Bizet‘aufond Dutemple Saint’ From Thepearl Fishers Jussi Björling,

Surely Björling was one of the greatest tenors of his or any other time, not only for the clarion ring, the purity, and the melting lyricism of his voice, but for his effortless lightness, impeccable intonation, endless breath control, and natural phrasing and line, enhanced by old-fashioned but wonderfully expressive scoops and slides. On this generous two-disc set, he is heard in a huge selection of arias and some duets with distinguished colleagues; most of them were recorded separately, and a few are excerpted from complete opera recordings–unfortunately not very skillfully, stopping abruptly in mid-phrase if not mid-note.

This 5 CD set covers the best of Björling’s EMI solo recordings and includes highlights from three complete operas…

Jussi Björling was one of the strongest and steeliest lyric tenors of the 20th century, as famous for his Rodolfo in La Boheme as he was for his Calaf in Turandot. This superbly engineered survey of his early career takes us from 1936 to 1948, and covers, for the most part, his standard repertoire of French and Italian music–extracts from Aida and from Faust, and from both Massenet's Manon and Puccini's Manon Lescaut. He was a singer equally at home with the elegances of bel canto and with the passionate sorrows of verismo–he is particularly fine in "Vesti la guibbia" from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci… –Roz Kaveney

This Swedish opera star's flair for dramatic roles (not to mention his distinctively beautiful voice) made him one of the most in-demand tenors in the world. This set collects the best of Bjorling's EMI solo recordings plus highlights from the three complete operas he recorded for his longtime label. He sings La Donna E Mobile Verdi; E Lucevan Le Stelle Puccini; Cielo E Mar Ponchielli; Mi Batte Il Cor O Paradiso Meyerbeer; Instant Charmant En Ferment Les Yeux Massenet, plus Borodin, Gounod, Sibelius and more!

On October 6, 1953, RCA held experimental stereophonic sessions in New York's Manhattan Center with Leopold Stokowski conducting a group of New York musicians in performances of Enesco's Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1 and the waltz from Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin. There were additional stereo tests in December, again in the Manhattan Center, this time with Pierre Monteux conducting members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In February 1954, RCA made its first commercial stereophonic recordings, taping the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Charles Münch, in a performance of The Damnation of Faust by Hector Berlioz.

These CDs have been issued by Decca in their "Legendary Performances" series; the recording was originally issued on the Ace of Diamonds label in 1960. Fritz Reiner belonged to that era of revered authoritarian conductors (including Toscanini, Klemperer and Beecham) who dominated the pre-Second World War orchestral scene. His reputation was achieved very largely through his interpretations of Wagner opera in America and Europe and his orchestral directorships in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Chicago. This recording of the Verdi Requiem came towards the very end of his conducting career and only 3 years before his death.

Imagine that ten of the world's most well-known highly regarded filmmakers were given a free hand to make real any vision. Aria is that history-making film. Sexy, violent, thought-provoking and funny, here is the movie critics raved about, audiences flocked to see, and no one could stop talking about. Includes Bridget Fonda's electrifying film debut, a revealing and breathtaking performance from Elizabeth Hurley, and Theresa Russell as the trigger-happy King Zog of Albania.