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LEONARDO BALADA
Balada: La Muerte de Colon (Death of Columbus) - complete opera Jon Garrison / Judith Jenkins / Katherine Mueller / David Okerlund / Carnegie Mellon Choir and Philharmonic Orchestra / Robert Page [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 1/Oct/2009 ] "Leonardo Balada's The Death of Columbus has been critically acclaimed as 'uncommonly impressive and winning'...The Death of Columbus is an intensely moving opera, filled with lyrical melodies and imaginative orchestration" |
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CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK
Gluck: Alceste (complete opera) Jonas Degerfeldt (tenor) / Justin Lavender (tenor) / Teresa Ringholz (soprano) / Drottningholm Theatre Chorus and Orchestra / Arnold Ostman [ Naxos Opera / 3 CD - released 1/Jan/2007 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1761-1800) - "The recording, which is post-theatre rather than live, is keenly balanced between voices and instruments. At super-budget price this is an invaluable addition to the still-slim Gluck... |
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VERDI / RAMEAU / WAGNER
State Opera (documentary recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Jonas Kaufmann, Anja Harteros, Kirill Petrenko, Zubin Mehta, Ivor Bolton, etc [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 20/May/2020 ] The State Opera is the first film ever made about the Bavarian State Opera, one of the world's oldest, most prestigious and internationally esteemed companies. It charts the course of three operas. |
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PEDRO António AVONDANO
Avondano: Il mondo della luna (Soloists, Os Músicos do Tejo, Marcos Magalhães) João Pedro Cabral, Rui Bôrras, Carla Caramujo, João Fernandes / Os Músicos do Tejo, Marcos Magalhães [ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 10/Oct/2020 ] Born in Lisbon of Italian parentage, Pedro António Avondano was employed at the court of Joseph I, becoming Portugal's leading composer of instrumental music and dances for the royal ballet. Il mondo della luna ('The World on the Moon') was a hugely... |
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GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: La Cenerentola (Cinderella) (Complete opera) Joyce DiDonato (mezzo) Josa Manuel Zapata (tenor) Paolo Bordogna (baritone) / Prague Chamber Choir / SWR Radio Orchestra Kaiserslauten / Alberto Zedda [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 18/Dec/2005 ] "A wonderfully spirited live recording of what is probably Rossini's masterpiece. With an ensemble of mostly young singers, where American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in the title role could hardly be bettered." (MusicWeb) |
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VERDI
Rigoletto (highlights from the opera) Jozef Abel, tenor / Alida Ferrarini, soprano / Alzbeta Michalkova, contralto / Slovak Philharmonic Chorus / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / Alexande [ Naxos Opera Classics / CD - released 8/Mar/2004 ] "Eduard Turmagian gives...a lucidly thought-through performance, dramatically sensitive...This recording of Rigoletto is astonishing value" - Gramophone |
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VERDI
Rigoletto (Complete opera) Jozef Abel (tenor) Alida Ferrarini (soprano) Alzbeta Michalkova (contralto) / Slovak Philharmonic Chorus / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / Rahbari [ Naxos Opera Classics / CD - released 8/Mar/2004 ] "Eduard Turmagian gives...a lucidly thought-through performance, dramatically sensitive...This recording of Rigoletto is astonishing value" - Gramophone |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Arias and Duets (rec 1949) Jussi Bjorling (tenor) Anna-Lisa Bjorling (soprano) / San Francisco Opera Orchestra [ Naxos Historical In Concert / CD - released 1/Jun/2007 ] 'This hour is yours' the announcer tells us at the opening of this CD, a pleasing hour indeed, in the company of the finest tenor of his day and his wife Anna-Lisa, a Conservatory-trained lyric soprano. The programme consists of favourite arias from... |
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GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Rigoletto (complete opera recorded in 1945) Jussi Bjorling (tenor) Bidu Sayao (soprano) Leonard Warren (baritone) / Chorus & Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, Cesare Sodero [ Naxos Historical Opera / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2008 ] "Taken as a whole, this is a remarkable document." Opera Now |
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GOUNOD
Faust (complete opera) Jussi Bjorling (tenor) Cesare Siepi (bass) Dorothy Kirsten (soprano) Frank Guarrera (baritone) Lawrence Davidson (baritone) Anne Bollinger (sop) [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Recordings / 3 CD - released 27/Jul/2005 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1851-1900) - "This 3 CD set contains some of the most glorious tenor singing ever recorded. Buy it!!!" - Göran Forsling, MusicWeb international, July 2005 |
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GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Manon Lescaut (Great Opera Recordings) Jussi Bjorling (Tenor) Licia Albanese (Soprano ) / Rome Opera Chorus, Rome Opera Orchestra, Jonel Perlea (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 18/Apr/2006 ] "no one can afford to be without this version, for the overall excellence but especially for Jussi Björling's unsurpassable des Grieux, now that it is available at Naxos price" (MusicWeb March 2006) |
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GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Rigoletto (complete opera recorded in 1955) [with other operatic excerpts featuring Robert Merrill] Jussi Bjorling (tenor) Roberta Peters (soprano) / Robert Merrill (baritone) / Rome Opera Chorus & Orchestra / Jonel Perlea [ Naxos Historical Opera / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2008 ] When this 1956 recording of Rigoletto was first released in Britain, The Gramophone reviewer commented: "under Perlea, the orchestral playing is firm and dramatic, well balanced with the voice. |
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GOUNOD / MASSENET / VERDI / BIZET / PUCCINI / PONCHIELLI / etc
Jussi Bjorling: Collection Vol 4: Opera Arias and Duets (1945-1951) Jussi Bjorling (tenor) with Emil Markow (bass) & Robert Merrill (baritone) / RCA Victor Chorus [ Naxos Historical Great Singers / CD - released 24/Oct/2004 ] "This is Bjorling in his prime, caught between 1945 and 1951, and for the first time on one CD there are both EMI and RCA recordings. Here is some of the finest singing ever captured on disc…the best thing you can do with a fiver this summer." --... |
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PUCCINI / VERDI / PONCHIELLI / MEYERBEER / GOUNOD / GIORDANO / etc
Jussi: Bjorling Collection, Vol. 3: Opera Arias and Duets (1936-1944) Jussi Bjorling, tenor, with Studio orchestra, Nils Grevillius, conductor [ Naxos Historical Great Singers / CD - released 1/Oct/2008 ] "He didn't have the enjoyable finesse of certain other masters of phrasing, but a noble sensuality that gave the Italian-French repertoire a "fashioned elegance". He originated from the Scandinavian tradition, which - a generation later - Nicolai... |
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VERDI
Aida (complete opera recorded in 1955) Plus highlights from Un Ballo in Maschera (rec 1955) Jussi Bjorling (Tenor) / Zinka Milanov (Soprano) / Fedora Barbieri (mezzo-soprano) / Rome Opera House Orchestra / Jonel Perlea (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical Great Operas / 3 CD - released 16/Jul/2006 ] The Aida recording was transferred from the best portions of three American LP pressings, while the Ballo highlights came from an Italian LP. |
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KALMAN
Csardasfurstin (Die) (The Gypsy Princess) (Complete operetta) Karl-Michael Ebner, tenor / Mojca Erdmann, soprano / Heinz Holecek, bass / Yvonne Kalman / Marko Kathol, tenor / Yvonne Kenny, soprano / Hellmuth Klum [ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2005 ] "A sweet 'n' spicy confection that shows operetta at it's delicious best" - Editor's Choice gramophone Magazine March 2005 |
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KALMAN
Csardasfurstin (Die) (The Gypsy Princess) (Complete operetta) Karl-Michael Ebner (tenor) Mojca Erdmann (soprano) Heinz Holecek (bass) Yvonne Kenny (soprano) / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / Richard Bonynge [ Naxos Opera Classics SACD / 2 SACD - released 1/Mar/2005 ] Kálmán's great contribution to the musical language of Viennese operetta was to bring to it the brilliant colours, the heady rhythms and the dynamic energy of his native Hungary - not just as an imitator, like so many other composers, but as one who... |
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ALBAN BERG
Berg: Wozzeck (Complete Opera recorded in 2013) Katarina Dalayman / Carl Johan Falkman / Ulrik Qvale / Sten Wahlund / Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera Stockholm / Leif Segerstam [ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 20/Mar/2017 ] Based on real events and playwright Georg Bu¨chner's starkly vehement text, Alban Berg's tragic opera Wozzeck is an epoch-making work, in stark contrast to the previous high romantic ideals of the genre, that led Schoenberg to exclaim "now that's... |
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ALBAN BERG
Berg: Wozzeck (Complete Opera) Katarina Dalayman / Carl Johan Falkman / Ulrik Qvale / Sten Wahlund / Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera Stockholm / Leif Segerstam [ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 1/May/2002 ] Editor's Choice - Gramophone Magazine (March 2002) |
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LOUIS KARCHIN
Romulus (complete opera) Katrina Thurman / Steven Ebel / Thomas Meglioranza / Wilbur Pauley / The Washington Square Ensemble / Louis Karchin [ Naxos American Opera Classics / CD - released 22/Sep/2011 ] The Washington Square Ensemble, praised for its 'polished, lively performance' (The New York Times) is joined by a cast of first-class singers conducted by the composer. |