Orchestra E Coro Del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Tingaud - Fernand Cortez - DVD

After his Neapolitan training Gaspare Spontini settled in Paris for a few years, where he was nominated Inchcompositeur particulier de la chambreInch of Empress Josephine, Napoleon's wife. It was indeed Napoleon who, in 1808, commissioned him the opera, Fernand Cortez, ou La conquete du Mexique, of which he attended the 28th November 1809 premiere. The strongly idealized figure of Cortez, presented as a brave, wise and merciful general, predestined to victory, was to be an image of Napoleon. His fight against Spanish InchobscurantismInch was Cortez's fight against the cruelty, superstition and dark power intrigues of the Aztec sacerdotal class. Cortez frees the Mexicans from their Inchevil godInch, and only the High Priest refuses his clemency. Like in a piece a sauvetage, at the last moment Montezuma's niece, Amazily, who had offered her life in exchange of that of her beloved Cortez's brother Alvar, is rescued. The Mexican chief Telasco promotes the cessation of hostilities the marriage between Cortez and Amazily sanctions the peace between two peoples. In Spain, the French troops met a very different fate than Cortez's men in the happy ending of Spontini's opera and it has been suggested that the disastrous outcome of the Spanish campaign was responsible for the limited number of performances run by Fernand Cortez in Paris between the end of 1809 and January 1812. This production is a world premiere recording of the first modern times performance of the original 1809 version. It was recorded in October 2019, exactly 500 years after Cortez's first arrival in Mexico. Director Cecilia Ligorio drew inspiration from a murales painted by Orozco inside a building in Mexico city, where Cortez is depicted in a shiny, silver armor and Malinche - the historical figure who inspired the character of Amazily - wears no clothes and is painted with the color of Earth.

Beethoven's symphonic cycle is one of the most quintessential in the Western classical canon. They chart a course from the influence of Haydn and Classical models in the early symphonies; through works of startling innovation and the birth of Romanticism; to his monumental Ninth Symphony for soloists; chorus and orchestra. Zubin Mehta conducts the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in these live recordings from 2021/22.

The focus of Lorenzo Da Ponte's libretto for Così fan tutte is on female infidelity, two partner-swapping couples and a wager. It's enigmatic ambiguity and lightness of touch, it's razor's edge balance between irony and empathy, detachment and involvement, and on-stage reality and illusion is structured with perfect Classical symmetry. More than any other opera it explores the depths and darker impulses of the experience of love. This production by director Sven-Eric Bechtolf was given in Florence with a staging that 'holds a balance between philosophy and humour' (bachtrack. Com).