30. May 2005

Unitel produces again „Roberto Devereux“ – a joint project with Bavarian Radio and Bavarian State Opera

 

Unitel, TV-producer of countless operas and concerts, produces again. The firm of Jan Mojto records the opera Roberto Devereux by Gaetano Donizetti in Munich's National Theatre in a joint project with Bavarian Public Radio and Bavarian State Opera. The opera diva Edita Gruberova, a native of Slovakia, sings the leading part of Queen Elisabeth. She is the most prominent coloratura soprano of our times, celebrated worldwide as the „queen of belcanto“. The Italian Roberto Aronica sings the part of Roberto Devereux. The opera is conducted by Friedrich Haider and staged by Christof Loy. The TV-production, directed by Brian Large, will be recorded in High Definition (HD) and Dolby Surround System 5.1.

Edita Gruberova und Unitel have been working in a close cooperation for many years.
Humperdinck´s Haensel und Gretel, Mozart´s operas Cosi fan tutteDie Entfuehrung aus dem Serail und Die Zauberfloete, Verdi´s Rigoletto, as well as Arabella andAriadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, all of which starring Edita Gruberova, are being published in the next few months at Deutsche Grammophon. Next year Unitel proceeds with the star soprano series: the opera Norma by Vincenzo Bellini, for which Edita Gruberova gave a concert performance in Vienna last year, will also be recorded in Munich. Unitel also cooperated with Bavarian Public Radio and Bavarian State Opera repeatedly in the past years. The cooperation brought besides the above mentioned operas of Mozart´s, Entführung aus dem Serail and Die Zauberflöte, the legendary recordings with Carlos Kleiber conducting Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss and Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauß. 
Edita Gruberova: “In the course of my career I have often worked together with Unitel and Bavarian Public Radio. The results of this work have always been very good and so I really enjoy this new, or better said, newly arisen cooperation. There were regrettably few productions of great operas made for the screen in the last years. That is why I hope for, and I am looking forward to going on with this prolific cooperation and new projects in future.? Also Unitel's owner Jan Mojto welcomes the cooperation: „The possibility of engaging Edita Gruberova for the recording of Roberto Devereux and Norma is a stroke of luck. For Unitel it is a continuation of its tradition to record the creative highlights in the work of individual artists".
Since the 1960s according to the motto „music to watch“ Unitel, the firm established by Leo Kirch, has been producing operas, operettas, ballets and concerts starring top-ranking artists. The cornerstone of the incomparable film archive comprising up to 1000 titles was the close cooperation with Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein. 1978 Unitel made an exclusive contract with Bayreuth Festival. 2004 Jan Mojto took over the firm. The new start of the production activity of the firm also benefits the music channel Classica on Premiere, where classical music recordings can be seen and listened to all day through.