Cecilia Cara

Auch die zweite Staffel von Opera!, der neuen Opern-Serie von Decca und Deutsche Grammophon, steht wieder für herausragende digitale Gesamteinspielungen der beliebtesten Meisterwerke der Operngeschichte. Legendäre Sängerbesetzungen, große Dirigenten und ein konkurrenzlos günstiger Preis – das Paket, das die beiden großen Opernlabels mit Opera! schnüren, sollte geeignet sein, die Herzen der Fans von Bartoli, Domingo und Co. höher schlagen zu lassen. Zu den Höhepunkten der zweiten Staffel zählen unter anderem Richard Strauss’ Rosenkavalier in einer legendären Einspielung unter Herbert von Karajan, W. A. Mozarts Le nozze di Figaro mit Cecilia Bartoli als Cherubino sowie Donizettis Lucia di Lammermoor mit Cheryl Studer und Plácido Domingo als tragisches Liebespaar.
“Characterful and musically imaginative” The Penguin Guide

A surprising fact from the musicological realm is that Haydn wrote about the same number of operas as Mozart–though it's true that some of them were written for the marionette theater at Esterhaza, rather than the opera house. In other words, old "Gius[eppe] Haydn"–as the title page of this opera refers to him–was a master. Better known to some by its alternate title, L'anima del filosofo, Haydn's Orfeo ed Euridice was written in 1791 for the King's Theater, Haymarket, during the composer's first English sojourn, but went unperformed there or anywhere else until 1950. The libretto, by Carlo Francesco Badini, is based on Ovid's Metamorphoses, with its decidedly unhappy ending to the story (Euridice dies a second time, Orpheus is poisoned, and the Bacchantes perish in a storm).

In ‘Contrabandista’, Javier Camarena delves deep into the life and music of legendary Spanish tenor Manuel García. This collection features works by Manuel García, including three world premiere recordings, alongside favourites by Rossini and Zingarelli. Javier Camarena is joined by Cecilia Bartoli, his mentor for this album, in a stunning duet from Rossini’s Armida. The release of this album ties into Cecilia Bartoli’s 2018 ‘30 Years on Decca’ celebrations.

On this 3-CD album Claudio Abbado brings to Figaro, Mozart's "sublime mixture of wit and melancholy" (Stendhal), "a keen sense of rhythm and texture and a very keen ear for orchestral detail" (Gramophone), with Cecilia Bartoli "ideally cast", an "enchanting" Sylvia McNair, and Cheryl Studer giving a "totally radiant performance"(The Penguin Guide).

"Barenboim continues to favour a forceful, big-scale reading with often deliberate speeds for the slower numbers, a musically accomplished, thought-through account of the crucial finales to Acts 2 and 4, lively treatment of the recitative, finely-honed playing of the wind, alert rhythms and an avoidance for the most part of appoggiaturas…John Tomlinson is much better suited by Figaro than he was by Alfonso, but still wants in tonal focus…but he does at all times create a lively personality, a force to be reckoned with…" (Gramophone)

This is a collection of bits and pieces of operas and songs that have previously been recorded, so if a new release of favorite arias is expected this is not the set. Having said that, there are few 'Collections' of excerpts form as luminous as gathering of contemporary singers as this delightful, very pleasing sampling. Some of the works have been taken form other CD recitals and some have been lifted from opera recordings, but that is of little concern when the listener wants to simply sit back and enjoy the little jewels of favorites offered here by the Divos Juan Diego Flórez, Plácido Domingo, Bryn Terfel (who steps off the opera stage onto the musical theater stage), Jonas Kaufmann, José Carreras, Joseph Calleja, Erwin Schrott, and Roberto Alanga. 'Morgenlich Leuchtend' from Meistersinger as sung by Jonas Kaufmann alone is worth the first disc!