GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Otello (complete opera recorded in 2012) Metropolitan Opera / Renee Fleming, Johan Botha, Falk Struckmann / Semyon Bychkov (cond) [ Decca DVD / DVD - released 15/May/2015 ] Renée Fleming's Desdemona enshrines one of her signature roles in a definitive performance: "she knows exactly how to spin the gentle lines of the 'Willow Song' and 'Ave Maria' so that they softly fill the hall" (New York Times). This 2012... |
JULES MASSENET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Massenet: Thais (complete opera, recorded in 2009) Metropolitan Opera / Renee Fleming, Thomas Hampson, Michael Schade / Jesus Lopez-Cobos (cond) [ Decca Music Group DVD / DVD - released 18/Feb/2010 ] The New York Times lauded Renée Fleming as a "vocally sumptuous and unabashedly show-stealing Thaïs". If this is crime, opera needs more of it! |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wagner: Tannhauser (Complete Opera recorded in 1983) Metropolitan Opera / Richard Cassilly, Eva Marton, Tatiana Troyanos / James Levine [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 13/Oct/2002 ] The Metropolitan Opera sings deeply passionate Wagner in this 1991 production on a spare but darkly atmospheric stage. |
PYTOR TCHAIKOVSKY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin (complete opera recorded in 2007) BLU-RAY Metropolitan Opera / Sergej Aleksashkin, Renee Fleming, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Ramon Vargas / Valery Gergiev (cond) [ Decca Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Mar/2009 ] This is a star-led performance of one of the most popular romantic operas with the unrivalled pairing of Fleming and Hvorostovsky as the doomed lovers. |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
MARBECK COLLECTABLE: Berlioz: Les Troyens (complete opera recorded in 1983) The Metropolitan Opera / Tatiana Troyanos, Jessye Norman, Placido Domingo / James Levine (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 28/Jun/2007 ] "Domingo's clarion (though stretched) Aeneas and Norman's passionate Cassandra are most memorable. Troyanos does not match Gardiner's Susan Graham, but Levine is admirably epic and provides the traditional finale." BBC Music |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: The Last Three Piano Sonatas: Opus 109, 110 and 111 Michael Houstoun (piano) [ Trust Records DVD / DVD - released 1/Dec/2009 ] 'Whatever Houstoun plays is superb, but to hear him in Beethoven is to hear him at his best.' Christchurch Star |
NICOLO PAGANINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Paganini: 24 Caprices (recorded 1958) Michael Rabin (violin) [ EMI Great Recordings of the Century / CD - released 15/Feb/2003 ] 'The legendary Michael Rabin, who died tragically young, was a stupendous technician. Superb dexterity is coupled with a fine control of pitch and a wonderful singing quality in the highest register.' (Gramophone) |
NANCARROW / GERSHWIN / BEACH / JOPLIN / BERNSTEIN / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Four Piano Blues - American Piano Music Michel Legrand (piano) [ Erato / CD - released 24/Feb/1994 ] Legrand composed more than two hundred film and television scores. He won three Oscars and five Grammys. He studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris from age 11, working with, among others, Nadia Boulanger and graduated with top honors as both a... |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Vivaldi: The Four Seasons / etc Michel Schwalbe (violin) / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD ] Recorded: 1972 |
GUSTAV MAHLER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mahler: Symphony No 3 Michelle DeYoung (mezzo) / Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Bernard Haitink [ CSO Resound / 2 CD - released 15/Jun/2007 ] "this is an emotionally compelling rendition that holds its own with any version on the market, and it will satisfy any Mahlerian with its many passages of profound beauty, childlike playfulness, and spiritual ecstasy." ~ Blair Sanderson, All Music Guide |
FRANCIS POULENC
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Poulenc: Stabat Mater / Salve Regina / Litanies a la vierge Michèle Lagrange (soprano), Choeur & Orchestre national de Lyon, Serge Baudo [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 21/Jul/2017 ] "Baudo leads French forces in a highly idiomatic performance" ClassicalNet |
GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Telemann: Der Tod Jesu (Passion Oratorio), TWV 5:6 Dorothee Mields (soprano), Britta Schwarz (alto), Jan Kobow (tenor), Klaus Mertens (bass) / Telemann-Kammerorchester Michaelstein, Ludger Remy [ CPO / CD - released 5/Jun/2000 ] "The performance does the work full justice....The recorded sound, too, is restrained and sympathetic. Yet another pleasant Telemann surprise." Gramophone. |
LEOS JANACEK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Janacek: Piano Works Mikhail Rudy (piano) [ EMI Music / CD - released 6/Mar/1990 ] "Mikhail Rudy has alway been a very impressive pianist and his disc of Janacek is a statement of singular strength, taking us on a much bigger voyage than the running time suggests." Review |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mina Foley and Michael Tarawhiti McGifford Mina Foley / Michael Tarawhiti McGifford with Val Hungerford (piano) [ Ode Records / CD - released 16/Aug/2007 ] This recording is available for the first time on CD and features a selection of fine songs for solo voice along with duets performed by Mina with another NZ great Michael Tarawhiti McGifford. |
W. A. MOZART / JOSEF HAYDN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Antal Dorati: the Mozart & Haydn Recordings on Mercury Living Presence Minneapolis Symphony, London Symphony, Philharmonia Hungarica, Antal Dorati [ Mercury Living Presense Australian Eloquence / 4 CD Box Set - released 21/Aug/2020 ] Antal Doráti's complete Haydn and Mozart recordings for Mercury, predating his landmark collection of the Haydn cycle for Decca. |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Shostakovich: Violin & Viola Sonatas Shlomo Mintz (violin) Viktoria Postnikova (piano) [ Warner Elatus / CD - released 27/Jan/2003 ] |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: VERDI: Requiem (coupled with Bruckner's te Deum) Mirella Freni, Christa Ludwig, Carlo Cossutta, Nicolai Ghiaurov / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD - released 26/Mar/2000 ] "If you are an adherent of Karajan's Verdi, you will certainly enjoy this performance. It has all the characteristics of measured tempos and forceful attack that one expects from him...Ludwig is satisfying in every way." Gramophone |
GIOCOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Madama Butterfly (Highlights) Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Christa Ludwig / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Decca Records / CD - released 1/Jan/1990 ] Highlights from this most loved Opera. *** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo Guide |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Tosca (Complete Opera recorded in 1976) Monserrat Caballe, Jose Carreras, Ingvar Wixell, Samuel Ramey / Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Colin Davis [ Philips Duo / 2 CD - released 4/Sep/1993 ] The great Caballé at the height of her career sings with her protégé Carreras, his voice still vibrant with the golden glow of youth. The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, is led by Sir Colin Davis. |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Brahms: Choral Works (Incls Liebeslieder-Walzer, op.52) Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner [ Philips Originals / CD - released 15/Apr/2006 ] "Gardiner captures the quintessentially Viennese flavour ... the choir produces some direct and richly expressive singing, with every individual phrase shaped with immense care and sensitivity." Gramophone |