GIACOMO PUCCINI / GIUSEPPE VERDI / GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Carmen (complete opera recorded in 1950) Michel Dens, Martha Angelici, Germaine Chellet, Frederic Leprin / Paris Opéra-Comique Chorus & Orchestra, André Cluytens [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 3/Mar/2003 ] "The singers are first rate, the orchestral musicians spirited and wholly committed and Cluytens' direction, with its pace and sense of theatre, is second to none." MusicWeb. |
Paris Opera-Comique/Cluytens
Offenbach: Les Contes D'hoffma [ Naxos Historical / 2 CD - released 2/Sep/2002 ] |
LEO DELIBES / LUDWIG MINKUS
Delibes/Minkus - La Source (complete ballet recorded in 2011) Paris Opéra Ballet / Ludmila Pagliero, Isabelle Ciaravola, Karl Paquette and Mathias Heymann / Koen Kessels, Conductor [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 8/Apr/2022 ] Lost after its material records were destroyed by fire in 1883, the spectacular ballet La Source originally portrayed the idealistic vision of a magical domain in which a complex but beautiful love story of mythical figures unfolded. Jean-Guillaume... |
LEO DELIBES / LUDWIG MINKUS
Delibes/Minkus - La Source (complete ballet recorded in 2011) BLU-RAY Paris Opéra Ballet / Ludmila Pagliero, Isabelle Ciaravola, Karl Paquette and Mathias Heymann / Koen Kessels, Conductor [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 8/Apr/2022 ] Lost after its material records were destroyed by fire in 1883, the spectacular ballet La Source originally portrayed the idealistic vision of a magical domain in which a complex but beautiful love story of mythical figures unfolded. Jean-Guillaume... |
MENOTTI
The Consul / Amelia al Ballo (complete operas) Patricia Neway / Margherita Carosio / Marie Powers / Giacinto Prandelli / Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala Milan / Nino Sanzogno / Lehmann Engel [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2010 ] This 2-CD set is the first in a series devoted to Gian Carlo Menotti's compositions on the occasion of his centenary in 2011. The recordings will include several which have never before appeared on CD, and some that have not been available in any... |
GIACOMO MEYERBEER
Meyerbeer: Il Crociato in Egitto (complete opera) Patrizia Ciofi / Michael Maniaci / Marco Vinco / Teatro la Fenice / Emmanuel Villaume [ Naxos Opera Classis / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Apr/2010 ] ".. the true revelation in this recording is Michael Maniaci. The role of Armano offers him a great opportunity to showcase his unusual, beautiful voice. With a solid cast and great choral scenes, this disc set is highly recommended." (TheWholeNote.com) |
FEENEY
Feeney-Dracula (Ballet in Three Acts) Pauline Thulborn, soprano, Opera North Chorus, Northern Ballet Theatre Orchestra. John Pryce-Jones, conductor [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Aug/2005 ] "Feeney's score is wonderfully atmospheric and rises suitably to underpin the gory climaxes" - Sunday Telegraph |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: L'equivoco stravagante (Complete opera) Petia Petrova, Marco di Felice, Marco Vinco / Czech Chamber Chours / Alberto Zedda [ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD Box Set - released 29/Jul/2002 ] "The cast is accomplished...with incisive diction and alert musicality. The one standout is the recording's Ernestina, the young Bulgarian mezzo Petia Petrova. She's a lively, vivid vocal presence, with the technique " - Opera News |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies 1 & 6 Berlin State Opera Orhestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Pfitzner [ Naxos / CD - released 24/Jul/2000 ] Recorded 1928 & 1930 |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: The Turn of the Screw (Complete opera recorded in 1994) Philip Langridge, Felicity Lott, Sam Pay, Eileen Hulse, Phyllis Cannan, Nadine Secunde / Aldeburgh Festival Ensemble, Steuart Bedford, conductor [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 25/Aug/2003 ] Steuart Bedford is recognised as one of today's leading experts on the works of Benjamin Britten. |
LEONCAVALLO / VERDI / MOZART / DONIZETTI / PUCCINI / HANDEL / LEHAR / etc
THRILLING TENOR - Best Loved Opera Arias Piotr Beczała, János Berkes, John Dickie, Marcello Giordani, Vladimir Grishko, Marcus Haddock, Thomas Harper, Kristjan Johannsson, Torsten Kerl, etc [ Naxos / CD - released 3/Dec/2021 ] It is only since the bel canto era in the 19th century that the tenor voice really took off as a leading character in operatic roles, often playing the heroic figure against a love-interest soprano and a villain baritone. |
Podles/Hungarian State Opera
Rossini:arias [ Naxos / CD ] |
SCHOENBERG
Moses und Aron Polish Radio Choir / Stuttgart State Opera Children's Chorus / Stuttgart State Opera Chorus / Stuttgart State Orchestra / Roland Kluttig (Conductor) [ Naxos Opera / 2 CD - released 14/Sep/2006 ] His most comprehensive score, it represents the climax of his association with the dodecaphonic method of composition, described by Schoenberg himself as 'a method of composition with twelve notes related only to each other'. |
JAMES PRICE JOHNSON
Johnson: De Organizer / The Dreamy Kid (excerpts) Rabihah Davis Dunn, Olivia Duval, Lori Celeste Hick & other soloists / University of Michigan Opera Theatre and Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Kiesler [ Naxos American Opera Classics / CD - released 8/Sep/2023 ] Renowned as an influential jazz pianist, James P. Johnson also flourished as a composer of opera and of show tunes in the 1920s and 1930s. His two short operas The Dreamy Kid and De Organizer offer contrasting stories of African American life at that... |
FRANCESCO MORLACCHI
Morlacchi: Tebaldo e Isolina (complete opera) Raúl Baglietto, Gheorghe Vlad, Annalisa D'Agosto, Silvano Zabe / Virtuosi Brunensis, Poznań Camerata Bach Choir, Antonino Fogliani [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 6/Mar/2020 ] "The engineers of the SWR have done a truly wonderful job at capturing the acoustic of the Trinkhalle in Bad Wilbad. The sound is immediate and yet perfectly balanced." MusicWeb June 2020 |
PUCCINI
Madama Butterfly (Complete opera 1951 recording) Renata Tebaldi / Giuseppe Campora / Nell Rankin / Giovanni Inghilleri / Chorus and Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome / Alberto Erede, [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 30/Oct/2003 ] Renata Tebaldi (b.1922) studied at the Boito Conservatorio in Parma, before making her début as Elena in Mefistofele at Rovigo in 1944. She sang for Toscanini at the opening concert at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, in 1946. Later that season she was... |
VERDI
Aida (complete opera recorded in 1952) Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Ebe Stignani, Aldo Protti / Chorus and Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome, Alberto Erede [ Naxos Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 20/Aug/2011 ] Recorded 1952 |
AUBER / PUCCINI / VERDI / THOMAS / KORNGOLD / etc
Richard Tauber-Opera Arias Vol 1 Richard Tauber (tenor) with various accompanments [ Naxos Historical Great Singers / CD - released 14/Feb/2002 ] From the mid-1920s until his death on 8th January 1948, and even to this day, operetta and ballads have remained, primarily through his recordings, Tauber's most widely remembered repertoire. |
DAVID SCHIFF
Schiff: Gimpel the Fool (complete opera) Richard Zeller / D'Anna Fortunato / Kevin Walsh / Thomas Glenn / Third Angle Ensemble / Kenneth Kiesler [ Naxos American Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 13/Jun/2007 ] Gimpel the Fool is a setting of the story by Polish-born American Yiddish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991). In the words of the composer, also of Polish descent, "it turned out to be world full of spirits and demons, as well as a world... |
DARON HAGEN
Shining Brow (complete opera) Robert Orth / Brenda Harris / Robert Frankenberry / Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus / JoAnn Falletta [ Naxos American Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] Daron Hagen and Paul Muldoon's first, and highly successful, opera is based on the life of the great American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Taliesin (Welsh for 'Shining Brow'), the home he built for himself in Wisconsin. Popular with audiences and... |