Opus Arte Les Troyens: Royal Opera House (Pappano) [DVD] [2013] [NTSC]

Les Troyens is opera at its most epic. The sheer scale of its story, music, passion, staging and performers make this one of the great Royal Opera events of the decade. Berlioz's great work is one of the most fabulously rich of all operas, a tour de force of passion in music, with extraordinarily demanding roles for the principal cast. Press Reviews "David McVicar's stupendous production at the Royal Opera House would be worth seeing for Es Devlin's mighty sets and Constructivist Trojan horse alone. But Antonio Pappano's orchestra plays the ravishing score with such élan, and the singing and acting are so fine, especially Cassandra (Anna Caterina Antonacci), Dido (Eva-Maria Westbroek) and Aeneas (Bryan Hymel), that you can forgive the long, angular ballets that are like misbegotten descendants of Isadora Duncan and the Ballets Russes. " (The Wall Street Journal) "Pappano drew a big-gestured, brightly colored and rhapsodic performance from the Royal Opera's impressive orchestra and chorus. The Italian soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci triumphed as Cassandra (Cassandre).Her singing was lush, fervent, finely spun and noble. A lovely woman, she is a riveting actress, who achingly conveyed that Cassandra feels cursed by her prophetic powers. The Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek was a splendid Dido (Didon)." (The New York Times) "Musically the show is top-notch, with the chorus on coruscating form, Antonio Pappano bringing out the instrumental colour with exemplary clarity, and a line-up of soloists led by three outstanding voices. Anna Caterina Antonacci incarnates prophet-of-doom Cassandra with a clear-eyed and commanding urgency. Eva-Maria Westbroek's full-toned Dido is ideally complemented by Bryan Hymel's Aeneas in their exalted duet ‘Par une telle nuit’. And when Hymel lets rip in his long wrestle with his conscience before deserting her, the ringing purity of his tone melts the heart. Other delights include Ed Lyon's exquisitely-sung Phrygian sailor, plus a succession of brilliant coups de theatre thanks to the synergy between McVicar's pageantry and Wolfgang Goebbel's lighting, which at times creates effects worthy of Gericault. A fabulous evening." (The Independent) "Sir Antonio Pappano has the measure of this huge score, giving it with exhilaration and breathing space." (classicalsource.com) "Sometimes it all works together extremely well, giving a result as moving as any artistic event can be. That was the case at Covent Garden in 2012 when Pappano and McVicar triumphed in Berlioz's greatest masterpiece Les Troyens. Everyone in the cast list above is superb but especial mention must be made of Aeneas, Bryan Hymel; Dido, Eva-Maria Westbroek; Cassandra, Anna Caterina Antonacci and Anna , Hanna Hipp; simply because the scale of their roles is so large. Top class. - Recording of the Month -" (Musicweb International) Cast Anna Caterina Antonacci (Cassandra) Eva-Maria Westbroek (Dido) Bryan Hymel (Aeneas) Fabio Capitanucci (Coroebus) Robert Lloyd (Priam) Narbal (Brindley Sherratt) Ashley Holland (Panthus) Daniel Grice (Soldier) Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House; Antonio Pappano Stage Director: David McVicar Catalogue Number: OA1097D Date of Performance: 2012 Running Time: 254 minutes Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Anamorphic Subtitles: EN, FR, DE, ES, JP, KR Label: Opus Arte Review There is plenty of fire and passion. --Gramophone, Jan'14