CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Handel - Rodelinda / Roschmann, Chance, Palmer, Nilon, Robson, Chiummo, Bolton, Munich Opera

starring: Dorothea Roschmann, Felicity Palmer, Michael Chance, Paul Nilon, Ivor Bolton
directed by: Umberto Chiummo

Release Date April 26, 2005
I love this opera, and recordings of it are in short supply, so I actually bought this DVD (and the Glyndebourne one as well) just to hear some different renditions of this wonderful music. Both DVDs are good, but Roschmann's singing is a revelation! Anna Caterina Antonacci, on Glyndebourne's DVD, is a bit stretched by the tessitura of the part, but Roschmann has the coloratura, volume, and luminous shimmering tone that sets her apart from any other voice I have heard in the role. Her acting is also less stilted, although I think that has more to do with the productions they are in (the Glyndebourne is set in a sort of 1920's silent film Hollywood milieu). The Glyndebourne production is better overall, and better cast overall (Scholl is ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Handel - Ariodante / Bolton, Murray, Rodgers, English National Opera

starring: Gwynne Howell, Joan Rodgers, Ann Murray (II), Paul Nilon, Christopher Robson
directed by: Kriss Russman

Release Date January 16, 2001
I was startled to find such extreme negativity in some of the customer reviews of this version of ARIODANTE. More than any other opera on dvd I've seen, it showed me that I could make emotional contact with the situations and characters in Baroque opera. I've watched it a number of times and it was one of very few dvd's that I am not currently in the process of unloading by selling them. This is, for me, a keeper!