Cavalleria Rusticana

Following the phenomenal success of Cavalleria Rusticana (1889) operas flowed rapidly from Mascagni’s pen for about a decade: L’Amico Fritz (1891), I Rantzau (1892), Guglielmo Ratcliff (1895), Silvano (1895), Zanetto (1896), and Iris (1898). With the arrival of the 20th Century the pace began to slow down: Le Maschere (1901), Amica (1905), Isabeau (1911), Parisina (1913), Lodoletta (1917), Il Piccolo Marat (1921), Pinotta (1932) and finally Nerone (1935), largely a reworking of a much earlier piece. Mascagni himself was convinced that the public’s obstinacy in preferring Cavalleria Rusticana was an injustice. Criticism of the earlier works has tended to centre on clumsy libretti and patches of weaker inspiration, while real controversy has surrounded the later pieces. Here, we are told, Mascagni tried to dress up as a modern, flirting with dissonance and ungainly vocal declamation, at the expense of his natural melodic gifts.

Available for a limited time only, this specially priced 14-CD set is the first-ever complete collection of the complete RCA recordings of the spectacular tenor they called "The Swedish Caruso"! This handsomely put-together box boasts reproductions of the original LP sleeves and a comprehensive discography.

"The Austrian conductor Karl Böhm is one of the towering conductors of the 20th Century. As the embodiment of the long Austro-German musical tradition, he helped to write musical history. This 19-CD set assembles all the extant recordings he conducted for EMI (notably its German Electrola label) over the period 1935 to 1949 in Dresden, Berlin, Vienna and London includes a number of rarities and the world premiere release of a version of Mozart’s Serenata notturna recorded in Vienna in 1947. It was during these years that Böhm cemented his reputation as a major conductor of Austro-German repertoire. Collectors will also be pleased to know that this set contains all the recordings that featured in the now-iconic series of Dresden-themed LP boxes released by EMI to mark Böhm’s 85th birthday in 1979. "

The Sicilian-born tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano emerged in Switzerland after fleeing there when the Nazis took over Italy. There he made his first recordings after appearing on local radio in opera broadcasts. He made his operatic debut as Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon at Regio Emilia on 20 April 1946 after which his rise was rapid. He débuted at La Scala in the same role in March 1947 and as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera the following year with Leonard Warren in the title role. These were Di Stefano’s golden years, singing roles such as Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff, Almaviva in Il Barbiere de Siviglia, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’amore and Alfredo in La Traviata. His early 78rpm recordings from this period reveal a voice of great lyric beauty (CD 1 trs1-5) and when the repertoire was right and when he resisted putting pressure on his open-throated forward tone. His outgoing and exuberant, if insouciant, personality did not take restriction to heart. If he could sing a note or a phrase full out he did so and even on these early tracks in the revealing sound of CD one can detect a touch of dryness, even rawness, at the top of the voice although without detracting from the attraction of his pianissimo and mezza voce singing.

Robert J Farr, MusicWeb International

EMI's 50 Best Romantic Classics is loosely organized by regions, with the first disc devoted to French music, the second to Scandinavian and Eastern European classics, and the third to music from Italy and Spain. This arrangement is quite practical for beginners, who may appreciate the music's recognizable national styles before grasping more historical or theoretical aspects. Yet some understanding is needed of the term romantic, for not all of the music included in this collection fits within the Romantic era (roughly, the 19th century, with some overlapping of the early years of the 20th).

All the best of classical music included in this collection is based on the survey of more than 70,000 musicians that are directly related to the classics!