New on Naxos | General Issue: April 2024

NEW ON NAXOS | APRIL 2024

Asmik Grigorian as Nastasya (Kuma) © Barbara Aumüller

2.110768-69 Picture format: NTSC 16:9 Sound format: PCM Stereo and DTS 5.1 Language: Russian Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean Region code: 0 (worldwide) No. of disc/s: 2 (DVD 9) Release Date: 26 Apr 2024 Key Features: •

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Pyotr Il’yich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893) The Enchantress Opera in four acts (1887) Libretto by Ippolit Shpazhinsky (1844–1917) Asmik Grigorian, Soprano

Asmik Grigorian is one of the three stars featured in the video documentary Fuoco Sacro, A Search for the Sacred Fire of Song on 2.110710 (DVD) / NBD0141V (Blu-ray): ‘Anyone who loves singing should see this film’ ( American Record Guide ). It also won a German Record Critics Award. Grigorian has also been honoured with the prestigious Opus Klassik Award for Sängerin des Jahres (‘Singer of the Year’) in Berlin, October 2023. The New York Times called her ‘A soprano with a bottomless appetite for risk’. • Of this Frankfurt production Suddeutsche Zeitung wrote, ‘You can also translate the title of the opera as ‘The Bewitching’, then you know what Grigorian is doing. Her uniqueness is warm humanity, her singing-acting instinct pure miracle down to the last detail of every smallest gesture, every inconspicuous phrase’. •

Claudia Mahnke, Zanda Švēde, Mezzo-sopranos Alexander Mikhailov, Tenor • Iain MacNeil, Baritone Frederic Jost, Bass Chor der Oper Frankfurt Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester Valentin Uryupin, Conductor Vasily Barkhatov, Stage director

Originally set in the 15th century, Tchaikovsky’s The Enchantress is updated to the present day in this innovative production. The charismatic, emancipated Nastasya, who rejects the advances of the devious Mamïrov, duly faces the implacable forces of traditional values in a society riven by divisions between liberal freedoms and religious orthodoxies. The tragic outcome engulfs everyone. This production was a triumphant success – ‘At the end, storms of enthusiasm, the likes of which are rare even at Oper Frankfurt’ ( Neue Musikzeitung ) – both for the staging and performers, with soprano Asmik Grigorian hailed as a ‘miracle’ and baritone Iain MacNeil as ‘world class’.

Canadian baritone Iain MacNeil joined the Oper Frankfurt Ensemble in 2019. He was hailed as a World Star ( HR-2 Kultur ) for his recent interpretation of the Prince in this production, where critics said he ‘embodies the figure of the dark and faithless prince with great vocal authority’ ( Kulturfreak ) and ‘shines alongside Grigorian and Mahnke’ ( Opera Magazine ).

Also available on Blu-ray Video: NBD0180V Picture format: HD 16:9 Sound format: PCM stereo and Language: Russian Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean Region: A, B, C No. of disc/s: 1 (BD 50) Release Date: 26 Apr 2024 DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

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