Le Roi de Lahore DVD

NOTE: This title is a DVD Video

Audio: Dolby Digital, DTS surround
\r\n Video format: NTSC Colour, Picture 16:9
\r\n Region Code: 0 (No regional coding - playable in all regions)
\r\n Subtitles: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish
\r\n Notes and synopsis: English, French, Italian, German
\r\n Running time: 160 minutes

Jules Massenet (1842-1912)

Le Roi de Lahore

Opera in Five Acts

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro la Fenice di Venezia
\r\n Marcello Viotti, conductor

Recorded live at Teatro La Fenice, Venice, Italy, December \r\n 2004

Giuseppe Gipali, tenor
\r\n Ana María Sánchez, soprano
\r\n Vladimir Stoyanov, baritone
\r\n Riccardo Zanellato, bass

Every operatic composer has a title that marks a turning point, \r\n one that raises him from being almost unknown to sudden fame. For Bellini, in \r\n 1827, this was Il Pirata, for Verdi, in 1842, Nabucco. For Massenet this opera \r\n was Le Roi de Lahore. Premiered in 1877 at the Palais Garnier, this opera - \r\n which was a success with audience and critics alike, and ran to no fewer than \r\n 57 performances in the great Paris opera house within two years - contains all \r\n the characteristic elements of the grand-opera: marches and solemn processions, \r\n a ballet, use of countless extras, spectacular choral scenes, concertante sections \r\n of great length, a general exotic tint that was much appreciated at the time \r\n and a wealth and beauty of musical invention.

This Venetian production features a high quality cast and is \r\n the last recording of the late conductor Marcello Viotti, who was also the author \r\n of the critical edition of the score.