Dvd
Verdi: Otello (Gran Teatre del Liceu)
José Cura (Otello); Krassimira Stoyanova (Desdemona); Lado Ataneli (Jago); Vittorio Grigolo (Cassio); Ketevan Kemoklidze (Emilia);
"Verdis wise, passionate score was served with precision, gusto and a keen ear for drama by maestro Antoni Ros-Marbà and the solid, malleable Liceu orchestra." (Opera News)
Verdi: Rigoletto (The Royal Opera)
Paolo Gavanelli (Rigoletto); Marcelo Alvarez (Il Duca); Christine Schäfer (Gilda);
"Bold and sensational..." (Gramophone)
Verdi: Rigoletto (The Royal Opera)
Paolo Gavanelli (Rigoletto); Marcelo Alvarez (Il Duca); Christine Schäfer (Gilda);
"Bold and sensational..." (Gramophone)
Verdi: Stiffelio
José Carreras (Stiffelio); Catherine Malfitano (Lina); Gregory Yurisch (Stankar);
"Monday's performance was beyond any but nit-picking criticism. Downes's conducting confirmed him as one of the (if not the) world's leading Verdians - grandeur sweep, energy, allied to extraordinary delicacy. Elijah Moshinsky's production spared us nothing in rawness and immediacy, and indeed, dramatic truth...This Stiffelio is a great event: move mountains to see it." (The Times)
Verdi: The Shakespeare Operas (The Royal Opera/Gran Teatro de Liceu/Glyndebourne)
Simon Keenlyside (Macbeth (Macbeth)); Liudmyla Monastryrska (Lady Macbeth (Macbeth)); Raymond Aceto (Banquo (Macbeth)); José Cura (Otello (Otello)); Krassimira Stoyanova (Desdemona (Otello)); Lado Ataneli (Jago (Otello)); Christopher Purves (Sir John Falstaff (Falstaff)); Tassis Christoyannis (Ford (Falstaff)); Dina Kuznetsova (Alice Ford (Falstaff));
"With strong conducting from Antoni Ros-Marbà, the whole cast collaborate to give us the truth of this desperately upsetting work, as no other DVD and few live performances I've seen of it ever have." (BBC Music Magazine - Otello)
Verdi: Un ballo in maschera (Teatro Real)
Marcelo Álvarez (Riccardo); Violeta Urmana (Amelia); Marco Vratogna (Renato); Elena Zaremba (Ulrico);
"Marcelo Álvarez surely has the most beautiful tenor voice to be heard today in any opera house Violeta Urmana is one of the few dramatic sopranos regularly active just now and it is a pleasure to listen to her in such a demanding part as Amelia...Young Alessandra Marianelli made an exemplary Oscar, both as an actress and as a very accomplished singer. The role fits her like a glove and she was perfect...The orchestra gave a very good performance and the Chorus was on top form." (Seen and Heard International)