Composer: John Corigliano, William M. Hoffman
Performer: Los Angeles Opera Chorus
Orchestra: Los Angeles Opera
Conductor: James Conlon
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Pentatone
Size: 2.69 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Opera Chorus
James Conlon
Omar Crook (tenor)
Victoria Livengood (mezzo-soprano)
Kristinn Sigmundsson (bass)
Scott Scully (tenor
Young Park So (soprano)
Vanessa Becerra (soprano)
Peabody Southwell (mezzo-soprano)
Summer Hassan (soprano)
Lacey Jo Benter (mezzo-soprano)
Frederick Ballentine (tenor)
Patrick Blackwell (bass-baritone)
Christopher Maltman (baritone)
Patricia Racette (soprano)
Lucas Meachem (baritone)
Lucy Schaufer (mezzo-soprano)
Joshua Guerrero (tenor)
Joel Sorensen (tenor)
Robert Brubaker (tenor)
Stacey Tappan (soprano)
Guanqun Yu (soprano)
Renée Rapier (mezzo-soprano)
Philip Cokorinos (bass-baritone)
Brenton Ryan (tenor)
Museop Kim (baritone)
Gregory Geiger (baritone)
Patti LuPone (soprano)
Recorded: February and March 2015
Recording Venue: Live Recording, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles Music Center, Los Angeles, California, United States
01. Act I: Prologue: Mon coursier hors d’haleine (Woman with Hat, Louis XVI, Marquis, Gossips, Aristocrats)
02. Act I: All-powerful Queen of Beauty and ruler of my willing heart (Beaumarchais, Marie Antoinette)
03. Act I: Aria: They are always with me: the unbounded waiting, the odor of blood on steel, the terrible sound (Marie Antoinette)
04. Act I: My wife was always hard to please (Louis XVI, Aristocrats, Woman with Hat, Marquis, Gossips, Beaumarchais)
05. Act I: Oh no. Here we go again!! (Chorus, Figaro, Susanna, Almaviva, Aristocrats)
06. Act I: Prologue: They wish they could kill me (Figaro, Marie Antoinette, Woman with Hat, Aristocrats)
07. Act I: Bravo, Beaumarchais! Brilliant! – Then why are you weeping, your Majesty? (Louis XVI, Beaumarchais, Marie Antoinette, Aristocrats)
08. Act I: Magic! It is Paris, the autumn of ’93 (Beaumarchais, Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, Almaviva)
09. Act I: And with the one million pounds, grant Her Majesty a safe refuge in the New World (Almaviva, Figaro, Susanna, Louis XVI, Wilhelm)
10. Act I: Fool! Idiot! Moron! You forgot where Almaviva plans to sell the jewels? (Begearss, Wilhelm, Aristocrats, Marie Antoinette)
11. Act I: Recitative: I can’t wait to betray Almaviva (Begearss, Florestine)
12. Act I: Aria: Oh, the lion may roar and the eagle may soar. (Begearss)
13. Act I: I remember, Master, I remember! (Wilhelm, Begearss, Susanna, Figaro, Aristocrats, Woman with Hat)
14. Act I: Poor Florestine, I pity her. (Marie Antoinette, Beaumarchais, Louis XVI, Aristocrats)
15. Act I: New Scene: Rosina’s boudoir. They say New York is a lively town (Beaumarchais, Louis XVI, Begearss, Rosina, Almaviva)
16. Act I: Now we go back in time – Cherubino, Cherubino (Rosina, Beaumarchais, Cherubino)
17. Act I: Duet: Look at the green here in the glade (Beaumarchais, Rosina, Cherubino, Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI)
18. Act I: No. I’ve had enough. I see what’s happening here (Louis XVI, Beaumarchais, Woman with Hat, Aristocrats, Marie Antoinette, Marquis, Chorus)
19. Act I: Finale: Selamunaleykum, (Welcome!) (Pasha, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Leon, Florestine, Almaviva, Rosina, Susanna, Marquis, Beaumarchais, Begearss)
20. Act I: Finale: His Excellency, the English Ambassador (Page, English Ambassador, Almaviva, Pasha)
21. Act I: Finale: I am in a valley and you are in a valley (Samira, Pasha)
22. Act I: Finale: Ya omri. Limatha hajartani? (Samira, Figaro, Chorus)
23. Act I: Finale: Tafaddaloo marhabun bikoom – Shall we? (Figaro, Chorus, Almaviva, English Ambassador, Begearss, Wilhelm, Marie Antoinette, Aristocrats, Florestine, Rosina, Susanna)
24. Act II: Hurry, hurry… It’s late! The second act is beginning! (Beaumarchais, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Almaviva, Marquis, Susanna, Florestine, Woman with Hat, Rosina)
25. Act II: Watch. Now Figaro comes back (Beaumarchais, Louis XVI, Almaviva, Susanna, Figaro, Marie Antoinette, Florestine, Rosina, Woman with Hat, Marquis)
26. Act II: Wait!… Figaro was supposed to return the necklace (Beaumarchais, Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, Woman with Hat, Marquis
27. Act II: Damn that Figaro. He’s your husband (Almaviva, Marquis, Susanna, Woman with Hat, Marie Antoinette, Florestine, Rosina)
28. Act II: Duet: As summer brings a wistful breeze (Susanna, Rosina, Marie Antoinette, Leon)
29. Act II: And now I must go – Bless you, Madam, bless you (Rosina, Susanna, Figaro, Beaumarchais, Marie Antoinette)
30. Act II: What is happening? (Susanna, Marie Antoinette, Figaro, Chorus)
31. Act II: Antoinette, we want your head! – Order! Order! (Chorus, Beaumarchais)
32. Act II: Marie Antoinette of Lorraine and Austria (Marie Antoinette, Chorus, Beaumarchais, Figaro)
33. Act II: Monarchy. Revolution. It’s all the same to me – Women of Paris, listen! (Begearss, Chorus)
34. Act II: Welcome, Madeleine, welcome (Rosina, Aristocrats, Almaviva, Florestine, Bishop, Leon)
35. Act II: Quartet: Remember the chestnut trees in the gardens of the Tuileries? (Leon, Florestine, Almaviva, Rosina)
36. Act II: I hope I’m not too late for your party (Begearss, Almaviva, Aristocrats, Rosina, Leon, Florestine, Chorus, Figaro, Beaumarchais, Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, Wilhelm, Susanna)
37. Act II: Interlude
38. Act II: I am very well, my dear Marquis (Duchess, Aristocrats, Marquis, Wilhelm, Chorus, Rosina, Florestine, Susanna, Leon, Almaviva)
39. Act II: Quintet: O God of love, O Lord of light (Almaviva, Rosina, Florestine, Leon, Susanna, Marie Antoinette)
40. Act II: We are finished – Farewell, my faithful friend (Susanna, Rosina, Florestine, Leon, Almaviva, Figaro, Duchess, Beaumarchais, Wilhelm)
41. Act II: Look, her breathing is diminished (Florestine, Rosina, Almaviva, Beaumarchais, Figaro, Leon, Wilhelm, Susanna, Begearss, Duchess, Chorus)
42. Act II: Goodbye, Figaro. Goodbye, Beaumarchais (Beaumarchais, Marie Antoinette)
43. Act II: Aria : No, Beaumarchais. It is as it should have been. Once there was a golden bird (Marie Antoinette, Beaumarchais)
44. Act II: Come, Antonia (Beaumarchais, Chorus)
Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera to celebrate its 100th anniversary, John Corigliano’s The Ghost of Versailles received its premiere at the Met in 1991, twelve years after it had been commissioned and eight years past the centennial season for which it had first been envisioned. Nonetheless, it was an instant success. Because of the unique situation, a large cast and extravagant orchestral forces were made available, but aside from that specific context, both John Corigliano and librettist William Hoffman conceived of Ghosts as a work of music theater that celebrates and even takes as one of its principal themes the artistic power of opera: it puts into use lavish operatic resources precisely to introduce a contemporary audience to grand opera.
More particularly, a ”grand opera buffa” is what John Corigliano decided to create, to combine his love for opera buffa, with the requirements of a grand opera house, which is the Met. The success of Ghosts resulted in many performances throughout the North- American continent in the 25 years to follow, one of which took place in February 2015 at the LA Opera, to great critical acclaim.
“It’s comic and serious, entertaining and erudite, silly and thoughtful, emotional and mysterious, harrowing and uplifting, intimate and over-the-top — and the more times you see it, the more you’ll find in it and the more you’ll get out of it.” Los Angeles Times
Conducted by James Conlon, the production was recorded live by the renowned Soundmirror recording company and will now be released on a splendid 2-SACD album as part of PENTATONE’s newly launched American Opera Series.
“The artists of Los Angeles Opera’s 2014 production made as compelling a case for The Ghosts of Versailles as I heard on its first night at the MET in 1991. To have that performance preserved in a recording of this quality is, for this composer, a dream come true.” John Corigliano