Blu-ray
Bellini: Norma (De Nederlandse Opera)
Hasmik Papian (Norma); Hugh Smith (Pollione); Irini Tsirakidis (Adalgisa); Giorgio Giuseppini (Oroveso); Anna Steiger (Clotilde); Carlo Bosi (Flavio);
"Norma. Diva. Callas. Three keywords that are the core of Joostens staging. A diva in a Callas costume who, as Norma, loses her way in the labyrinths of the opera world and who can no longer distinguish between the drama on stage and reality. Joostens stage interpretation offers interesting contemplations on opera business and on the role and character of a star soprano in a typical Callas situation...The story starts as an opera in an opera, but gradually the boundaries between theatre and reality become more and more ambivalent great class!" (Trouw)
Bellini: Norma (Royal Opera House)
Sonya Yoncheva (Norma); Sonia Ganassi (Adalgisa); Joseph Calleja (Pollione); Brindley Sherratt (Oroveso); David Junghoon Kim (Flavio); Vlada Borovko (Clotilde);
"A master of bel canto, Antonio Pappano conducts with superlative style and sensitivity." (Evening Standard ★★★★)
Benjamin: Lessons in Love and Violence (The Royal Opera)
Stéphane Degout (King); Barbara Hannigan (Isabel); Gyula Orendt (Gaveston/Stranger); Peter Hoare (Mortimer); Samuel Boden (Boy/Young King); Jennifer France (Witness 1/Singer 1/Woman 1); Krisztina Szabó (Witness 2/Singer 2/Woman 2); Andri Björn Róbertsson (Witness 3/Madman);
"His [George Benjamin's] music, like Crimp’s words, is at once brilliantly clear and full of half-suggested meanings. Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande lurks in the background, a benign influence casting rays of light into this world of moral darkness. Although Benjamin does not write conventional arias, it seems there is barely a line that this cast does not shape with beauty and expressiveness. Hannigan is outstanding, as ever, as Isabel. Stéphane Degout and Gyula Orendt are well matched as the King and Gaveston/Stranger, the latter swathed in a mystic accompaniment of gentle percussion. Peter Hoare brings a fearsome authority to Mortimer and Samuel Boden is inspired casting as the Boy, growing up to be King. Lessons in Love and Violence is not an opera that is going to inspire affection. What it does have is the most gripping concentration, enough to make an audience hold its breath for long stretches at a time. In Katie Mitchell’s razor-sharp production, the opera is set in a high-end, modern development, where the walls are hung with paintings in the style of Francis Bacon. Is she telling us that the horrors we witness are, in fact, a prediction for our own time? It is a depressing thought." (The Financial Times ★★★★)
Benjamin: Written on Skin (The Royal Opera)
Christopher Purves (Protector); Barbara Hannigan (Agnès); Bejun Mehta (First Angel/Boy); Victoria Simmonds (Second Angel/Marie); Allan Clayton (Third Angel/John);
"Magic and irresistible ... It is the best opera written over the last twenty years." (Le Monde)
Benjamin: Written on Skin / Lessons in Love and Violence (The Royal Opera)
Christopher Purves (The Protector); Barbara Hannigan (Agnès (Written on Skin), Isabel (Lessons in Love and Violence)); Bejun Mehta (Angel 1 / The Boy); Victoria Simmonds (Angel 2 / Marie); Allan Clayton (Angel 3 / John); Stéphane Degout (King); Gyula Ordent (Gaveston / Stranger); Peter Hoare (Mortimer); Samuel Boden (Boy / Young King); Ocean Barrington-Cook (Girl);
"Hailled as a 'triumph' at its premiere in Aix-en-Provence in 2012, 'Written on Skin' has quickly establsihed itself as one of the essential 21st-century operas." (Gramphone - Winner of the Contemporary Award - Gramophone Awards 2014 (Written on Skin))
Berg: Lulu (The Royal Opera)
Agneta Eichenholz (Lulu); Michael Volle (Dr Schön / Jack the Ripper); Klaus Florian Vogt (Alwa); Jennifer Larmore (Countess Geschwitz);
"It is immaculately rehearsed and executed - one doesn't often see opera acted with such freedom and honesty and absence of flummery. And its unsparing analytic clarity forces one to confront the bitter truth about Lulu's inner life and the corruption and idiocy of the men who are infatuated by her...Antonio Pappano's electrifying conducting is razor-sharp in the manner of PierreBoulez, and the orchestral playing is magnificent...Singing with an extraordinary grace and insouciance, Eichenholz manages to make this monster chillingly real and hauntingly beautiful." (The Daily Telegraph)