MASCAGNI / MASSENET / DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Duets & Arias Angela Gheorghiu (soprano) Roberto Alagna (tenor) / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Richard Armstrong [ EMI Music / CD - released 1/Dec/2000 ] An ideal gift - a delightful collection of opera duets |
GRAUN / HANDEL / PERTI / PORPORA / ORLANDINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Agrippina Opera Arias Ann Hallenberg (mezzo) / Il Pomo d'Oro, Riccardo Minasi [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Mar/2016 ] "there's an equally dazzling vengeance aria by Orlandini, in which Riccardo Minasi's orchestra, Il Pomo d'Oro, really lets fly. Hallenberg is as convincing in these as she is in the more reflective numbers...very classily done" (The Guardian) |
RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci (Complete Opera with full libretto) Barbara Frittoli, Jose Cura, Carlos Alvarez, Simon Keenlyside / Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly [ Decca / CD - released 10/Mar/2000 ] 'The recording is rich, spacious and brilliant with glorious orchestral playing, making one marvel at the beauty and subtlety of Leoncavallo's orchestration.' A Key Recording, from The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs. (I Pagliacci) |
MOZART / GLUCK / BOITO / BELLINI / VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Boris Christoff - Italian Opera Arias Boris Christoff (bass) with various orchestras and accompanists [ EMI References / CD - released 2/Feb/1995 ] Bass Boris Christoff was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria on 18 May 1914 of a Bulgarian father and a Russian mother. The family was very well to do and Boris received the best education available, including a period of study at the University of Sofia. |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Handel: Opera and Oratorio Arias (Judas Maccabaeus, Dettingen Te Deum, Serse +) Bryn Terfel (baritone) / Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 19/Jun/2000 ] "The singing here incorporates a good deal of embellishment, some of it of Sir Charles Mackerras's devising. He is an excellent conductor for Terfel, sharing with him an appreciation of the zest in Handel." Gramophone |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Under The Stars: Music from the shows Bryn Terfel (bass) Renee Fleming (soprano) with the Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera conducted by Paul Gemignani [ Decca Records / CD - released 24/Mar/2003 ] Renée Fleming and Bryn Terfel are two of the world's most popular classical stars. Their first CD together is Under The Stars, a feast of great songs from recent musical theatre. |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL / ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI / ANTONIO CALDARA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Cecilia Bartoli - Opera Proibita Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano) / Les Musiciens du Louvre / Marc Minkowski [ Decca Records / CD - released 20/Sep/2005 ] "A touch of the Fellinis as a scorching Bartoli meets the banned" RECORDING OF THE MONTH GRAMOPHONE Nov 2005 |
DARIUS MILHAUD
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Milhaud: Le Carnaval d'Aix / Le boeuf sur le toit / la creation du monde / Concertos Claude Helffer (piano) Frederique Cambreling (harp) / Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon [ Warner Classics Erato / 2 CD - released 16/Nov/1998 ] Distinctively French, yet cosmopolitan in his personal and artistic horizons, Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) was adventurous, prominent, and prolific. A pupil of Dukas and d'Indy, he became a member of Les Six and a distinguished teacher in the USA and... |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro [The Marriage of Figaro] (complete opera directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. Recorded in 1976) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau / Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Mirella Freni, Hermann Prey, Maria Ewing / Vienna Philharmonic / Karl Bohm [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 2/Jun/2005 ] "a visual treat, but having some solos delivered as interior monologues is distracting" Gramophone |
GILBERT & SULLIVAN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: The World of Gilbert & Sullivan D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Isidore Godfrey, Royston Nash, Sir Malcolm Sargent [ Decca / CD - released 14/Jul/1990 ] "If you are looking for a CD to cheer you up on a dull day this Decca (recording) will serve admirably." Rosette Recording. Penguin Stereo Guide. |
DOMENICO CIMAROSA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Cimarosa: Il matrimonio segreto (Complete opera recorded in 1957) Eugenia Ratti, Graziella Sciutti, Ebe Stignati, Luigi Alva, Franco Calabrese / Teatro alla Scala, Nino Sanzogno [ EMI Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Nov/1997 ] Note: This is extremely rare. American websites are asking $43US. |
RICHARD STRAUSS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Der Rosenkavalier (Complete opera recorded in 1976) Evelyn Lear, Frederica von Stade, Jules Bastin / Rotterdam Philharmonic Opera, Edo de Waart (conductor) [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / 3 CD - released 20/Feb/2012 ] Evelyn Lear as the Marschallin and Frederica von Stade as her lover Octavian lead a strong cast as Edo de Waart's complete recording of Der Rosenkavalier returns to the catalogue. |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Madama Butterfly (complete opera with full libretto) Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Christa Ludwig, Robert Kerns / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus, Herbert von Karajan [ Decca / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Oct/2019 ] "Freni is an enchanting Butterfly, constantly growing in stature...Pavarotti is an intensely imaginative Pinkerton" Penguin Guide |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro [The Marriage Of Figaro] (Complete Opera recorded in 1994) Glyndebourne Opera / Gerald Finley, Alison Hagley, Renee Fleming / Bernard Haitink (conductor) [ Warner Music Vision DVD / DVD - released 10/Sep/2009 ] "Pure magic….Bernard Haitink conducted the LPO in an eloquent performance, beautifully played…….One listened, as Haitink, Hagley, and Finley lifted a loving, carefully prepared performance to greatness" Opera Magazine |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: La Finta Semplice (complete opera recorded in 1983) Helen Donath, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Robert Holl, Teresa Berganza / Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Leopold Hager(cond) [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/May/2012 ] "Helen Donath is her usual bright-toned and fluent self and she has a fine trill; Teresa Berganza is lovely too, nuanced as always and still in creamy voice. Light and springy, even more delectable is Jutta-Renate Ihloff in the soubrette role." |
ALBERT LORTZING
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Lortzing: Der Wildschütz (complete opera recorded in 1963 with librettio) Hermann Prey, Anneliese Rothenberger, Fritz Wunderlich / Chorus and Orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera, Munich / Robert Heger [ EMI Classics / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Jul/1997 ] "I would enthusiastically recommend Der Wildschütz and Fritz Wunderlich, especially, as an ideal introduction to Albert Lortzing." Fanfare |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Turandot (highlights from the complete opera) Inge Borkh, Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Fernando Corena / Coro e Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Roma, Alberto Erede [ Decca Belart / CD - released 1/Apr/1996 ] "The recording has a glitter and brilliance to match even the fabulous court of the emperor of China" (Penguin Guide) |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Donizetti: Lucia Di Lammermoor (Highlights from the complete 1972 recording)) Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, Nicolai Ghiaurov / Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Richard Bonynge [ Decca Opera Gala / CD - released 24/Oct/1992 ] "Though some of the girlish freshness of voice which marked the 1961 recording had disappeared by the 1971 set, Sutherland's detailed understanding was intensified. Power is there as well as delicacy, and the rest of the cast is first-rate." Penguin |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (Complete Opera with libretto) Joan Sutherland, Renato Cioni, Robert Merrill / Santa Cecilia, Roma / John Pritchard [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Jun/1989 ] "There remains something special about this early Lucia" Gramophone |
MOZART / ROSSINI / TCHAIKOVSKY / WAGNER / BOITO / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Jonathan Lemalu: Opera Arias Jonathan Lemalu (bass-baritone) / New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. James Judd [ EMI Music / CD - released 18/Apr/2005 ] "Every so often a musician arrives on the scene with a talent so richly endowed that the musical world sits up and takes note." - Gramophone editor James Jolly |