CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Natalie Dessay - Greatest Moments on Stage

starring: Natalie Dessay, Laurent Naouri, Marc Minkowski, William Christie, Michel Plasson

Release Date January 16, 2007
It is so easy to fall in love with Natalie Dessay's voice, looks, and animation. She is easily in command of the
performed piece. This DVD contains quite a number of different segments taken from operas in which she has
sung. The most memorable is the "Voice of Spring" by Strauss within the opera "Der Fleidermaus" where Natalie
literally electrifies the audience and this viewer with her rendition. She also hits high F's in the "Magic Flute" number. Her comments are very interesting and greatly add to her performances. Wish there were more DVD's like this one. She truly is a "Miracle Voice".

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Rameau - Platee / Agnew, Delunsch, Beuron, Naouri, Le Texier, Lamprecht, Minkowski, Paris Opera

starring: Paul Agnew, Marc Minkowski, Mireille Delunsch, Yann Beuron, Laurent Naouri

Release Date July 27, 2004
This is a stunning performance, however the quality of this Kultur release DVD is absolutely abysmal. The colours are very dark and murky, nothing at all like the photos on the cover. Others write that the TDK version has better colours, as well as more subtitle languages (this Kultur version only has English), and also interviews with the production crew. I've had to buy two copies then, because the opera is so wonderful it deserves to be seen in its full glory. I highly recommend if you would like this video, buy the TDK version (available from amazon.co.uk) instead!!

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Offenbach - La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein / Lott, Piau, Beuron, Le Roux, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Minkowski (Theatre du Chatelet)

starring: Felicity Lott, Sandrine Piau, Yann Beuron, François Le Roux, Marc Minkowski
directed by: Laurent Pelly, François Roussillon

Release Date January 24, 2006
I think the great success of this production is owed to the stage direction of Laurent Pelly and the choreography of Laura Scozzi as much as the great performances of the principal players. I could imagine how tedious this light-hearted, three act farce could have been in the wrong hands. But, it was in the best hands!

The slapstick story moves right along with scene after scene of hilarious dance numbers and absurd costumes and scenery. Felicity Lott was supremely funny in the title role and gave a great singing and dancing performance. Equally demanding were the roles of Sandrine Piau as Wanda and Yann Beuron as Fritz, which both acquitted superbly. Le Baron Puck of Franck Leguerinel, Le Prince Paul of Eric Huchet and Le General Boum of Francois ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Mozart - Mitridate

starring: Richard Croft, Miah Persson, Marc Minkowski, Bejun Mehta, Ingela Bohlin
directed by: Gunter Kramer

Release Date February 13, 2007
Great singing, acting, and music. Having everyone on stage throughout the entire opera kept it from getting visaually boring. I enjoyed watching everyone not just the one singing, especially Bejun Mehta. At first I was puzzled by his voice, but when I googled his name and got more information on him and countertenors, I could appreciate his voice and realize how amazing he is. We have to remember that boys were castrated to keep their high voices, however that's not the best option in these times. Bejun is an great example of the better alternative.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Offenbach in Paris / von Otter, Les Musicians du Louvre, Minkowski [Theatre du Chatelet 2002]

starring: Anne Sofie von Otter, Marc Minkowski, Les Musicians du Louvre, Gilles Ragon, Stephanie d'Oustrac
directed by: Oliver Becker

Release Date March 16, 2004
This is the first encounter of Anne Sofie Von Otter with Offenbach's music. It is highly successful.
Minkowski and his orchestra provide excellent accompaniment. Technical quality, picture and sound, is first class. Enjoy!

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Offenbach - La Belle Helene / Minkowski, Lott, Beuron, Senechal, Naouri, Le Roux, Torodovitch, Chatelet Opera

starring: Felicity Lott, Yann Beuron, Michel Sénéchal, François Le Roux, Laurent Naouri

Release Date June 29, 2004
I don't know why it took me so long to acquire "Helene" on DVD since I have had a CD of it for many years. Recollecting initial reviews were all positive, I can only chalk it up to inertia. Well, I was delighted with the whole performance and since France is unable to to come up with a qualified Helene, they could do no better than Flott. She is not a conventionally beautiful woman, she is, however, attractive, and skilled enough to convince you that she is beautiful. Besides a performance in the theatre is certainly not as invasive as a video camera.

I only wish that in the near future there will be a production of Hoffman that is as good that this; and while Helene is not a substitute I can recommend it to those who enjoy French operetta, are not put off by spoken dialogue, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Monteverdi - L'Incoronazione di Poppea / Delunsch, von Otter, Brunet, Hellekant, Fouchécourt, Sedov, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Minkowski, Gruber (Aix-en-Provence Festival)

starring: Marc Minkowski, Anne Sophie von Otter, Mireille Delunsch, Jean-Paul Fouchecourt, Sylvie Brunet
directed by: Klaus-Michael Gruber, Vincent Bataillon

Release Date September 12, 2006
I have been watching this DVD of L'incoronazione di Poppea - the Musiciens du Louvre / Marc Minkowski recording - this past weekend. I quite like this DVD version of the opera, in spite of the cuts. However! I do have the Les Talens Lyriques' DVD directed by Christopher Rousset - a complete (uncut) interpretation which I found profoundly satisfying. I also have the VHS video of the Nikolaus Harnoncourt / VCM recording of this opera - which I enjoyed immensely some years ago, in spite of its many idiosyncracies. Minkowski has some tough competition!

The cast includes:
Poppea - Mireille Delunsch
Nerone - Anne Sofie von Otter
Ottavia - Sylvie Brunet
Ottone - Charlotte Hellekant
Seneca - Denis Sedov
Arnalta - Jean-Paul Fouchécourt
Drusilla, Virtù ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Messiah

starring: Charlotte Hellekant, Lynne Dawson, Nicole Heaston, Magdalena Kozená, Brian Asawa
directed by: William Klein

Release Date December 06, 2005

George Frideric Handel's most famous work, the inspired 1741 oratorio, MESSIAH (Koch Lorber) is taken from Judaism and Christianity's interpretation of the prophesied "anointed one;" that is, Jesus, the Savior, Prince of Peace and God in the flesh.

Originally conceived for performance at Easter, with a text taken from the King James Bible, the work has become a staple of Christmas celebrations in the English-speaking world.

Filmmaker William Klein's audacious take on Handel's Messiah -- performed in full -- mixes a potpourri of images both sacred and profane that keeps the central message of both the oratorio and Jesus' life front and center.

The stirring narrative of Christ's life from birth to death to resurrection is performed by an extreme mix of human types, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Opera Highlights Vol. III - Elektra, Salome, Capriccio, Tannhauser, Cosi fan Tutte, Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail

starring: Bryn Terfel, Waltraud Meier, Christine Schafer, Kiri Te Kanawa, Paul Groves
directed by: Luc Bondy

Release Date July 31, 2007
This is the third in the series of 'Opera Highlights' from ArtHaus Musik. This series contains excerpts from full-length opera DVDs all of which are otherwise available. Generally speaking these discs contain arias or scenes that are extractable without too much difficulty. They are not necessarily, though, the best known arias from their respective operas. As Amazon has not listed the precise contents on this DVD I shall do so. (I might point out that the DVD box does not list precise provenance data about these excerpts and I have added some of what I could find out, mostly by carefully studying the end credits on each segment of the DVD itself.) And I will add a few comments here and there. Each aria is preceded by a spoken introduction by the singer involved (except for Schäfer's aria, which is introduced ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Mozart - Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail

starring: Marc Minkowski, Malin Hartelius, Matthias Klink, Magali Leger, Loic Felix
directed by: Jerome Deschamps

Release Date October 09, 2007
This is the third in the series of 'Opera Highlights' from ArtHaus Musik. This series contains excerpts from full-length opera DVDs all of which are otherwise available. Generally speaking these discs contain arias or scenes that are extractable without too much difficulty. They are not necessarily, though, the best known arias from their respective operas. As Amazon has not listed the precise contents on this DVD I shall do so. (I might point out that the DVD box does not list precise provenance data about these excerpts and I have added some of what I could find out, mostly by carefully studying the end credits on each segment of the DVD itself.) And I will add a few comments here and there. Each aria is preceded by a spoken introduction by the singer involved (except for Schäfer's aria, which is introduced ... Read More: