Naxos
Auber’s 1831 “Le Philtre” (“The Love Potion”) is an engaging romp that helped give birth to Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore.” Immensely popular in his own day, why isn’t it revived more often?
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An album that does admirable justice to one of the most prolific, significant, and increasingly long-lived composers of a remarkable generation.
Read MoreOpera Album Review: A Fittingly Fresh First Recording of a Flexible One-Acter by Donizetti’s Teacher
Johann Simon Mayr’s delicious L’Accademia di musica gets a spiffy performance from the “Rossini in Wildbad” Festival.
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Rossini’s one-act opera from 1812 rings fresh changes on a host of comic-opera clichés.
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This re-release of a superb recording of a major Meyerbeer opera reminds us what treasures are available to opera companies (and college opera programs) willing to step beyond the well-trodden path.
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For Derek Bermel fans, Intonations is a must. For new music enthusiasts and the otherwise curious – ditto.
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Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
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This first-rate performance highlights the special attractions of the “half-serious” operatic genre.
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Halka struts its stuff, impressively, in this new recording with an all-Polish cast conducted by internationally renowned Gabriel Chmura.
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For Joan Tower fans, this disc is a must; for the Tower-curious, it offers an excellent introduction to the composer’s wider work, all of it compellingly played.
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Jazz Perspective: Zev Feldman – A Sherlock of a Producer with an Impressive Portfolio