GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera recorded in 1992) Roberto Alagna, Angela Gheorghiu, Elisabetta Scano, Simon Keenlyside / Orchestra & Chorus of Teatro alla Scala, Riccardo Chailly [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 15/Mar/2012 ] "Gheorghiu's glorious singing is powerfully matched by the heroic tones of Alagna, culminating in a deeply moving death-scene." (Penguin Guide) |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: La Boheme (Complete opera recorded in 1995) (with complete libretto) Roberto Alagna, Leontina Vaduva, Thomas Hampson, Ruth Ann Swenson / Philharmonia Orchestra, Antonio Pappano [ EMI Classics / 2 CD Box Set - released 18/Aug/2006 ] "Pappano's recording of Boheme is the finest in over 20 years or even longer - sumptuously played and recorded, and characterfully sung by a starry cast. This is a version to stand alongside the classics of the past." Rosette. Penguin Stereo Guide. |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Berlioz: Opera Arias & Songs plus La Marseillaise Roberto Alagna (tenor) / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Le Choeur de l'Armee Francaise / Bertrand de Billy [ EMI / CD - released 1/Jun/2006 ] "There are few tenors, from any era, who could embrace the many and varied challenges presented here and do so with such success." Editor's Choice - Gramophone Magazine (March 2003) |
PUCCINI / GOUNOD / DONIZETTI / VERDI / MASSENET / TCHAIKOVSKY / CILEA / BIZET / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Viva Villazon! - Best Of Rolando Villazon [with bonus DVD - Live in Prague] Rolando Villazon (tenor) [ Virgin Classics / 2 CD/DVD - released 12/Nov/2007 ] The most exciting tenor during the first decade of the new millennium has undoubtedly been Rolando Villazón. He has a charming appearance, is a good actor, has a voice that besides brilliance and beauty can also express all kinds of nuance, he has... |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: La Forza Del Destino (complete opera recorded in 1987 with complete libretto) Rosalind Plowright, Agnes Baltsa, Jose Carreras / Renato Bruson / Ambrosian Opera Chorus / Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli [ Deutsche Grammophon / 3 CD Box Set - released 12/Dec/1987 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD - Best Opera Recording 1987 |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte (complete opera recorded in 2002 at the Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin) Dorothea Roschmann, Katharina Kammerloher, Hanno Muller-Brachmann, Werner Gura / Daniel Barenboim (cond) [ TDK/Euroarts DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/Nov/2008 ] "It is very well performed. All the singers are on good form, and work well together in this most ensemble-based of Mozart operas. The picture quality and sound quality are both excellent, and there are loads of index points." (MusicWeb) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Aida (Complete opera) Ruggero Raimondi, Elena Obraztsova, Katia Ricciarelli, Placido Domingo, Nicolai Ghiaurov / Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala / Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon Opera House / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2005 ] 'None is better or more thoroughly and thoughtfully conducted - and in Verdi, that is of the essence.' Gramophone |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart - Don Giovanni [Complete opera with libretto] Ruggero Raimondi, Kiri Te Kanawa, Edda Moser, Jose van Dam, Teresa Berganza / Theatre National de l'Opera de Paris, Lorin Maazel [ Sony Classical / 3 CD Box Set - released 25/Jun/1982 ] "Donna Anna sweeps in like a tornado: with Edda Moser all the furies, and a good many of the vowels as well, really are let loose." Gramophone |
EMIL NIKOLAUS von REZNICEK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Reznicek: Ritter Blaubart [Knight Bluebeard] (complete opera recorded in 2002) David Pittman-Jennings, Arutjun Kotchinian, Robert Wörle, Celina Lindsley / Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Michail Jurowski [ CPO / 2 CD - released 2/Jun/2003 ] "..the musical result is impressive, and the performance here under Michail Jurowski utterly convincing. All the soloists are more than equal to the task, some of it as demanding as anything Wagner ever made of his singers." MusicWeb |
ANTONIO SALIERI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Falstaff, or The Three Tricks (complete opera with libretto) Romano Franceschetto, Filippo Bettoschi, Lee Myeounghee, The Madrigalists of Milan, Orchestra Guido Cantelli Of Milan, Alberto Veronesi [ Chandos / 2 CD Box Set ] "With the Guido Cantelli orchestra of Milan both mellow and scintillating, Romano Franceschetto (Flastaff) shows welcome agility as a buffo baritone, singing with relish, making even his letter-writing scene a moment to savour." Opera News |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Die Zauberflote [The Magic Flute] (complete opera recorded the Salzburg Festival in 2006) Salzburg Festival / Rene Pape, Genia Kuhmeier, Paul Groves, Diana Damrau / Vienna Philharmonic / Riccardo Muti (cond) [ Decca Classics / Mozart 22 DVD / 2 DVD - released 9/Nov/2006 ] Unsurpassed Mozartian Riccardo Muti conducts the Vienna Philharmonic and a superb cast in an outstanding performance of Pierre Audi's fantastic, colourful production of Mozart's sublime 'singspiel'. |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Vivaldi: Opera arias and sacred music Sandrine Piau (soprano) / Ensemble Matheus / Modo Antiquo / Accademia Bizantina [ Naive Vivaldi Edition / CD - released 16/Sep/2010 ] This special project gathers together the most beautiful Vivaldi arias recorded by Sandrine Piau since 2005, and features highlights from La fida ninfa, Atenaide, In furore, Laudate Pueri and La Candace. |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Opera Arias Sandrine Piau (soprano) / Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Gottfried von der Goltz [ Naive / CD - released 17/Aug/2005 ] "... It always sounds as though she has range, and power, to spare...It feels so easy and natural you'll probably find yourself grinning from ear to ear in delight." BBC Music |
MORITZ MOSZKOWSKI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Moszkowski: Piano Music Volume 1 Seta Tanyel (piano) [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 23/Jun/2002 ] "A thoroughly enjoyable 69 minutes in the company of Tanyel and Moszkowski" International Record Review |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wagner: Parsifal (the complete opera recorded in 1981) Bayreuth Festival / Siegfried Jerusalem / Eva Randova / Bernd Weikl / Horst Stein (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 DVD - released 26/Feb/2009 ] "A production and performance that showed the festival at its finest" (The New York Times) |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: The Magic Flute (highlights from the complete opera) Siegfried Jerusalem, Lucia Popp, Wolfgang Brendel, Roland Bracht, Edita Gruberova / Bayerischen Rundfunks, Bernard Haitink [ EMI Classics Encore / CD - released 1/Jul/2001 ] "Haitink directs a rich and spacious account of Zauberflote, superbly recorded in spectacularly wide-ranging digital sound... a presentation that has been carefully thought through." (Penguin Guide 3 Stars) |
LEON MINKUS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Minkus: Paquita / La Bayadere (ballets) Sofia National Opera Orchestra, Boris Spassov [ Capriccio / CD - released 12/Dec/1995 ] "This is a wonderful recording of music of the under-rated Minkus (and a few others), a way to often neglected composer of some of the most famous works of ballet." (Amazon.com) |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Il Sogno di Scipione (complete opera recorded at the Salzburg Festival 2006) Stadttheaters Klagenfurt / Blagoj Nacoski, Louise Fribo, Bernarda Bobro, Anna Kovalko / Robin Ticciati (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon / Mozart 22 / DVD - released 20/Dec/2006 ] "Mozart's music blossoms here into the most intense arioso... This unusual Mozart dream makes for wonderfully refreshing theatre." -Salzburger Nachrichten, 21 August 2006 |
VINCENCO BELLINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bellini: Beatrice Di Tenda (complete opera with libretto) Edita Gruberova, Vesselina Kasarova, Igor Morosow / ORF Symphony Orchestra, Pinchas Steinberg [ Nightingale / 2 CD Box Set - released 28/Jun/2004 ] "Gruberova is a more involved singer than Sutherland, a brilliant technician and a musician of considerable finesse" BBC Music (comparing versions) |
HENRY PURCELL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Purcell: Dido and Aeneas (Complete opera recorded in 2003) Susan Graham (soprano) Ian Bostridge (tenor) Felicity Palmer (soprano) David Daniels (counter-tenor) / Le Concert d'Astree / Emmanuelle Haim [ Virgin Veritas / 2 CD - released 1/Oct/2010 ] "Vocally strong and highly atmospheric, this is an exceptional new reading." Recording of the Month Gramophone (February 2002) |