Anny Schlemm

Adaptation of 'The Flying Dutchman', recorded at the Bavarian State Opera.

This is released as part of Art Haus' Walter Felsenstein edition. Felsenstein, a contemporary of Bertold Brecht, ran the East German Komische Oper from just after World War II to his death. Felstenstein was famous for his ensemble productions and for the enormous amount of rehearsal time that went into his productions.

L'une des productions wagnériennes les plus plébiscitées par le public. La mise en scène de Harry Kupfer, captivante et hypersensible, lui permis d'acquérir une renommée internationale. Le Vaisseau fantôme est de retour sur terre, son capitaine maudit étant à la recherche d'une femme qui pourra lui jurer une fidélité éternelle, condition pour pouvoir retrouver la paix. Il rencontre Daland, un capitaine norvégien, qui lui propose justement de rencontrer sa fille Senta.

Live from ROH 1985. Giordano's Andrea Chenier is one of the greatest of verismo operas, full of heart-stopping big tunes and powerful emotional situations. If it is not as well-known as it should be, it is because in summary it sounds a little too like Puccini's Tosca: there is a tussle between political opponents over a woman, an attempt to save a condemned man, a tenor aria about writing poetry on the eve of execution. The difference is that Gerard (Giorgio Zancanaro) is not a villain like Scarpia, he is an idealist whom the French Revolution has betrayed as much as it has his rival the poet Chenier (Placido Domingo). His temptation to abuse his power to seduce the virtuous Maddalena (Anna Tomowa-Sintow) is a momentary one, though its consequences are terrible. There is a streak of post-Wagnerian decadence in much of this--Maddalena is at least as much in love with death as she is with Chenier, and the final love duet has a deeply sinister aspect. -- From Amazon.co.uk