With Joyce DiDonato as Cinderella capturing all hearts – not just Prince Charming’s – Massenet’s enchanting, sophisticated retelling of the classic fairytale makes its debut at Covent Garden in a charming and witty production by Laurent Pelly. The Cinderella story seen through the eyes of the belle époque, Massenet’s Cendrillon was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1899 and its gorgeous score embraces pathos, pastiche, broad humour, subtle eroticism and sheer magic.In Summer 2011, its debut at London's Royal Opera House was built around mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who first took on the title role at the Santa Fe festival in 2006.

World-renowned tenor Roberto Alagna stars in the most passionate of French operas, conveying the young poet’s journey from naïve hope to the agony of the much-loved aria ‘Pourquoi me réveiller?’ and the shattering final tragedy.
Massenet’s glorious opera, based on a novel by Goethe, is regularly performed all over the world and its central role is one in which Roberto Alagna has been celebrated for more than a decade. The role of Werther’s beloved Charlotte is sung by American mezzo Kate Aldrich (an acclaimed Carmen at ‘The Met’), who has sung the role to critical acclaim in Europe and Japan. Filmed live at the Teatro Regio in Turin, the powerful stage production is the work of another member of the Alagna family – the tenor’s younger brother, David.

This first-ever, specially remastered collection compiles highlights chosen by Renée of her “most magical experiences”, captured live on stage in this pinnacle of opera houses. Produced by GRAMMY-winning David Frost, the collection features duets with Cecilia Bartoli, Susan Graham, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Samuel Ramey, Bryn Terfel & more. Since her 1991 debut when she stepped in for Felicity Lott, Renée has performed on the MET stage over 250 times and describes the MET as “my musical home, the theater where I feel welcome amongst friends – backstage, onstage, and in the audience.” Renée will return to the MET on 22 November for the world premiere work by Kevin Puts, The Hours, with Joyce DiDonato & Kelli O’Hara.

In light of the "chill-out" trend of the 1990s, major labels released many albums of slow, meditative pieces to appeal to listeners who wanted relaxing or reflective background music. Deutsche Grammophon's vaults are full of exceptional recordings of classical orchestral music, and the performances by Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic are prominent in the label's catalog. The slow selections on Karajan: Adagio are in most cases drawn from larger compositions, though these movements are frequently anthologized as if they were free-standing works. Indeed, many have come to think of the Adagietto from Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 as a separate piece in its own right, largely because of its evocative use in the film Death in Venice. Furthermore, the famous Canon by Johann Pachelbel is seldom played with its original companion piece, the Gigue in D major, let alone in its original version for three violins and continuo; it most often appears in an arrangement for strings.

‘A dancer’s blood runs in my veins’ announces the heroine of Léhar’s Giuditta in the beguiling bolero-cum-waltz ‘Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß!’ which blazes into life around fifteen minutes into today’s Recording of the Week from Egyptian soprano Fatma Said, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo and special guests including lutenist David Bergmüller, Quinteto Ángel and the vision string quartet.

Arthur Grumiaux (1921-1986) was never a technical daredevil and his playing has been described as being "for conoisseurs only." Indeed, his style was quite refined and his repertoire tended towards pieces that which suited his musical gifts. His Beethoven Concerto and Sonata recordings and performances are most definitely among the best ever done of those works. This large set of 30+ smaller pieces (with a couple larger ones thrown in) focuses on Grumiaux's ability to touch the listener and indeed there is a thread of imperturbable calmness that runs through this recording upon a casual listening. This discing on Philips came out around 1996, presumably to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his death. I'll just touch on a few of the highlights of this 2 CD set. In all of them, we hear Grumiaux at his best - polished and radiant, with Istvan Hajdu as the competent piano partner for all of the numbers.

Thaïs, a mature work by the composer Jules Massenet on the libretto by Louis Gallet, it is based on the novel of the same name by Anatole France. The new production of this rarely performed work is the result of more than a year of close collaboration between the forces of the Theatre and Stefano Poda, responsible, for the first time in Italy, for the direction, choreography, sets, lighting and costumes. On the podium, Gianandrea Noseda, who, seduced by the dramatic force and modernity of the orchestral writing, conducts Thaïs for the first time; a debut also for the protagonist Barbara Frittoli, who has chosen the Regio to make her debut in this difficult role. Georgian baritone Lado Ataneli gives an impressive study of the monk Athanaël.

The Romantic Piano Concerto Series goes French for this recording of the single examples in the genre by Massenet and his pupil Hahn. Both works were written towards the end of their composers' careers and mark a return to the piano for each of them; the piano had originally been the first instrument of both, but opera and the voice had occupied them for most of their lives.

International superstars Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón give inspired performances in Massenet's passionate opera, Manon. Netrebko gives full range to her abilities as a singer and actress in portraying innocence, lust, greed and, above all, beauty. It is Netrebko's mesmerizing performance which makes Villazón's youthful passion and ultimate despair even more authentic and heart-breaking. The setting in this production has been updated to the 1950s and the entire opera takes place as if Manon were the star of her own film. Indeed, Netrebko transforms her character from the innocence of Audrey Hepburn through the voluptuousness of Marilyn Monroe into the tragedy of Ingrid Bergman.

The knock-out concert event of 2006! Anna Netrebko, Plácido Domingo and Rolando Villazón came together for one unforgettable evening of opera arias and ensembles. This is not a cross-over concert, but a genuine collection of operatic gems, performed by three thrilling performers in front of an audience of 20,000 roaring fans. The excitement in the audience brings out the best in each performer. With selections from L'Arlesiana, Gianni Schicchi, Otello, Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Giuditta, La Bohème, West Side Story and much more! Marco Armiliato leads the Deutschen Oper Berlin Orchestra.

Shani Diluka releases a great project dedicated to Marcel Proust and composers he loved, to celebrate the 150-year anniversary of his birth in 2021 and the 100-year anniversary of his death in 2022. It features Reynaldo Hahn's rarely played Piano Concerto and works by Fauré, Gluck, Massenet, R. Strauss, and Debussy. The album is recorded with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris conducted by Hervé Niquet. The Proust album features Pierre Fouchenneret (violin), Natalie Dessay (soprano), and Guillaume Gallienne (narrator, from the Comédie Francaise).

Marianne Crebassa's new album celebrates her French-Spanish roots. Centered around French composers taking inspiration from Spain and Spanish composers, Séguedilles is a mix of opera arias and songs from composers Bizet, Massenet, de Falla, Mompou, Offenbach, Guridi, Ravel, and Saint-Saëns. It features hits such as the "Habanera" from Bizet's Carmen and Falla's "Vivan los que rien" from La Vida breve. Crebassa portrays 5 strong female characters Carmen, Dulcinée, Concepcion, Périchole, and Salud. She recorded the album with the Choeur & Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse conducted by Ben Glassberg.

This album of popular short pieces provides a memento of the first French lockdown in 2020: Renaud Capuçon and pianist Guillaume Bellom performed on social media each day, raising the spirits of their fans. Ideal for streaming, the collection includes music by Enrico Morricone, Charlie Chaplin, Carlos Gardel, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Schumann.

Werther is one of Rolando Villazón's signature roles and it's easy to see why; he brings both intensity and vulnerable sensitivity to the part of the anguished poet, and he's a terrifically nuanced singing actor. All of the elements of the live 2011 performance from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in fact, are so strong that this recording easily takes a place among the most effective and affecting accounts of the opera. Antonio Pappano, music director of the Royal Opera House, draws impassioned playing and sumptuous, sensual tone from the orchestra. The group responds beautifully to Pappano's subtly inflected and dramatically charged vision of the score.

A superstar in her homeland and in high demand worldwide as a soloist, South Korean violinist, Bomsori Kim, presents her solo debut on Deutsche Grammophon. Violin On Stage includes works written for or inspired by opera and ballet. Recorded in December 2020 at the state-of-the-art National Forum of Music in Wroclaw and performed with the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic and its music director, Giancarlo Guerrero, the album captures the close bond Bomsori feels with Poland, its music, and musicians.