The Solti 100th birthday celebration, commemorating this outstanding musician, is the ultimate realization of Solti’s widow, Lady Valerie Solti, and the World Orchestra for Peace that the late conductor founded. A truly marvelous program of works that Solti knew well is carried off by top orchestral players and singers to the delight of those fortunate enough to be in attendance.

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While performed on a practically bare stage, this production of Verdi’s infrequently played I Vespri Siciliani receives superb singing and musical direction.

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Mario Bava’s gruesome 1972 genre classic is one you won’t want to watch alone in the dark.

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The Pergolesi revival gives us a rarely staged opera well realized by the forces in the Teatro Valeria Moriconi, Jesi. Stylized ancient costumes on a bare cruciate stage are offset by super vocalism, musical direction and recording properties.

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An unusual staging of Haydn’s rarely performed opera receives strong vocal performances. There is some shrillness in the surround version soundtrack that is not noted in the two-channel option.

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La Forza Del Destino, one of Verdi’s darkest works, receives a decent production from the Florence May Music Festival company. The vocal strengths of the cast compensate for some pretty bare staging and unrelenting darkness of the sets

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Rigoletto, one of Verdi’s most popular operas, receives a Teatro di Regio Parma production that is beautifully shot but suffers from the vocal inadequacies of some of its principals.

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A rarely performed middle Verdi opera, this Parma production gives us a good reason to watch and welcome a work that will be unfamiliar to many operagoers.

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Il Trovatore receives an understaged and mostly undersung performance from the Teatro Regio di Parma. Headliner Marcelo Alvarez is the main reason to watch this Blu-ray, but unfortunately, he is also the only reason to watch it.

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The 2011 Rossini Festival gives us a marvelous Blu-ray premiere of a rare masterpiece by one of opera’s greatest composers. Cast, conductor, and director are firing on all cylinders with this one making it an easy recommendation for opera lovers.

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