DONIZETTI: La Favorite (Trailer) [DVD/BLURAY]

GAETANO DONIZETTI (1797–1848)
LA FAVORITE
Opera in four acts

Gaetano Donizetti's La Favorite was rather laborious in the making: it started out as a re-working of L'Ange de Nisida, to which the composer added parts taken from some of his other operas. Premiered at the Paris Opera, the work is set in 14th-century Castile and tells the story of the hapless love between Fernand, who has second thoughts about taking holy orders and leaves the monastery of Santiago de Compostela, and Léonor, the mistress of King Alphonse XI. It's an intimate drama, where history and politics are but the backdrop to the protagonists' passions and torments.

Fabio Luisi's conducting is both measured in balancing the orchestral sounds, personal, varied and vigorous. The orchestral sound is crystalclear, with its perfectly judged accompaniment to the voices neatly delivered.

Libretto by Alphonse Royer, Gustave Vaëz & Eugène Scribe
Conductor: Fabio Luisi
Orchestra/Chorus: Orchestra and Chorus of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Chorus Master: Lorenzo Fratini
Director: Ariel Garcia-Valdès
Co-director: Derek Gimpel
Sets and Costumes Designer: Jean-Pierre Vergier
Light Designer: Dominique Borrini
Theater: Opera di Firenze – Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

CAST
Léonor de Guzman Veronica Simeoni
Fernand Celso Albelo
Alphonse XI Mattia Olivieri
Balthazar Ugo Guagliardo
Don Gaspar Manuel Amati
Inès Francesca Longari
Un Seigneur Leonardo Sgroi
Extras Paolo Arcangeli, Cristiano Colangelo, Domenico Nuovo

AVAILABLE ON CD-DVD-BLURAY VIDEO
Code 57822 (Blu-ray)
Code 37822 (2 DVDs)
Code CDS7822.02 (2 CDs)

OPERA / Sung in: Italian
SUBTITLES: Italian, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean

Video Format/ Aspect ratio: NTSC – 16:9
Audio Format: PCM STEREO 2.0 / DTS 5.1 HD Master Audio
Region code: 0 – All regions
Duration: 156 min.
Booklet: Italian, English

Produced by DYNAMIC SRL Italy
Worldwide distribution: NAXOS www.naxos.com