Verdi Ernani

Between 1960 and 1981, the music label Deutsche Grammophon recorded the eight greatest operas composed by Verdi at La Scala in Milan, the home of Italian operas. World’s leading singers and conductors were involved in the recording. The result provides you with the best possible way to get familiar with Verdi’s operas....

Among the very many versions of "Rigoletto" recorded in the last 30 years, this one is very little known. However, it has a brilliant, extraordinary performance delivered by the great Lucia Popp and an outstanding, crispy execution by the Munich Radio Orchestra directed by Lamberto Gardelli...

Whether glowing with lyric charm or smouldering with dark and dangerous passion, Rolando Villazon proves irresistible in his vocal and dramatic intensity. From such popular favourites as Rigoletto and La traviata to the epic tragedy of Don Carlo and the soaring spirituality of the Requiem, he brings each of these glorious Verdi scenes and arias grippingly to life.

Following the spiritually flavored Sacred Arias, Andrea Bocelli presents an album of the music of Giuseppe Verdi, covering arias from several operas, leaning heavily on Il Trovatore, La Triviata, and Rigoletto. Supported by the Israel Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta, Bocelli reprises his role as the crossover-friendly opera tenor, offering his interpretations with capability and grace and warmly embracing the songs with his familiar voice…

2017 is the tenth anniversary of the passing of the 20th Century’s most famous tenor – Decca marks this occasion to marvel once again at the sheer quality of the voice of ‘The People’s Tenor’ with a 101-disc collection presenting every role he ever recorded and performed. Every role since his debut recording of La Boh?me in 1961 is included, allowing critics, collectors and opera lovers once more to appreciate his truly exceptional gifts. Every single opera is presented in the best possible audio quality, remastered at Abbey Road under the supervision of former Decca engineers.

Although Claudio Arrau had impressive credentials as a Liszt player - his only teacher was Martin Krause, who was a student of Liszt - and he performed many of the composer's works early in his career, he neither exploited this association, nor became known as a Liszt specialist. Perhaps this was because Krause warned him not to become a specialist in the music of any one composer, urging him instead to embrace all music. Consequently, the younger Arrau's repertoire was very large; however, as he grew older he concentrated on fewer composers, moving as it were from the universal to the particular applying almost prophetic insight into certain scores, especially those of Beethoven and Liszt.