CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

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

CD-Charts > DVD > General
starring: Angela Gheorghiu, Ramon Vargas, Ainhoa Arteta, Ludovic Tezier, Quinn Kelsey
directed by: Nicola Luisotti (Conductor)

Release Date September 16, 2008
This is one of the better DVD releases of the Met's recent enormously popular live HD moviecasts. The cast sings well, the production is one of Franco Zefferelli's less tacky creations, and La Boheme remains one of the singer-proof operas. Puccini's music is so affecting that even rather average singers can make the experience moving.
Fortunately this La Boheme has assembled a cast that is far from average. I saw the production in its opening night with the same cast. I found both Vargas and Gheorghiu's voice to be a tad small for the large cavernous Met, but one cannot argue with the beauty of their voices. Gheorghiu's voice in particular has a dusky, husky, fragile sounding timbre that gives us the illusion of a consumptive. Her snow ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
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Adams: Doctor Atomic

CD-Charts > DVD > General
starring: Finley, Rivera, Owens, Fink, Maddalena
directed by: Sellars;Renes

Release Date September 30, 2008
I've held off writing about Dr. Atomic. I've now watched it for the third time and haven't changed my mind. It's a masterpiece. There's no denying some of the power of the score, but it is in the many more introspective moments that I find its most arresting beauty and power.

Gerald Finley - a singer I went nuts for as Papageno nearly 20 years ago, still has a marvelously appealing boyish handsomeness that suits this role to a tee. This could be the role of his career so far. The voice is in absolutely peak condition, one of the most beautiful baritones singing today (in my opinion) with a winning combination of brightness, mellowness, one of the most even-sounding vibratos of any singer today and a light rich quality that simply ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
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Gaetano Donizetti - La Fille du regiment / Dessay, Florez, Palmer, Corbelli, French, Campanella, Pelly (Royal Opera House 2007)

CD-Charts > DVD > General
starring: Natalie Dessay, Juan Diego Florez, Felicity Palmer, Alessandro Corbelli, Dawn French
directed by: Laurent Pelly

Release Date April 15, 2008
Marvelous singing, fun to watch, wonderful acting and great comic timing by Natalie Dessay, 9 high Cs by Juan Diego Florez. If you want to buy only one bel canto opera buffa, get this one.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Jules Massenet: Manon

CD-Charts > DVD > General
starring: Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazon, Daniel Barenboim, Alfredo Daza, Christof Fischesser
directed by: Vincent Paterson

Release Date September 23, 2008
I have been waiting many months for this DVD. Maybe I expected too much but there is no one better than Renee Fleming's Manon at the Paris Opera (really a Masterclass). Her singing (perfect technique) and acting are much much better than Netrebko's. Netrebko makes a cinical and cabaret type Manon and that is not the way that this role should be acted and sung. Her acting is cold and exaggerated. Fleming sings and acts a more human, sweet and sincere Manon and her voice is more adequate for this role than Netrebko's. Anna Netrebko is singins many roles and seems that for her is no difference between them, she does not capture the spirit of each role. In Fleming's DVD is missing Rolando Villazón, a convincing and passionate Des Grieux singing and acting. He is ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Tan Dun - The First Emperor (The Metropolitan Opera HD Live Series)

CD-Charts > DVD > General
starring: Placido Domingo, Elizabeth Futral, Michelle DeYoung, Paul Groves, Hao Jiang Tian
directed by: Tan Dun

Release Date September 16, 2008
The last time I heard Placido Domingo, it was live in Handel's 'Tamerlano' in Washington DC, just a few months ago. Domingo was singing a baroque role well outside his comfort zone of technique, but his voice and his stage presence were so commanding that I loved him anyway. The last time I saw Domingo in a Chinese robe, it was in the DVD of the Met's 'Turandot.' He was superb, both vocally and dramatically. In this performance, alas, his voice is harsh and strained, and he stumbles about like a sick old man, not at all the persona of the great Qin Emperor. Even at his greatest, however, Domingo couldn't have made sense of this role. The character is implausibly foolish and the music assigned to the role has no gamut of expressiveness.

I expected good ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Puccini - La Boheme / Pavarotti, Scotto, Niska, Wixell, Plishka, Levine, Metropolitan Opera

CD-Charts > DVD > General
starring: Renata Scotto, Luciano Pavarott, Maralin Niska, Ingvar Wixell, James Levine

Release Date October 11, 2005
This production was filmed live at the met in 1977 and it's an affecting one.
I had seen Renata Scotto perform as Musetta in another production with Carreras and that performance was quite memorable so i really looked forward to seeing her as Mimi.
Scotto performs from the soul and from the heart and it's a very moving experience to hear and see her perform.
Her singing is so poetic with such sensitive artful display of dynamics to convey the words she is singing.
This is a performance not about ego but about art.
There's a moment in the final scene when she's in bed and everybody has left and she slowly rises with such fragile strain out of the bed to stand and it's simply heartbreaking.
Bravo Ms. Scotto.
You bring tears to my ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Fleming, Vargas, Hvorostovsky, Gergiev, Carsen [Metropolitan Opera 2007]

CD-Charts > DVD > General
starring: Renee Fleming, Ramon Vargas, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Valery Gergiev, Jean-Paul Fouchecourt
directed by: Brian Large, Robert Carsen

Release Date December 18, 2007
This is a stellar performance by a superb cast and conducted expertly by Valery Gergiev. Hvorostovsky and Fleming are ideal as Onegin and Tatiana The stark set, indeed a "non-set", is at first disappointing, but does succeed in focusing attention on the human drama instead of toward lavish production elements. Color is used very effectively to saturate each scene and outline the singers. This production no doubt benefited from the close scrutiny of the camera because the performances were finely tuned and sublty nuanced. As an example, the usual "dance spectacle" accompanying the Polonaise which opens Act III is replaced here by Onegin attended to by his valet staff while changing from dueling attire to formal dress. Although I enjoy a lavish production as much as anyone, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Verdi - La Traviata

CD-Charts > DVD > General
starring: Renee Fleming, Rolando Villazon, Renato Bruson, James Conlon, Ania Alkimova
directed by: Marta Domingo

Release Date October 30, 2007
I will admit to having some doubts about this performance before viewing it. First, several years ago, I gave a glowing review to the DVD and CD of the performance under Solti, finding Angela Gheorghiu to be the definitive Violetta. Second, I have been less than satisfied with some of Renee Fleming's recent performances on CD, finding them to be mannered and self-indulgent. Well, all my misgivings were rendered unwarranted. This performance is a knockout.

Admittedly, Renee Fleming has become "larger than life," to the point that it is not always possible for her to disappear inside her roles; you always know that you are watching the great Renee. BUt that fact did not diminish her performance, at least after getting past the first act (which for me is merely ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Three Tenors: In Concert

CD-Charts > DVD > General
starring: José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Zubin Mehta
directed by: Brian Large

Release Date June 24, 1997
Hey everyone i just want to say that buying this dvd wasn't a bad idea. The whole concert is great and has some great songs. I would highly recommend anyone interested in opera to buy this dvd

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Verdi - Rigoletto / Luciano Pavarotti, Ingvar Wixell, Edita Gruberova, Victoria Vergara, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Riccardo Chailly

CD-Charts > DVD > General
starring: G. Verdi, Wiener Opera Philharmoniker, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle

Release Date July 04, 2006
Pavarotti is in his element. Wixell is OK. I do not see any special qualities in his performance. Gruberova looks and sounds mediocre. Enjoy Pavarotti! R.K.