Luca Ronconi
1933 - 2015Verdi Macbeth
Brian Large, Luca Ronconi
Renato Bruson, Mara Zampieri
Macbeth" was Giuseppe Verdi's first attempt at music drama and also the first manifestation of his profound love for Shakespeare's work. Verdi took great pains with this opera, displaying special enthusiasm for it as he concentrated on the main characters of Lady Macbeth, Macbeth and the witches. This recording of Luca Ronconi's production is conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli, who brings fresh color to Verdi's score. The cast, headed by Renato Bruson and Mara Zampieri, are strongly supported by a fine-toned and adaptable chorus who ably meet the demands of Verdi's great "chorus opera.
Verdi: Macbeth
Aida
Derek Bailey, Luca Ronconi
Maria Chiara, Luciano Pavarotti
La Scala went all out for its 1986 production of this grandest of grand operas, with a strong cast and, most important for a video recording, a larger-than-life staging. The Triumph Scene in Act II is by no means Aida's only attraction, but it is the part that makes the strongest and most lasting impression and it is the visual and musical climax of this production. Stage director Luca Ronconi brings on a procession to dwarf all processions: looted treasures, heroic statuary, miserable captives struggling under the lash of whip-bearing slave drivers. On par with these visuals is Lorin Maazel's first-class performance of the popular Grand March with the outstanding La Scala chorus and orchestra. In Act III, the contrasting tranquility of the Nile Scene also gets a visual treatment to match the music's qualities.
Aida
Tosca
Luca Ronconi, Pierre Cavasillas
Maria Guleghina, Giovanni Battista Parodi
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. This version is conducted by Riccardo Muti at La Scala, Milan.
Tosca
La scuola d'estate
Jacopo Quadri
Luca Ronconi, Carmine Fabbricatore
Documentary follows the experimental drama course given by the old Italian theatre and opera legend Lucio Ronconi every summer in a remote corner of Umbria, where young, dedicated acting talent rehearse several plays.
La scuola d'estate
Giuseppe Verdi - Falstaff
Luca Ronconi
Ruggero Raimondi, Barbara Frittoli
Ruggero Raimondi and Barbara Frittoli star in this 2006 production of the Verdi opera with Zubin Mehta conducting the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Giuseppe Verdi's last opera is given new life in this production by Luca Ronconi. Utilizing the sights and social conditions of modern Britain, this version of Shakespeare's THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR keeps the comedy accessible while still featuring all the elements that have made this opera a perennial favorite.
Giuseppe Verdi - Falstaff
I Vespri Siciliani
Luca Ronconi
Susan Dunn, Leo Nucci
I Vespri Siciliani must me Verdi's most underrated masterpiece. Most people are put off by the fact that it has 5 acts, therefore they conclude that it must be incredibly long. It is long but not as long as some people may fear as most of the acts are under half an hour each. The total length of the DVD in question is 171 minutes, just under 3 hours, including titles at the beginning, applauses and curtain calls between the acts and at the end. The opera contains Verdi's most powerful overture and a number of very elegant arias, duets and ensembles for the principals.
I Vespri Siciliani
Verdi Ernani
Luca Ronconi, Preben Montel
Plácido Domingo, Mirella Freni
It truly is an historic performance. Domingo looking and singing like a god pouring out golden tones; Renato Bruson sounds, like the sublime Verdian Baritone that he was at that time; Nicolai Ghiaurov proves again that he was one of the greatest "Verdi Basses"; Mirella Freni shows that there was more to her than just being Mimi and Susannah-in fact I can remember reading that at the time of the premiere of this production that there were fist fights (not unusual in La Scala's gallery) between Mirella's many fans--between those fans that just wanting her to continue singing the light lyric repertoire that they were use to her singing and those that felt she should and could sing the lyric-spinto repertoire which, of course, she proved that,indeed, she could (She's still singing more than twenty years later). This performance captures some of the best Verdi singers of the time doing dear ole wonderful Giuseppi proud.
Verdi Ernani