Opera
Odyssey Opera revels in the glittering wit and touching moments of this full-length chamber opera by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, better known for his Hollywood film scores and some wonderful guitar pieces.
Arnold Rosner’s writing in each act is strongly contrapuntal, metrically unpredictable, and idiomatically scored. The music is marked by constantly shifting colors, a strong sense of rhythm, and a healthy dose of lyricism.
Another operatic version of Oscar Wilde’s one-act love triangle that ends with the woman’s husband murdering her lover, to her enraptured delight.
Salome is not the only strong opera based on an Oscar Wilde play. This one-acter by Zemlinsky deserves a place in the repertoire today.
A world-premiere recording of Siroe, King of Persia makes it clear that Leonardo Vinci (1690-1730) was as fine a craftsman as the painter with a similar name.
Imagine the excitement of experiencing, for the first time, an opera by one of the greatest composers to have come out of the Spanish-speaking world!
The rarely staged Oberon is easy to love and will fascinate admirers of early nineteenth-century music.
The oft-neglected “other” great opera by Carl Maria von Weber, splendidly performed in 1955 and in remarkably clear and vivid sound. I hope this opera’s day will yet come.
This year has brought a bumper crop of wonderful recordings of unusual operas — and one unusual recording of a repertory staple: Gounod’s Faust.
One of Donizetti’s strongest and most original works, has finally been reconstructed and recorded by superb forces under the remarkable Mark Elder.
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