CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Puccini - La Boheme (The Metropolitan Opera HD Live Series)

starring: Angela Gheorghiu, Ramon Vargas, Ainhoa Arteta, Ludovic Tezier, Quinn Kelsey
directed by: Nicola Luisotti (Conductor)

Release Date September 16, 2008
For my money, the star of this performance is Ramon Vargas. He can act with the kind of restraint Hamlet rightly recommends for all times to any players, and he is in glorious voice throughout. Angela Gheorghiu possesses an indisputably gorgeous voice, and her employment of middle and high registers here is beyond criticism. She seems, though, to have developed a mannerism, a gummy holding on to vowels in the final syllables of low notes at the end of phrases which are unnecessarily ugly rather than dramatic. Also, she tends to annoyingly overact. Her Mimi has more characterization than most, it's true, and her aggressiveness in going after her chubby Rodolfo, rather than portraying the usual passive-aggressive consumptive heroine is not the ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

The Opera Gala: Live from Baden-Baden

starring: Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Ramón Vargas, Ludovic Tezier

Release Date January 08, 2008
Do not hesitate to buy this DVD. It is worth every dollar. The four singers really stand out, Netrebko with her angel-like voice, Vargas with a wonderful tenor voice, Garanca as a colorful mezzo and Tezier as a brilliant baritone. Each and every aria are outstandingly sung and when the four of them join to sing both an aria from Rigoletto and from Traviata their voices blend wonderfully. It is one of those treasures that are worth being discovered. Javier from Bariloche

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Gluck - Alceste / Robert Wilson · John Eliot Gardiner · Anne Sofie von Otter · English Baroque Soloists · Théâtre du Chatelet

starring: Anne Sofie von Otter, Paul Groves, Dietrich Henschel, Yann Beuron, Ludovic Tézier
directed by: Brian Large

Release Date March 27, 2001
When is a CD more visually exciting than a DVD? That's not a joke; the answer is this Chatelet production of Gluck's Alceste. I've watched glaciers - literally - for hours, and seen more action than this.Was Brian Large, the director, momentarily suffering a post-encephalitic syndrome such as Oliver Sachs reported in Awakenings? LSD could not make this staging meaningful. This Alceste makes Wagner's Rheingold seem like a Rossini romp. It turns "Remenbrance of Things Past" into a haiku. It makes the American election process seem cogent.

What do you get when you pop this disk into your player? Blue. Faded Levi blue. A blue backdrop with hazy blue stage lights, sectioned by various blackish pillars and cubes. A small blue cube gyrates ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) / Jean-Pierre Vincent · Paolo Olmi - G. Furlanetto · Szymtka - Opéra National de Lyon

starring: Giovanni Furlanetto, Elzbieta Szmytka, Janice Watson, Ludovic Tézier, Francesca Provvisionato
directed by: Maté Rabinovski

Release Date July 31, 2001
This one was performed before a live audience and recorded with parabolic mikes, I think. The sound quality is reasonably good, but there are thin spots in places when someone turns her head at the wrong place. Also, the miking picks up an inordinate amount of footfall noise, but it probably isn't worse objectively than in a live performance; you just notice it more on a dvd. The singers all have good strong voices, and the acting is reasonably good.

It's worth the money, but if a really good nozze comes along, you're probably going to want to buy that one too.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

The Opera Gala

starring: Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Ludovic Tézier, Ramón Vargas

Release Date September 30, 2008
Do not hesitate to buy this DVD. It is worth every dollar. The four singers really stand out, Netrebko with her angel-like voice, Vargas with a wonderful tenor voice, Garanca as a colorful mezzo and Tezier as a brilliant baritone. Each and every aria are outstandingly sung and when the four of them join to sing both an aria from Rigoletto and from Traviata their voices blend wonderfully. It is one of those treasures that are worth being discovered. Javier from Bariloche

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Berlioz - Les Troyens / Graham, Antonacci, Kunde, Tezier, Naouri, Pokupic, Gardiner, Chatelet Opera

starring: Susan Graham, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Gregory Kunde, Ludovic Tézier, Laurent Naouri
directed by: Peter Maniura

Release Date October 19, 2004
Well Amazon asked me to do this so I make no claims at being a professional reviewer, just a fan:)
I thought this was an exceptional opera. Fantastic and innovative sets, incredible singers, and emotions set on overdrive. A must see for any fan of opera.
In my opinion the show was stolen by Anna Caterina Antonacci. Her portrayal of Cassandra is the very definition of tragedy. You would be hard pressed to find anyone more memsmorizing on stage.
Susan Graham also does well as Dido. All in all a wonderful cast.
Highly recomended.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Giacomo Puccini - La Bohème / Villazon, Voulgaridou, de la Merced, Marquardt, Tézier, Wiener Symphoniker, Schilmer - Jones & McDonald (Bregenzer Festspiele)

starring: Rolando Villazon, Alexia Voulgaridou, Elena de la Merced, Ludovic Tézier, Ulf Schirmer
directed by: Richard Jones, Anthony McDonald

Release Date June 26, 2007
Well Amazon asked me to do this so I make no claims at being a professional reviewer, just a fan:)
I thought this was an exceptional opera. Fantastic and innovative sets, incredible singers, and emotions set on overdrive. A must see for any fan of opera.
In my opinion the show was stolen by Anna Caterina Antonacci. Her portrayal of Cassandra is the very definition of tragedy. You would be hard pressed to find anyone more memsmorizing on stage.
Susan Graham also does well as Dido. All in all a wonderful cast.
Highly recomended.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Tchaikovsky - Pique Dame

starring: Vladimir Galouzine, Hasmik Papian, Nikolai Putilin, Irina Bogatcheva, Ludovic Tezier
directed by: Lev Dodin

Release Date September 25, 2007
I bought this DVD two months ago despite the perceptive and helpful observations of others. I thank you, and should have been forewarned, but I wanted a performance by Vladimir Galuzin as Gherman. This was the only one around. I watched this DVD twice straight through, and I'm sure I won't look at the whole thing again. It should be reserved for old opera hands with strong stomachs and a high tolerance for cognitive dissonance. It should NOT be one's first or only experience of a wonderful opera.

Just a couple of points to add to criticism already made. Little is gained by Lev Dodin's "new dramaturgy" and a lot is taken away. Pushkin's original story only ends in the mental hospital - it is mentioned in the last lines of the novella - and the story is not framed ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Donizetti - Lucie de Lammermoor (Opéra National de Lyon 2002)

starring: Patrizia Ciofi, Roberto Alagna, Ludovic Tezier, Nicolas Cavallier, Marc Laho
directed by: Don Kent

Release Date March 16, 2004
Patrizia Ciofi is outstanding as Lucie in this French version of Lucie de Lammermoor. I'm a big fan of Natalie Dessay and I've seen her do the mad scene with this cast and Ciofi is certainly her equal. Her voice is just plain glorious and she never holds back on her singing or acting. The audience loved her.

Roberto Alagna was equally wonderful as Edgar and he exceeded my expectations of him in this role. Ludovic Tezier sang Henry Ashton with great passion and more expression than I expected from him, too. Marc Laho as Arthur wins the prize for the best French sounding singer, as usual. He was excellent. Actually, there were no weak links in this production. The entire cast was marvelous.

I thought the stark set could have used more light. The music, singing ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Mozart - Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) / Olmi, Furlanetto, Szymtka, Lyon National Opera

starring: Giovanni Furlanetto, Elzbieta Szmytka, Janice Watson, Ludovic Tézier, Francesca Provvisionato
directed by: Maté Rabinovski

Release Date January 16, 1997
This one was performed before a live audience and recorded with parabolic mikes, I think. The sound quality is reasonably good, but there are thin spots in places when someone turns her head at the wrong place. Also, the miking picks up an inordinate amount of footfall noise, but it probably isn't worse objectively than in a live performance; you just notice it more on a dvd. The singers all have good strong voices, and the acting is reasonably good.

It's worth the money, but if a really good nozze comes along, you're probably going to want to buy that one too.