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PUCCINI: Madama Butterfly
Maria José Siri (Madama Butterfly). Brian Hymel (Pinkerton). Nicole Brandolino (Kate Pinkerton). Annalisa Stroppa (Suzuki).Carlos Alvarez (Sharpless). Carlo Bosi (Goro). Constantino Finucci (Prince Yamadori). Abramo Rosalen (The Bonze).
La Scala Chorus and Orchestra / Riccardo Chailly, cond)
DECCA 4400743982 TT: 167 MIN.
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HANDEL: Armida
Carmen Romeu )(Armida). Enea Scala (Rinaldo). Robert McPherson (Gernando / Ubaldo). Dano Schmunck (Gottredo / Carlo). Leonard Bernad (Idraote / Astarotte). Adam Smith (Eustazio). Chorus and Orchestra Oopera Vlaanderen Antwerp/Ghent / Alberto Zedda, cond.
DYNAMIC DVD
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GREAT BALLETS FROM THE BOLSHOI - VOLUME II
MINKUS: La Bayadère. AUBER: Marco Spada. THAIKOVSKYT: Swan Lake. SHOSTAKOVICH: The Golden Age.
BELAIR DVD (4 disks) TT: 503 min.
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This is an intriguing addition to the Butterfly library, as it is, more or less, a recreation of the premiere that took place at La Scala February 17, 1904. This opened the current La Scala season. This three-act original version was an incredible fiasco, surprising for an opera that became a world-wide favorite. After the premiere, Puccini made a number of changes with only two ats, and additions to the score. Julian Smith reconstructed the original adding abut 1,000 bars of music, mostly orchestral music in Act I. Now we have the brief aria in Act I sung by the drunken uncle Yakuside is here, and the role of Kate Pinkerton is expanded greatly. The three-tiered sets were designed by Alvis Hermanis and Leila Fteita, costumes are by Kristine Jurjane. It is a beautiful production in many ways, but I find the video (by Ineta Sipunova) distracting with too many close-ups that suggest singers had their makeup spread on with a spatula. In spite of this, this is a performance of interest. Excellent video and audio.

Handel's Armida was one of his last operas (and one of his longest) composed specifically for the reigning soprano of the time, Isabella Colbran. The premiere took place in 1817 at Naples Teatro San Carlo. It is not one of Rossini's masterpieces and is seldom performed. The only reason to do this is to showcase a spectacular soprano, and the Met revived it in 2011 for their opening night starring Renée Fleming. That performance is available on DVD, and it surely is preferable to this misguided Opera Vlaanderen production directed by Marianne Clement. Julia Hanen did costumes and sets, which are minimal. Sexual activity is prominent in this tasteless protraction; in the opening scene we view the Crusaders fondling a life-size naked female dummy! The opera is difficult to cast as it calls for six tenors; the parts here sung by four. The leading role is sung by Carmen Romeu who is physically attractive but does not have the virtuosity or stamina to do justice to this demanding role. Far preferable is the Renée Fleming performance. Video and audio are excellent on this new release. It is unfortunate they do not convey a better performance

Volume II in the Bel Air Classics Great Ballets from the Bolshoi gathers together superb performances already released individually. In addition to Swan Lake, we have the exotic La Bayadere with music by Minkus, Auber's Marco Spada, and Shostakovich's dazzling Golden Age. All were filmed 2013 - 2016. Performed to perfection and beautifully filmed with rich auydio, these are essential in any ballet collection. If you doh't already own them, this is an opportunity to get themn at near-buydget price

R.E.B. (February 2019).

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