Search - José Cura :: Opera Concert Ballet 07 [DVD Video]

A Delightful Potpourri from TDK's Classical Music DVD Catalo

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 04/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The 07 in this DVD's title doesn't indicate that this is 'Volume 7' but rather that these are excerpts from TDK's catalog for the year 2007. And a rich one it is. All the selections are taken from full-length DVDs of various productions. As Amazon hasn't yet indicated the contents of the DVD, I shall do so:



'Libiamo' from 'Traviata', sung by Joseph Calleja and Fiorenza Cedolins, from the Kurt Masur conducted 2006 New Year's Concert at Teatro La Fenice, Venice.



'Non disperare' from 'Giulio Cesare' sung by Elena de la Merced (Teatre de Liceu)



Andrea Chenier's 'Un di all'azzurro spazio' sung by José Cura at the Communale, Bologna



'Soave sia il vento' from 'Così fan tutte', 1983 Salzburg Festival, sung by Margaret Marshall, Ann Murray and Sesto Bruscantini; Riccardo Muti, conductor



'Dies irae' from the Mozart Requiem, Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting Concentus Musicus Wien, 1981



'Dunque io son' from Barber of Seville, Joyce di Donato (Rosina), Dalibor Jenis ('Figaro), Paris Opéra, 2002



'A mia madre penso' from 'Fedora', Mirella Freni, Plácido Domingo, La Scala 1993



Act II Grand pas de deux, Giselle, La Scala; Svetlana Zakharova (Giselle), Robert Bolle (Albrecht)



'È un anatema!' from 'Gioconda', Deborah Voigt, Teatre del Liceu, 2005



'Zvon! Pogrebalny zvon!' from 'Boris Godunov', Matti Salminen (Boris), Brian Asawa (Fyodor), Liceu, 2004



'Geme la tortorella' from 'La Finta giardiniera' (Mozart), Eva Mei, Zürich Opera, 2006



'Je ne pourrai' from 'Pelléas et Mélisande', Isabel Rey (Mélisande), Michael Volle'(Golaud), Zürich Opera, Franz Welser-Möst conducting, 2004



'Gloria all'Egitto' from 'Aida', Maria Chiara (Aida), Carlo Striuli (the King), Nello Santi, Verona Arena, 1992



Schubert: Andante from the Unfinished Symphony, Günter Wand, NDR SO, 1995



'Della mia bella incognita borghese' from 'Rigoletto', Marcelo Álvarez (Duke), Jon Piazaola (Borsa), Liceu, Jésus Lopez-Cobos conducting, 2004



End of Act I, 'Der Rosenkavalier', Adrianne Pieczonka (Marschallin), Angelika Kirchschlager (Octavian), Vienna Philharmonic, Semyon Bychkov conducting, Salzburg Festival 2004



'Was bluten muss?', from 'Elektra', Eva Johansson (Elektra), Marjana Lipovsek (Klytemnestra), Zürich Opera, Christoph von Dohnanyi conducting, 2005



Pas de trois from Roland Petit's 'Notre-Dame de Paris', Isabelle Guérin, Manuel Legris, Laurent Hilaire



'Quello di Tito' from 'Clemenza di Tito', Vesselina Kasarova, Michael Schade, Luca Pisaroni; Harnoncourt, VPO, Salzburg Festival 2003



'Entrance of the young girl' from Roland Petit's 'Le jeune homme et al mort', dancers Nicolas le Riche, Marie-Agnès Gillot



'Deh, perdona ad un padre' from 'Nabucco', Leo Nucci, Maria Guleghina, Fabio Luisi conducting the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, 2001



'Vogliatemi bene' from 'Madama Butterfly', Fiorenza Cedolina, Marcello Giordani, Verona Arena, 2004



Sound: Dolby 5.1, DTS 5.1, PCM Stereo; Picture Format: 16:9 or 4:3; Region Code - 0 (worldwide); DVD9; TT=96mins



Highlights for me were Joyce DiDonato's Rosina, the scene from Rosenkavalier, the Gioconda excerpt, Günter Wand's Schubert, and the great Matti Salminen in the Boris scene. But there's something here for everyone. Production values are first-rate. And you certainly can't argue with the price. I suspect some folks will buy this to get a taste for the various opera productions available on TDK so they can decide which full version they might want.



Scott Morrison





"