Verdi la Traviata

Here's the complete concert that brought together four of the world's most exciting singers, performing beloved arias, duets, and quartets. Anna Netrebko and Ellna Garanca appear together for the first time on stage in this dazzling gala for a quartet of "superstars" (Badische Zeitung). "Bel canto at its most beautiful and most ravishing" (Badische Neueste Nachrichten).

Decca is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the supreme master of Italian opera Giuseppe Verdi’s birth in matchless style by releasing in February 2013 a 75-CD box containing his entire canon of works.

The knock-out concert event of 2006! Anna Netrebko, Plácido Domingo and Rolando Villazón came together for one unforgettable evening of opera arias and ensembles. This is not a cross-over concert, but a genuine collection of operatic gems, performed by three thrilling performers in front of an audience of 20,000 roaring fans. The excitement in the audience brings out the best in each performer. With selections from L'Arlesiana, Gianni Schicchi, Otello, Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Giuditta, La Bohème, West Side Story and much more! Marco Armiliato leads the Deutschen Oper Berlin Orchestra.

This CD is currently out of print, but it's worth a search. Unlike virtually everything else of Gencer's that has appeared on CD, these are all studio recordings in excellent sound (no prompters, no noisy audiences, no singing off mike). The four Donizetti items, conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni, are from 1974, while the four Verdi selections and the Catalani are from 1956 (with Arturo Basile conducting). Jeffrey Lipscomb, Amazon.ca

In 1855, the Fenice Theatre of Venice asked Verdi for a new opera, but the contract was signed only a year later, when the composer had already seen the outline of a work by the playwright Antonio Garcia Gutiérrez: Simon Boccanegra. The Maestro started writing his own version while in Paris, where he got Giuseppe Montanelli to shave down and model the libretto Francesco Maria Piave had already finished, communicating to Piave his modifications by letter, fait accompli. The opera opened on March 12th, 1857, with baritone Leone Gilardoni as Simon Boccanegra, bass Giuseppe Etcheverry as Fiesco, baritone Giacomo Vercellini as Paolo, and soprano Luigia Bendazzi as Maria/Amalia....

A unique 8-CD collection comprising nine hours of the best loved classical music!