CD-Charts Position 1
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Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen / Levine, Metropolitan Opera (Complete Ring Cycle)

starring: Siegfried Jerusalem, Hildegard Behrens, James Morris (IX), Heinz Zednik, Birgitta Svendén
directed by: Brian Large

Release Date November 12, 2002
I RECOMMENDING THIS EDITION OF WAGNER'S MUSIC -Wagner: Complete Operas


Label: Membran / Documents Catalog #: 223053
Composer: Richard Wagner
Performer: Franz Klarwein, Luise Willer, Viorica Ursuleac, Georg Hann, Hans Hotter,
Karl Ostertag, August Seider, Karl Paul, Margarete Bäumer, Marianne Schech,
Otto von Rohr, Benno Kusche, Eleanor Steber, Josef Greindl, Hans Braun,
Hermann Uhde, Astrid Varnay, Wolfgang Windgassen, Bodo Brinkmann, Tiny Peters,
Ortrun Wenkel, Wolfgang Neumann, Carla Pohl, Zlatomira Nikolova, Frode Olsen,
Gabriele Maria Ronge, Edward Cook, Malcolm Smith, John Wegner, Simon Yang,
Wilja Ernst-Mosuraitis, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
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Mozart - Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) / Levine, Battle, Serra, Metropolitan Opera

starring: Kathleen Battle, Francisco Araiza, Manfred Hemm, Kurt Moll, Luciana Serra
directed by: Brian Large

Release Date December 12, 2000
The recording is superb and the singers are great! I especially love Manfred Hemm's acting and singing. His humorous acting is well worth the money spent in this DVD. I love his green bird costume! It's hilarious.
His voice is deep, moving and expressive.

The orchestration is also very well played and recorded. Other supporting singers are well chosen as well.

I would love to see this live with the same people!

CD-Charts Position 3
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Mozart - Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)

starring: Lucia Popp, Kurt Moll, Francisco Araiza, Edita Gruberova, Wolfgang Brendel
directed by: Wolfgang Sawallisch, August Everding

Release Date December 06, 2005
Mozart - Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)

I am very pleased with this production of the Magic Flute. The sets are terrific and the singing is excellent. Also liked the costumes.

CD-Charts Position 4
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Wagner - Parsifal / Levine, Weikl, Mazura, Metropolitan Opera

starring: Bernd Weikl, Jan-Hendrik Rootering, Kurt Moll, Franz Mazura, Siegfried Jerusalem
directed by: Brian Large

Release Date October 29, 2002
As I watched Parsifal I felt grateful to belong to a society which can produce such a performance.

There will always be differences of opinion regarding musical interpretation, stage production, selection of cast, etc., but the number of dedicated (yes, it's still a good word) people involved and the enormous amount of time and resources is stunning to contemplate.

I enjoyed my first viewing/listening and expect to treasure this DVD for a long time. I am quite familiar with the opera, having played it many times (violinist), but seeing it from out front is a completely new experience. Generally it is understood that Wagner was a bit long-winded, and some more judicious cuts could improve the performance. I always thought it was kind of Wagner ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Richard Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier / Carlos Kleiber, Otto Schenk - Lott, von Otter, Bonney - Wiener Staatsoper

starring: Felicity Lott, Kurt Moll, Anne Sofie von Otter, Gottfried Hornik, Barbara Bonney
directed by: Horant H. Hohlfeld

Release Date June 19, 2001
Still, I am going to make them for those who need to choose between these two productions. Like a previous reviewer, I am going to suggest getting both. If you have to restrict yourself to one, get the earlier Munich production, it is marginally better.

Both version opera have the same conductor and are based on the same stage director's work. The earlier production had Gwyneth Jones, Brigitte Fassbaender and Lucia Popp as the Marchellin, Octavian and Sophie. Here we have Felicity Lott, Anne Sophie von Otter and Barbarba Bonney and a chance to see how different singers interpret these roles.

In almost every way the Munich performance is better. The stage settings are far superior to those used in this performance. The singers are more evenly matched, but while ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Berg - Wozzeck

starring: Toni Blankenheim, Sena Jurinac, Richard Cassilly, Hans Sotin, Peter Haage
directed by: Rolf Liebermann

Release Date April 24, 2007
I'm a fanatic of Alban Berg's music. His unique style of composing atonal music and his brilliant ideas for his operas made him one the most known avant-grade composers of modern music.
I can say this performance of Wozzeck is one of the best ever filmed.
This is an entirely different way of experiencing operas. you'll be transmited to the story in a such vivid way, is amazing.
But you may think this might not be a good perdomance because it was filmed in the 70's, or because it audio format is Mono. But this is nothing to do with the experience it grants. The sound is clear and deep.
The singers play and exellent role and the location is perfect for the dramatic story. You will not be dissapointed.
An applause for Arthaus Musik.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Mozart - Die Entfuhring aus dem Serail / Nielsen, Watson, van der Walt, Magnusson, Moll, Tobias, Solti, Covent Garden Opera

starring: Kurt Moll, Lillian Watson

Release Date September 27, 2005
It would be easy to say that Kurt Moll steals the show. As Osmin, he's funny, agile, menacing when he has to be, and then there's--Oh, his wonderful voice at its best.

But Lillian Watson could also be said to steal the show. She's a beautiful, requisitely-bouncy Blonde, and you'll love her facial expressions as she reacts to Osmin's stubborn attitude.

Inga Nielsen sings all the difficult arias of Konstanze, and acts the role perfectly.

Belmonte and Pedrillo have roles that, at least in my opinion, are not as colorful as Blonde's and Konstanze's, but Deon Van Der Walt and Lars Magnusson give them a youthful romance.

Scenery and staging are done very well--there's a nice touch where Konstanze sings "Taurigkeit"--her friend Blonde is there lying under ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Wagner - Die Walkure / Levine, Behrens, Norman, Metropolitan Opera (Levine Ring Cycle Part 2)

starring: Hildegard Behrens, James Morris (IX), Jessye Norman, Christa Ludwig, Gary Lakes
directed by: Brian Large

Release Date November 12, 2002
Sieglinde is gloriously sung by Jessye Norman, but perhaps we must accept the heft of her physical presence as a legacy of the old tradition for operatic sopranos, so different from the nubile divas who reign today. James Morris acts well but suffers frequent reproach for being vocally past his prime; however, in this performance i find that he uses the voice he has to excellent effect, with flawless musicianship. The scenery and stage direction are stodgy, but again, this is the old tradition for the Metropolitan Opera, not the theater-savvy regime of its present general director. Deutsche Grammophon's audio and video here are somewhat below the standards of their present-day products, but acceptable.

What is unacceptable are the English subtitles for most of Act 3 (on Disk 2). They are ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Mozart - Die Zauberflote

starring: Nicolai Gedda, Cristina Deutekom, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Edith Mathis, Hans Sotin

Release Date November 21, 2006
This is a wise and delightful production, caring both for Mozart's solemnity and his comedy; in ways it feels like Bergman's Magic Flute, only lacking his cinemographic imagination. The cast is excellent; all the major performers singing both movingly and very well. The innocence of Edith Mathis' Pamina, the forthrightness and innocence of Gedda's Tamino, the calm wisdom of Sotin's Sarastro, and the humane comedy of Workman's Papageno all shine. Fischer-Diskeau's performace as the Speaker is a bonus here. Horst Stein's conducting is fine, if not extraordinary, and Peter Ustinov's staging the best I have seen other than Bergman's and less self-indulgent than Bergman's.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Wagner - Tristan und Isolde / Mehta, West, Meier, National Theatre Munich

starring: Brian Large, Jon Frederic West, Waltraud Meier, Zubin Mehta, Kurt Moll

Release Date April 10, 2001
This "Tristan und Isolde" has more going for it than some of the reviews here would lead you to believe. It soars musically, but the artistic conception of the staging made me laugh. Zubin Mehta does a tremendous job conducting the Bayerische Staatsorchester. Waltraud Meier is my favorite Isolde currently on DVD. Kurt Moll is excellent as King Marke; Marjana Lipovsek makes a splendid Brangane. Jon Fredric West is a tolerable--although far from ideal--Tristan. There is little chemistry between Meier and West in Act I, but their voices eventually blend rapturously during their long duet in Act II. And when Meier comes back at the end of Act III, she sounds as fresh-voiced as ever. She sings the finale (the "liebestod") like somebody dissolving in oceanic transcendence. Wow! And it's not just her voice. Her acting is ... Read More: