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Marin Alsop, London Symphony Orchestra - Bernstein: Candide (2021) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Marin Alsop, London Symphony Orchestra, Leonardo Capalbo, Jane Archibald, Anne Sofie von Otter & Sir Thomas Allen - Bernstein: Candide (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Front Cover | Time - 116:43 minutes | 1,8 GB
Classical, Opera | Label: LSO Live, Official Digital Download

Marin Alsop leads the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a new recording of Bernstein's riotous satirical operetta, Candide. Made almost three decades after the composer's own iconic recording with the Orchestra, Alsop's new version was captured during celebratory concerts marking Bernstein's centenary year, and features an outstanding array of soloists, including Leonardo Capalbo (Candide), Jane Archibald (Cun gonde), Anne Sofie von Otter (The Old Lady) and Sir Thomas Allen (Dr Pangloss, Narrator).
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis - Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, Sea Pictures (2014) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis - Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, Sea Pictures (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time - 124:18 minutes | 1.42 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Digital booklet

The peerless Elgarian Sir Andrew Davis conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in this new recording of Elgars choral masterpiece, The Dream of Gerontius, recognized today by many as the greatest choral work by any English composer. Joining conductor and orchestra are star soloists Stuart Skelton, David Soar and Sarah Connolly, who also sings here in the Elgar song cycle Sea Pictures.
BBC Symphony Chorus & Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis - Edward Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius; Sea Pictures (2014) 2CDs

Edward Elgar - The Dream of Gerontius; Sea Pictures (2014) 2 CDs
Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano; Stuart Skelton, tenor; David Soar, bass
BBC Symphony Chorus & Orchestra, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 498 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 296 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical, Choral | Label: Chandos | # CHSA 5140(2) | Time: 02:04:44

Chandos Records is delighted to present this new recording of Elgar’s choral masterpiece The Dream of Gerontius and the enduringly popular song cycle Sea Pictures. The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus are conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, a peerless Elgarian who this year was awarded the prestigious Elgar Society Medal in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the composer’s music. In Gerontius the soloists are Stuart Skelton, David Soar and Sarah Connolly, who also sings in Sea Pictures. This recording was made in the days leading up to their triumphant live performance of Gerontius in April of this year in which Skelton was praised as ‘the ideal tenor for the role of Gerontius’, Soar described as ‘an implacable, dark sounding Priest’ and Connolly, ‘a consummately polished Angel’ (The Guardian).
Maria Callas, Nicola Rescigno, Orchestra of the American Opera Society - Vincenzo Bellini: Il Pirata (1997)

Maria Callas, Nicola Rescigno, Orchestra of the American Opera Society, Concertgebouw Orchestra - Vincenzo Bellini: Il Pirata (1997)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 358 Mb | Total time: 66:29+67:52 | Scans included
Classical | Label: EMI Classics | # 5 66432 2 | Recorded: 1959

The titular character of Bellini’s Il pirata is the tenor, Gualtiero, but it is the soprano, Imogene, who leaves the most powerful impression, thanks above all to her lengthy and dramatic closing scena. Il pirata had fallen into obscurity before it was revived for Callas at La Scala in May 1958. She went on to make a studio recording of the final scene a few months later and early in 1959 starred in this concert performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Collaborating with one of her favourite conductors, Nicola Rescigno, she electrified the audience with singing of inimitable poetry and theatrical power.
Georg Solti, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus - Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust (2006/1989)

Georg Solti, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus - Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust (2006/1989)
NTSC 4:3 (720x480) | Français | LinearPCM, 2 ch | 7.19 Gb (DVD9) | 134 min
Classical | Arthaus Musik | Sub.: Deutsch, English, Español, Francais

This live recording was made at the Royal Albert Hall during one of London’s famous Promenade Concert seasons. Sir Georg Solti conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a magnifi cent performance of Berlioz’s concert cantata La Damnation de Faust. This feast of Berlioz launched Solti’s farewell tour with the orchestra he had directed for twenty years and was described by The Times as “the unsurpassable culmination of two decades of music-making…one that summarised all that has been most admirable about Solti’s long reign in Chicago.”
Valery Gergiev, Mariinsky Orchestra and Chorus - Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tale of Tsar Saltan (2017)

Valery Gergiev, Mariinsky Orchestra and Chorus - Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tale of Tsar Saltan (2017)
NTSC 16:9 (720x480) | Russian (LinearPCM, 2 ch) | 150 min | 7,61 Gb (DVD9)
Classical | Label: Mariinsky | Sub: Russian, English, Francais, Deutsch, Japanese, Espanol | Recorded: 2015

Originally composed to celebrate Pushkin’s centenary, the full title of the work - The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of His Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich, and of the Beautiful Princess-Swan - is indicative of the fantastical content of the opera. It is an old-fashioned Russian treat for the eyes and the ears from the country’s most long-standing musical institution. Filled with colourful music that is typical of Rimsky-Korsakov’s style, it is the origin of the instantly recognisable Flight of the Bumblebee, which arrives when the magic Swan-Princess changes Prince Gvidon Saltanovich into an insect.
Diana Damrau, Antonio Pappano, St. Cecilia Academy Orchestra - Gaetano Donizetti: Tudor Queens (2020)

Diana Damrau, Antonio Pappano, St. Cecilia Academy Orchestra - Gaetano Donizetti: Tudor Queens (2020)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 239 Mb | Total time: 69:28 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Erato | # 9029528093 | Recorded: 2019

Soprano Diana Damrau assumes the crowns of three different Tudor queens, the central characters in operas by Donizetti: Anne Boleyn (Anna Bolena), Mary, Queen of Scots (Maria Stuarda), and Elizabeth I (Roberto Devereux). With Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra and Chorus of Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, she performs the substantial and climactic final scene of each work. When Damrau sang Maria Stuarda at the Zurich Opera, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung wrote: “She commands a voice that seems to have no limits. Her coloratura is stunning, her vocal range impressive, and her dynamic shadings are breath-taking. Damrau is in a class of her own.”
Raymond Leppard, English Chamber Orchestra - Handel Edition Vol. 4: Messiah; Samson; Arias [6CDs] (2008)

Raymond Leppard, English Chamber Orchestra - Handel Edition Vol. 4: Messiah; Samson; Arias from Rinaldo and other operas (2008)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 2.06 Gb | Total time: 7h 30'33'' | Scans included
Classical | Label: Warner Classics | 2564 69568-6 | Recorded: 1974, 1978, 1982, 1994

The performance here of Samson is definitive. It is lively, colourful and highly dramatic. There is no comparison with the tedious performance by the Sixteen on Coro. The performance of the Messiah with limited modern instrumental forces of the English Chamber Orchestra and Chorus with very good soloists doesn't sacrifice grandeur nor does it go to the other extreme of over-blown pomp. It is a very good performamce on modern instruments under the direction of the Baroque music specialist conductor Raymond Leppard.
Yan Pascal Tortelier, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra - Lili Boulanger: Faust Et Helene, etc (1999)

Lili Boulanger: Faust Et Hélène; Psaume 24;
Psaume 130; D'un soir triste; D'un matin de printemps
Lynne Dawson, soprano; Ann Murray, mezzo-soprano;
Bonaventura Bottone, tenor; Neil MacKenzie, tenor; Jason Howard, bass
City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus; BBC Philharmonic; Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 320 Mb | Scans included | Time: 01:13:25
Genre: Classical, Vocal, Choral | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 9745

Lili Boulanger's setting of the 130th Psalm is a choral masterpiece. Tortelier and his forces deliver a vivid performance, recorded with tremendous presence. There is even more power in the old Markevich performance, done under Nadia Boulanger's supervision, but the superior Chandos recording makes a difference. Faust et Hélène is a somewhat immature student work (a strange qualification for music by a composer who died at 24), but it is also well performed. The remaining music represents Boulanger's visionary eloquence. This disc is highly recommended as an introduction to a great composer. After you hear it, try the Everest disc, despite the duplications. It contains Boulanger's deathbed Pie Jesu, a brief piece of such intense power that it will leave most listeners in tears.
Vladimir Jurowski, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus - Joseph Haydn: The Seven Last Words (2011)

Vladimir Jurowski, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus - Joseph Haydn: The Seven Last Words (2011)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 243 Mb | Total time: 64:51 | Scans included
Classical | Label: LPO | # LPO-0051 | Recorded: 2009

Most often performed in an arrangement for string quartet, this recording of Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of our Saviour on the Cross is a unique proposition – offering Haydn’s original instrumental meditations alongside their choral counterparts.