UMBERTO GIORDANO
Giordano: Andrea Chenier (complete opera recorded in 1931) Luigi Marini / Lina Bruna-Rasa / Carlo Galeffi / Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala / Lorenzo Molajoli [ Naxos Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2007 ] This is one of the more groundbreaking series of complete opera recordings made at the La Scala Opera in the early 1930's |
DELIBES
Lakme (complete opera) Mado Robin (soprano) / Agnes Disney (mezzo) / Libero de Luca (tenor) / Paris Opera-Comique Chorus and Orchestra / Georges Sebastien [ Naxos Historical / 2 CD - released 4/Mar/2007 ] The great soprano Mado Robin made her début at the Paris Opéra in 1945 as Gilda, and gave her first performance as Lakmé, which was to become her most famous rôle, the following year at the Opéra-Comique. |
JOHANN NEPOMUK HUMMEL
Hummel At the Opera Madoka Inui (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 18/Jul/2011 ] The reputation of Johann Nepomuk Hummel - child prodigy, student of Mozart, successor of Haydn and Beethoven's rival, widely-travelled piano virtuoso, composer, conductor, influential teacher and ingenious businessman - is once more on the rise. His... |
ARRIGA BOITO
Boito: Mefistofele (complete opera recorded in 1931) Mafalda Favero, Giannina Arangi-Lombardi, Antonio Melandri / Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Lorenzo Molajoli [ Naxos Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 20/Aug/2011 ] Recorded November - December, 1931 |
FERRUCCIO BUSONI
Busoni: Doktor Faust (Complete Opera recorded in 2023) Blu-ray Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Dietrich Henschel, Daniel Brenna, Wilhelm Schwinghammer, Joseph Dahdah, Olga Bezsmertna, Florian Stern / Cornelius Meiste [ Naxos / Dynamic Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 15/Mar/2024 ] "Meister [acquits himself well], conducting by turns with sensitivity and vigour, and capturing effectively the haunting, mysterious sound world of the piece. The orchestral playing could be more refined but doesn't lack for commitment." Gramophone |
FRANCESCO CILEA
Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur (Complete Opera recorded in 2021) Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Maria José Siri, Ksenia Dudnikova, Martin Muehle, Paolo Antognetti / Daniel Harding (cond) [ Naxos / Dynamic DVD / DVD - released 9/Sep/2022 ] Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur was inspired by the real-life story of a celebrated actress at the Comédie-Française who was much admired by Voltaire. Hailed as a masterpiece, the opera was triumphantly staged in cities around the world. |
FRANCESCO CILEA
Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur (Complete Opera recorded in 2021) Blu-ray Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Maria José Siri, Ksenia Dudnikova, Martin Muehle, Paolo Antognetti / Daniel Harding (cond) [ Naxos / Dynamic Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 9/Sep/2022 ] Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur was inspired by the real-life story of a celebrated actress at the Comédie-Française who was much admired by Voltaire. Hailed as a masterpiece, the opera was triumphantly staged in cities around the world. |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Cosi fan Tutte (complete opera recorded in 2021) Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Valentina Nafornita, Benedetta Torre, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, Matthew Swensen, Thomas Hampson / Zubin Mehta (cond) [ Naxos DVD / 2 DVD - released 8/Apr/2022 ] The production of Mozart's classic comic opera from 2021 is directed by the acclaimed German director Sven-Eric Bechtolf. Conducted by Zubin Mehta, the cast includes Thomas Hampson as Don Alfonso, and the Moldovan soprano Valentina Naforniţa. |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Cosi fan Tutte (complete opera recorded in 2021) BLU-RAY Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Valentina Nafornita, Benedetta Torre, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, Matthew Swensen, Thomas Hampson / Zubin Mehta (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 8/Apr/2022 ] The production of Mozart's classic comic opera from 2021 is directed by the acclaimed German director Sven-Eric Bechtolf. Conducted by Zubin Mehta, the cast includes Thomas Hampson as Don Alfonso, and the Moldovan soprano Valentina Naforniţa. |
WLADYSLAW ZELENSKI
Zelenski: Janek (complete opera) Małgorzata Grzegorzewicz-Rodek, Agnieszka Kuk, Łukasz Gaj / The Henryk Wieniawski Philharmonic Orchestra in Lublin, Wojciech Rodek [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 9/Jun/2023 ] Władysław Żeleński was a neo-Romantic from southern Poland whose compositions were infused with evocative national colour and character. His opera Janek draws on local atmosphere and traditional music but also makes use of the emotive Italian verismo... |
WILLIAM WALLACE
Maritana (Complete Opera recorded in 1995) Majella Cullagh / Lunda Lee / Paul Charles Clarke / Rte Philharmonic Choir / Rte Concert Orchestra / Proinnsias O Duinn [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 20/Dec/2011 ] "[the cast] all sing with total dedication and conviction. It isn't at all difficult to understand Maritana's popularity, nor with the ensuing snobbery of the twentieth century, why it fell out of favour." (Gramophone) |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Gianni Schicchi (complete opera) Alberto Rinaldi, Tatiana Lisnic, Mabel Perelstein, Stefano Secco, Gerardo Lopez, Sara Galli Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Rahbari [ Naxos / CD - released 5/Jan/2004 ] Recorded in 2002 |
CHOPIN / ROSSINI / OFFENBACH / BIZET / LALO / CHABRIER / etc
Art and Music: Manet - Music of His Time Hungarian State Opera Orchestra; New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; Polish National Radio Symphony, Kodály Quartet, etc [ Naxos Educational / CD - released 31/Mar/2003 ] Edouard Manet (1832-83) has been called the father of modern painting. In the 1860s he was the leader of a group of young artists who later became known as the Impressionists, though his own work resists any simple label. On this CD, the world of... |
JOHANN STRAUSS
Eine Nacht in Venedig [A night in Venice] (complete opera broadcast in 1938) Marcel Wittrisch / Karl Schmitt-Walter / Carla Spletter / Heinrich Steiner (cond) [ Naxos Immortal Performances / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Jun/2010 ] |
ROSSINI
La Gazzetta (complete opera) Marco Cristarella Orestano / Judith Gauthier / Giulio Mastrototaro / Czech Chamber Soloists, Brno / Christopher Franklin [ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 6/Dec/2010 ] "All three [principals] are strongly cast in this vividly conducted live "Rossini in Wildbad" performance." (Gramophone) |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Sigismondo (complete opera) Margarita Gritskova, Maria Aleida, Paula Sánchez-Valverde, César Arrieta / Camerata Bach Choir Poznań, Virtuosi Brunensis, Antonino Fogliani [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 3/Jun/2013 ] "To modern ears, Sigismondo sounds fresh - as if it's a brand new offering by one of opera's all-time greats. An emphasis on madness and guilt and coloratura expressions of inner feeling results in a fascinating meeting of convention with experiment" |
BELLINI
La Sonnambula (Complete opera recorded in 1957) [with arias by Cherubini & Spontini] Maria Callas / Fiorenza Cossotto / Nicola Zaccaria / Nicola Monti / Milan La Scala Orchestra / Antonino Votto (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical Great Operas / 2 CD - released 2/Feb/2009 ] "Worth buying: economically, artistically and historically" (MusicWeb March 2009) |
VERDI
La Traviata (complete opera recorded in 1953) Maria Callas / Francesco Albanese / Ugo Savarese / Turin Radio Symphony Orchestra / Gabriele Santini [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2007 ] Maria Callas first sang Violetta in January 1951 at the Teatro Communale in Florence. In the next three seasons Callas sang the role at Bergamo, Parma, Mexico City, Verona, Venice and Rome. |
MASCAGNI
Cavalleria rusticana (complete opera recorded in 1953) Maria Callas / Giuseppe di Stefano / Milan La Scala Orchestra / Tullio Serafin (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical / CD - released 8/Aug/2006 ] Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana was the third complete opera recording for EMI [Columbia/Angel] that Callas took part in, and the second under the aegis of La Scala, Milan. |
PUCCINI
La Boheme (Complete opera recorded in 1956) [with opera arias sung by Rosanna Carteri] Maria Callas / Giuseppe di Stefano / Rolando Panerai / Nicola Zaccaria / Anna Moffo / Milan La Scala Orchestra / Antonino Votto (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical Great Operas / 2 CD - released 2/Feb/2009 ] This 1956 recording of Puccini's perennially popular La bohème was Callas's twelfth complete opera recording with La Scala, Milan, though she never sang it live on stage here or anywhere else. |