Tito Peak

Callas’s first stage appearances in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera came at La Scala in 1957, a year in which Milan also saw her in La sonnambula and Anna Bolena. As in this recording, made the year before, she shared Verdi’s most spectacular soprano-tenor duet (in Act II) with Giuseppe di Stefano. This was the last time Callas and Di Stefano appeared together in opera, though they reunited in the 1970s to direct I vespri siciliani in Turin and to give a series of joint concerts in Europe, the USA, Canada,South Korea and Japan. Gramophone judged this recording of Ballo to be ‘one of Callas’s most compelling assumptions’.

Callas’s first stage appearances in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera came at La Scala in 1957, a year in which Milan also saw her in La sonnambula and Anna Bolena. As in this recording, made the year before, she shared Verdi’s most spectacular soprano-tenor duet (in Act II) with Giuseppe di Stefano. This was the last time Callas and Di Stefano appeared together in opera, though they reunited in the 1970s to direct I vespri siciliani in Turin and to give a series of joint concerts in Europe, the USA, Canada,South Korea and Japan. Gramophone judged this recording of Ballo to be ‘one of Callas’s most compelling assumptions’.

This Lucia di Lammermoor was the first complete recording that Callas made under the aegis of Walter Legge for EMI/Columbia - and also her first recording with Giuseppe di Stefano, Tito Gobbi and her mentor Tullio Serafin. She had made her role debut as Lucia the previous year, bringing tragic stature to the archetypal fragile bel canto heroine. Gramophone described her recorded performance as'certainly some of the finest singing of our time'.

Tosca was the role in which – in 1965, the year this recording was made – Callas gave her last complete performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera and the Paris Opéra. This was her final complete recording of an opera, and, 12 years after her first version of Tosca, it reunited her with the Scarpia of Tito Gobbi. They were joined by Carlo Bergonzi as Cavaradossi. Gramophone praised ‘a thrilling and very complete interpretation, with scene after scene, bar after bar, brought to life by sheer intelligence and dramatic insight’.

Your perfect vintage soundtrack for hot summer days and nights! 1-CD with 20-page booklet, 31 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min. • Summer! Heat! Swimming! Nature! Beach parties … and music!!! • This edition mercilessly continues what was started in the predecessors, 'Banana Split' (BCD17513), 'Another Banana Split, Please' (BCD17601) and 'Good Old Summertime' (BCD17528) by Bear Family. • On 31 tracks from 1952-1963, the most beautiful season of the year comes extremely alive, whether as a 'soundtrack' in the car or as a musical enhancement of the garden party! • You’ll hear classics of famous artists, for example songs by Keely Smith, Dinah Washington, Conway Twitty, The Brothers Four or Hank Snow! • On the other hand, we present plenty of recordings from the rarities box, some appear here for the first time on CD! • Instrumentals by the Viscounts or by Tito Puente with a summery Latin flair can be heard as well as early surf sounds by Dave York & The Beachcombers or The Fleetwoods! • The musical range is wide: from pop to jazz, rhythm 'n' blues, doo-wop, country music and lots of rock 'n' roll, with Ricky Dean, Johnny O'Neill, Sammy Salvo, Paul Peek and many others!

In the eighteenth century it was common practice to hear excerpts from the public’s favourite operas and ballets, their most loved arias performed in transcriptions usually for wind sextet, or sometimes a wind octet, both occassionally with an additional bass instrument. This Harmoniemusik was all the rage in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, most intensely from 1780s - 1820s, particularly in Vienna but also in Prague and Budapest. Mozart himself, in a letter to his father, mentioned hearing such a group playing on the street from his window and expressed his joy at hearing his own music in this smaller ensemble setting.

Your perfect vintage soundtrack for hot summer days and nights! 1-CD with 20-page booklet, 31 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min. • Summer! Heat! Swimming! Nature! Beach parties … and music!!! • This edition mercilessly continues what was started in the predecessors, 'Banana Split' (BCD17513), 'Another Banana Split, Please' (BCD17601) and 'Good Old Summertime' (BCD17528) by Bear Family. • On 31 tracks from 1952-1963, the most beautiful season of the year comes extremely alive, whether as a 'soundtrack' in the car or as a musical enhancement of the garden party! • You’ll hear classics of famous artists, for example songs by Keely Smith, Dinah Washington, Conway Twitty, The Brothers Four or Hank Snow! • On the other hand, we present plenty of recordings from the rarities box, some appear here for the first time on CD! • Instrumentals by the Viscounts or by Tito Puente with a summery Latin flair can be heard as well as early surf sounds by Dave York & The Beachcombers or The Fleetwoods! • The musical range is wide: from pop to jazz, rhythm 'n' blues, doo-wop, country music and lots of rock 'n' roll, with Ricky Dean, Johnny O'Neill, Sammy Salvo, Paul Peek and many others!

A rare double album from the quality series Proper-RETRO with 40 authentic recordings of Cuban Mambo hits. Tito Puente, Perez Prado, Xavier Cugat, Celia Cruz, Orquestra Aragon and other latin jazz legends, play their timeless hits. Full artwork and booklet inclosed. Enjoy a collector's gem in lossless.

This Tosca, made in 1953 with the forces of La Scala, is a landmark in recording history.Conducted with searing intensity by Victor de Sabata, it teams Callas with two of her closest colleagues, the tenor Giuseppe di Stefano and the baritone Tito Gobbi - a performer who could rival Callas in dramatic finesse and power. Tosca's aria 'Vissi d'arte' (I lived for art) has come to be seen as Callas's personal manifesto.