Upshaw, Dawn

Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen / Levine, Metropolitan Opera (Complete Ring Cycle)

Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore

It would be hard to imagine a better performance of Donizetti's comic masterpiece. If there was one role that ideally suited Luciano Pavarotti's voice and stage personality, it was Nemorino, the impoverished and not-very-bright peasant who worships the village's prettiest and richest young woman from a distance, is swindled by a traveling vendor of "miracle" medicines, but wins her hand by dumb luck. The story has comedy, pathos, and a put-down of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (or at least the Tristan story) written long before Wagner composed it.

Kathleen Battle is not only a wonderful singer and convincing actress; as Adina, she is pretty enough to make Nemorino's infatuation totally credible. Juan Pons struts convincingly as Belcore, Nemorino's self-important rival, and Enzo Dara is properly spectacular as Dr. Dulcamara, who sells Nemorino the magic potion guaranteed to improve his love life, or at least to get him drunk. The melodies in this opera include some of the best ever written, and James Levine, his extraordinary orchestra, and his wonderful chorus know exactly what to do with them. Everything comes together in this production to make it one of the best opera DVDs available. --Joe McLellan

Richard Strauss - Ariadne auf Naxos / Levine, Norman, Battle, Troyanos, Metropolitan Opera

Saariaho - L'Amour de Loin / Dawn Upshaw, Gerald Finley, Monica Groop, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finnish National Opera, Helsinki

Dawn at Dusk - A Late Night Recital by Dawn Upshaw

A recital by Dawn Upshaw

Dawn Upshaw is one of the most versatile and talented of a new generation of American singers, equally at home on the concert platform and the musical stage.

In this specially recorded late-night recital from the Royal Albert Hall during the 1996 Promenade Concerts, Dawn Upshaw ranges widely over the gamut of American operatic arias and popular songs from the 1920s to the present day. Ms Upshaw gives a truly wonderful performance, full of expression, harmony and sublime singing.

Bernstein: Lonely Town, I Feel Pretty, Somewhere, Times Square, Village Vortex
Copland: Laurie's Song
Weill: Lonely House, The Saga Of Jenny
Sondheim: What More Do I Need?, There Won't Be Trumpets
Rodgers: Manhattan, It Never Entered My Mind, Why Can't I?, I Could Write A Book, Nobody's Heart / Little Girl Blue, He Was Too Good To Me
Gershwin: Someone To Watch Over Me, Do Do Do

Blitzstein: I Wish It So

Fred Hersch, Piano
London Sinfonietta, Conductor Eric Stern

Leonard Bernstein's New York / Mandy Patinkin, Dawn Upshaw, Donna Murphy

Leonard Bernstein's New York is a video companion to the 1996 CD of the same name, which collects songs from the three Broadway musicals Bernstein wrote that were set in--and celebrate--New York City: West Side Story, On the Town, and Wonderful Town. In the documentary, the singers--Mandy Patinkin, Judy Blazer, Donna Murphy, Audra McDonald, Richard Muenz, and Dawn Upshaw, the most glorious voices in musical theater at the time--explain their affinity for Bernstein's music and how it captures the heart and soul of the city. Additional comments by Bernstein scholars and director Hal Prince are interspersed with songs performed by the singers in evocative New York locales--Patinkin singing "Some Other Time" at Coney Island, Blazer driving Patinkin in a cab in "Come Up to My Place"--in the recording studio, or alongside pianist Eric Stern (who also conducted the orchestral numbers)--such as Murphy in a slinky yellow gown torching up "Ain't Got No Tears Left" or Upshaw making "Lonely Town" one of the most achingly beautiful things you'll ever hear. The music is so good, the only thing a viewer could wish for would be more of it. --David Horiuchi

A new generation of American musical theater artists come together in a "glorious mosaic of Leonard Bernstein's show tunes" (New York Times). Brilliantly filmed in the very New York locations celebrated by the songs - Coney Island, Central Park, Times Square - this DVD joins today's performers with the ageless music of perhaps New York's greatest musical personality. On the Town, Wonderful Town and West Side Story chronicle the city in all its variety and excitement, and these performances bring a heightened measure of entertainment to Bernstein's singular achievement. "New York, New York! a helluva town!" the company sings - it was never truer than in "Leonard Bernstein's New York" today.
With Dawn Upshaw • Mandy Patinkin • Donna Murphy • Audra McDonald • Judy Blazer • Richard Muenz. Produced and directed by Hart Perry.

On The Town: New York, New York (ensemble) • Ya Got Me (Murphy, Blazer, Patinkin) • Come Up To My Place (Patinkin, Blazer) • Lonely Town (Upshaw) • Some Other Time (Patinkin) • Ain't Got No Tears Left (Murphy)
Wonderful Town: What a Waste (Muenz, Upshaw, Murphy) • A Quiet Girl (Muenz) • Wrong Note Rag (Patinkin) • Story of My Life (Blazer) • A Little Bit in Love (McDonald)
West Side Story: One Hand, One Heart (Upshaw, Muenz) • Balcony Scene (Tonight) (McDonald, Patinkin)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish.

Wagner - Siegfried / Levine, Jerusalem, Behrens, Morris, Metropolitan Opera (Levine Ring Cycle Part 3)

Stravinsky - The Rake's Progress

Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress occupies two worlds. The story, the ironically moralizing attitudes, and many musical and verbal details are inspired by the 18th century. But it is modern in rhythm and harmony and in its psychology--Freudianism and existentialism in a powdered wig. Each production must find its own balance between these polarities, and this crisp, stylish treatment, taped at the Salzburg Festival in 1996, leans heavily toward modernity. The Faustian story of ne'er-do-well Tom Rakewell is told in symbols from its beginning (when he succumbs instantly to the temptations of the diabolical Nick Shadow) to the final mad scene. The props include a small, earthbound airplane, signifying Tom's flights of fancy, and some supernumeraries wearing ape costumes and capering about, symbolizing perhaps his obsessions. The costumes are modern: Tom in a T-shirt, Anne Trulove (his fiancée) in a dress so simple it looks like a slip, Nick in a mafia-style pinstripe suit. Designer Jorg Immendorff, a prominent German painter, is ingenious and self-indulgent in his staging. He portrays Tom as an artist not unlike himself. But if ever an opera had its visual elements clearly prescribed, it is The Rake's Progress--inspired by a set of engravings by William Hogarth that have no resemblance to Immendorff's staging.

There have been first-class productions that respected Hogarth's vision. One of them is sure to find its way to home video eventually, and those who are upset by visual tampering with an opera's original concept might want to wait. But the Salzburg audience applauds it thoroughly in this production. Stravinsky's music is well handled. Jerry Hadley brings both pathos and humor to the title role, Dawn Upshaw puts a lot of personality into the rather bland, goody-goody role of Anne, and they have an expert supporting cast. --Joe McLellan

Igor Stravinsky was inspired by William Hogarth's sequence of anecdotal pictures The Rake's Progress to compose this three-act opera which charts the rise and fall of Tom Rakewell after inheriting an unexpected legacy. The libretto is by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallmann and follows an eighteenth-century operatic structure, with separate arias, ensembles and choruses linked by recitative. Recorded live from the Salzburg Festival, this striking production is the result of a collaboration between stage director Peter Mussbach and the leading German artist Jorg Immendorff, whose spectacular, self-referential and humorous designs were hailed as a triumph. At the core of an exceptionally fine musical performance is Jerry Hadley, who charts Tom Rakewell's swift disillusion with extreme skill. Soprano Dawn Upshaw is superb as Anne, Tom's faithful model, and Monte Pederson makes a devilish Nick Shadow, an underworld heavy in a pinstripe suit. Sylvain Cambreling conducts the Camerata Academica. 1996. 156 minutes.

Verdi - Simon Boccanegra / James Levine, The Metropolitan Opera

"Sherrill Milnes gave a performance of deep feeling and ...grandeur" - The New Yorker. "The set, costumes and lighting are superb." - NY Times. Simon Boccanegra, Doge of Genoa, is one of Verdi's most profound characters, a complex man ruled by love of family and devotion to country. The compelling, richly colored music of Simon Boccanegra vividly embodies the tangled personal passions and political rivalries of Renaissance Italy. Conducter: James Levine. Soloists: Sherrill Milnes, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Vasile Moldoveanu, Paul Plishka. Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Production, Tito Capabianco. Includes optional English Subtitles.

Verdi Opera 6-Pack (Amazon.com Exclusive)

Don Carlo
Don Carlo is one of the grandest of all grand operas, a tour-de-force that challenges the resources of even the greatest theaters. The Met has accepted and responded to these challenges in magnificent fashion. Don Carlo is a complex, multi-layered work. Private passions are played out against a backdrop of intense political strivings. Placido Domingo leads the extraordinary cast gathered for this performance.

Un ballo in maschera
Luciano Pavarotti in his first Met Ballo heads an illustrious cast in this revolutionary production of Verdi's opera. His portrayal of the ill-fated Riccardo is "peerless Pavarotti." Katia Ricciarelli ("a brilliant lyric spinto soprano... used to impressive effect" ) is heard in her first Amelia at the Metropolitan Opera. Louis Quilico ("his 'Eri tu?' was one of the real highlights of the evening"), Judith Blegen ("focal point of pure light'), and Bianca Berini ("sang with taste and authority") round out the cast.

Ernani
No opera is more romantic than Giuseppe Verdi's Ernani. Three rivals risk everything for a hot-blooded woman, plotting abductions, hatching conspiracies, swearing fatal oaths. This 1983 Metropolitan Opera production brought together a superb cast of singers, well able to take on the challenge of Verdi's searing music. Stars: Luciano Pavarotti, Leona Mitchell, Sherrill Milnes, Ruggero Raimondi. Chorus, Ballet and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera. Conductor: James Levine

Simon Boccanegra
"Sherrill Milnes gave a performance of deep feeling and ...grandeur" --The New Yorker. "The set, costumes and lighting are superb." --New York Times. Simon Boccanegra, Doge of Genoa, is one of Verdi's most profound characters, a complex man ruled by love of family and devotion to country. The compelling, richly colored music of Simon Boccanegra vividly embodies the tangled personal passions and political rivalries of Renaissance Italy. Conducter: James Levine. Soloists: Sherrill Milnes, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Vasile Moldoveanu, Paul Plishka. Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Production, Tito Capabianco. Includes optional English subtitles.

La Forza del Destino
La Forza del Destino is Verdi's panoramic tragedy of honor and vengeance in 18th-century Spain and Italy. Its characters, ranging from aristocrats to camp followers, from soldiers to monks, are all swept up in the irresistible power of destiny. Leontyne Price's memorable performance as Leonora "can still bring tears to the eyes." "James Levine's conducting is full of drive and fire," and "the grandeur of the magnificent score comes through." --New York Times

Requiem
Giuseppe Verdi's Messa da Requiem is one of the grandest choral masterpieces of the Romantic Era. This production embodies Verdi's vision of a powerful and large-scale work and is presented with all of the intensity and dramatic passion that was conceived for the Requiem. Enoch zu Guttenberg conducted the European Symphony Orchestra with the Neubeuren Choral Society in this beautiful work. It was filmed at the famous Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Germany. Featured soloists are Pamela Coburn, soprano; Trudeliese Schmidt, mezzo-soprano; Vinson Cole, tenor; and Kurt Rydl, bass. This DVD also includes the option of viewing running commentaries on the pieces as they are performed as well as liner notes, a glossary of music terms, historical markers for the pieces, and performer profiles. Audio playback options are 5.1 dolby digital and non-compressed stereo.