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The Most Famous Opera Duets(more) »rank: 3574from: EMI Classics
: :This is a misnomer--not all of these duets are all that famous--but it's a fine compilation nonetheless. You'll hear selections from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers (Nicolai Gedda and Ernest Blanc at their most elegant French), Madama Butterfly (Carlo Bergonzi and Renata Scotto--an impassioned pair), Lucia di Lammermoor (a classy Alfredo Kraus and Edita Gruberova), the lovely Lakme duet, The Presentation of the Silver Rose from Der Rosenkavalier (with the earnest Christa Ludwig and the other-worldly Teresa Stich-Randall), and a fine Trovatore 'Miserere' (with Leontyne Price and Franco Bonisolli singing up a storm). There are many others, too--a veritable cornucopia of couplings--and a treat ... |
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Rapture: Opera's Most Heavenly Moments(more) »rank: 7777from: Deutsche Grammophon
: :This is a misnomer--not all of these duets are all that famous--but it's a fine compilation nonetheless. You'll hear selections from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers (Nicolai Gedda and Ernest Blanc at their most elegant French), Madama Butterfly (Carlo Bergonzi and Renata Scotto--an impassioned pair), Lucia di Lammermoor (a classy Alfredo Kraus and Edita Gruberova), the lovely Lakme duet, The Presentation of the Silver Rose from Der Rosenkavalier (with the earnest Christa Ludwig and the other-worldly Teresa Stich-Randall), and a fine Trovatore 'Miserere' (with Leontyne Price and Franco Bonisolli singing up a storm). There are many others, too--a veritable cornucopia of couplings--and a treat ... |
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Verdi: La Traviata (complete opera live 1955) with Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Carlo Maria Giulini, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan(more) »rank: 11723by: Giuseppe Verdi, Orchestra e coro del Teatro alla Scala, Carlo Maria Giulini, Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Ettore Bastianini, Silvio Maionica, Luisa Mandelli, Arturo La Porta
: essential recording:This live recording of the 1955 Visconti production at La Scala is the best of the available Maria Callas Traviatas. Aside from a minor pitch problem or two, she's in great voice, coloring phrases to reveal character and investing the coloratura with variety and passion. Her 'Addio del passato' is heart-breaking. She fully captures Violetta's pride and vulnerability in the scene with Germont, though her partner, Ettore Bastianini, sings insensitively, if beautifully. Giuseppe Di Stefano is all one could ask for as Alfredo. Carlo Giulini conducts a performance that delivers all the lyricism and drama of the score. The recorded sound ... |
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Beethoven: Concerto for violin in D(more) »rank: 22346from: EMI Classics
: essential recording:When Itzhak Perlman recorded this disc, many critics were surprised by the sobriety and quiet poetry of his interpretation, as though his many fine chamber-music recordings did not provide ample evidence of Perlman's qualities as a 'serious' musician. Although beautifully written for the instrument, Beethoven's sole violin concerto does not offer many opportunities for the kind of virtuoso fireworks that have made Perlman famous. But as all great musicians will, he turned this fact to his own advantage. This sensitive, profound performance has already passed into legend as a classic in every sense of the word. --David Hurwitz |
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The Best of Kathleen Battle(more) »rank: 11427from: Deutsche Grammophon
: essential recording:When Itzhak Perlman recorded this disc, many critics were surprised by the sobriety and quiet poetry of his interpretation, as though his many fine chamber-music recordings did not provide ample evidence of Perlman's qualities as a 'serious' musician. Although beautifully written for the instrument, Beethoven's sole violin concerto does not offer many opportunities for the kind of virtuoso fireworks that have made Perlman famous. But as all great musicians will, he turned this fact to his own advantage. This sensitive, profound performance has already passed into legend as a classic in every sense of the word. --David Hurwitz |
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The Best Opera Album in the World...Ever!(more) »rank: 11591from: Angel Records
: essential recording:When Itzhak Perlman recorded this disc, many critics were surprised by the sobriety and quiet poetry of his interpretation, as though his many fine chamber-music recordings did not provide ample evidence of Perlman's qualities as a 'serious' musician. Although beautifully written for the instrument, Beethoven's sole violin concerto does not offer many opportunities for the kind of virtuoso fireworks that have made Perlman famous. But as all great musicians will, he turned this fact to his own advantage. This sensitive, profound performance has already passed into legend as a classic in every sense of the word. --David Hurwitz |
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The Ultimate Aria Collection ~ A Passion for Opera(more) »rank: 19863by: Georges Bizet, Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Gaetano Donizetti, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Gioachino Rossini, Gustave Charpentier, Leo Delibes, Vincenzo Bellini, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Pietro Mascagni, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Francesco Cilea, Edouard Lalo, Camille Saint-Saens, Arrigo Boito, George Frideric Handel, Alfredo Catalani, Amilcare Ponchielli, Charles Gounod, Jules Massenet, Ambroise Thomas, Fritz Wunderlich, Rome Opera Theater Orchestra & Chorus, Maria Callas, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Philharmoniker, Orchestre de Paris, Carlo Maria Giulini, Tullio Serafin, Sir Charles Mackerras, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Riccardo Muti, Leone Magiera
: :Put together in evident haste, this collection is nevertheless a surefire, appetite-whetting starter kit both for the budding operaphile and for the simply intimidated. The samplings include some of the greatest voices from EMI's vaults: here you'll find the polar opposites Callas and Caballe, the golden wonder of Wunderlich and early Carreras, and a host of other singers who've made their stamp on this century. Emphasis is on the soprano and tenor range, while the lower voices are given short shrift, and the selections cleave predictably to standard Italian and French repertory (with an occasional surprise, such as an aria from Lalo's Le ... |
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Best of the Millennium: Top 40 Classical Hits(more) »rank: 40238from: Utv Records
: :For those who want the most remembered passages of classical music's best-loved works, here's a package for you. On this bargain priced double-CD, you'll find music from 40 different classical composers; for the most part, the recordings excerpted here are some of the very best. Of course, you only get one Bach sampling (Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, played by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra) and one Mozart (A Little Night Music conducted by Herbert von Karajan), but this is still a nice collection--perhaps the starting point for a budding collection of classical music. This set's downfall? Unfortunately, though the liner notes discuss the ... |
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The Chicago Principal: First Chair Soloist Play Famous Concertos(more) »rank: 15697by: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
: :For those who want the most remembered passages of classical music's best-loved works, here's a package for you. On this bargain priced double-CD, you'll find music from 40 different classical composers; for the most part, the recordings excerpted here are some of the very best. Of course, you only get one Bach sampling (Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, played by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra) and one Mozart (A Little Night Music conducted by Herbert von Karajan), but this is still a nice collection--perhaps the starting point for a budding collection of classical music. This set's downfall? Unfortunately, though the liner notes discuss the ... |
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Very Best of(more) »rank: 23321by: Placido Domingo
: :Placido Domingo is a phenomenon, and every aspect of his artistry is on display in this 2-CD compilation, which includes arias from his signature roles in Italian, French, German, and Russian operas, and songs from Viennese and Spanish operettas. The original recordings range from the early 1970s to the present and show that though over the years his bright golden voice has taken on a darker, more burnished glow, it has retained the melting lyricism, the heroic ring, the thrilling top notes, and the focused intensity that make it instantly recognizable. (Comparing the Verdi arias included here with their counterparts of later vintage ... |



