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CESAR FRANCK
Franck: Hulda (complete opera original version) Meagan Miller, Joshua Kohl, Irina Jae-Eun Park, Anja Jung / Opernchor des Theater Freiburg, Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Fabrice Bollon [ Naxos / 3 CD Box Set - released 10/Oct/2021 ] "An intrepid cast led by Meagan Miller as Hulda and Joshua Kohl's Eiolf, her faithless lover, negotiates a top-heavy score that mixes Franck's thunderous organ chords with Berlioz and Wagner..all credit to Fabrice Bollon and the Freiburg Phil." BBC |
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GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Carmen (Complete Opera recorded in June 2009) BLU-RAY Opéra Comique, Paris / Anna Caterina Antonacci, Andrew Richards, Nicolas Cavallier, Monteverdi Choir / John Eliot Gardiner (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 14/May/2021 ] On 3 June 1975, the day after the 33rd performance of Carmen - indicating limited success as the receipts were meagre - he died from a heart attack, at the age of 36, like Mozart. |
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ALFRED CELLIER
Cellier: Dorothy [Operetta] Majella Cullagh, Lucy Vallis, Stephanie Maitland, Matt Mears, John Ieuan Jones / Victorian Opera, Richard Bonynge [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Feb/2019 ] Alfred Cellier was a contemporary of Arthur Sullivan as a Chapel Royal chorister, and would later conduct several Gilbert and Sullivan productions. With its rural tale of disguise and romantic scheming, its jaunty tunes, lively characters and... |
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VERDI / BIZET / MOZART / PUCCINI / HANDEL / STRAUSS / WAGNER
150 Years Of Wiener Staatsoper: Great Opera Evenings (Limited Edition) Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Carlos Álvarez, Johan Botha, Angelika Kirchschlager, Brigitte Fassbaender, Wiener Staatsopernorchester [ Arthaus DVD / 11 DVD Box Set - released 2/Aug/2019 ] Limited Edition - Experience four decades of opera history from the Wiener Staatsoper on 11 DVDs. 150 Years Vienna State Opera means 150 years of impressive opera events featuring the greatest conductors of all time, and, high-class opera stars. |
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RICHARD FAWKES
Fawkes: The History Of Opera (Unabridged) Read by Robert Powell [ Naxos Audiobooks / 4 CD Box Set - released 1/Aug/2005 ] Since its origins in the sixteenth century, opera has been an extravagant, costly affair, arousing great passions. It has also produced some of the most sublime works of art, from Monteverdi to Wagner. .. |
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RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss, (R.): Ariadne auf Naxos (complete opera recorded in 2012) Staatskapelle Dresden / Renée Fleming, Robert Dean Smith, Sophie Koch / Christian Thielemann (cond) [ Decca DVD / DVD - released 21/Jul/2013 ] "...Fleming's sense of the Straussian line cannot be faulted...Robert Dean Smith has a voice that lacks an individual stamp but his absolute security and tirelessly make his Bacchus...a success." (International Record Review) |
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GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Tancredi (Complete opera) Sumi Jo (sop) Anna Maria di Micco (contralto) Stanford Olsen (tenor) Ewa Podles (contralto) / Collegium Instrumentale Brugense, Alberto Zedda [ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 8/Jan/2004 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1801-1850) |
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ERICH KORNGOLD
Korngold: Die Tote Stadt (complete opera) Katarina Dalayman, Lars-Erik Jonsson, Hilde Leidland / Royal Swedish Opera Chorus and Orchestra [ Naxos / 2 CD Box Set - released 26/Jul/1999 ] "This set from Naxos really does him [Korngold] proud....The result is addictive music, certainly when performed with this degree of loving care. Leif Segerstam has the measure of this idiom." Classic CD |
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GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia [The Barber of Seville] (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Theatre Des Champs-Elys / Florian Sempey, Catherine Trottmann, Michele Angelini, Péter Kálmán [ Naxos Unitel Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 7/Jul/2020 ] "The period orchestra is technically impressive and admirable in its range of colour. Jérémie Rhorer is a spirited conductor, conveying the score's sophistication in lithe, witty fashion." Opera |
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GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Moïse et Pharaon (1827 Paris version) (complete opera) Baurzhan Anderzhanov, Elisa Balbo, Randall Bills, Alexey Birkus, Albane Carrère, Silvia Dalla Benetta / Virtuosi Brunensis, Fabrizio Maria Carminati [ Naxos / 3 CD - released 14/Aug/2020 ] Following the French theatre tradition for spectacular biblical dramas during Lent, Rossini's Moïse was an incredible success at its Parisian premiere in 1827, and the opera is presented here in its complete form. |
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JOHANN STRAUSS II
Strauss, (J II): Die Göttin der Vernunft (The Goddess of Reason) (complete operetta) Veronika Groiss / Manfred Equiluz / Kirlianit Cortez / Franz Födinger / Slovak Sinfonietta, Žilina / Christian Pollack [ Naxos Opera / 2 CD - released 1/Aug/2011 ] "For this recording all the numbers - including the extra material - are played, and with some style under Viennese light-music specialist Christian Pollack...As well as the operetta itself, various dance selections drawn from it are included." BBC... |
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RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss, (R.): Ariadne auf Naxos (Complete Opera recorded in 1955) Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Rita Streich, Rudolf Schock, Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Warner Classics Home Of Opera / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2019 ] 'Perfectly cast, magnificently performed and superbly recorded, this is one of Karajan's most stylish performances. Under his direction everyone is inspired to give of their best.' Gramophone |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Marvellous Mezzo-Soprano and Contralto: Best Loved Opera Arias Agnes Baltsa (mezzo-soprano), Sonia Ganassi (mezzo-soprano), Marjana Lipovšek (mezzo-soprano), Ewa Podleś (contralto) [ Naxos / CD - released 23/Apr/2021 ] Portraying characters such as Rossini's lovestruck heroines, Verdi's dramatic roles and the seductive Carmen, the mezzo voice is valued for a tone that embodies richness and sensuality in all its operatic variety. |
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ANTONIO VIVALDI
Vivaldi: Griselda RV718 (complete opera) Colin Ainsworth / Carla Huhtanen / Lynne McMurty / Marion Newman / Aradia Ensemble / Kevin Mallon [ Naxos / 3 CD - released 23/Jan/2008 ] Vivaldi's Griselda, one of more than twenty operas, is based on a story retold in Boccaccio's Il decamerone about the testing of Griselda's patience and virtue by her royal husband through a series of cruel trials. The sense of drama that permeates... |
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JEAN PHILIPPE RAMEAU
Rameau: Castor Et Pollux [1754 version] Colin Ainsworth, Joshua Hopkins, Monica Whicher, Meredith Hall, Giles Tomkins, Renée Winick Opera in Concert Chorus, Aradia Ensemble, Kevin Mallon [ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2004 ] Recorded: 9-13 February 2003 Recording Venue: Grace Church on the Hill, Totonto, Canada |
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CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: L'Orfeo (complete opera) Alessandro Carmignani / Marinella Pennicchi / Rosita Frisani / Cappella Musicale di San Petronio di Bologna / Sergio Vartolo [ Naxos Early Music / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2007 ] "Carmignani has an expressive tenor voice...Pennicchi is lovely as Euridice. The singers are excellent and integrated into a carefully prepared ensemble...You will not do much better at triple the price" - Fanfare |
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GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Il Signor Bruschino (complete opera recorded in 2002) Alessandro Codeluppi, Maurizio Leoni, Elena Rossi / I Virtuosi Italiani, Claudio Desderi (conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jun/2010 ] Born in Pesaro in 1792, the son of a horn-player and a singer, Rossini even in childhood had experience of the theatre, both as an orchestral player and as a singer himself. |
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ERMANNO WOLF-FERRARI
Wolf-Ferrari: Das Himmelskleid ('The Garment of Heaven') (complete opera) Angelina Ruzzafante, Anna-Maria Dur, Sibrand Basa, Reinhard Leisenheimer, Peer-Martin Sturm / Hagen Philharmonic Orchestra & Opera Chorus, Gerhard Mar [ Naxos / 3 CD Box Set - released 2/Dec/2022 ] Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari is best known for his comic operas. With this reputation established, the appearance of Das Himmelskleid in 1927, with its 'symbolical twilight world… that rises musically to religious greatness and a world of dreams' was a... |
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GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Carmen (complete opera) Rah Graciela Alperyn, Giorgio Lamberti, Doina Palade, Alan Titus / Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and Slovak Philharmonic Chorus, Alexander Ra [ Naxos Opera Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Jan/2000 ] |
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ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK
Humperdinck: Music for the Stage Andrea Chudak, Ruxandra Voda van der Plas, Harrie van der Plas, Malmö Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Dario Salvi [ Naxos / CD - released 27/Nov/2020 ] Engelbert Humperdinck won a worldwide reputation through his application of Wagnerian techniques to folk music in Hänsel und Gretel. But he wrote far more widely for the stage than is acknowledged. |