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Berlioz - La damnation de Faust / von Otter · Terfel · K. Lewis · von Halem · PO · Chung
(more) »rank: 40660by: Hector Berlioz, Myung-Whun Chung, Anne Sofie von Otter, Bryn Terfel, Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, Keith Lewis, Victor von Halem
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Handel - Messiah / Augér, von Otter, Chance, Crook, Tomlinson, English Concert, Pinnock
(more) »rank: 63092by: George Frideric Handel, Arleen Auger, Anne Sofie von Otter, Trevor Pinnock, The English Concert & Choir, Michael Chance, Howard Crook, John Tomlinson
: essential recording:This is a terrific performance of Messiah. Not only are the soloists all superb, but Trevor Pinnock completely contradicts the image of many period instrument performances as small-scale, scrappy affairs. Indeed, he invests the choruses with as much genuine Handelian pomp as Beecham at his most extravagant. The trumpets really blaze, and the timpani thunder, and everyone simply has a great time. A joyous performance, just right for the holiday season. --David Hurwitz Amazon.com:Trevor Pinnock meets with mixed success in this account of the Messiah with the English Concert & Choir and soloists Arleen Auger, Anne Sofie von Otter, Michael Chance, ...
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Bach - Christmas Oratorio / Gardiner
(more) »rank: 10982by: John Eliot Gardiner, Nancy Argenta, Olaf Bär, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Alison Bury, Lisa Beznosiuk, Valerie Darke, Valerie Botwright
: essential recording:This isn't an oratorio in the Handelian sense, but a series of cantatas for various days from Christmas to Epiphany. Bach's music is loaded with treats: an echo aria for soprano and oboe; a 'pastoral' sinfonia; bravura arias for tenor with flute and bass with trumpet; a giddy soprano-bass duet; a transporting lullaby for alto. Then there are the choruses, featuring the Monteverdi Choir at their best: exuberant full-orchestra choruses in parts one and three; a lilting triple-time chorus with horns in part four; the joyful skittering chorus in part five; and the triumphant opening and closing of part six (with ...
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Beethoven: 9 Symphonies - Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique / Gardiner
(more) »rank: 14566from: Archiv Produktion
: essential recording:This isn't an oratorio in the Handelian sense, but a series of cantatas for various days from Christmas to Epiphany. Bach's music is loaded with treats: an echo aria for soprano and oboe; a 'pastoral' sinfonia; bravura arias for tenor with flute and bass with trumpet; a giddy soprano-bass duet; a transporting lullaby for alto. Then there are the choruses, featuring the Monteverdi Choir at their best: exuberant full-orchestra choruses in parts one and three; a lilting triple-time chorus with horns in part four; the joyful skittering chorus in part five; and the triumphant opening and closing of part six (with ...
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Bach- St. Matthäus-Passion/Te Kanawa, von Otter, Rolfe-Johnson, Blochitz, Krause, Solti (Highlights)
(more) »rank: 76940by: Kiri Te Kanawa, Anne Sofie von Otter, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Tom Krause, Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus
: essential recording:This isn't an oratorio in the Handelian sense, but a series of cantatas for various days from Christmas to Epiphany. Bach's music is loaded with treats: an echo aria for soprano and oboe; a 'pastoral' sinfonia; bravura arias for tenor with flute and bass with trumpet; a giddy soprano-bass duet; a transporting lullaby for alto. Then there are the choruses, featuring the Monteverdi Choir at their best: exuberant full-orchestra choruses in parts one and three; a lilting triple-time chorus with horns in part four; the joyful skittering chorus in part five; and the triumphant opening and closing of part six (with ...
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Noel
(more) »rank: 48283by: Anne Sofie Von Otter
: essential recording:This isn't an oratorio in the Handelian sense, but a series of cantatas for various days from Christmas to Epiphany. Bach's music is loaded with treats: an echo aria for soprano and oboe; a 'pastoral' sinfonia; bravura arias for tenor with flute and bass with trumpet; a giddy soprano-bass duet; a transporting lullaby for alto. Then there are the choruses, featuring the Monteverdi Choir at their best: exuberant full-orchestra choruses in parts one and three; a lilting triple-time chorus with horns in part four; the joyful skittering chorus in part five; and the triumphant opening and closing of part six (with ...
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Tchaikovsky - Eugen Onegin / T. Allen, Freni, von Otter, Shicoff, Burchuladze; Levine
(more) »rank: 7997by: Tchaikovsky, James Levine, Mirella Freni, Thomas Allen, Anne Sofie von Otter, Neil Shicoff, Paata Burchuladze
: essential recording:Levine has assembled a cast strong in both singing and acting, although Mirella Freni is a bit mature for the teenage Tatiana and there are no Russians in the leading roles. The conducting quite properly emphasizes the psychological and emotional extremes in a story deeply imbued with the Byronic attitudes and poses of literary Romanticism. The orchestra, in James Levine's (and Tchaikovsky's) hands becomes a character in this drama as vital as any of the singers, and Pushkin's poem-novel, the source of the opera, can be felt with unusual clarity underlying this interpretation. --Joe McLellan
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The Greatest Opera Show on Earth
(more) »rank: 94222from: Polygram Records
: :This really is a remarkable collection, and anyone even remotely interested in opera is bound to be vastly entertained by it. Almost everything and everyone is here, albeit in small doses: Tebaldi, Pavarotti (a lot), Bjoerling, Bartoli, Sutherland, Solti, Karajan, Troyanos, Gheorghiu, Nucci; the composers are Puccini, Verdi, Bizet, and all the other usual suspects. There are plenty of fine compilation sets on the market, and this is one of the best. One can only hope that it whets listeners' appetites for whole operas. --Robert Levine
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Monteverdi - L'Orfeo / Rolfe Johnson, Dawson, von Otter, Argenta, M. Nichols, Tomlinson, Chance, Baird; Gardiner
(more) »rank: 114205by: Claudio Monteverdi, John Eliot Gardiner, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Lynne Dawson, His Majesty's Sackbutts and Cornetts, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir, Nancy Argenta, Anne Sofie von Otter, Julianne Baird, Mary Nichols, Simon Birchall, John Tomlinson, Michael Chance, Mark Turner, Howard Milner
: essential recording:History's first great opera--the story of Orpheus descending to Hades to retrieve his bride Eurydice from the dead, only to lose her again--gets a fine performance (the best overall version currently available) from John Eliot Gardiner and his musicians. Anthony Rolfe Johnson performs the title role with all the beautiful sound you'd expect from an Orfeo; he negotiates virtuoso passages flawlessly and sings passionately without overwhelming Monteverdi's music with too much voice. Julianne Baird as Eurydice and Anne Sofie Von Otter in a gripping appearance as the Messenger are the standouts in a cast without a weak link. Everyone involved, including ...
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Bach: St. Matthew Passion / Rolfe Johnson, Bonney, von Otter, Chance, Crook; Gardiner
(more) »rank: 17311by: Cornelius Hauptmann, Bach:St. Matthew Passion, London Oratory Junior Singers, Olaf Bär, Monteverdi Choir
: essential recording:John Eliot Gardiner's reading of the Matthew Passion is conceived and executed on the highest level, an example of period practice that is unlikely to be bettered any time soon. The performance as a whole vibrates with life: soloists are first-rate, and wonderfully well chosen for their respective parts, and the work of chorus and orchestra is exemplary. The recording, made in 1988 in the spacious ambience of Snape Maltings (England), is well balanced and exceptionally vivid. --Ted Libbey
