CD-Charts Position 1
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Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Fleming, Hvorostovsky, Vargas, Gergiev, Carsen [Metropolitan Opera 2007]

starring: Renee Fleming, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Ramon Vargas, Valery Gergiev, Elena Zaremba
directed by: Robert Carsen

Release Date February 04, 2008
It is hard to add much to what has already been written but after watching this dvd last night I felt that I had to say something. I was initially taken aback by the minmalist staging. I gradually got used to it but never really liked it. The singing was superb with not a weak performance anywhere and Horostovsky certainly had the arrogant presence but why he had to do a striptease I do not know as it seemed to add nothing to the plot. Does anyone know why Gergeiev played the polonaise at such an incredible pace, again I can't see how it helped the story. Having said all that it won't be long before I hire it again.

CD-Charts Position 2
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Robert Carsen - A Midsummer Night's Dream - Britten [2005]

directed by: Robert Carsen

Release Date January 09, 2006
It is hard to add much to what has already been written but after watching this dvd last night I felt that I had to say something. I was initially taken aback by the minmalist staging. I gradually got used to it but never really liked it. The singing was superb with not a weak performance anywhere and Horostovsky certainly had the arrogant presence but why he had to do a striptease I do not know as it seemed to add nothing to the plot. Does anyone know why Gergeiev played the polonaise at such an incredible pace, again I can't see how it helped the story. Having said all that it won't be long before I hire it again.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

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Dvorak: Rusalka -- Paris Opera/Conlon

starring: Renee Fleming, Eva Urbanova, Larissa Diadkova, Sergej Larin, Franz Hawlata
directed by: Robert Carsen

Release Date November 03, 2003
Musically this production is alright, but the production bears no relation to the opera of Dvorak. Anyone who wishes to see how it should be staged should watch either of the Czech productions, either the film which is a delight to the eye, or that staged in Prague opera house in 1998. The latter is excellent in every way, and has a very fine bass.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

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Poulenc - Dialogues Des Carmelites - Riccardo Muti/Teatro Alla Scala [2004]

directed by: Robert Carsen

Release Date July 30, 2007
There are two operas which always leave me in tears at the end: La Bohème and Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmèlites. And surely Dialogues has the most effective final coup de théâtre of any in the repertoire. I have never seen or heard a bad production of it. This DVD of the 2004 production from La Scala is no exception. It is simply magnificent. Begin with the performance by Anja Silja as the old and ailing Madame de Croissy, whose death in Act I sets the plot in motion. Silja was 64 when she sang in this production and her acting, as always, is riveting. Even the threadbare quality of her voice is apt for the dying prioress. She is surrounded by singers who are also marvelous. Although I'd only ever heard of one of them -- Dagmar Schellenberger making her ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

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Puccini: Manon Lescaut

starring: Miriam Gauci, Antonio Ordonez, Jan Danckaert, Flemish Opera Orchestra, Flemish Opera Chorus
directed by: Robert Carsen

Release Date October 01, 2001
Although this production is superb,it is marred by the poor sound quality.

Particularly note worthy is the performance of Miriam Gauci (Manon Lescaut) whose looks, acting and singing are all of the highest quality.

CD-Charts Position 6
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Mefistofele - Boito [1989]

starring: San Francisco Opera Orch And Chorus, Samuel Ramey, Dennis O'Neill, Gabriela Benackova, Maurizio Arena
directed by: Robert Carsen

Release Date June 30, 2003
to view this opera you need to be broadminded asthere is a lot of nudity but it is well the effort the music is beutiful and the acting and sing ing supper not to missed

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

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La Traviata - Giuseppe Verdi [Teatro La Fenice 2004]

starring: Patrizia Ciofi, Roberto Sacca, Dmitri Hvorostovsky
directed by: Robert Carsen

Release Date October 03, 2005
...Ciofi, Hvorostovsky, Sacca, and Maazel. Was it for productions such as this 'nightclub' TRAVIATA that La Fenice was rebuilt? I won't waste your time describing a 'modern-dress' production where more flesh than 'dress' is displayed (for the sleazy details, see the enthusiastic 5-star reviews on the US site). If you insist on a modern staging of this opera, get the elegant Salzburg DVD instead.

CD-Charts Position 8
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Verdi - Il Trovatore [2007]

directed by: Robert Carsen

Release Date August 14, 2007
Are European audiences so jaded by traditional productions of operas in the standard repertoire that they have to have more and more bizarre productions to satisfy them? Was the audience at the 2005 Bregenz Festival so ignorant of the plot of 'Il trovatore' that they applauded spectacular stage effects that completely ignored the narrative line of the opera? Whatever the case, this production by director Robert Carsen is a disaster. It is set on Bregenz's floating stage (in Lake Constance) with a huge multistory set designed to look like a petrochemical plant painted blood red (symbolic, eh?) and spouting fire frequently at every possible location on the set (something about petrochemicals and global warming?). Impressive though all this be visually -- and even ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

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Mefistofele [1989]

starring: San Francisco Opera Orch And Chorus, Samuel Ramey, Dennis O'Neill, Gabriela Benackova
directed by: Robert Carsen

Release Date February 12, 1996
Are European audiences so jaded by traditional productions of operas in the standard repertoire that they have to have more and more bizarre productions to satisfy them? Was the audience at the 2005 Bregenz Festival so ignorant of the plot of 'Il trovatore' that they applauded spectacular stage effects that completely ignored the narrative line of the opera? Whatever the case, this production by director Robert Carsen is a disaster. It is set on Bregenz's floating stage (in Lake Constance) with a huge multistory set designed to look like a petrochemical plant painted blood red (symbolic, eh?) and spouting fire frequently at every possible location on the set (something about petrochemicals and global warming?). Impressive though all this be visually -- and even ... Read More: