Музыка и песни Harteros Anja, soprano / Хартерос Анья, сопрано

Premiered in 1900 with huge success, Puccini’s ‘melodramma’ Tosca is a political thriller with a heart-breaking love story. With his gripping opening scene, stage director Michael Sturminger sets the tone for a cinematic, richly detailed Tosca which is set in the Mafiosi world of modern-day Rome and which is ‘the perfect thriller … reminiscent of Scorsese’s ‘Goodfellas’’ (Kleine Zeitung), a ‘film noir’ (FAZ). In this production soprano Anja Harteros is ‘a phenomenal Tosca!’ (Kurier), ‘unparalleled in the world’ (Der Standard) and Aleksandrs Antoņenko is ‘a Cavaradossi of superlatives’ (Kieler Nachrichten). The Staatskapelle Dresden under Christian Thielemann ‘show again that he is not only a master of German repertoire but also strikes the right note in Italian repertoire’ (Focus). Recording date: Salzburg Easter Festival, April 2018 Sound format: PCM Stereo, DTS 5.0 Picture: NTSC 16:9 Subtitles: Italian (original language), English, German, French, Spanish, Korean, Japanese Booklet: English, German, French Total running time: 120 mins

After Tristan und Isolde (2016), Parsifal (2017) and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (2018) this is the fourth installment of the exclusive, multiyear partnership between Deutsche Grammophon and the Bayreuth Festival, in which the Yellow Label is the exclusive audiovisual partner of the mythical Wagner festival, releasing each edition's new production on DVD/Blu-ray. This year, we are proud to release on DVD/Blu-ray the celebrated production of Lohengrin which was premiered on 25 July 2018, featuring an illustrious cast including Piotr Beczala and Anja Harteros in their house debuts, as well as the acclaimed return of Waltraud Meier to the Bayreuth Festival. The New York Times praised Piotr Beczala’s Lohengrin as “outstanding”, Anja Harteros [making] her impressive Bayreuth debut” as Elsa, and Ortrud “played with dominant presence by the incomparable Waltraud Meier”. The distinguished artists Neo Rauch and Rosa Loy created “breathtaking visuals”, and the whole performance was guided with “enthralling musicality” by conductor Christian Thielemann.

On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the Salzburg Easter Festival presents a ‘Re-creation’ of Die Walküre: of Herbert von Karajan’s musico-theatrical vision of the 19th century masterwork, with which the legendary Maestro opened the very first Easter Festival in 1967. The top-ranking ensemble of singers performs in the faithfully reconstructed scenery of the original production with impressive video backdrops inspired by the original glass paintings. Christian Thielemann, who has been assistant of Karajan in his beginnings, counts among the world’s foremost Wagner conductors, ‘… there is an absolute polish to this performance that is exceptional’ writes the Financial Times about the conductor and orchestra. The critics are full of praise for this ‘musically ravishing Walküre’ (Frankfurter Allgmeine) and its ‘excellent ensemble of soloists’. As Sieglinde, Anja Harteros is ‘enchanting and elegant’, Peter Seiffert ‘amazingly presents a steady and expressive Siegmund’, Christa Mayer ‘shows off as irresistible, thoroughbred Fricka’ and Anja Kampe is celebrated as ‘outstanding Brünnhilde’ (Süddeutsche Zeitung)