Simón Orfila

Bellini - i Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona

Lucia di Lammermoor, dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti (1797 - 1848). Libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, after Walter Scott's 'The Bride of Lammermoor'. First performance in Naples, Teatro San Carlo, 26 September 1835 Recording: December 23 2015 - Gran Teatre del Liceu | Barcelona Director: Fabrice Castanier Conductor: Marco Armiliato Orchestra & Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu

Juan Diego Flórez takes on the lead role in this performance of Rossini's opera at the 2012 Pesaro Festival. Corradino (Flórez), a paranoid, misogynistic lord, is in the care of Aliprando (Nicola Alaimo), a doctor who is concerned that the poor spirits of his employer will damage his health. He duly attempts to make Corradino fall in love with the beautiful and self-willed Matilde (Olga Peretyatko). Will the plan succeed?

La obertura inimitable (gracias a Dios) no tiene puesta en escena y está terriblemente interpretada, con espléndidos solos de violonchelo y flauta: el fino estándar nunca flaquea. La extraordinaria partitura de Rossini de 1829 presagia audiblemente a Meyerbeer, Berlioz, Glinka, Verdi y Wagner, entre muchos otros. La dirección de Graham Vick privilegia el conflicto de clases, con el puño cerrado sobre el antetelón rojiblanco. Los trajes eduardianos colocan a los austriacos con atuendos de noche blancos; los suizos vestidos de negro pulen el piso mientras los gobernantes disfrutan de una filmación (mucho de eso a continuación): el pescador Ruodi, en un bote con una rubia y un escenario falso, con Tell y su familia brindando soporte técnico. Vick despliega el kitsch geográfico e histórico generosamente pero no (siempre) sin sentido. Sin embargo, la coreografía pretenciosa y educada de Ron Howell es increíble.

La Cenerentola, de Gioachino Rossini y libreto de Jacopo Ferretti inspirado en el cuento de hadas" La Cenicienta "de Charles Perrault y los libretos de Charles-Guillaume Etienne para una ópera de Nicolas Isouard y de Francesco Fiorini para una ópera de Stefano Pavesi. La acción de esta obra lírica se sitúa en una época indeterminada a los dominios del príncipe de Salerno. Grabado en vivo en el Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona) 2008 con DIRECTOR DE ESCENA Joan Font (Els Comedians) siendo una COPRODUCCIÓN Gran Teatre del Liceu. Welsh National Opera. Houston Grand Opera.Grand Théâtre De Genève

This is an excellent version of one of the greatest of all comic operas, featuring superb singing and orchestral playing. And it's not just the two headliners; listen, for example, to the entrance of the stepsisters at the beginning of Act One. Nevertheless, some viewers may find the staging problematic, with singers in clown-like costumes and sets featuring human-sized rodents. Those seeking a more conventional production might want to consider the Houston Grand Opera DVD, also on Decca, with Cecilia Bartoli and Raul Jimenez. Both sets are wonderful, but, for me, Joyce Didonato and Juan Diego Florez are slightly to be preferred. Highly recommended.

An opera buffa by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was by Giuseppe Palomba after Carlo Goldoni's play Il matrimonio per concorso of 1763. The opera satirizes the influence of newspapers on people's lives. There is critical disagreement as to its success, although the New England Conservatory's notes for their April 2013 production state that the opera "was an immediate hit, and showed Rossini at his comic best."

The writer Dario Fo applies his inventive genius to Rossini's comic opera in its premiere DVD release. Recorded in 2005 under the musical direction of Maurizio Barbacini, Fo's production brings fresh vitality and colour to the story of Lisetta, and of her father Don Pomponio's increasingly ridiculous attempts to find a husband for her through an advertisement in the newspaper LA GAZZETTA. Filmed using high definition cameras with multitrack sound.

Calixto Bieito controversial take of the Verdi classic "A Masked Ball"