Dvd

Verdi: Rigoletto (The Royal Opera)

Verdi: Rigoletto (The Royal Opera)

Paolo Gavanelli (Rigoletto); Marcelo Alvarez (Il Duca); Christine Schäfer (Gilda);

"Bold and sensational..." (Gramophone)

Verdi: Stiffelio

Verdi: Stiffelio

José Carreras (Stiffelio); Catherine Malfitano (Lina); Gregory Yurisch (Stankar);

"Monday's performance was beyond any but nit-picking criticism. Downes's conducting confirmed him as one of the (if not the) world's leading Verdians - grandeur sweep, energy, allied to extraordinary delicacy. Elijah Moshinsky's production spared us nothing in rawness and immediacy, and indeed, dramatic truth...This Stiffelio is a great event: move mountains to see it." (The Times)

Verdi: The Shakespeare Operas (The Royal Opera/Gran Teatro de Liceu/Glyndebourne)

Verdi: The Shakespeare Operas (The Royal Opera/Gran Teatro de Liceu/Glyndebourne)

Simon Keenlyside (Macbeth (Macbeth)); Liudmyla Monastryrska (Lady Macbeth (Macbeth)); Raymond Aceto (Banquo (Macbeth)); José Cura (Otello (Otello)); Krassimira Stoyanova (Desdemona (Otello)); Lado Ataneli (Jago (Otello)); Christopher Purves (Sir John Falstaff (Falstaff)); Tassis Christoyannis (Ford (Falstaff)); Dina Kuznetsova (Alice Ford (Falstaff));

"With strong conducting from Antoni Ros-Marbà, the whole cast collaborate to give us the truth of this desperately upsetting work, as no other DVD and few live performances I've seen of it ever have." (BBC Music Magazine - Otello)

Verdi: Un ballo in maschera (Teatro Real)

Verdi: Un ballo in maschera (Teatro Real)

Marcelo Álvarez (Riccardo); Violeta Urmana (Amelia); Marco Vratogna (Renato); Elena Zaremba (Ulrico);

"Marcelo Álvarez surely has the most beautiful tenor voice to be heard today in any opera house…Violeta Urmana is one of the few dramatic sopranos regularly active just now and it is a pleasure to listen to her in such a demanding part as Amelia...Young Alessandra Marianelli made an exemplary Oscar, both as an actress and as a very accomplished singer. The role fits her like a glove and she was perfect...The orchestra gave a very good performance and the Chorus was on top form." (Seen and Heard International)

Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera (The Royal Opera)

Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera (The Royal Opera)

Plácido Domingo (Gustavus III [Gustavo]); Katia Ricciarelli (Amelia); Piero Cappuccilli (Anckarström [Renato]); Reri Grist (Oscar); Elizabeth Bainbridge (Madame Arvidson [Ulrica]); Gwynne Howell (Count Ribbing [Samuel] ); Paul Hudson (Count Horn [Tom]);

"Claudio Abbado is laser-focused with the Royal Opera Orchestra, making a strong argument for Verdi’s score as one of his most psychologically astute and dramatically nuanced." (Gramophone)

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

Julia Fischer (Violin);

"It seems rather appropriate that, as with LP and CD, one of the first really outstanding DVDs of The Four Seasons should come from the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, this time directed and led vivaciously by Kenneth Sillito, and with a brilliant young soloist in Julia Fischer. She plays with remarkable freshness, obviously inspiring the Academy players also to give of their very best. The result is remarkably spontaneous, and one feels one is hearing this baroque masterpiece anew." (The Penguin Guide)