Shardana - BLU-RAY

I Shardana is set in a free Sardinia, an island where rigorous rules are in force and it's people do not tolerate invasions or spiritual contamination, a time when - as Ennio Porrino (b. 1910) specifies in the score - shepherds were warriors and judges, Inchwhen man did not believe in one God but in the power of the stars, and worshipped the dead and the watersInch. The opera's first drafts date from 1934-35, but the work only debuted years later, on 21st March 1959, at the San Carlo theatre in Naples, with it's final title of I Shardana and Porrino himself conducting. The composer would die suddenly a few months later.

A Federal Marshall (Robert Taylor) nicknamed InchThe HangmanInch traces a robbery suspect (Jack Lord) to a small town, but the convict has turned his life around, he's now married and he and his wife are expecting a child. Not only is he supported by his friends and neighbors, but also by the town's sheriff (Fess Parker). The Marshall offers the convict's ex-lover (Tina Louise) a new lease on life; all she has to do is to finger the man she still loves and walk away with the reward. For the first time in his career, the lawman is faced with a serious challenge to his method of justice as the citizens band together to stop their friend's capture. Directed by Michael Curtiz, the legendary director of Casablanca and Mildred Pierce.

Few of Gioachino Rossini's operas are less well known than Adina. This production by Rossini Opera Festival and Wexford Opera Festival revives a masterwork of glittering arias and rich orchestral textures. The oriental tale, where Adina is a slave in a Baghdad seraglio, is set by Rosetta Cucchi on a giant and colorful wedding cake. The vocal star Lisette Oropesa Inchgave a splendid rendition as Adina. Her voice was brilliant, shiny on top, warm and round in the middle.Inch (Bachtrack) World Premiere Recording on DVD and Blu-ray