JULES MASSENET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Massenet: Don Quichotte (complete opera recorded in 1992) Jose van Dam, Teresa berganza, Alain Fondary, Isabelle Vernet / Toulouse Capital Orchestra & Chorus, Michel Plasson [ EMI Classics The Home of Opera / 3 CD Box Set - released 18/Jan/2010 ] "Van Dam, Berganza and Fondary sing beautifully." BBC Music |
BEDRICH SMETANA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Smetana: Libuse (Festive Opera In 3 Acts) Eva Urbanová, Vratislav Kriz, Ludek Vele, Helena Kaupová / Prague National Theatre Chorus & Orchestra, Oliver Dohnanyi [ Supraphon / 2 CD Box Set - released 20/Oct/2009 ] "The cast is splendid, reflecting that the extraordinary musical traditions of the Czech's (Europe's most musical nation?) are alive and well. The whole performance captures the sense of occasion." MusicWeb |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen (recorded live in 1957) Hans Hotter, Birgit Nilsson, Otakar Kraus, Wolfgang Wingassen, Peter Klein / Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Rudolf Kempe [ Testament / 13 CD Box Set - released 20/Feb/2018 ] "The glory here is Birgit Nilsson's gleaming Brünnhilde, already 39 years old, but sounding youthful, touching and tireless. The set is a reminder of the strengths of the company at this period, with Joan Sutherland leading the Rhinemaidens." Sunday |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Il Trovatore (Complete opera) Veronica Villarroel; Elena Zaremba; Andrea Bocelli; Carlo Guelfi / Orchestra conducted by Steven Mercurio [ Decca Records / 2 CD - released 27/May/2004 ] "Lay misconceptions aside: this version of a popular favourite challenges the best" Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine Sept 2004 |
PIETRO MASCAGNI / RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mascagni/Leoncavallo: Cavalleria Rusticana / Pagliacci (complete operas recorded in 1960/62 with libretto) Victoria de los Angeles, Lucine Amara, Franco Corelli, Tito Gobbi / Opera Roma, Gabriele Santini, Teatro alla Scala, Lovro von Matacic [ EMI Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/1991 ] "With Met stalwart Lucine Amara a strong Nedda this is one of the most bloodcurdling recordings of this finale." Musicweb (on Pagliacci) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Don Carlos (complete unabridged version 1867, recorded in 2004) Vienna State Opera / Alastair Miles, Ramon Vargas, Bo Skovhus, Iano Tamar / Bertrand de Billy [ ArtHaus Musik DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/Aug/2010 ] "A provocative, rewarding production." (beckmessersquill.com) |
RICHARD STRAUSS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Strauss, (R.): Elektra (complete opera recorded in 1981) Vienna State Opera / Astrid Varnay, Leonie Rysanek, Catarina Ligendza, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau / Karl Bohm (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/Aug/2005 ] "Karl Bohm - Strauss's protégé - conducts, while Gotz Friedrich directs the stage production itself, dramatically evoking and emphasizing the expressionist set design inherent in Strauss's original conception." (Rovi) |
BEDRICH SMETANA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Die Verkraufte Braut [The Bartered Bride] (complete opera recorded in 1982) Vienna State Opera / Lucia Popp / Siegfried Jerusalem / Karl Ridderbusch / Adam Fischer (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon / DVD - released 7/Aug/2007 ] Every bar bubbles with the spirit of the Bohemian countryside in Otto Schenk's picturesque 1982 production from Vienna, where Smetana's comic masterpiece, The Bartered Bride, first conquered the hearts of opera lovers with its lilting melodies,... |
GEORGES BIZET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bizet: Carmen (complete Franco Zeffirelli production recorded in 1978) Vienna State Opera / Placido Domingo, Elena Obraztsova, Isobel Buchanan, Yuri Mazurok, Isobel Buchanan / Carlos Kleiber (cond) [ Arthaus DVD / Blu-ray Disc - released 12/Jul/2004 ] The Vienna Carmen from 1978 is a sensational filmed document from the musical legacy of Carlos Kleiber: the meticulous conductor only ever conducted a highly selected repertoire, and among his very few audio and video recordings are only seven... |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Don Giovanni (Highlights from the complete opera) William Shimell, Cheryl Studer, Samuel Ramey / Vienna Philharmonic / Riccardo Muti [ EMI Encore / CD - released 22/Feb/2005 ] Combining comedy and drama, Don Giovanni is one of the most well-known and often praised operas ever written. First performed in 1787, it has been appealing to audiences ever since with its multitude of moral, as well as musical themes. |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera recorded in 2005) Zurich Opera / Cristina Gallardo-Domas, Elena Mosuc, Marcello Giordani, Cheyne Davidson / Franz Welser-Most (cond) [ EMI Classics / DVD - released 26/Mar/2007 ] The Belgian director of this production, Philippe Sireuil, was heavily inspired by Aki Kaurismäki's film version of Henri Murger's novel "Scènes de la vie de Bohème". |
RICHARD STRAUSS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Ariadne auf Naxos (complete opera recorded 1986 with libretto) Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnes Baltsa, Kathleen Battle, Gary Lakes, Hermann Prey / Wiener Philharmoniker, James Levine [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD Box Set - released 30/Oct/2014 ] "For its debut on CD, Ariadne auf Naxos receives a bright, clear DG recording, ... Much of this can be credited to James Levine's acute sense of tempo throughout" Gramophone |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wagner: Tannhauser (Complete opera at a special price) Brigitte Nilsson, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Theo Adam / Berlin Opera, Otto Gerdes [ Deutsche Grammophon Trio / 3 CD Box Set - released 11/Sep/2002 ] "...a fine chorus and orchestra, and Windgassen offers an experienced, sincere, and intensely sung account of the title role, Fischer-Dieskau, in peak form, a wonderful Wolfram ...one has to admire [Nilsson's] vocal security throughout." Gramophone,... |
GILBERT and SULLIVAN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gilbert & Sullivan: Trial By Jury & Cox and Box Ambrosian Opera Chorus with Kate Flowers, Frankie Howard, Ryland Davies, Russell Smythe, Thomas Lawlor & others [ BBC / Umbrella DVD / DVD - released 10/Aug/2014 ] Music by the London Symphony Orchestra, the Ambrosian Opera Chorus and a host of stars including Alexander Oliver, Thomas Hemsley, Anne Collins and Kate Flowers. 112 minutes. |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: La Cenerentola [Cinderella] (complete opera with full libretto recorded in 1992) Cecilia Bartoli, William Matteuzzi, Enzo Dara, Alessandro Corbelli / Orchestra & Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Riccardo Chailly [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 28/Aug/2014 ] "All eyes and ears, inevitably, are on Bartoli, and she doesn't disappoint...The singing itself is ravishing. At the same time, the performance makes dramatic sense." Gramophone |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: The World of Wagner Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Vienna State Opera Chorus & Vienna Philharmonic, Sir Georg Solti, Birgit Nilsson (soprano) / [ Decca / CD - released 10/Nov/1993 ] A great beginners guide to the operas of Richard Wagner. |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Tosca (complete opera recorded 2000) Francesca Patane, Jose Cura, Renato Bruson / Symphony Orchestra of the Province of Bari / Pier Giorgio Morandi [ PIM DVD / DVD - released 4/Sep/2003 ] This performance was acclaimed as an operatic event, and the superstar cast makes it a Tosca for the ages. Enrico Castiglione has directed the work with tremendous originality and dramatic power. |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Fidelio, Op. 72 (Complete Opera recorded in 1970) Helga Dernesch, Jon Vickers, Zoltán Kéléman, Helen Donath / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ EMI Classics Opera / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Aug/1995 ] "Helga Dernesch as Leonare gives a glorious, thrilling peformance. The orchestral playing is superb." (Penguin Guide) |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Cosi fan Tutte (complete opera with libretto) Kiri te Kanawa, Marie McLaughlin, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Thomas Hampson / Vienna Philharmonic,James Levine [ Deutsche Grammophon / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/May/1990 ] "Te Kanawa is in fine voice, a little looser and more mature-sounding than in her two previous assumptions of Fiordiligi but her soprano is bigger and her characterisation more assertive than before, making more of the text." MusicWeb |
GILBERT & SULLIVAN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gilbert & Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance (complete operetta recorded in 2006) Opera Australia / Anthony Warlow, David Hobson, John Bolton Wood, Taryn Fiebig, Suzanne Johnston / Andrew Greene (cond) [ ABC DVD / DVD - released 3/May/2007 ] "If G&S is your thing, you'll love every moment of this joyful production" - The Australian |