Desirée Rancatore

The Graham Vicks production of FALSTAFF opened the new Covent Garden Royal Opera House, and was not to everybody's taste; the garish primary colours of the costumes. The staging is effective--the complicated counterpoint of the ensembles is reflected in unobtrusive blocking that keeps the vocal lines clear and separate, especially in the final fugue. Bryn Terfel's Falstaff is a memorable creation, self-mocking and self-aggrandising at the same time--so much so, in fact, that he almost does not need the vast prosthetic body he has to wear for the part. Desiree Rancatore is an admirably sweet-toned Nanetta; Bernadette Manca di Nissa an appropriately sardonic Mistress Quickly; Roberto Frontali as Ford, in his Act 2 scena, perfectly distils and parodies every jealousy aria ever written, including Verdi's own. Haitink's conducting is exemplary in the lyrical passages, gets almost everything out of the fast and furious comic sections.

Live performance at Teatro La Fenice, Venice, September 25-28 2010. Myung-Whun Chung conducting Orchestra e Coro del Teatro La Fenice. Directed for the stage by Daniele Abbado.

Live performance from the Opéra National de Paris, 2003.

Live peformance from the Sferisterio Opera Festival, August 2004. Our edition has an Italian cast of exceptional quality, in which stand out the amazing voice of Desirée Rancatore, the extraordinary artistry of Ruggiero Raimondi and the fascinating direction of Pier Luigi Pizzi, one of today's most creative directors. Interesting overview here: http://www.operatoday.com/content/2006/08/offenbach_les_c.php

Among the greatest operas in Richard Strauss's oeuvre, "Der Rosenkavalier (The Cavalier of the Rose)" spins the tale of the Marschallin (Elizabeth Whitehouse), a dowager struggling with old age. Making the transition more difficult is Octavian (Ildiko Komlosi), a lover many years her junior. This 1997 Palermo production, under the baton of maestro Pier Luigi Pizzi, co-stars Daniel Lewis Williams as Baron Ochs, the Marschallin's obnoxious cousin.

British director Elijah Moshinsky traveled to Istanbul's Topkapi Palace with a cast of gifted singers and actors to film a lavish production of Mozart's Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail (aka The Abduction From The Harem), and this documentary offers a look at both the behind-the-scenes efforts to put the project on screen and extended highlights from the resulting production. Mozart in Turkey also touches on the opera's performance history and Mozart's life at the time it was composed.

Stage Director Laurent Pelly returns to Lyon for a new production of Rossini’s Le Comte Ory that transforms an exotic hermit from Palestine into an Indian guru, and a young medieval countess into an uptight bourgeoise. Music Director Stefano Montanari leads the Orchestra of the Opéra de Lyon in Rossini's rollicking score, while Dmitry Korchak (Le Comte Ory), Désirée Rancatore (La Comtesse Adèle), and Antoinette Dennefeld (Isolier) invite hilarity at every turn as the bumbling triangle of lovers.

Le premier opéra mis en scène de Rossini contient déjà tous les éléments qui allaient révolutionner le monde de la musique dans *Il barbiere di Siviglia*, *L'italiana in Algeri* et *La Cenerentola* dans les années à venir : une inventivité mélodique remarquable, des connexions ingénieuses entre les lignes vocales et l’accompagnement orchestral dans un final exubérant, un humour musical et des ensembles utilisant un **parlando** d'une rapidité vertigineuse. Cette production éclatante s'inscrit dans la série des opéras en un acte de Rossini issus du Festival de Schwetzingen, avec une mise en scène, un jeu d’acteurs et un travail scénique d’une grande qualité. Le metteur en scène **Michael Hampe** a réalisé une interprétation parfaite de l'opéra dans le petit théâtre rococo, véritable joyau du **Palais de Schwetzingen**, en mai 1989.

Parcours initiatique du prince Tamino et de l'oiseleur Papageno dans le monde enchanté de la manipulatrice Reine de la nuit, du bienveillant Sarastro, de la belle Pamina et de la charmante Papagena.

Opera as never experienced before: a world-class cast, stylish haute couture outfits, the spectacular setting of Hangar-7 with more than 10 different locations and state-of-the-art technology. All of this cut together as a live opera film: a modern and unique production of Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail one of the highlights of the Salzburg Festival 2013. In Adrian Marthaler's production, the whole Hangar-7 at Salzburg Airport becomes the backdrop for an extraordinary opera performance. The distinguished Camerata Salzburg is conducted by Hans Graf, one of the best Mozart connoisseurs. The star soloists including Desirée Rancatore (Konstanze), Javier Camarena (Belmonte), Kurt Rydl (Osmin) as well as famed Austrian actor Tobias Moretti as Bassa Selim guarantee a special treat. Even audiences that are not yet opera aficionados are set to be enthused by this novel approach.