Donizetti Songs Volumes 1 and 2 are now available to pre-order ahead of their official release date on 4 October.
The prolific and versatile Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti was not only one of the central figures of Italian bel canto opera but also wrote around 200 songs. Here we present songs for baritone and tenor which are rarely performed and some, until recently, completely unknown.
Our Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi at the piano performs with American tenor Lawrence Brownlee and Italian baritone Nicola Alaimo.
Click here and here to pre-order both albums, and enjoy two free downloads by joining our mailing list via our homepage.
If you like what you hear, do join us on 3 October for our digital launch with all three artists by registering here.
We’re delighted to announce today that both our Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi and our recording of Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma which he conducted have been nominated at this year’s International Opera Awards. Nominated in the Best Conductor and Best Recording (Complete Opera) categories, the winners will be announced on 2 October in Munich.
We were also so happy to see nominations for both our Artist Ambassadors Ermonela Jaho and Michael Spyres, Katia Ledoux – the star of our recent Salon Series recital which was streamed on YouTube, and Rosa Feola – who joins us for our Donizetti Song Project this autumn.
To celebrate the nominations, we’re offering a 15% discount off all our recordings with Carlo for one month until 2 October. These include L’esule di Roma, Mercadante’s Il proscritto, Leoncavallo’s Zingari and the recital albums Écho and Espoir.
Use the code IOA2024 via our website for all CD and digital download purchases here.
Our Recording of the Month is Offenbach’s Fantasio for which we won the 2015 Best Complete Opera Recording at the International Opera Awards.
Perhaps one of the least known of Offenbach’s lyric works, Fantasio only received a further 10 performances after its premiere in Paris in 1872. Featuring Brenda Rae, Victoria Simmonds, Aled Hall and Neil Davies, our revival recorded with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment uses the critical edition by Jean-Christophe Keck with whom we also collaborated with on La Princesse de Trébizonde most recently.
The title role is sung by Sarah Connolly described by Das Opernglas as ‘abundantly-timbred and effortless’.
Head over to our YouTube channel here to listen to the rousing ‘Vive le roi!’ as well as to discover more about this opera:
We’re looking to fill the role of Development and Events Coordinator starting this autumn.
Working closely with the Development and Communications Director, the Development and Events Coordinator will be responsible for managing and delivering regular cultivation and stewardship events, stewardship communications and donor relations.
They will also provide project management and admin support to the wider Development and Communications team including Opera Rara’s Philanthropy Manager, Marketing Consultant and Press, PR and Social Media Consultant.
Based at Opera Rara’s offices in Battersea Park, the Development and Events Coordinator will also serve as the main contact for Opera Rara’s external communications and look after Opera Rara’s online store.
If this sounds of interest, click here to find out more.
Our July Recording of the Month is Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux featuring Nelly Miricioiu as Elisabetta captured live at the Royal Opera and Ballet in 2002.
The lives of British monarchs from Alfred the Great to the Tudors and Stuarts held a special fascination for 19th century composers – none more so than Gaetano Donizetti who wrote seven operas involving English kings and queens.
As The Guardian noted at the time of the release: ‘Central to the success of this new set is the singing of the fine, characterful soprano Nelly Miricioiu as Elizabeth… she gives a most moving account of the queen.’
Head over to our YouTube channel here to listen to Elisabetta’s aria ‘Quel sangue versato al cielo sinnalza’ as well as to discover more about this opera:
Sunday 28 July is Opera Rara’s 54th birthday, and we invite audiences worldwide to celebrate with us! Across our channels, we’re marking this milestone by releasing special content, and we have set a goal of adding 54 new supporters to our ranks in the following weeks and months. Donations can be made here.
Opera Rara fans are able to help us reach our goal of 54 donors for 54 years by becoming a Friend or Patron, joining us on our journey of operatic discovery. Opera Rara’s work is only made possible by the generosity of our passionate supporters, and this year we need to raise nearly £1M.
Even just £5 per month could ensure that Opera Rara can continue all the inspiring performances, enlightening discoveries and award-winning recordings we experienced in our 53rd season. From the launch of the Donizetti Song Project, Opera Rara’s most ambitious project to date, to the recording and 5-star performance of the 1857 version of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra and our first Salon Series with exciting emerging artists, there were many opportunities to experience rare and forgotten music restored.
The last season was also filled with many accolades. Opera Rara’s recording of Mercadante’s Il proscritto won an International Opera Awardfor Best Complete Opera Recording, and our recording of Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde won Best Opera Recording of the Year at both the OPUS KLASSIK Awards and the OPER! Awards. Our Artist Ambassadors Ermonela Jaho and Michael Spyres were also recognised at the OPER! Awards as Singers of the Year. None of this could have been possible without the generosity of our family of supporters, and our new season is just as ambitious.
In Opera Rara’s 54th season, there are many more exciting discoveries to be made and ground-breaking recordings to come. We continue our work with the multi-year Donizetti Song Project, which will see many more recitals at both Wigmore and Cadogan Halls and the release of four recordings containing nearly 100 songs in total. The popular Salon Series returns with four more emerging artists in concert in London and streamed online, bringing new voices to audiences in London and to the world. And, we will release the first-ever studio recording of the 1857 version of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra.
By donating today and becoming an Opera Rara Friend or Patron, you can unlock new ways to connect with our work as we unearth more operatic gems and champion incredible vocal talent.
We’re delighted to announce our second YouTube stream going live on 28 July, featuring Katia Ledoux and Anna Tilbrook recorded last month at London’s Inner Temple Parliament Chamber.
Presented in partnership with Temple Music Founation, our Salon Series recital featured rare Donizetti songs alongside other rareties such as Clémence de Grandval’s Le Galop which Katia first brought to our attention and Pauline Viardot’s beautiful Lamento available to watch now.
More details of the livestream via the link here and head to our events page to explore the rest of our 2024/25 Salon Series recitals which have just gone on sale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyqQ-Jt0KHM
We’re delighted to announce that today the OPUS KLASSIK Awards named our studio release of Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde as its Opera Recording of the Year. This is the second international award we’ve won for our latest Offenbach release after being named Best Opera Recording at the OPER! Awards 2024 at the start of the year. Our recording was also a finalist in the 2024 International Classical Music Awards. In 2019, we won the same OPUS KLASSIK Award for our recording of Rossini’s Semiramide.
Recorded with London Philharmonic Orchestra and French opera specialist conductor Paul Daniel, our September 2023 release of Offenbach’s comic operetta marked the premiere studio recording of musicologist Jean-Christophe Keck’s new critical edition of the three-act Paris version from December 1869. The recording also includes previously unpublished extracts from the original two-act Baden-Baden version first heard in July 1869.
Our June Recording of the Month is Donizetti’s first grand opera Les Martyrs starring Joyce El-Khoury as Pauline and Michael Spyres as Polyceute.
Recorded in 2014, with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment led by Sir Mark Elder, our award-winning recording was based on a new critical edition of the score by Dr. Flora Willson who recently presented our first live stream from the Wigmore Hall. Not only did Flora restore the opera’s original French text but she also worked on reinstating numerous musical passages that had not been heard since the opera’s first performance in Paris in 1840.
Head over to our YouTube channel here to listen to Pauline’s joyous aria ‘Severe existe!… un dieu sauveur… ‘ as well as to discover more about this opera:
On 2 November 2024, we’ll be returning to Wigmore Hall for our third ‘Donizetti and Friends’ recital with Italian soprano Rosa Feola accompanied by our Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi at the piano. As a part of our multi-year Donizetti Song Project, the recital features lost and forgotten songs by Gaetano Donizetti as well as selections by his contemporaries:
Of our most recent recital at Wigmore Hall featuring our Artist Ambassador Ermonela Jaho, The Daily Telegraph said: Ermonela Jaho proved – exquisitely – that Italian composers can do song as well as the French and Germans
Our exploration of rare Donizetti songs continues in spring 2025 when we are joined by our Artist Ambassador Michael Spyres and Canadian mezzo-soprano Marie-Nicole Lemieux at London’s Cadogan Hall for an evening of French songs by Donizetti and Berlioz:
