La Boheme DVD

View the majesty of a La Scala performance of the Puccini opera, La Boheme. This DVD of the 2003 performance features Cristina Gallardo-Domas, Hei-Kyung Hong, Marcelo Álvarez, and Roberto Servile, with Bruno Bartoletti conducting.

Madama Butterfly DVD

One of Puccini's most beloved operas, Madama Butterfly, is brought to life in this DVD. Performed at the Arena di Verona in 2004, this performance features Fiorenza Cedolins, Marcello Giordani,and Juan Pons, with Daniel Oren conducting.

Vivaldi: Concertos Pour Violoncelle-Volume 2

In the early eighteenth century, 'Vivaldi fever' spread from Venice across the whole of Europe. Vivaldi began the fashion for concertos in which one or more instrumentalists appeared as soloists in front of the orchestra; like singers at the opera. The way Vivaldi bewitched his audience when he played the violin centuries ago continues to enchant today's listeners.

Vivaldi: Juditha Triumphans

The oratorio Juditha Triumphans, the most impressive piece in the corpus of works preserved in the National Library of Turin, is the only oratorio by Vivaldi that has come down to us. Written for performance at the offices and concerts of the Ospedale della Pieta', a charitable institution in Venice for young orphaned girls, this oratorio was written for female voices only. During those concerts, which were popular with Venetians and visitors alike, only the soloists were visible and the musicians played behind grilles draped with black gauze, which must have enhanced the mysterious and sensuous charm of the performances. A freethinker, Vivaldi paid little attention to the constraints of sacred composition, varying at will the colors and the textures of an immense orchestra (the largest he had ever used) in order to refine his depiction of the characters and the dramatic situations. Thus, his Juditha Triumphans became a feast of instrumental color and vocal celebration, with an approach that is more erotic and operatic than strictly sacred. The Academia Montis Regalis, conducted by Alessandro de Marchi, exalt Vivaldi's Italianness and Magdalena Kozena triumphs as a magnificent and sensuous Judith!

Vivaldi: L' Olimpiade

Here is the first opera in the Vivaldi Edition. And what an opera! Its succession of arias, each more spectacular and original than its predecessor, made it one of the biggest successes of its time. After almost three centuries of neglect, Rinaldo Alessandrini brings the opera to life again, offering a new edition of the autograph score, held by the Biblioteca Nazionale in Turin. Who would have thought it? Vivaldi, the man who wrote 600 concertos, was also the progenitor of 94 operas. This figure given by the composer himself was long considered an idle boast, but modern musicology has confirmed it as perfectly accurate. From the middle of the second decade of the seventeenth century onwards, Vivaldi's main activity was the organization, at Venice and elsewhere, of operatic seasons in which his own works were naturally given pride of place. Hence in 1734, when he was striving to reconquer a place on the Venetian operatic scene from which he had been absent for the past five years, Vivaldi took the bold decision of setting the text L' Olimpiade by the fashionable librettist Metastasio. He provided this story of lovers' misunderstandings set against the backdrop of the ancient Greek Olympic Games with spectacular arias for two brilliant young soprano castratos, one of them his personal discovery Mariano Nicolini, and wrote for the orchestra in his own inimitable fashion.

Vivaldi: La Senna Festeggiante

La Senna Festeggiante (The Seine Rejoicing) is one of eight serenate composed by Vivaldi. Unfortunately, the music has survived for only three of them, thanks once again to the priceless collections of the Biblioteca Nazionale in Turin. The serenata is a musical work in honor of an illustrious personage, performed to mark an important event: birthday, birth of a child, military victory, etc. Midway between the opera and the cantata this genre intended for private performance before a rich and cultivated elite gave the composer an ideal framework for his rich vocal and orchestral invention. One thing at any rate is certain: we can guarantee that the Seine will rejoice once more thanks to this effervescent recording by Rinaldo Alessandrini with three soloists specializing in this repertoire and the magnificent musicians of Concerto Italiano.

Vivaldi: Stabat Mater

Returning to the warmth of the female voice with which Vivaldi was familiar (the solo part, generally given to a countertenor, is here restored to the contralto voice), Sara Mingardo and Rinaldo Alessandrini plunge us into the strikingly theatrical atmosphere and the heart-rending tones of the Stabat Mater, a pathetic exaltation of the Virgin's grief at the foot of the Cross.

Michelangelo Carbonara: Live in Bologna

The Italian pianist Michelangelo Carbonara is distinguishing himself on the international scene, amongst the new generation of pianists, for his rare performing qualities and adventurous repertoire. The distinctive traits that so clearly set Michelangelo apart are his refined sensitivity coupled with a fervent dedication to tonal quality, and extraordinary finger dexterity. The international press writes about this "Italian revelation:" "He is the greatest Italian hope at the piano" (Il Giornale); "A miracle pianist" (Music & Vision Daily); "One of the best musicians of the new generation" (La Repubblica); "A Star is born... an amazing performance... and extraordinary success" (La Provincia) Live in Bologna features Carbonara's interpretations of Franz Schubert, Witold Lutoslawski, Domenico Scarlatti, Karol Szymanowski, and Moritz Moszkowski.

One Night in Bloom-Volume 1

Bloom, the trend-setting, Italian design restaurant and club in the Eternal City, joins the musical fray of New Europe by releasing its first compilation of chill out and lounge music loved by V.N.P.'s "Very Nice People". In the style of internationally successful compilations of locations such as Budda Bar, Diana Garden and Hotel Costes, Bloom's musical atmosphere takes you just a few steps away from Piazza Navona, to one of the most original and fashionable places in Rome. Like the club's interior design, with contributions from Philip Stark and lamps designed by the Milanese Wonderkammer in the setting of the remains of a 14th century church, the music is an eclectic compilation of re-mixed 60's funk with tinges of the Orient, breathy French femme fatales "talkin' 'bout my generation" to George Jetson's treatment of Nu Jazz. One Night in Bloom is a cutting-edge collection including tracks from artists such as Thievery Corporation (with a blistering track of instrumental 60's funk featuring horns), Mo' Horizons and 21st century chanteuse Giorì, remixes by Dorfmeister vs. Uptight Productions (with a great lounge dance groove) and a reworking of Nicola Conte's "Jet Sounds", as well as up-and-coming artist Vimana (with Indian-tinged electro grooves).

A. Virgilio Savona: Cose Delicate

With and without the Quartetto Cetra, with and without Lucia Mannucci, the story of Virgilio Savona’s artistic career covers half a century of such ingenious and multifaceted activity that it was with great pleasure and admiration that the Club Tenco chose to dedicate the 2004 Rassegna della Canzone d’Autore at Sanremo to him. A tribute that has also and above all served to draw attention to a little-known range of politically engaged, provocative and satirical songs which are now presented on this album, with the addition of a couple of previously unrecorded ones (“Il Formichiere” and “Dietro Le Quinte”). It is clear that Virgilio Savona has not neglected anything, from the commercial song to diatribes against the ills of society, from self-mockery to intellectual cabaret, from swing to folk, from flamenco to twist and from tango to disco.

Antonio Infantino: Tara'n Trance

A new milestone in electronica and trance music. The perfect union between tradition and contemporary art. The ancient sciamanic tarantella ritual reinterpreted by one of its most known artists in a new, contemporary way. The soundtrack for the perfect spiritual rave by tarantella guru Antonio Infantino feauturing electronica master Eraldo Bernocchi.

Faraualla: Sind'

This is the second album of this amazing female a cappella vocal ensemble from southern Italy. Known as "the Mediterranean witches", the Faraualla girls have their story to tell and are now ready for the world. Their first album "Faraualla", winner of several world music and vocal music awards, has received worldwide acclaim. Sind' demonstrates organic development, a real chapter two.

Gaspare Bernardi: L' Arco Terrestre

A delicate and tender musical fresco by central Italian lyricist and songwriter Gaspare Bernardi. Far from fashion and trends, an introspective, poetic voice of truth, beautifully arranged and produced. Includes notes by Alejandro Jodorowsky.