Arena di Verona Collection - Amilcare Ponchielli La Gioconda (2007) [DVD9 NTSC]
Format: DVD Audio, Fullscreen, NTSC
Number di disc: 5
Studio: Domovideo
Date version DVD: 16 dec. 2007
Lenght: 380 minuti
La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito (as Tobia Gorrio), based on Angelo, Tyrant of Padua, a play in prose by Victor Hugo, dating from 1835. (This is the same source as Gaetano Rossi had used for his libretto for Mercadante's Il giuramento in 1837).
First performed in 1876, La Gioconda was a major success for Ponchielli, as well as the most successful new Italian opera between Verdi's Aida (1871) and Otello (1887). It is also a famous example of the Italian genre of Grande opera, the equivalent of French Grand-Opéra.
Ponchielli revised the work several times; the version that is played today was first given in 1880. There are several complete recordings of the opera, and it is regularly performed, especially in Italy. It is one of only a few operas that features a principal role for each of the six major voice types.
DVD 1: Verdi: Nabucco .
Cast: Nabucco, Piero Cappuccilli; Ismaele, Nunzio Todisco; Zaccaria, Roberto Scandiuzzi; Abigaille, Linda Roark Strummer; Fenena, Martha Senn; Belo's High Priest, Carlo del Bosco; Abdallo, Aldo Bottion; Anna, Cosetta Tosetti; Orchestra & Chorus of the Arena di Verona; Anton Guadagno, Conductor.
Recorded 1992. TT: 122 min.
DVD 2: Theodorakis: Zorba the Greek.
Cast: Zorba, Vladimir Vassiliev; John, Gheorghe Iancu; Marina, Luciana Savignano; Madame Ortense, Rosalba Garavelli; Yorgos, Diego Ciavatti; Singer, Sofia Mikailidou; Buzuki Players, Costas Papadopoulos, Pantelis Karnezis; Orchestra, Chorus & Corp de ballet of the Arena di Verona; Mikis Theodorakis, Conductor.
Recorded 1990. TT: 117 min.
DVD 3: Verdi: Requiem Mass.
Luciano Pavarotti, Tenor; Sharon Sweet, Soprano; Dolora Zajick, Mezzo-soprano; Paul Plishka, Bass. Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra; Lorin Maazel, Conductor. An unforgettable Verdi's Requiem Mass that had a 24 mins great applaus from 20,000 spectators in the Arena at the presence of Lady Diana to celebrate the 45th anniversary from the explosion of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.
Recorded 1990. TT: 96 min.
DVD 4: 14 Tenors Concert in Memory of Beniamino Gigli.
Carlo Bergonzi: O Paradiso; Una furtiva lacrima; Giunto sul passo estremo; Pietro Ballo: La donna è mobile; Pourquoi me reveiller; Franco Boonisolli: O muto asil del pianto; Di quella pira; Alberto Cupido: Lève toi suleil; E' la solita storia del pastore; Peter Dvorsky: Ah, la paterna mano; Ah, Manon mi tradisce; Salvatore Fisichella: O muto asil del pianto; Che gelida manina; Emil Ivanov: O, tu che in seno agli angeli; Mario Malagnini: La pia materna mano; Nessun dorma; Gianfranco Pastine: Quando le sere al placido; Tombe degli avi miei; José Sempere: Una vergin un angelo; Forse la soglia attinse; Anatoly Solovianenko: Celeste Aida; Mamma, quel vino è generoso; Vincenzo Scudieri: Ch'ella mi creda libero e lontano; Un dì all'azzurro spazio; Giorgio Tieppo: E lucevan le stelle; Nunzio Todisco: La fleur que tu m'avais jetee; O sole mio. Orchestra of the Arena di Verona; Anton Guadagno, Conductor.
Recorded 1990. TT: 137 min.
DVD 5-6: Ponchielli: La Gioconda.
Cast: La Gioconda, Andrea Gruber; Enzo Grimaldo, Marco Berti; Barnaba, Alberto Mastromarino; Alvise Badoero, Carlo Colombara; Laura Adorno, Ildiko Komlosi; La Cieca, Elisabetta Fiorillo; Zuane, Francesco Palmieri; Un Cantore, Graziano Polidor; Isepo, Mauro Buffoli; Un Pilota, Giovanni Bellavia; Un Barnabotto, Dario Benini; Voce Interna, Alessandro Calamai; Orchestra, Chorus & Corp de ballet of the Arena di Verona; Donato Renzetti, Conductor.
Recorded 2005. TT: 162 min.
