DONIZETTI
La Figlia del reggimento (The Daughter of the Regiment) Franco Becconi / Arturo Cauli / Nikolic Milijana / Chieti Marrucino Opera Chorus / Chieti Marrucino Opera Orchestra / Marzio Conti (Conductor) [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 25/Nov/2006 ] La fille du régiment was written for Paris, where it won and retained popularity. Donizetti revised the work for La Scala, Milan, as La figlia del reggimento, a light-hearted story of an orphan girl, adopted by a regiment |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Tosca (Complete opera) (Recorded August 1953) Franco Calabrese (bass) Maria Callas (soprano) Dario Caselli (bass) Alvaro Cordova (tenor) Tito Gobbi (baritone) /Milan La Scala / Victor De Sabata [ Naxos Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 27/Jan/2004 ] "This new remastering is streets ahead of the others; it irons out the sourness and surface noise of the original, without adding the implausible sheen and reverberance of previous transfers" - The Times (London) |
DOMENICO CIMAROSA
Cimarosa: L'Italiana In Londra (complete opera recorded in 2021) Frankfurt Opera / Angela Vallone, Bianca Tognocchi, Theo Lebow, Jurii Samoilov / Leo Hussain (cond & fortepiano) [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 16/Feb/2024 ] L'Italiana in Londra was Domenico Cimarosa's first international triumph, thrilling audiences all over Europe after its premiere in 1778. However, it later became eclipsed by the even bigger success of Il matrimonio segreto and has become a rarity on... |
DOMENICO CIMAROSA
Cimarosa: L'Italiana In Londra (complete opera recorded in 2021) BLU-RAY Frankfurt Opera / Angela Vallone, Bianca Tognocchi, Theo Lebow, Jurii Samoilov / Leo Hussain (cond & fortepiano) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 16/Feb/2024 ] "Working as a close-knit team, the young cast are personable and camera-friendly, and create something individual from their stereotyped characters. All are nimble movers and use their words vividly." Gramophone DVD/Blu-ray of the Month March 2023 |
NICOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Rimsky-Korsakov: Christmas Eve (complete opera recorded in 2021) Frankfurt Opera / Julia Muzychenko, Enkelejda Shkoza, Alexey Tikhomirov, Anthony Robin Schneider / Sebastian Weigle (cond) [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 11/Nov/2022 ] Composed using his own libretto, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov created this magical opera based on the short story by Nikolay Gogol 'The Night before Christmas' in which Vakula the handsome blacksmith wants to marry the rich farmer's daughter Oksana, who... |
CARL NIELSEN
Nielsen: Maskarade (complete opera recorded in 2021) Frankfurt Opera / Michael Porter, Monika Buczkowska, Susan Bullock / Titus Engel (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/May/2024 ] "Alfred Reiter is just over the top enough as the irascible Jeronimus, Liviu Holender is suitably funny and a really strong singer as Henrik. Monika Buczkowska and Michael Porter as the young lovers sing a couple of really lovely soprano/tenor duets" |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Madama Butterfly (Original version of the complete opera) Svetlana Katchour (soprano) Uwe Eikotter, Bruce Rankin (tenors) Fredrika Brillemburg (mezzo) / Bremen Theatre [ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 5/Jun/2002 ] "Gunter Neuhold, conducting the Bremen Philharmonic, leads an excellent performance in which Svetlana Katchour is a touching Butterfly, skillfully delineating the character's development from child-bride to tragic heroine." The Sunday Telegraph |
PETITGIRARD
Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man French Opera Chorus Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Laurent Petitgirard, conductor [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 28/Dec/2004 ] I have always wanted to write an opera with a dual personality at its centre. Eric Nonn suggested the story of the Elephant Man to me. This deals not only with the duality between Merrick's inner self and his physical appearance, but also with a... |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN / LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Kreisler: Complete Concerto Recordings Vol.1 Fritz Kreisler (Violin) / Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Leo Blech [ Naxos Historical Great Violinists / CD - released 23/Jun/2001 ] The first of an important series |
GIAN CARLO MENOTTI
Menotti: The Saint of Bleecker Street / The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore Gabrielle Ruggiero / David Poleri / Gloria Lane / Maria Di Gerlando / Leon Lishner / Orchestra and Chorus / Thomas Schippers [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 14/Mar/2011 ] Hailed as 'the best new opera since Gershwin's Porgy and Bess', Gian Carlo Menotti's The Saint of Bleecker Street won the Pulitzer Prize for Music and the New York Drama Critics Circle award for Best Musical. Its underlying themes of immigrant life... |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Armida (complet opera recorded in 2022) Moisés Marín, Michele Angelini, Jusung Gabriel Park, Ruth Iniesta / Krakow Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, Jose Miguel Perez-Sierra [ Naxos Rossini in Wildbad / 2 CD - released 24/May/2024 ] The story of Armida had already inspired around 70 composers by the time Rossini took it on both as an opportunity to measure himself against his colleagues, and as a special role for soprano Isabella Colbran with whom he had recently started a... |
JULES MASSENET
Massenet: Manon (complete opera, recorded in 1928/29) Germaine Feraldy / Louis Guenot / Joseph Rogatchewsky / Elie Cohen (cond) [ Naxos Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2010 ] Chorus & Orchestra of the Opéra-Comique Paris, Elie Cohen |
MAHLER
Symphony No.2 Resurrection / Kindertotenlieder (rec 1915-1931) Gertrud Bindernagel (soprano) / Emmi Leisner (contralto) / Berlin State Opera Orchestra / Oskar Fried / Heinrich Rehkemper (baritone) / Jascha Horenst [ Naxos Historical Great Conductors / CD - released 3/Mar/2002 ] "Mahlerians, and fans of any of these artists will all find something to enjoy here." - www.classicstoday.com |
VERDI
Falstaff (Complete opera) Recorded 1932 Giacomo Rimini, tenor / Pia Tassinari, soprano / Chorus of La Scala / Lorenzo Molajoli [ Naxos Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 3/Oct/2002 ] Recorded: 30th March 1932 - 15th April 1932 |
PONCHIELLI
La Gioconda (complete opera recorded in 1931) with additional arias & duets Giannina Arangi Lombardi, Ebe Stignani, Camilla Rota / Orchestra and Chorus of La Scale Opera House, Milan, Lorenzo Molajoli [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Recordings / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Aug/2011 ] Orchestra and Chorus of La Scale Opera House, Milan, Lorenzo Molajoli |
MASCAGNI
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana (complete opera recorded 1940, with additional recordings of the composer as conductor) Benjamino Gigli, Lina Bruna Rasa, Giulietta Simionato, Maria Marcucci / La Scala Orchestra & Chorus, Pietro Mascagni [ Naxos Historic Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 2/Jul/2001 ] "The best of all [reissues]...The voices here on Naxos are caught clearly without acquiring an extraneous metallic edge." (Gramophone) |
PUCCINI
Turandot (complete opera recorded in 1938) [plus early recordings of Turandot] Gina Cigna, Francesco Merli & Magda Olivero / RAI Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Turin, Franco Ghione [ Naxos Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 20/Aug/2011 ] RAI Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Turin, Franco Ghione |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera [The Masked Ball] (complete opera recorded in 1943) Gino Bechi, Maria Caniglia, Beniamino Gigli / Rome Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Tullio Serafin [ Naxos Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 20/Aug/2011 ] Rome Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Tullio Serafin |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Marin Faliero (complete opera) Giorgio Surian, Rachele Stanisci, Ivan Magrì / Orchestra and Chorus of the Bergamo Musica Festival Gaetano Donizetti, Bruno Cinquegrani [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 1/Nov/2011 ] Donizetti's fiftieth opera, Marino Faliero, was first performed in Paris on 12 March 1835 with a cast comprising four of the finest singers of the period.Set in Venice in 1355, it remains a major work of Italian Romanticism. |