A Night at the Opera

Product DescriptionA dazzling and witty concert of music with the world's greatest trumpeter, Hakan Hardenberger, the sensational virtuoso trombonist Christian Lindberg and pianist Love Derwinger playing transcribed instrumental versions of opera favorites. The musicians have themselves made some of the transcriptions; the program also includes two pieces from Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" and Liszt's "Sonetto 104 del Petrarca," originally written as a song for a tenor voice and played here as a piano solo. The musicians' brilliant playing and sense of fun make this a unique musical event. Set list: Overture fromThe Force of Destiny (Verdi), Variations on a Theme fromNorma (Bellini/Arban), Suite fromRomeo and Juliet (Prokofiev), Papageno...Papagena fromThe Magic Flute (Mozart), Suite fromCarmen (Bizet), Sonnet 104: Petrarch (Liszt), Duet for Two Cats (Rossini), Song Without Words (Di Lasso), Overture fromThe Barber of Seville (Rossini). 54 minutes.Amazon.comOn the back of this package, Håkan Hardenberger is described as "the world's greatest trumpeter," a claim that his performance does a lot to justify. Christian Lindberg gets a slightly more modest description as a "sensational virtuoso trombonist," and has no trouble living up to it. The "Night at the Opera" in the title turns out to be a concert at the Royal Academy of Arts in London devoted to transcriptions for trumpet, trombone, and piano, mostly from opera but also including a bit of ballet (a suite from Prokofiev'sRomeo and Juliet), a transcription from Orlando di Lasso, who lived before opera was invented, Rossini's hilarious "Duet for Two Cats," and (on piano) Liszt's tribute to a sonnet of Petrarch.Operatic material includes the overtures to Verdi's La Forza del Destino and Rossini's The Barber of Seville, a suite from Carmen, a brilliant transcription of the "Papageno... Papagena" duet from The Magic Flute, and a set of variations on a theme from Bellini's Norma. The performances are phenomenal, the musical material instantly and deeply appealing. The music would be enjoyable (and cheaper) in a CD without the video element, but the visuals add significantly to the value of this production. Brass players will be interested in seeing how these experts handle their instruments; others will pick up a sense of atmosphere from the striking surroundings, with paintings in the background and a highly reactive audience. --Joe McLellan

A Night at the Opera