This SIX CD collection of 101 favorite tracks is the perfect introduction to the world of opera, including the worlds most famous and popular tenor and soprano arias, duets and choruses. With a running time of over 7 hours of music this box set provides excellent value for money. This delightful collection includes everyones favorite opera highlights, from the lyricism of Puccinis Nessun dorma! and O mio babbino caro, to the power and might of Verdis Anvil Chorus and Wagners Ride of the Valkyries. Features some of the greatest opera singers of the last 50 years, including Luciano Pavarotti, Dame Joan Sutherland, Jussi Bjorling, Kiri Te Kanawa, Placido Domingo and Renata Tebaldi.
Decca, the opera company, presents a premium collection of the 100 most beautiful Opera tracks on 6 CDs. Enjoy classic arias and overtures, performed by the greatest opera stars of all time. Artists include Pavarotti, Bartoli, Fischer-Dieskau, Tebaldi, Calleja, Sutherland, Bergonzi, Ghiaurov, Freni, Nilsson, del Monaco, Domingo, Horne, Te Kanawa, Solti, von Karajan, Terfel, Price, Caballe, Kaufmann, Gheorghiu and more.
The most comprehensive edition devoted to Gioachino Rossini marking his 150th anniversary.
Born in 1792, Rossini was the most popular opera composer of his time. Although he retired from the Opera scene in 1829, he continued to compose in other genres, including sacred music, piano and chamber works. He did gather his late works under the ironic title Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age), which veils a true collection of masterworks.
In this very appealing perfomance, Roberta Ivernizzi is in lovely form as Statira, shaping her music with with expressive detail and Dionisia di Vico brings a clarion mezzo with pungent low notes to Cloridaspe's music…Antonio Florio leads the able period-instrument ensemble Capella de'Turchini with style and verve.
This marks the final offering from Opera Rara's laudable restoration of BBC broadcasts from the 1970s and '80s of Verdi's first thoughts on specific operas, and it is quite up to the standard of the series. It differs only in being given without an audience, and was broadcast two years after the recording.
Giuseppe Verdi may have written his most glamorous and heroic roles for tenors, but he often assigned his more psychologically complex and conflicted character portrayals to baritones- and Rigoletto is just such a role: perhaps the greatest baritone role ever written. It demands not only a magnificent voice, but also a supremely gifted actor who is able to convey a broad range of emotions, human qualities, and inner subtleties. Enter universally beloved Dmitri Hvorostovsky: a prolific Delos artist and supreme Verdi baritone. The resplendent beauty and incomparable versatility of his voice is matched only by the depth of his interpretive soul. In this- Dmitri’s first ever (and long-awaited) complete recording of Rigoletto- he performs the title role magnificently, along with an all-star supporting cast. Choral-orchestral splendor comes courtesy of renowned maestro Constantine Orbelian, his Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, and the men of the Kaunas State Choir.
EMI's generous compilation of 100 tracks from its archive of recordings by Maria Callas makes a fine introduction to her legacy. Callas' voice isn't consistent throughout, but when she's at her best, it's easy to hear the musical and dramatic power that made her the most legendary opera singer of the 20th century. She is impressive often enough that it's not hard to forgive the performances that are less than stellar. The six-disc collection is intelligently organized, with each disc dedicated to a particular composer (or several composers) or a theme: Bellini; Donizetti and Rossini; Verdi; Puccini; French operatic heroines; and dramatic heroines.
Rafael Kubelik truly remains a conductor for the here and now, with his classic recordings of Beethoven, Dvorak, Mahler, Janáček, Orff and Smetana cycles setting the gold standard. His approach to phrasing and keen attention to orchestral inner frameworks left no musical stone unturned. Kubelík is the last of the great conductors from Deutsche Grammophon's early stereo age to receive the "Complete Edition" treatment. This 64CD + 2DVD box set gathers the entirety of Kubelík's recordings for the Yellow label which are united for the first time in one package. All of the albums are presented with their original cover.