Warner Classics: Bizet - Carmen - Kozena, Kaufmann, Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle - 2 CD

Vadonatúj! Gyári csomagolásban! Fóliázott! Mint a képen! Vásároljon bizalommal! Foliaban!

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Product Details:

• UPC: 0825646013531
• Product Type: 2-CD Opera Set
• Label: Warner Classics
• Composer: Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
• Opera: Carmen
• Libretto: Henri Meilhac & Ludovic Halévy after Prosper Mérimée
• Edition: Fritz Oeser (Alkor-Edition-Kassel)
• Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle
• Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker
• Chorus: Chor der Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin, Kinderchor der Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin
• Principal Cast: Magdalena Kožená (Carmen), Jonas Kaufmann (Don José), Genia Kühmeier (Micaëla), Kostas Smoriginas (Escamillo)
• Release Year: 2015
• Genre: Opera / Classical
• Condition: Brand New, Factory Sealed

Product Features

• Format: 2-CD set
• Total Running Time: CD1 - 71:41 / CD2 - 78:06
• Audio: Stereo / DDD
• Packaging: Jewel case, factory shrink-wrapped
• Manufactured and printed in the EU
• Language: French (sung), English liner notes

Overview

Georges Bizet's Carmen is one of the most performed operas ever written - and also one of the most demanding to get right. The title role needs a singer who can make danger feel glamorous without tipping into caricature. Magdalena Kožená does exactly that. The Czech mezzo-soprano brings a sharp, cliché-free intelligence to Carmen, earning the recording a celebrated review from The Daily Telegraph before it had even fully settled into the catalog.

Jonas Kaufmann's Don José is a study in obsession made credible. His tenor has the weight to carry a man who loses everything and the control to let that unraveling happen gradually. Genia Kühmeier's Micaëla and Kostas Smoriginas's Escamillo round out a cast with no weak links.

Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker recorded this in 2012. The orchestra's command of Bizet's score - its rhythmic snap, its sudden silences, its Spanish-inflected color - is exactly what you'd expect from that partnership at its peak. The Fritz Oeser critical edition used here restores passages often cut in stage productions, giving the full dramatic arc its due.

This is a two-disc set that earns its runtime.

Interesting Facts

• Carmen premiered in Paris on March 3, 1875, and was initially received coolly by critics - Bizet died just three months later, unaware the opera would become a permanent fixture of the repertoire.
• Jonas Kaufmann appears on this recording by special arrangement with Decca Classics, and Magdalena Kožená by arrangement with Deutsche Grammophon - a rare cross-label collaboration for a single release.
• Sir Simon Rattle served as Chief Conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker from 2002 to 2018, and this Carmen was recorded during the height of that tenure.
• The Oeser critical edition, used here, is based on Bizet's original manuscripts and incorporates material that many conductors routinely omit - including recitatives that alter the dramatic pacing of Act Two and Three.
• Kostas Smoriginas, the Lithuanian baritone singing Escamillo, was one of the most acclaimed young voices in European opera houses at the time of this recording.

Track Listing

CD 1 - 71:41 Act One (Tracks 1-17) - Act Two beginning (Tracks 18-27)

CD 2 - 78:06 Act Two conclusion (Tracks 1-9) - Act Three (Tracks 10-31) - Act Four (Tracks 32-38)

Publishers

Released by Warner Classics (Parlophone Records Limited, a Warner Music Group Company). © 2012 & ℗ 2015. Manufactured and printed in the EU.

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