Anthony Laciura

When a workaholic young executive, is left at the altar, she ends up on her Caribbean honeymoon cruise with the last person she ever expected: her estranged and equally workaholic father. The two depart as strangers, but over the course of a few hilarious adventures, a couple of umbrella-clad cocktails and a whole lot of soul-searching, they return with a renewed appreciation for family and life.

Left broke and homeless by his wealthy parents' divorce, a young man moves in with an old friend and finally meets the woman of his dreams -- only to discover she's already dating his friend.

It is to composer and librettist Arrigo Boito and his constant pestering of the octogenarian Verdi that there remained within him one last great comedy fighting to get out that we owe this absolute miracle of an opera. Produced in 1893 as Verdi turned 80 there is much in this masterpiece that can be identified as a modernist neoclassical work. The use of short motifs instead of long arioso melodic lines, the spry and reduced orchestral textures and the lack of a single 'stand and deliver' dramatic declamatory aria all serve to make this more of a 20th century work than an example of 19th century late-Romanticism.

Giancarlo Del Monaco’s atmospheric production brings to colorful life a 19th-century mining camp during the California Gold Rush. At the center of the action is the good-hearted bar owner Minnie, sung by Barbara Daniels, who takes a motherly interest in the miners. Plácido Domingo is Dick Johnson, also known as the bandit Ramerrez, who falls in love with Minnie. Sherrill Milnes sings Jack Rance, the sheriff who is not only determined to capture Ramerrez but also wants Minnie for himself. Bloodshed, a crooked poker game, a snowstorm, and a near lynching ensue before Minnie and her bandit-turned-lover can ride off to start a new life. Leonard Slatkin conducts one of Puccini’s most colorful scores.

1987年2月、メトロポリタン歌劇場にて行われたジェイムズ・レヴァイン指揮、メトリポリタン歌劇場管弦楽団・合唱団によるビゼー作曲歌劇「カルメン」の演奏を収録。

Otto Schenk’s brilliant production captures both the dark romanticism of the story as well as its fairy-tale magic. It is a superb setting for Neil Shicoff’s vivid portrayal of the tortured poet Hoffmann, as he recounts the loves of his life and the way he has been foiled by his nemesis—a marvelous James Morris in a tour-de-force performance of the opera’s four villains. Gwendolyn Bradley is the doll Olympia, Tatiana Troyanos sings the courtesan Giulietta, and Roberta Alexander portrays the innocent Antonia.

Jessye Norman is a regal Ariadne, the mythological Greek heroine in this opera-within-an-opera, opposite the passionate Bacchus of the great James King. Kathleen Battle delivers the coloratura fireworks of Zerbinetta, the leader of a commedia dell’arte troupe that finds itself stranded on Ariadne’s island. Tatiana Troyanos and Franz Ferdinand Nentwig star as the young Composer and the Music Master in the opera’s prologue. James Levine brings out all the color and charm of Strauss’s brilliant chamber-sized score with its equal amounts of pathos and humor. Bodo Igesz’s production features sets by esteemed designer Oliver Messel.

1987年4月 メトロポリタン歌劇場にて行われたジェイムズ・レヴァイン指揮によるプッチーニ作曲の歌劇「トゥーランドット」を収録。

Live performance from the Metropolitan Opera, 31 December 1986.

Live Metropolitan Opera performance March, 1985.

Live performance at the Metropolitan Opera, 1984. James Levine conducting Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Stage direction by Piero Faggioni.

Leonora plans to elope with Don Alvaro, but he accidentally shoots and kills her father, who curses them as he dies. The lovers go on the run, but get separated. Bent on revenge, Leonora's brother Don Carlo, hunts them down. Verdi painted an immense canvas with this dark but tuneful opera, vividly brought to life in John Dexter’s production, with sets by the great Eugene Berman. The legendary Leontyne Price is seen in one of her greatest roles, Leonora. Price’s soaring voice encompasses every nuance of Leonora’s emotion as she moves from joy through resignation to ultimate heartbreak. James Levine’s brilliant leading of the Met orchestra and chorus is a lesson in Verdi style. Giuseppe Giacomini is Alvaro, the man Leonora loves, and Leo Nucci is Don Carlo, the dark instrument of their Fate.