Haydn: Orlando Paladino / Jacobs

Marlis Petersen (Angelica), Tom Randle (Orlando), Pietro Spagnoli (Rodomonte), Alexandrina Pendatchanska (Alcina), Sunhae Im (Eurilla), Victor Torres (Pasquale), Magnus Staveland (Medoro) & Arttu Kataja (Licone/Caronte) Freiburger Barockorchester, René Jacobs

Nigel Lowery / Amir Hosseinpour, staging Nigel Lowery, set & costume design Re-Release of the successful DVD on Blu-ray Disc. For more than 25 years René Jacobs has dedicated his life to baroque operas and works with the best ensembles for early music. On the occasion of the Haydn Year the renowned Freiburger Barockorchester and outstanding baroque opera singers such as Marlis Petersen, Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Pietro Spagnoli and Tom Randle presented Haydn’s most successful opera from the Berliner Staatsoper. "Orlando Paladino", written in 1782, was Haydn's most famous opera during his lifetime, with thirty performances in Esterháza in the first two years after its composition. The libretto, a "drama eroicomico", gives scope to Haydn's frequently puckish sense of humour, as well as his inventive melodic expression. Most semi-serious operas of the period typically inserted comic characters into an essentially serious story but Haydn expanded the comic elements even into the more serious scenes. Another very colourful and vivid staging by the successful team Nigel Lowery and Amir Hosseinpour

Picture format Blu-ray: 1080i Full HD, 16:9 Sound formats Blu-ray: PCM Stereo, DTS-HD Master Audio Region code: All (worldwide) Booklet notes: English, German, French Subtitles: English, German, French, Italian Running time: 168 mins

Price: $48.98