Decca

The story of Andre Rieu's first journey to Africa, the discovery of soloist Kimmi Skota and the sheer emotional impact of the concerts on the South African audiences.

The opera's dramatic structure frames and enhances the characters. Scenes of magnificence regularly alternate with scenes of darkness and squalor. From sumptuous interiors, we move to a dark street, a lonely inn. The secondary figures are astutely counterpoised: the plotting courtiers against the plotting Sparafucile and Maddalena (also ambiguously tender-hearted). When Rigoletto says "Pari siamo", he could be expressing the motto of the whole work: the beautiful and the ugly can be equally good, equally evil.

A stellar cast brings Puccini’s spellbinding opera to life, seizing every opportunity to thrill the audience. Luciano Pavarotti is Cavaradossi, the painter and political revolutionary in love with the beautiful and famous singer Tosca (the riveting Shirley Verrett). Rome’s diabolical chief of police, Baron Scarpia (Cornell MacNeil), wants Tosca for himself—but he underestimates the fury of a woman in love. With torture, murder, and a suicide in its final moments, Tosca packs more dramatic punches than most other operas—and this classic telecast captures them all. James Conlon conducts in a production by the incomparable Tito Gobbi, one of the great Scarpias of the 20th century.

Renée Fleming lights up the Met stage as Hanna Glawari, the fabulously wealthy widow of the title in Lehár’s beloved operetta, set in Paris and seen in a glittering production directed and choreographed by Broadway’s Susan Stroman. Nathan Gunn is Danilo, Hanna’s former flame, who is supposed to woo and marry her in order to keep her fortune in their home country of Pontevedro. Kelli O’Hara sings Valencienne, the flirtatious young wife of the Pontevedrian ambassador in Paris, Baron Zeta, played by Thomas Allen, and Alek Shrader is her suitor, Camille. Andrew Davis conducts the waltz-rich score, and the new English translation is by Jeremy Sams.

Thirty years’ Johann Strauss Orchestra, and on the Vrijthof square for the thirteenth year running. Surely a good reason for a party! Enjoy André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra and an evening that is more festive than ever! To name a few highlights: Handel's impressive Hallelujah, sung by all soloists and the choir, Hava Nagilah, Think of Me from The Phantom of the Opera, Ballade pour Adeline, O Sole Mio, sung by the Platin Tenors, La Traviata, Highland Cathedral and of course beautiful waltzes by Johann Strauss. And as icing on the cake, a performance by David Hasselhoff, who together with André Rieu, goes through the roof with Looking for Freedom, Love Me Tender and Paloma Blanca! The audience sings and dances along ecstatically. It was a magical evening in Maastricht, relive it with this fantastic anniversary Blu-Ray.

When the most voluptuous, sought-after courtesan in the world meets an ascetic monk whose life is devoted to God, you know erotic sparks are going to fly. And when the clash takes place in a glorious, but rarely performed, opera by Massenet, it’s a delight to the ear just as much as to the eye. Renée Fleming is every inch the glamorous Thaïs, swathed in elegant gowns designed by Christian Lacroix. Thomas Hampson is Athanaël, the tortured man of God. This production by John Cox, which premiered in December 2008, brilliantly sets the stage for a confrontation as old as civilization itself.

The classic Mariinsky (Kirov) production of the greatest of all ballets. Filmed in the imperial splendor of the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg. Starring Ulyana Lopatkina, Danila Korsuntsev and the breathtaking Mariinsky corps de ballet. Conducted by the great Russian maestro Valery Gergiev.

Don Giovanni's list of romantic conquests reaches into the hundreds. But his reputation as a lothario puts him in danger as the women he's betrayed -- and their suitors -- begin to seek revenge. A modern-day setting proves the timeless nature of Mozart's popular opera, performed with the Vienna Philharmonic as part of an epic presentation of all 22 of the composer's stage works at the 2006 Salzburg Festival, in honor of his 250th birthday.

Christian Thielemann conducts this Staatskapelle Dresden production of Richard Strauss' chamber opera. The opera follows events at the home of the wealthiest man in Vienna, who has booked both a comedy burlesque act and a serious opera group for entertainment. When the dinner runs long he declares that both forms of entertainment must take place at the same time - much to the chagrin of the opera's proud young composer. Filmed live in Baden-Baden on Feb. 25 by the veteran director Brian Large, Renée Fleming makes her debut in the role of Ariadne together with fellow key Strauss interpreters Sophie Koch and Christian Thielemann, following on from their Rosenkavalier triumph. Thielemann conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden, the orchestra to whom Strauss dedicated his Alpine Symphony and which premiered Feuersnot, Salome, Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier and Daphne.

Ute Lemper sings a collection of art songs by Michael Nyman based on texts by Paul Celan, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, William Shakespeare and Arthur Rimbaud. It was filmed at the Musikhalle, Hamburg, 4 February 1992.

This superb 2006 production of the Los Angeles Opera's La Traviata stars Renée Fleming, who joins the ranks of the elite handful of sopranos whose vocal and acting talents make their portrayals memorable. Her Violetta Valéry is a vulnerable figure torn between self-indulgence and love, sacrificing personal happiness to become a victim of the social mores of mid-19th-century bourgeois France. Fleming's acting captures the complexity of the character and her vocalism is flawless. She negotiates the wild coloratura of Act One with aplomb, and is stunning in the lyric passages that pervade the opera, and touching in her scenes with her lover, Alfredo, and his father. Her singing is free of the mannerisms that have sometimes crept into her work and at the same time she brings countless personal touches to the role, phrasing and verbal emphases that shed fresh light on the character.

Flemings voice might have been made for Ariadne and she achieved a great personal triumph in this production: The chief glory of the evening was hearing Renee Fleming, the Straussian soprano par excellence, making her role debut as Ariadne… As the possessor of what is, possibly, the most beautiful soprano voice in the world, she put her vocal treasures in the service of an empathic, nuanced interpretation of the role. From the creamy top, through a rich, warm middle, to the bewitching, darker colours of her lower register, Fleming poured her magnificent sound into Strausss enchanting melodic arcs, animating the sadness, vulnerability, and desire of the bereft princess...

Werther loves Charlotte, but she promised her mother on her deathbed that she would marry Albert. After the marriage Charlotte suggests that Werther should travel - but not forget her. In addition to the singing and orchestral accompaniment, the entire cast acts very convincingly. And, there's no backstage mugging, entrances and spoken nonsense to spoil the experience of the drama.

Christmas is now more beautiful and cosy than ever! Experience Christmas in London, together with André Rieu. Decorated Christmas trees everywhere you look, beautifully lit streets, tempting Christmas window displays... Combine the unique London Christmas atmosphere with a magnificent Christmas concert by André Rieu, and you have all the ingredients for a lovely party in the dark December days. Together with fantastic soloists and his always joyful Johann Strauss orchestra, André Rieu provides a fabulous evening with the most beautiful and moving Christmas carols, but also with emotional songs such as Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, The Holy City and the classic Concierto de Aranjuez. Christmas in London means an evening enjoying lovely music, beautiful costumes and plenty of London cosiness.

Juan Diego Flórez takes on the lead role in this performance of Rossini's opera at the 2012 Pesaro Festival. Corradino (Flórez), a paranoid, misogynistic lord, is in the care of Aliprando (Nicola Alaimo), a doctor who is concerned that the poor spirits of his employer will damage his health. He duly attempts to make Corradino fall in love with the beautiful and self-willed Matilde (Olga Peretyatko). Will the plan succeed?

Wagner's Lohengrin is the mythical tale of the mysterious Knight of the Grail, who appears to defend the princess Elsa - wrongly accused of the murder of her brother. Highlights of Wagner's most lyrical score include the famous Wedding March, which accompanies the marriage of Lohengrin and Elsa. Superstar tenor Jonas Kaufmann ("currently the hottest tenor in opera" - The New York Times) makes his role debut in this performance from 2009 and filmed in Munich. He is joined by German soprano Anja Harteros - a former winner of the prestigious Cardiff Singer Of The World competition.

The Jacques Loussier Trio represents something of an anomaly: a musical ensemble devoted to presenting jazzed-up versions of traditional classical pieces. The group originated in the late 1950s via the innovative efforts of Jacques Loussier, founder of the Play Bach Trio, then reformed some thirty-five years later (c. 1985) with Loussier, bassist Vincent Charbonnier and percussionist André Arpino, and an emphasis on stringing together an entirely new repertoire. This concert release presents an extended set by the second incarnation of the group. Selections include: Pastorale in C minor, Gavotte in B Minor, Fugue No. 5 in D Major, and Gavotte in D Major.

The incomparable Luciano Pavarotti at his most eloquent brings Donizetti’s Nemorino to live as only he can, combining vocal fireworks, personal charisma, and charm. The enchanting production by Nathaniel Merrill, with designs by Robert O’Hearn, is the perfect setting for Nemorino’s quest to win the heart of beautiful Adina, sung by the sparkling Judith Blegen. Brent Ellis as Belcore and Sesto Bruscantini as Dr. Dulcamara round out the all-star cast. Nicola Rescigno conducts.

L'elisir d'amore (The Elixir of Love) is a comic opera (melodramma giocoso) in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto, after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's Le philtre (1831). Written in haste in a six-week period,[1] L'elisir d'amore was the most often performed opera in Italy between 1838 and 1848[1] and it has remained continually in the international opera repertory. Today it is one of the most frequently performed of all Donizetti's operas: it appears as number 13 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide in the five seasons between 2008 and 2013.[2] There are a large number of recordings. It contains the popular tenor aria "Una furtiva lagrima," a romanza that has a considerable performance history in the concert hall.