Fredricks, Richard

Verdi - La Traviata / Rudel, Sills, Price, Fredricks, Wolf Trap Festival

How can you possibly go wrong with this one? One of the most popular of all operas starring one of the most popular of all opera stars singing one of her true signature roles--it's a no-brainer. This 1976 performance from the Filene Center of Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia stars Beverly Sills in all her silky voiced glory. As Violetta, Verdi's most sympathetic tragic heroine, America's most beguiling diva is pitch-perfect all the way through several of the composer's miraculously melodic arias. Her lover, Alfredo, is played by Henry Price, who holds his own admirably with the superstar. Verdi specialist Julius Rudel conducts a finely detailed account of the score, and Tito Capobianco's production is an appropriate primer for novice opera fans--the vivid sets and costumes never detract from the central love story. Kirk Browning's straightforward video direction follows suit. --Kevin Filipski

Donizetti - Roberto Devereux / Rudel, Sills, Alexander, New York City Opera

Roberto Devereux, the last and probably the greatest opera Gaetano Donizetti composed for the San Carlo Opera House in Naples, is based on the intense, tangled relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex, who was beheaded for treason in 1601. The role of the queen is one of the strongest in the bel canto soprano repertoire. In this video (essentially a New York City Opera production transplanted to the Filene Center at Wolf Trap performing arts center outside Washington, D.C.), Beverly Sills gives one of the great performances of her career. She had been singing the role in New York for several years, to great critical acclaim, and had made it her own, though her voice was beginning to lose some of its freshness when this performance was filmed in 1974. In discussing the soprano stars of bel canto opera, we find a 180-degree polarity--at one extreme, the dramatic potency and vocal problems of Maria Callas; at the other, the vocal agility and smoothness of the dramatically unconvincing Joan Sutherland. Midway between these extremes is Sills, who acted almost as well as Callas, sang almost as beautifully as Sutherland, and balanced the two sides of her art more effectively than either.

John Alexander is solid in the title role. Susanne Marsee is relatively problem-free once she gets warmed up, and the supporting cast performs capably. Julius Rudel conducts with a good sense of style and proper balance between voices and orchestra. --Joe McLellan

Zandonai - Francesca Da Rimini / James Levine, The Metropolitan Opera

This is a prime example of the lush musical style of the late Romantic era. The production features opera greats Placido Domingo, Cornell MacNeil and Renata Scotto. Riccardo Zandonai's Francesca may be one of the most beautiful in the Metropolitan Opera company's recent history. The sets and costumes match the lushness of the music. Conducted by James Levine. Includes English Subtitles.