Cappuccilli

This is a deluxe box set including: Each individual item (complete opera or recital CD) presented in its original artwork, 136 pages hard-back book containing essays, a biography and chronology, rarely-seen photos and also reproductions of revealing correspondence between Maria Callas, Walter Legge and other EMI executives.

Betrayal and forgiveness are the themes of this complex opera: Amelia's betrayal of her husband, Renato (she is having an affair with Riccardo. governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony), and the betrayal and assassination of Riccardo by a group of conspirators. The libretto is better integrated than most of Verdi's operas written before Otello and Falstaff. It was originally about an historic incident, the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden, but Roman censors, nervous about royal assassinations, forced the absurd relocation of the opera to colonial Boston. The music is prime middle-period Verdi, less spectacular than Il Trovatore, Rigoletto or La Forza del Destino, but it is warmly, richly expressive.

It's pretty simple-this boxed set contains EVERYTHING La Divina recorded in the studio, including newly-licensed and newly-remastered material! That's the first 69 CDs; the 70th CD is a CD-ROM containing the tracklists and photos. And the set comes inside a hardcover slipcase containing a color booklet packed with even more photos of this most photogenic of opera singers. As for the contents, well, again, it's EVERYTHING she did in the studio.

Don Giovanni’s special amalgam of dark drama and sparkling comedy is captured with startling immediacy by Carlo Maria Giulini. The Viennese baritone Eberhard Wächter faces a particularly formidable pair of noble ladies: Donna Anna in the form of Joan Sutherland (in one of her rare recordings for a label other than Decca) and the Donna Elvira of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.

Renata Scotto (born 24 February 1934) is an Italian soprano and opera director.
Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi repertoires.
Since retiring from the stage as a singer in 2002, she has turned successfully to directing opera as well as teaching in Italy and America, along with academic posts at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Juilliard School in New York.

Verdi: Aida - Abbado - 1972 (Live Recording)
EAC Rip | APE CUE LOG | 660 MB | BOOK COVER
Classical | 2 CD | Label: Opera D'oro | Release Date: 1998 | RAR 1% Rec. | RS.com

What a wonderful surprise! Even fans of Placido Domingo, who has recorded the role of Radames four times commercially will be amazed by his fresh voice and complete involvement, under Claudio Abbado's thoroughly engrossing leadership in this live 1972 performance, in very good sound. Martina Arroyo was an underrated Aida, and Fiorenza Cossotto spews rage as the jealous Amneris. Piero Cappuccilli gives us an Amonasro to fear and respect, and Nicolai Ghiaurov, is, as always, the perfect low voice in the ensembles. The La Scala forces are terrific. Dare I say it? This is the best-performed Aida.

Between 1960 and 1981, the music label Deutsche Grammophon recorded the eight greatest operas (plus the Requiem) composed by Verdi at La Scala in Milan…

In the six years that had passed since 1953, and her first recording of Lucia di Lammermoor, Callas’s voice had maybe become less robust,but her singing had become still more perceptive. As Gramophone said: ‘Mme Callas has refined her interpretation of the role, and made it more exquisite, more fascinating,musically and dramatically more subtle – in a word, more beautiful.’