Two gorgeous, classic ballets, with
music by the great twentieth-century
composer Igor Stravinsky, danced by
the Kirov Ballet, Russia’s fabled dance
company.
‘The Three Sopranos’ - the Romanian
Ilena Cotrubas, the Italian Renata
Scotto, and the Russian Elena
Obraztsova - sharing a stage at the
beautiful Roman Amphitheater at
Siracuse, beautifully supported by the
Czech Symphony Orchestra.
The Moscow Virtuosi - Russia’s
internationally beloved chamber
ensemble, drawn from the cream of the
country’s greatest soloists - presents a
beautiful all-Bach-and-Mozart program
for an enthusiastic audience at Torrejon
de Ardoz, Spain.
An evening of gorgeous classical string
music, performed by the young, talented
Orchestra de Camara de Los Jovenes,
under the direction of the great Russian
maestro Vladimir Altshuler.
Singing well-loved selections from
such operas as Pagliacci, La Boheme,
Tales of Hoffman, Carmen, Aida,
and more, each of these three great
artists brings to the proceedings her
own distinctive style as an actress,
a star, and a vocalist. Among other
standouts, Cotrubas sings Mimi from
La Boheme — the role that made her
an international sensation. Obraztsova,
the mezzo, sings Carmen; Scotto
sings Amelia, from Verdi’s Un Ballo
in Maschera. And two duets pair the
singers off and bring out fascinating
nuances.
Founded and led by the legendary
violinist Vladimir Spivakov, the Moscow
Virtuosi have been delighting audiences
around the world since 1979. Featured
in this program are two of the most
exciting of the Virtuosi stalwarts: violinist
Arkady Futer and oboist Alexey Utkin.
Futer collaborates with Spivakov on the
Bach double-violin concerto in D Minor,
and Utkin brings his gorgeous tone and
crowd-pleasing brilliance to the Mozart
C Major oboe concerto.
Brilliantly sung, beautifully acted,
colorfully costumed, and stunningly
staged, Anna’s tragic story is presented
by the St. Petersburg Conservatory
Opera Theatre, under the musical
direction of Alexander Sladkovsky - part
of the glittering 2003 celebration of the
300th anniversary of the great city of
St. Petersburg, which plays such an
important part in Tolstoy’s novel.
One of the many artistic achievements
of this musical adaptation is the setting
of the novel’s double storylines - the
doomed romance of Anna and Count
Vronksy, the happy one of Kitty and
Levin - against a bustling ‘high society’
represented by a witty vocal chorus.
Uspensky’s music mixes modernism
and romanticism with Russian folk
elements, weaving the perfect sonic
environment for this classic tale. The
result is a beautiful blend of great
literature and great music.
Music by Vladislav Uspensky
Both ‘Petrushka’ and ‘The Firebird’ draw
on Russian folktales; each appears
here in beautiful settings by master
choreographers. ‘Petrushka’ is one
of Oleg Vinogradov’s most charming
works. Magical sets, raucous costumes,
and brilliant solo and ensemble
dancing add up to a thrillingly theatrical
performance.
‘The Firebird’ - in Boris Eifman’s
reconstruction of the classic
choreography by Mikhail Fokine showcases highly accomplished
dancing from Gabriella Komleva in the
title role. Komleva is one of Russia’s
great ballerinas: a representative of the
generation that came into its own in the
1960’s, she became one of the great
preservers of classic Russian ballet.
Deftly shot, brilliantly played (by the
Kirov Orchestra), and perfectly realized
in movement, these ballets capture all
the majesty of classical ballet - and all
the modernist brilliance of Stravinsky.
The Firebird
Music director and conductor: Alexander
Sladkovsky
Music by Igor Stravinsky
Libretto by Mikhail Fokine,
Choreography by Boris Eifman
Directed by Victor Okountsov
The Kirov Ballet
Kirov Orchestra
Conducted by Victor Fedotov
Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre
Conductor: Ruben Agaronian
Petrushka
Director and producer of Russian
version: Irina Taimanova
Music by Igor Stravinsky
Libretto by Oleg Vinogradov
Choreography by Oleg Vinogradov
Directed by Yevgenia Popova
The Kirov Ballet
Kirov Orchestra
Conducted by Renat Salavatov
Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre
Libretto by Jotaarkka Pennanen
Poetic text by Tatiana Kalinina
St. Petersburg Conservatory Opera
Theatre, 2003
Costume designer and art director: Irina
Safronova
Choreographer: Edwald Smirnov
A memorable, jam-packed musical
evening showcasing the gorgeous
singing of three of the greatest sopranos
of their generation.
Track List:
Ruggero Leoncavallo - Pagliacci: Qual
fiamma avea nel guardo! (Nedda Ileana Cotrubas) / Giacomo Puccini - Le
Villi: Se io lo sapessi (Anna - Renata
Scotto) / Camille Saint-Saëns - Samson
Et Dalila; Mon cœur s’ouvre a ta voix
(Dalila - Elena Obraztsova) / Giacomo
Puccini - La Bohème: Si, mi chiamo
Mimi (Mimi - Ileana Cotrubas) /
Giuseppe Verdi - Un Ballo In Maschera:
Morro, ma prima in grazia (Amelia Renata Scotto) / Jacques Offenbach Les Contes d’Hoffmann: Oh, belle
nuit (Giulietta - Ileana Cotrubas /
Nicklausse - Elena Obraztsova) /
Giacomo Puccini - Gianni Schicchi: Oh,
mio babbino caro (Lauretta - Renata
Scotto) / Stanislaus Gastaldon - Musica
prohibita (Ileana Cotrubas) / Paolo
Tosti - A vucchella (Renata Scotto) /
Georges Bizet - Carmen: Habanera:
L’amour est une (Carmen - Elena
Obraztsova) / Johann Strauss Jr. - Il
Pipistrello: Czardas (Ileana Cotrubas) /
Giuseppe Verdi - Aida; Fu la sorte dell
armi... (Aida - Renata Scotto / Amneris Elena Obraztsova)
Czech Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Armando Krieger
Recorded at: Roman Amphitheatre of
Siracuse
Also featured are the Bach single violin
concerto (with maestro Spivakov as
soloist), a complete Mozart symphony,
and the allegro movement of Mozart’s
Divertimento in B Major. To all of these
pieces, the Moscow Virtuosi bring their
fabled precision, polish, and sense of
pure pleasure.
Track List:
Johann Sebastian Bach - Concerto
for two violins in D minor BWV 1043
(Arkady Futer & Vladimir Spivakov Violin) / Johann Sebastian Bach - Violin
Concerto No. 1 in A minor BWV 1041
(Vladimir Spivakov - Violin) / Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart - Concert for Oboe
and Orchestra in C major (Alexey Utkin Oboe) / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphony No. 24 in B major KV 182 /
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Allegro
di molto from: Divertimento in B-major
KV 137
The Moscow Virtuosi Chamber
Orchestra
Conductor: Vladimir Spivakov
Recorded at: Municipal Theatre ‘Jose
Maria Rodero’ of Torrejon de Ardoz
Two Mozart pieces, the ever-popular
Serenata Notturna, a serenade in D,
and a fleet and lovely divertimento,
set the mood, showcasing the
cohesiveness and fluidity of the young
string players - and adding the charm
of timpani in the first piece, the punch of
brass in the second.
The great American composer Samuel
Barber’s powerful Adagio for Strings played so memorably at state funerals
for the slain U.S. president John F.
Kennedy - closes the program, allowing
the ensemble to display not only its
smoothness and wit but also its capacity
for profound emotion.
Track List:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Serenade
in D, KV 239: ‘Serenata Notturna’ /
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Divertimento in B Minor / Samuel
Barber - Adagio
Orchestra de Camara de Los Jovenese
Conductor: Vladimir Altshuler
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Esmeralda
Grand Pas in the White
Night
Modern XX Dance Company
Achterland
Leos Janácek
Das Schláue Füchslein
Jacques Offenbach
The Tales of Hoffmann
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A beautiful production of the classic
ballet ‘Esmeralda,’ from a great Russian
ballet company: the Mussorgsky State
Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
of St. Petersburg. At once steeped in
tradition and amazingly fresh, this 1994
production - vibrantly documented in a
tasteful video presentation - presents
the company’s lively, graceful lead
ballerina Elvira Khabibullina in the
role of the doomed gypsy dancer
Esmeralda, first created by the
nineteenth-century novelist Victor Hugo
for his classic work ‘The Hunchback of
Notre Dame.’
A remarkable meeting of two of the great
choreographers and impresarios - and
two of the great dance companies - of
the modern age: Maurice Béjart’s
groundbreaking Ballet of the XXth
Century; and the magisterial Kirov
Ballet, directed by Oleg Vinogradov.
A brilliantly filmed version of Achterland,
the stunning, adventurous dance
work from the avant-garde Belgian
choreographer Anne Teresa De
Keersmaeker. Unlike many filmed
dance pieces, Achterland is directed by
De Keersmaeker herself, who brings a
choreographer’s talent to the camera,
reflecting the work ‘s structures and
themes in highly developed cinematic
form. The original cast was largely
reassembled for the film; the piece
was adapted to the new medium, with
choreographic revisions appropriate to
cinematic expression.
The People:
The Forester - Rudolf Asmus
The Forester’s Wife - Ruth Schob-Lipka
The Schoolmaster - Werner Enders
The Priest - Josef Burgwinkel
A Poacher - Herbert Rössler
The Innkeeper Pásek - Walter Staps
The Innkeeper’s Wife - Ida Hemmerling
Seppl - Jörg Albishausen
Franzl - Edgar Pelz
Terynka - Helga Naujoks
The Animals:
The Cunning Vixen - Irmgard Arnold
The Fox - Manfred Hopp
The Young Cunning Vixen - Heidrun
Nickel
Fox Cubs - Heidrun Nickel, Reiner
Thurmann, Norbert Schmidt, Edgar
Pelz, Walter Bäck
Badger - Joseg Burgwinkel
Woodpecker - Adolf Savelkouls
Mosquito - Jörg Albishausen
Frog - Walter Bäck
Cricket - Else Nürrenbach
Grasshopper - Heinz Thomas
Owl - Ruth Schob-Lipka
Blue Dragonfly - Karin Vetter
Badger-Dog - Werner Enders
Cock - Frank Folker
Hen - Christal Oehlmann
The production benefits from colorful,
storybook set-design and costume, as
well as from the ballet’s romantic music
of 1844, composed by Cesare Pugni
and deftly played by the Mussorgsky’s
symphony orchestra. Under the
direction of the company’s director
Nikolai Boyarchikov, the great Russian
ballerina Tatyana Vecheslova - who
danced Esmeralda to great acclaim
in the early- and mid-twentieth
century - provided her own memories
of nineteenth-century realizations of
the ballet.
The program also includes an evocative
documentary introduction, covering
Esmeralda’s history, featuring an
interview with the company’s artistic
director and reminiscences from the
great nineteenth-century ballerina
Matilda Kschesinkaya.
In a series of performances in the
beautiful palaces, parks, and riverbank
walkways of Leningrad, dancers
rehearse and perform fifteen pieces,
ranging from the grand, classical style
of ‘The Shades,’ ‘Don Quixote,’ and
‘The Nutcracker’ to stark and edgy
modernism in Béjart’s ‘Romeo and
Juliet’ and ‘Le Sacre du Printemps.’
The pieces are performed during
Leningrad’s ‘white nights’ - the long
twilight that comes with summer
solstice.
Along with moments of stunning
dancing, the program documents the
amazing creative process achieved
by the dancers, their directors, and
film crews during ten intense days of
rehearsal, performance, and shooting.
Discussions with both Béjart and
Vinogradov reveal the artists’ mutual
respect - and Béjart actually works
up an entirely new piece, with great
spontaneity, just for the occasion. A
fascinating and beautiful cultural and
creative exchange.
First performed at La Monnaie in 1990,
Achterland has become a critical
part of the repertoire of Rosas, De
Keersmaeker’s acclaimed company.
More than eighty versions have been
staged in cities throughout the world.
Set to music by the contemporary
composers Eugène Ysaye and
György Ligeti, the piece evinces an
exuberant mood—a departure for
De Keersmaeker’s at the time of
the work’s premiere—as it explores
tensions between man and woman
and movement and music with playful,
athletic dancing and striking imagery
and costumes.
“The (...) Belgian choreographer Anne
Teresa De Keersmaeker is one of the
few today who make audiences see
dance in a new way. She opens doors,
even batters some down; in short,
she is a major artist. Her 1990 work
Achterland (“Hinterland”) (...) stretches
the very definition of dance. The viewer
encounters something unfamiliar in
terms of movement and the context
in which it is placed, especially in
relation to music, and yet recognizes
profoundly that the whole has some
relationship to life as it is lived (...) This
is not your ordinary choreographer.” Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times,
November 2, 1992
Winner:
- Dance Screen Award (Lyon, 1994)
- Best Adaptation, Festival International
du Film sur l’Art (Montreal, 1995)
Orchester und Chorsolisten der
komischen Oper, Berlin
Conductor: Vaclav Neumann
Berlin
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Prologue and Epilogue
Hoffmann - Robert Rounseville (singer
and cast)
Niklaus - Monica Sinclair (singer) /
Pamela Brown (cast)
Stella - Moira Shearer (cast)
Act One - Olympia
Hoffmann - Robert Rounseville (singer
and cast)
Niklaus - Monica Sinclair (singer) /
Pamela Brown (cast)
Olympia - Dorothy Bond (singer) / Moira
Shearer (cast)
Act Two - Giulietta
Hoffmann - Robert Rounseville (singer
and cast)
Niklaus - Monica Sinclair (singer) /
Pamela Brown (cast)
Giulietta - Margerita Grandi (singer) /
Ludmilla Tcherina (cast)
Act Three - Antonia
Hoffmann - Robert Rounseville (singer
and cast)
Niklaus - Monica Sinclair (singer) /
Pamela Brown (cast)
Antonia - Ann Ayers (singer and cast)
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
London
The Sadler’s Wells Chorus
Conductor: Sir Thomas Beecham
1947/1950
Includes 2 Bonus CDs with the
soundtrack to the German version of
the movie, starring: Rudolf Schock,
Josef Metternich, Rita Streich, Anny
Schlemm a.o.
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Giuseppe Verdi
Othello
Ballet National de Marseille
The Four Seasons
Alfredo Kraus, Ruggero
Raimondi, Katia Ricciarelli
In Concert
Various Artists
Opera Stars Live In
Barcelona
Barbara Hendricks
A Portrait
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Othello - Wolfgang Windgassen
Desdemona - Sena Jurinac
Jago - Norman Mittelmann
Emilia - Margarita Lilowa
Cassio - William Blankenship
Rodrigo - Adolf Dallapozza
Lodovico - Walter Kreppel
Montano - Willy Ferenz
Herold - Leo Heppe
Sinfonieorchester des Süddeutschen
Rundfunks
Chor der Wiener Staatsoper
Wiener Sängerknaben
Conductor: Argeo Quadri
Stuttgart
Regie: Otto Schenk
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Ballet by Roland Petit
Great opera stars Alfredo Kraus, Katia
Ricciarelli, and Ruggero Raimondi
are joined by baritone Paolo Coni and
mezzo-soprano Lucia Valentini-Terrani
in this exciting concert from Madrid’s
Plaza de Toros Monumental. Gian Paolo
Sanzogno, leading the Symphonic
Orchestra of Madrid, provides these
great singers with beautiful settings for
displays of their unique vocal artistry.
Well-loved and compelling works by
Puccini, Verdi, Bizet, Donizetti, and
others come together on a single stage
in solo and duet renditions - plus one
gorgeous quartet from Rigoletto. Katia
Ricciarelli’s interpretation of the famous
‘O mio babbino caro’is a gem in itself,
and the always magical Alfredo Kraus
is featured in two powerfully passionate
solos.
From Barcelona’s magnificent Palau
Sant Jordi comes this thrilling video
concert: six international opera stars
sing well-loved arias of great composers
from Verdi to Rossini to Donizetti.
A warm, revealing, and beautiful
portrait of the great American soprano
Barbara Hendricks. Rare backstage
footage - as well as revealing glimpses
of Hendricks’s small-town Arkansas
childhood and home life today - are
combined with excerpts of stunning
performances and rehearsal footage
from Der Rosenklavier, The Marriage
of Figaro, Rigoletto, La Boheme, and
more.
Music by Antonio Vivaldi
Featuring a.o.: Dominique Khalfouni,
Denys Ganio, Luigi Bonino - JeanPierre Aviotte, and Jean-Charles Gil
Her Is Antonio Vivaldi’s beautiful,
well-loved “Four Seasons”- brought to a
new kind of life by the National Ballet of
Marseilles, in an exciting performance
presented at the famous Saint Mark’s
Square in Venice.
The ballet, choreographed by Roland
Petit, features a stellar ensemble of
dancers. Offering gorgeous physical
and visual counterparts to Vivaldi’s
famously evocative musical journey
through the year, the dancers work in
pairs, trios, and large ensembles to
interpret each of Vivaldi’s movements.
While all of the ‘seasons’ take on
powerful, choreographed lives of their
own, Vivaldi is never relegated to
mere accompaniment. This is a true
partnership between music and dance.
The fabled setting outside Saint Mark’s
only adds to the pleasure of the ballet appropriately, too, as Venice was
Vivaldi’s home town, the scene of his
success as a great Baroque composer.
A beautiful evening of thrilling music
and ballet.
This visually striking, high-quality video
production captures all the drama,
comedy, elegance, and sheer musical
beauty of a thrilling operatic evening
in Madrid.
Track listing: Georges Bizet: Carmen:
Suite No. 1 - Symphonic Orchestra of
Madrid / Gaetano Donizetti: Lucrezia
Borgia: ‘Soli noi siamo’ - Katia
Ricciarelli & Ruggero Raimondi /
Gaetano Donizetti: L’Elisir d’Amore:
‘Una furtive lacrima’ - Alfredo Kraus /
Giuseppe Verdi: Rigoletto: ‘Un di, se
ben rammentomi’ - Katia Ricciarelli,
Alfredo Kraus, Paolo Coni & Lucia
Valentini-Terrani / Giuseppe Verdi: Un
Ballo In Maschera: ‘Alzati! Là tuo figlio,
Eri tu’ - Paolo Coni / Giacomo Puccini:
Gianni Schicchi: ‘O mio babbino caro’ Katia Ricciarelli / Gioachino Rossini:
Il Barbiere Di Siviglia: ‘La calunnia è
un venticello’ - Ruggero Raimondi /
Francesco Cilia: L’Arlesiana: ‘Lamento
di Frederico’ - Alfredo Kraus / Geirges
Bizet: Carmen: ‘Chanson Boheme’ Lucia Valentini-Terrani
Alfredo Kraus, Renata Scotto, Gail
Gilmore, Melanie Holliday, Paolo Coni,
and Ramón Vargas - some of the
greatest opera singers of our time - get
beautiful support from the Slovak
Philharmonic Orchestra, with Konrad
Leitner conducting. Each singer is
featured as a soloist, performing music
appropriate to his or her own gifts and
skills. And the finale features all six in a
charming ensemble from La Traviata.
Giuseppe Verdi is the featured
composer - and while some of Verdi’s
best-known works are heard (“La donna
è mobile” from Rigoiletto, “Libiamo
ne’lieti calici” from Traviata), less
well-known but no less moving arias
get unusual attention from the powerful
singers. High-quality video production,
meanwhile, brings singers, conductors,
orchestra, and appreciative audience
to brilliant life.
Music selections: Giuseppe Verdi: Linda
di Chamounix: “O luce di quart’anima” Melanie Holliday / Ruggiero
Leoncavallo: “Mattinata” - Alfredo
Kraus / Giuseppe Verdi: Macbeth:
“Pietà, rispetto, amore” - Paolo Coni /
Francesco Paolo Tosti: ‘L’alba separa
dalla luce l’ombra” - Alfredo Kraus /
Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlo: “O don
fatale” - Gail Gilmore / Salvatore
Cardillo: “Core Ingrato” - Alfredo
Kraus / Gaetano Donizetti: L’eloisir
d’Amore: “Una furtive lacrima” - Ramón
Vargas / Rodolfo Falvo: “Dicitencello
vuie” - Alfredo Kraus / Franz Lehár:
The Merry Widow: “Vilja-Lied” - Renata
Scotto / Gioacchino Rossini: “La
Danza” (tarantella napoletana) - Ramón
Vargas / Giuseppe Verdi: Rigoletto:
“La donna è mobile” - Alfredo Kraus /
Giuseppe Verdi: La Traviata: “Libiamo
ne’lieti calici” (Brindisi) - Alfredo Kraus,
Renata Scotto, Melanie Holliday, Gail
Gilmore, Paolo Coni, Ramón Vargas
Hendricks’s artistic journey has taken
her from remote Nebraska to New York
City, San Francisco, Milan, Berlin, Paris,
and elsewhere. The documentary, too,
is rich with a sense of place: settings
range from La Scala, where Hendricks
takes a lesson with her old teacher, to
Brooklyn, New York, where we see the
singer spending time with her family.
A wealth of beautiful singing, thoughtful
and revealing interviews with Hendricks
herself, sophisticated visual and musical
editing, great locations, a compelling
story - these and other ingredients offer
viewers an unusually fascinating and
realistic look at a major operatic talent.
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Alfredo Kraus
In Concert
Ruggero Raimondi, Katia
Ricciarelli, Alfredo Kraus
Opera Stars in Concert
Alfredo Kraus & Renata
Scotto
Our Favourite Christmas
Songs
Plácido Domingo
Live from Miami
Herbert Von Karajan
A Portrait
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Alfredo Kraus in concert in the Fernán
Nuñez Palace, Madrid, accompanied by
Edelmiro Arnaltes on the piano.
Concert operatic performances from
some of the greatest singers of our
time - including Alfredo Kraus, Katia
Ricciarelli, and Ruggero Raimondi - on
one stage, in one superb evening,
superbly shot on video.
Christmas songs with a difference sung in a beautiful cathedral setting by
the great opera stars Alfredo Kraus and
Renata Scotto.
A lively and satisfying video concert
from the great Plácido Domingo,
“Plácido Domingo Live in Miami”
was recorded before an enthusiastic
audience at the Miami Arena - and
the concert also features the beautiful
singing of soprano Ana Panagulias.
Perhaps nobody in the second half of
the twentieth century more completely
dominated European orchestral music
than the great conductor, director, and
teacher Herbert von Karajan. This DVD
package, focusing on an artistically
sensitive biographical film, offers
unusually thoughtful and compelling
views of a man who embodied the
grandest of the classical traditions.
The late tenor Alfredo Kraus performs
in an unusually spare concert setting. A
wealth of beautiful art songs and arias
are given Kraus’s stylish and passionate
treatment, accompanied only by piano,
in a series of palatial 19th century rooms
with superb acoustics. Kraus - who
performed to enormous acclaim in the
great opera houses of the world for
more than forty years - here interprets
dramatic and highly emotional works by
such composers as Duparc, Massenet,
and Turina. As he sings without the
trappings of costume, orchestra, and
sets, the depth of the singer’s warm,
rich tenor can be appreciated with
unparalleled intimacy. While Kraus sang
many of the major roles of the operatic
repertoire, his Spanish heritage also
gave him a love of Spanish operetta,
or zarzuela, with its roots in Spanish
and Andalucian folksong. The works of
Turina featured in this program bear out
that lifelong commitment - yet the singer
invests works by other composers, too,
with his trademark blend of debonair
control and expressive passion.Opera
lost a great artist when Alfredo Kraus
died in 1999. Fortunately, this beautiful
and very personal performance
captures the singer’s taste, warmth, and
style for all time.
Tracklisting: Liebeshymnus Zueignung - Extase - L’invitation au
voyage - Ouvre tes yeux bleus - Elegie Dedicatoria (piano solo) - Nunca Olvida Cantares - Los dos miedos - Las locas
por amor - En el fondo de la mina - En
toda la Quintana - Los caminos de la
tarde (Pastoral) - Vorrei morire - L’alba
separa dalla luce l’ombra - Aprile
With the Symphonic Orchestra of
Madrid (Gian Paolo Sanzogno,
conductor) providing nuanced support,
the stars appear in solo, duet, and trio
settings, taking on well-loved works bij
great and varied masters of the grand
operatic tradition: Puccini, Gounod,
Offenbach, Bellini, Domnizetti among
them. Three pieces by Giuseppe Verdi
- including an orchestral overture - give
the concert an unusual degree of unity.
Strong visual production values
and deft, thoughtful editing give an
immediate sense of the evening’s
richness and scope. Joining Kraus,
Picciarelli, and Raimondi are baritone
Paolo Coni and mezzo-soprano Lucia
Valentini-Terrani - and the concert
concludes with a rousing trio from the
biggest stars of the evening.
Track listing: Giuseppe Verdi: I Vespri
Siciliani: Overture - Symphonic
Orchestra of Madrid / Vincenzo Bellini:
I Puritani: ‘Il rival salvar ti dei’ - Ruggero
Raimondi & Paolo Coni / Giuseppe
Verdi: La Traviata: ‘Lunga da lei’ Alfredo Kraus / Jacques Offenbach:
Les Contes d’Hoffmann: Barcarole &
Duet - Katia Ricciarelli & Licia ValentiniTerrani / Giacomo Puccini: Tosca: ‘Vissi
d’arte’ - Katia Ricciarelli / Gioacchino
Rossini: Semiramide: ‘Eccomi alfine
in Babilonia’ - Lucia Valentino-Terrani
/ Gaetano Donizetti: ‘Lucrezia Borgia:
‘Vieni la mia vendetta’ - Ruggero
Raimondi / Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlos:
‘Per me giunto è il di supremo’ - Paolo
Coni / Charles Gounod: Faust: ‘Alerte,
alerte’ - Alfredo Kraus, Katia Ricciarelli &
Ruggero Raimondi
This full-length concert mixes popular
yet reverent Christmas music “Cantique de Noël” (“O Holy Night”),
“Adeste Fideles” (“O Come, All Ye
Faithful”), “Silent Night,” and more with elegant seasonal pieces from the
classical repertoire: the “Ave Marias”
of both Bach/Gounod and Schubert,
Capocci’s “Pastoral,” and a selection
from Handel’s “Messiah,” for example.
The two singers are supported by a
superb chamber orchestra - and a large
vocal chorus, featured on three pieces,
adds nuance and variety.
Renata Scotto and Alfredo Kraus bring
to these great Christmas classics the
sincerity, artistry, and passion that have
made them two of the greatest singers
in opera. The setting, too, adds much
to the mood: stained glass, ornate
carvings, paintings, chandeliers, and
organ pipes combine with the beauty
and clarity of the music to evoke all the
warmth, celebration, and devotion of
the Christmas season. The concert
climaxes with an unforgettably stirring
Alberto Kraus - Renata Scotto duet.
Though known for his ability to move
easily from the high style to interpreting
world folk and pop, here Plácido gives
full attention to the operatic repertoire.
Fans of Donizetti and Puccini are in for
a special treat: the program focuses
on works of these two well-loved
composers, offering arias and duets
from such towering achievements of the
operatic literature as Donizetti’s Lucia
di Lammermoor and Don Pasquale,
Puccini’s Manon Lescaut and Tosca.
Tracklisting: “O paradis!” from
l’Africaine - Plácido Domingo / “Fra
poco a me ricovero” from Lucia di
Lammermoor - Plácido Domingo / “Quel
guardo il cavaliere” from Don Pasquale Ana Panagulias / “Esulti pur la Barbara”
from L’elisir d’Amore - Plácido Domingo
& Ana Panagulias / Intermezzo from
Manon Lescaut - Orchestra / “E lucevan
le stele” from Tosca - Plácido Domingo /
“O mio babbino caro” from Gianni
Schicchi - Ana Panagulias / “Madrileña
bonita” from La del Manojo de Rosas Plácido Domingo / “Los vareadores”
form Luisa Fernanda - Plácido
Domingo / Intermezzo from Las Bodas
de Luis Alonso - Orchestra / El Gato
Montés (M. Penella) - Plácido Domingo
& Ana Panagulias
Herbert von Karajan: A Portrait
departs from clichéd images of this
imposing and charismatic artist,
looking behind the drama of his
style and the superstardom of his
career to rehabilitate his reputation
as technically and aesthetically one
of the most proficient conductors of
his time. Archival footage of Karajan
leading a variety of orchestras - from
his renowned Berlin Philharmonic
to the European Community Youth
Orchestra - show him as not only
extraordinarily intense and powerful
but also warm and engaging. Seiji
Ozawa and Anne-Sophie Mutter,
among other star musicians and former
students, evoke the seminal influence
of Karajan in their lives with anecdotes
and reminiscences both humorous and
moving, and Karajan himself describes
his youth and early struggles. (We also
see him teaching master classes and
directing opera.)
Including Bonus CD:
Johannes Brahms - Symphony No. 1 in
C Minor, Op. 68 / Richard Strauss - Don
Juan, Op. 20; Salome: Dance of the
Seven Veils / Concertgebouworkest
Amsterdam, Sept. 1943, Conducted by
Herbert von Karajan