Ricardo Muti

Performed to coincide with Mozart's bicentenary celebrations, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, with conductor Ricardo Muti, performs Symphonies 40 and 41 and the Divertimento in D major, K136.
There aren't any surprises or spectacular splendors as such, and anyway Mozart doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve in his symphonies in the way he does in his more intimate and elusive piano concertos. That said, both the music and the performances here are of the highest quality. In addition, there's a very attractive early Divertimento, K.136, for strings only, played here as a curtain-raiser.

Decca proudly presents the Complete Works by Giuseppe Verdi in a single 75 CD box set. From the ever-popular “Aida” to the obscure “Alzira,” all 28 of Giuseppe Verdi's operas are here as well as his Sacred Works, Arias, Songs, Ballet Music, the String quartet and other rarities.

Andrea Rost gained recognition in the 1990s as one of the world's leading new lyric sopranos. Her family was not especially musical, but, she says, she was always singing. She copied what she heard on the radio and joined the school chorus. She was 16 when she first attended the opera, at the Budapest Opera House. The fare was Donizetti's Don Pasquale. She was entranced by the blend of music, story, and dramatic staging and said, "Oh my God, I have to do this." She studied voice, then entered the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. Her teacher was Professor Zsolt Bende.