Maestro 027: Opera Works & Songs

Today's episode will be centered around Opera Works & Songs from our classical collection. We have 4 pieces for you today, and we will end with a piece from our featured release, "Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor." Nicolai Ghiaurov, Sesto Bruscantini, Alfredo Kraus, Gundula Janowitz, Sena Jurinac, Walter Monachesi, Dimitri Petkov, Olivera Miliakovic "Don Giovanni" (mp3) from "Mozart: Don Giovanni" (Opera d'Oro) Buy at Napster Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at Rhapsody Stream from Rhapsody Buy at Amazon MP3 More On This AlbumSteven Kimbrough, Wolfgang Schmid, Andreas Kreisel "Kommt wieder aus der finst'ren Gruft" (mp3) from "Geistliche Lieder - Sacred Songs of Bach (from the 1736 Songbook of Georg Schemelli)" (Arabesque Recordings) Buy at iTunes Music Store More On This AlbumInessa Galante, Vladimir Choclov, Janis Bulvas "A idise mame" (mp3) from "Goldins: Jewish Folk Songs - Rachmaninov: Romantic Songs" (Campion) Buy at Napster Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at Amazon MP3 More On This AlbumValery Gergiev, Natalie Dessay, Sergei Skorokhodov, Ilya Bannik, Vladislav Sulimsky, Mariinsky Chorus, Mariinsky Orchestra from "Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor" (Mariinsky) More On This AlbumThe Mariinsky label’s opera recordings have garnered acclaim and awards from around the world, most recently for Valery Gergiev’s recording of Parsifal released in 2010. For the label’s fifth opera, Gergiev conducts Donizetti’s masterpiece with a magnificent cast led by Natalie Dessay. Donizetti’s tragic opera in three acts depicts a family feud set in the Lammermuir hills of Scotland. The opera was premiered on 26 September 1835 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, with the coloratura soprano Fanny Tacchinardi Persiani, and a revised version in French followed suit in 1839. Inspired by Sir Walter Scott’s novel The Bride of Lammermoor, the central character of Lucia Ashton (Dessay) is in love with Edgardo di Ravenswood, her brother Enrico’s sworn enemy. With his fortune waning, Lord Enrico plots to force Lucia to marry Lord Arturo Bucklaw, in order to guarantee his continued power. Torn between her family and true love, Lucia submits to her brother’s desires but in turn loses her mind. Lucia’s delicate disposition is tested and results in the famous ‘mad scene’ where Lucia kills her new bridegroom Arturo. Natalie Dessay is one of the world’s most sought-after sopranos and an admired interpreter of lyric heroines. She is particularly renowned for her interpretation of the role of Lucia, which she has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House and the Mariinsky Theatre. Future engagements include Verdi’s La Traviata with the LSO at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in July and at the Wiener Staatsoper in October. Piotr Beczala is rapidly establishing a reputation as one of today’s leading lyric tenors. He has recently sung Edgardo with the Metropolitan Opera in New York and on tour in Japan, and this summer will perform at the Bayerische Staatsoper and Salzburg Festival. Valery Gergiev recently won the Disc of the Year Award from BBC Music Magazine for his LSO Live recording of Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet. In July, Gergiev will conduct the Mariinsky Ballet at New York Metropolitan Opera and in August he conducts at the Edinburgh Festival and BBC Proms with the Mariinsky Orchestra before opening the LSO’s 2011-12 concert season. In October he embarks on a major tour of the USA and Canada with the Mariinsky Orchestra, including residencies at Carnegie Hall and Berkeley. Forthcoming releases include the final instalment in his Mahler cycle on LSO Live featuring Symphony No 9 and the Mariinsky label’s first DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs. Natalie Dessay appears courtesy of Virgin Classics.