Opera on DVD Revised

These DVDs fill in some enormous gaps in Metropolitan Opera on demand video listings.  There are, of course, many more than what I'm showing.  I generally prefer to recommend currently or recently active performers.  For my recommendations from the Met on demand see here.

It is impossible to complete this list.  I include my favorites Jonas Kaufmann, Philippe Jaroussky, Cecilia Bartoli, Anna Netrebko, etc.

Baroque

The Met is woefully lacking in this area. I like:
 

L’Incoronazione di Poppea	Monteverdi	2008 with Danielle de Niese
Dido and Aeneas	Purcell	Dido and Aeneas with Sarah Connolly
Giulio Cesare	Handel	Cecilia at Salzburg-Grammy nomination
Orlando Furioso	Vivaldi	Marie-Nicole Lemieux
Artaserse	Vinci	Artaserse with 5 Countertenors
Partenope	Handel	YouTube from San Francisco
Semele	Handel	Zurich Cecilia
Theodora	Handel	Theodora from Glyndebourne

I will need to do additional research to find the best version of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, a very significant opera.  But the Danielle de Niese L’Incoronazione di Poppea is a fine Monteverdi example.

Two star Cecilia Bartoli, one from Zurich, Semele, and one from Salzburg, Giulio Cesare.  Operas chosen for the modern productions are Partenope and Theodora.  A modern production can improve a Baroque opera.
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Classic

Orphée et Eurydice	Gluck	Vesseliina Kasarova
Don Giovanni	Mozart	Bartoli Zurich
Le Nozze di Figaro	Mozart	Netrebko Salzburg

The Met on demand has covered this genre, but I will keep searching for examples to add here.    The Gluck shown above is a wonderful performance of the Berlioz arrangement made for Pauline Viardot.

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Bel Canto

Otello	Rossini	Zurich with Cecilia
Le Comte Ory	Rossini	Zurich with Cecilia
Lucia di Lammermoor	Donizetti	ROH with Damrau

The Lucia shown above is of a controversial production where Lucia is on the stage for the entire opera.  The murder is shown.  I prefer Cecilia's Ory over the Met's.

There are many Norma DVDs.  It would be hard to evaluate them all.  Cecilia Bartoli's version is not currently available.  Met on demand has a rich assortment of the operas of Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti.
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Wagner

Tristan und Isolde	Wagner	Theatre Antique d'Orange
Lohengrin	Wagner	Kaufmann and Harteros
Die Meistersinger	Wagner	Salzburg

I love these, but most of my other favorite Wagner performances are either can be seen in the Met on Demand or are from San Francisco and have no videos.
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Giuseppe Verdi

Nabucco	Verdi	Guleghina
La Traviata	Verdi	Netrebko from Salzburg
La Forza del Destino	Verdi	from Munich with Kaufmann
Don Carlo	Verdi	Salzburg with Kaufmann
Otello	Verdi	Royal Opera

The two Kaufmann performances are from the Verdi year.  You would only want these if you enjoy Anja Harteros like I do.  I love the original version of the red dress La Traviata from Salzburg with Netrebko and Villazon.
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French, Russian, etc.

Ruslan and Lyudmila	Glinka	Gergiev Netrebko
L'Africaine	Meyerbeer	Domingo & Verrett
Hamlet	Thomas	Natalie Dessay
Carmen	Bizet	Kaufmann and Antonacci
Manon	Massenet	Netrebko and Villazon
Werther	Massenet	Kaufmann
Pelléas et Mélisande	Debussy	Robert Wilson
Die Fledermaus	J. Strauss	Kiri te Kanawa

Hamlet is nothing without Natalie Dessay who was ill for the HD.  This DVD of Manon with Netrebko and Villazon is completely charming and much better than the HD, though I do like the HD with Pretty Yende.  The Robert Wilson Debussy is quite abstract but beautiful.  I'm pleased to include one Meyerbeer, a seriously neglected composer.
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Verismo

Cavalleria Rusticana	Mascagni	Domingo movie
I Pagliacci	Leoncavallo	Domingo movie
Manon Lescaut	Puccini	ROH with Kaufmann
La Bohème	Puccini	movie with Netrebko and Villazon
Tosca	Puccini	Domingo movie
Adriana Lecouvreur	Cilea	Gheorghiu and Kaufmann
Andrea Chenier	Giordano	Kaufmann and Westbroek
La Fanciulla del West	Puccini	Stemme and Kaufmann

I have listed the Domingo movies filmed on location because I enjoy them.  The Tosca which films each historic location in Rome is especially beautiful.  There is also a La Bohème movie with Netrebko and Villazon, but I'm less enthusiastic here.  Some people don't enjoy film versions of operas, and if you are one of these, please skip them.

Jonas Kaufmann is the hot tenor of today, and I like very much his La Fanciulla del West with Nina Stemme.
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Richard Strauss

Salome	Strauss R	ROH Maria Ewing
Capriccio	Strauss R	Kiri Te Kanawa SFO
Ariadne auf Naxos	Strauss R	Original from Salzburg

This Ariadne DVD is of an historical performance of what they are calling the "original" Ariadne auf Naxos.  The first version of Ariadne played as a closing piece to Moliere's play Le Bourgeois gentilhomme.  Historical might lead you here, or perhaps you would be attracted by Jonas Kaufmann as Bacchus.

The Maria Ewing Salome has to be the best operatic striptease ever.  But if you prefer a better sung Salome, try Nadja Michael.  The productions are completely different.
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Leoš Janáček 

Jenůfa	Janáček	Glyndebourne Silja
Káťa Kabanová	Janáček	Glyndebourne Gustafson
The Cunning Little Vixen	Janáček	Charles Mackerras Paris
The Makropulos Affair	Janáček	Glyndebourne Silja
From the House of the Dead	Janáček	Aix-en-Provence

I am attempting to fill a gaping hole by recommending these DVDs of Janáček operas mostly from European summer festivals. This is an area of opera everyone should have some experience of.  The pickings are shockingly slim.  Janáček plays at the Met but has never been on the HD series. 
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Modern Opera

 

Moses und Aron	Schoenberg	Vienna State Opera
Porgy and Bess	Gershwin	Willard White
Lulu	Berg	Barbara Hannigan
Einstein on the Beach	Glass	Now on DVD
Il Postino	Catán	Domingo
Moby-Dick	Heggie	SFO
Anna Nicole	Turnage	Westbroek
Written on Skin	Benjamin	Barbara Hannigan
L'Amour de Loin	Saariaho	Upshaw and Finley

I enjoy Barbara Hannigan and recommend her DVDs, especially Lulu.  After several decades there is finally a DVD of Einstein on the Beach, a landmark opera.  Save Moses und Aron for later.

Do not miss Porgy and Bess with Willard White.
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