Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles (2 CD + DVD) [Blu-ray]

In purgatory, the Ghosts of Versailles are waiting impatiently for Beaumarchais’ new play: what if he manages to save Marie Antoinette from the scaffold? Here is Count Almaviva, the famous Figaro, but also Rosina and Cherubino, plunged into a thousand twists and turns to make the famous Queen’s Necklace disappear, thwarting the spies of the Revolution. But the situation escapes its creator, and Beaumarchais must himself become involved in the trial of the Queen – with whom he is in love? With assumed brio, Corigliano’s music navigates between Mozart and Rossini, and takes the audience into an unexpected opera, all the characetrs of which are familiar to us! The Ghosts of Versailles are indeed there, and will fulfil their destiny once again... This unique opera, triumphantly premiered in 1991 at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, was predestined for the stage of the Royal Opera of Versailles, for which no doubt Beaumarchais had written this story which goes back in time... Two hundred and fifty years after her marriage in this mythical theatre, will Marie-Antoinette be able to escape her destiny there?

You cannot but admire the commitment that Joseph Colaneri and the musicians of the Orchestra de l’Opéra Royal bring to a score that looks as much backwards as forwards.- BBC Music Magazine August 2021

Colaneri’s conducting deserves much of the credit, pointing up the most disruptive harmonies while giving the singers their head in the lyrical ensembles that come to dominate the piece. - Gramophone Magazine September 2021