Ricciardo E Zoraide - BLU-RAY

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the premiere of the Rossini rarity, the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro staged Ricciardo e Zoraide with an all-star cast. Juan Diego Flórez makes his debut as the crusader Ricciardo, giving a Inchmasterclass in bel cantoInch (Bachtrack), his high notes are Inch... still thrilling with their laser-like precisionInch (Financial Times). The South African soprano Pretty Yende - Inchradiant and richly expressiveInch (Financial Times) as Zoraide - proves that she is Incha virtuosa in Rossini singingInch (Neue Musikzeitung). On the 150th anniversary of the composer's death and 200 years after it's premiere, Ricciardo e Zoraide rings out with an artistic quality that is second to none, thanks to the skills of an Inchabsolute Champions League ensembleInch (Online Merker). Due to the Inchattentive conducting of Giacomo Sagrapanti, practically nothing stands in the way of enjoying the beauty of this rarely performed score to the fullestInch (Online Merker). The result is an incredible orchestral performance.

The Gilded Age presents a compelling and complex story of one of the most convulsive and transformative eras in American history. In the closing decades of the nineteenth century, the U.S. population doubled in the span of a single generation, national wealth expanded, and two classes rose simultaneously, separated by a gulf of experience and circumstance that was unprecedented in American life.

Zoraida di Granata, a stirring tale of love, betrayal and reconciliation, set in the Moorish kingdom of Granada in Andalusia in 1480, gave the 24-year-old Donizetti his first major operatic triumph. It marked his establishment as a true musical dramatist with a sure sense of craftsmanship and a flair for the dramatic. The opera's virtuosic central roles, fine choruses and powerful set-pieces show Rossini's unavoidable influence, though it is more a presence rather than imitation. This performance of the 1822 edition, not the 1824 revision, is performed on original instruments by Gli Originali and conducted by Alberto Zanardi.