Carmen Merae

The album "Complete Carmen McRae Masters 1946-1957" is a comprehensive collection that features the early works of jazz vocalist Carmen McRae, spanning from her first recordings in 1946 through to 1957. This compilation is significant because it showcases McRae's development as a jazz artist, including her work with various ensembles and her solo performances. The tracks reflect a range of styles from bebop to traditional pop, highlighting her versatility and vocal prowess. Carmen McRae is known for her distinctive phrasing and expressive voice, and this collection includes some of her most influential recordings that contributed to her reputation as one of the leading jazz vocalists of her time. The album likely includes classic tracks and lesser-known gems, providing a thorough overview of her early career.

The album "Complete Carmen McRae Masters 1946-1957" is a comprehensive collection that features the early works of jazz vocalist Carmen McRae, spanning from her first recordings in 1946 through to 1957. This compilation is significant because it showcases McRae's development as a jazz artist, including her work with various ensembles and her solo performances. The tracks reflect a range of styles from bebop to traditional pop, highlighting her versatility and vocal prowess. Carmen McRae is known for her distinctive phrasing and expressive voice, and this collection includes some of her most influential recordings that contributed to her reputation as one of the leading jazz vocalists of her time. The album likely includes classic tracks and lesser-known gems, providing a thorough overview of her early career.

‘Callas is Carmen’ proclaimed the publicity when this recording first appeared on LP in elaborate red and gold faux- leather luxury packaging with three separate booklets. It was a major coup for the record company to get Callas to record this most intriguing of all operatic roles, and its release was eagerly awaited…

André Cluytens (pronounced clue-ton) was a Belgian-born conductor who rose from leading a theater orchestra to become one of the more important orchestra leaders in Europe during the 1950s and 1960s, with equally enduring contributions in both the concert hall and the opera house. Born in Antwerp in 1905, he trained as a pianist at the Royal Flemish Conservatory and in his teens served as assistant to his father, the conductor at the Royal Theater in Antwerp.

Newly remastered at Emil Berliner Studios. Abbado’s years with the London Symphony Orchestra resulted in three celebrated sets with the Spanish mezzo Teresa Berganza in central roles – and few could be more “central” than Bizet’s Carmen. Made in 1977, the recording followed staged performances directed by Piero Fagioni at the Edinburgh Festival. Berganza had studied the Carmen story, immersed herself in the opera’s background and delivered a characterization that emphasized the gipsy’s nobility, while Abbado’s conducting was both dramatic and vividly coloured.

André Cluytens (French pronunciation: ​[ɑ̃dʁe klɥitɛ̃s], Dutch pronunciation: [ɑn'dreː 'klœytəns]; born Augustin Zulma Alphonse Cluytens; 26 March 1905 – 3 June 1967) was a Belgian-born French conductor who was active in the concert hall, opera house and recording studio.

Régine Crespin Notwithstanding her great success in the German repertory, Régine Crespin was quintessentially a French artist. With an unmistakable sensuality betraying her origins in Mediterranean France, she was guided by an unfailing sense of elegance. Whether as Kundry, the Marschallin, Carmen, Didon, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, or Sieglinde, her large, lush voice was deployed with refined abandon. Her top register, powerful and soaring when it was working as the singer wished, sometimes emerged congested, as tones that began as clarion would cloud over and lose their cutting edge. As it became increasingly problematic, Crespin looked toward roles only equivocally soprano, where she could rely on the luxurious amplitude of her middle and lower registers. Her Carmen, presented at the Metropolitan Opera in 1975 after a period of vocal restudy and a loss of weight, was distinctive for its subtle danger and meticulous delivery of text and vocal line. Following studies at the Paris Conservatoire with Georges Jouatte and celebrated bass Paul Cabanel, Crespin made her debut in 1950 singing Elsa at Mulhouse. In August of that same year, she appeared for the first time at the Paris Opéra, the role once again being Elsa.

The British conductor Sir Thomas Beecham was renowned for his interpretations of French repertoire. This Carmen was recorded in France with a Spanish singer – Victoria de los Angeles – as Bizet’s gypsy; she exudes both charm and seduction.

Digital premiere (in its complete version) of this underrated version of Carmen. It features a splendid vocal cast with Jennifer Larmore as the title character, an irresistible Samuel Ramey (who was a specialist of the role he sung dozens of times on stage all over the world) as Escamillo, and one of the most convincing Micaëlas of the discography by Angela Gheorghiu, in her first studio recording.