CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) / Haitink, Finley, Hagley, Fleming, Glyndebourne Festival Opera

starring: Gerald Finley, Alison Hagley, Renée Fleming, Andreas Schmidt, Mandred Röhrl
directed by: Derek Bailey

Release Date September 16, 2003
Please do not waste your money on this one. The sound is tourchuring. We could not even listen through the first act! It was complete waste of money for us! Poor Mozart, and I always thought that you can't go wrong with Mozart's pieces, what a dissapointment.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

La Bayadere - The Royal Ballet

starring: Altyani Asylmuratova, Darcey Bussell, Anthony Dowell, Irek Mukhamedov, The Royal Ballet
directed by: Natalya Makarova, Derek Bailey

Release Date November 21, 2006
I hate to add a little rain to a parade of positive reviews, but I judge a ballet more on the beauty of the choreography (and of course the dancers' ability to dance that choreography) and the beauty of the music (and to a lesser extent, the beauty of the staging). This ballet doesn't have the beauty of choreography/dancing nor the beauty of music of: Swan Lake by the American Ballet Theatre, Sylvia by the Royal Ballet, The Firebird by the Royal Ballet, Manon by the Australian Ballet, Romeo and Juliet by the La Scala Ballet, La Sylphide by the Ballet de l'Opera National de Paris, or A Midsummer Night's Dream by the Pacific Northswest Ballet. It's a 3 star ballet in my judgement.

CD-Charts Position 3
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Richard Strauss - Salome / Peter Hall · Edward Downes · Maria Ewing, · ROH Covent Garden

starring: Maria Ewing, Michael Devlin (II), Kenneth Riegel, Gillian Knight, Robin Leggate
directed by: Derek Bailey

Release Date November 20, 2001
I am not really a fan of Strauss operas. They are too dark and ponderous for my taste. But I have treasured an old vinyl record of his "Dance of the Seven Veils' on one side, and 'Although Sprach Zarathustra' on the other. When I found this version of 'Salome' by Maria Ewing, I immediately ordered it, since she is fantastic in 'Il Barbiere di Siviglia'. She is excellent in 'Salome' also. Of course, I was astounded to see her nude ending of 'Dance of the seven veils'.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Verdi - La Traviata / Gruberova, Shicoff, Zancanaro, Rizzi, La Fenice

starring: Edita Gruberova, Neil Shicoff, Giorgio Zancanaro, Mariana Pentcheva, Antonella Trevisan
directed by: Derek Bailey

Release Date April 26, 2005
Perfect! Gruberova sings her precious heart out with control and conviction. Her agility is astounding. Shicoff is a sweatheat and I fell in love with him as Alfredo. His pain and joys are clearly felt and alomst unbearable. He is strong yet senstive. Their acting is superb, every jesture is meaningfull and beautiful. This DVD haunts me in the best possible way!

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Janacek - Jenufa / Davis, Alexander, Silja, Glyndebourne Opera

starring: Roberta Alexander, Anja Silja, Menai Davies, Philip Langridge, Mark Baker (II)
directed by: Derek Bailey

Release Date June 11, 2002
There are two DVDs available of Jenufa, and this is slightly the better choice for musical reason. Neither production satisfies my conception of this great and moving opera. Both are somewhat dramatically turgid. The flaws of this production are chiefly visual and acoustical, as pointed out by other reviewers. It really is a problem, on a DVD movie scale, that Roberta Alexander simply doesn't "look the part" though she acts with conviction; in an opera house, the same production would be sublime.
Janacek is a composer who integrates the voices and the orchestra with great success; that ensemble effect is not captured well on either DVD production (and I confess that it's often not achieved in live performances either). The sound on this DVD is distant ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Mozart - Don Giovanni / Kreizberg, Cachemaille, Martinpelto, Page, Ainsley, Pieczonka, Banse, Glyndebourne

starring: Gilles Cachemaille, Steven Page (II), Hillevi Martinpelto, Adrianne Pieczonka, John Mark Ainsley
directed by: Derek Bailey

Release Date January 13, 2004
Glad to have bought. The only thing I wasn't aware about was the setting up scene, it is too modern for Don Giovanni's time. Anyway not bad.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Puccini - Madama Butterfly / Maazel, Hayashi, Kim, Dvorsky, Teatro Alla Scala

starring: Yasuko Hayashi, Hack-Nam Kim, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Peter Dvorsky (II), Giorgio Zancanaro
directed by: Derek Bailey

Release Date December 11, 2001
Here we have yet another Asian Madama Butterfly, with Yasuko Hayashi in the title role and Hak-Nam Kim as Suzuki. Peter Dvorsky's Pinkerton is a little brash, but then he is no prince charming. Giorgio Zancanaro is superb as Sharpless, this man has one of the best baritone voices on the planet. This production from La Scala is of the traditional Kabuki theatre style of Japan. Who better to stage an opera set in Japan, than the Japanese. For those who are not familiar with Kabuki, the basic rules are thus: Any persons dressed in black are NOT actually there. Your minds eye is not meant to see them as they work the sets etc. In other words they are the visible- invisible mechanics of the production. Hard for us Westerners to comprehend, but that is what it is. I actually feel sorry ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Verdi - Aida / Maazel, Chiara, Pavarotti, La Scala

starring: Paata Burchuladze, Luciano Pavarotti, Ghena Dimitrova, Maria Chiara, Nicolai Ghiaurov
directed by: Derek Bailey

Release Date December 14, 1999
CRITICISM:

1. If you know the opera very well and can handle the Italian, tough. There's no way to get Italian subtitles (on either the PAL or the NTSC version).

2. The "grand march" (musically intended to be the most magical moment of this opera) was inanely choreographed. According to the libretto, they're supposed to be bringing in "the spoils of war," as they dance to the music. Instead we have a bunch of guys dragging giant statues around the stage with ropes. The famous "Dance of the Moorish Slaves" was also ineptly done, but that has been adequately discussed by other reviewers.

3. Pavarotti does indeed have weight problems. He's so fat in this performance, it's distracting.

4. The quality of the audio recording, if you do yourself ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Janacek - Kat'a Kabanova / Davis, Gustafson, Palmer, Glyndebourne Opera

starring: Barry McCauley, Felicity Palmer, Ryland Davies, Nancy Gustafson, John Graham-Hall
directed by: Derek Bailey

Release Date March 26, 2002
On the DVD the orchestra is really there. I liked the production, and the cast sang and acted well. Perhaps the sound was remixed for the DVD as I could not understand the negative reviews given this production.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Dvorak - Rusalka / Elder, Hannan, Treleaven, English National Opera

starring: Eilene Hannan, John Treleaven (II), Rodney Macann, Ann Howard, Phyllis Cannan
directed by: Derek Bailey

Release Date June 11, 2002
This version of Rusalka Is beautifully sung in English, not Czech. Since Czech is not the most accessible language to many of us in the English speaking world, I have no problem with this aspect. There have always been different opinions about translating operas, but whatever your preference, it certainly is not a bad thing to have a choice! The point to keep in mind about this performance is first of all, its wonderful quality of artistry, and second, the innovative approach to the story. I would not interpret this as a Freudian approach. While it is true that the setting is an Edwardian nursery, the girls within it should not be considered human! Despite what the notes may say, there is nothing in the performance to support the idea that Rusalka is human. During her transformation from nymph to woman, ... Read More: