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VINCENZO BELLINI
Bellini: I Puritani (complete opera) Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Piero Cappuccilli, Nicolai Ghiaurov / Royal Opera House Covent Garden / London Symphony Orchestra / Richard Bonyng [ Decca / 3 CD - released 10/Aug/2006 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1801-1850) -- Building a Library First Choice - January 2005 |
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DONIZETTI
Anna Bolena (complete opera) Joan Sutherland / Samuel Ramey / Susanne Mentzer / Jerry Hadley / Welsh National Opera Chorus & Orchestra / Richard Bonynge [ Decca Classic Opera / 3 CD - released 1/Oct/2006 ] The story of England's King Henry VIII, the demise of his second wife Anne Boleyn, and the rise of her rival Jane Seymour fascinated a wide 19th Century audience. With the opera Anna Bolena Donizetti brought his art to a new height and created what... |
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AMBROISE THOMAS
Thomas: Hamlet (complete opera recorded in 1984) Joan Sutherland, Sherrill Milnes, James Morris / Chorus and Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera, Richard Bonynge [ Decca Eloquence / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Mar/2017 ] "In the title role, Milnes is simply superb … I can't think of a better performance of his on disc! Sutherland, despite an occasional unsteady moment, continues to astound" Fanfare |
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GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti - La Fille du Régiment [Daughter of the Regiment] & Don Pasqual (recorded 2005/2006) Juan Diego Florez, Patricia Ciofi, Isabel Rey, Ruggero Raimondi, etc [ Decca Music Group DVD / 3 DVD Box Set - released 12/Dec/2019 ] Juan Diego Flórez proves he's the new King Of The High C's in one of his greatest stage roles. He gives a sensational performance of Tonio's aria 'Ah! mes amis...' - with 9 top Cs sung not once, but twice! |
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W. A. MOZART
Cosi fan Tutte (Complete Opera recorded in 1990) Karita Mattila, Anne Sofie von Otter, Thomas Allen, Francisco Araiza / Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner [ Decca Classic Opera / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Sep/2008 ] "A strikingly light, fresh Così with a truly superb ensemble, idiomatic and characterful; the voices are large, but only Mattila sounds a little weighty." (Five Stars BBC Music) |
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W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Die Zauberflote [The Magic Flute] (Complete opera recorded in 1978) Kiri Te Kanawa, Peter Hofmann, Edita Gruberova, Kurt Moll, Kathleen Battle / Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Alain Lombard [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 8/Jan/2021 ] A real gem looking at the incredible cast, a veritable "Who's Who" of opera singers of the time: Kiri Te Kanawa, Peter Hofmann, Edita Gruberova, Kathleen Battle, Kurt Moll and Jose Van Dam. |
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WAGNER
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Complete opera) Kirsten Flagstad, Claire Watson, George London / Vienna Philharmonic, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Heritage Masters / 2 CD - released 20/Sep/2009 ] It took a lot of effort for legendary producer John Culshaw to convince the powers-that-be at Decca that a state-of-the-art studio Ring should be recorded. With artists such as Kirsten Flagstad and George London in the cast, the recording of Die... |
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VERDI
Verdi: La Traviata (Complete Opera) Pilar Lorengar, Giacomo Aragall, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Stefania Malagù [ Double Decca / 2 CD - released 10/May/2014 ] "With Fischer-Dieskau a searchingly intense intense Germont and Aragall making a ringing a ringingly impressive Alfredo, this is a strong cast. Maazel's conducting is characteristically forceful." (Penguin Guide) |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Tenor Arias from Italian Opera Luciano Pavarotti (tenor) / New Philharmonia / Vienna Opera Orchestra [ Decca Pavarotti the Studio Albums / CD - released 15/Dec/2007 ] This collection, Tenor Arias from Italian Opera was published originally in 1971. Covering a vast breadth of expressive styles Pavarotti shows his versatility, depth of interpretation and supreme capacity in these dramatic roles. |
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GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Maria Stuarda (complete opera recorded in 1976) Luciano Pavarotti (tenor) Joan Sutherland (soprano) Huguette Tourangeau (Mezzo Soprano) / Bologna Teatro Comunale Orchestra, Richard Bonynge [ Decca Records / 3 CD Box Set - released 10/Jun/2011 ] "Sutherland has only to trill or sing a rapid scale or sustain a high, pure note, and I warm to her afresh...Bonynge's conducting has its usual feeling for the spring of a rhythm and the build of a climax; the recording is clear and well balanced." |
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RICHARD STRAUSS
Salome (complete opera recorded in 1994) Catherine Malfitano, Bryn Terfel, Kenneth Riege / Wiener Philharmoniker, Christoph von Dohnanyi [ Decca Operas / 2 CD - released 24/Oct/2011 ] Catherine Malfitano (Salome), Bryn Terfel (Jokanaan), Kenneth Riegel (Herodes), Hanna Schwarz (Herodias), Kim Begley (Narraboth), Randi Stene (Ein Page) |
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RICHARD STRAUSS
Der Rosenkavalier (Complete Opera) Maria Reining, Ludwig Weber, Sena Jurinac / Vienna Philharmonic / Erich Kleiber [ Decca Heritage Masters / 3 CD - released 20/Oct/2009 ] Erich Kleiber's landmark recording of Richard Strauss's comic opera! |
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VERDI
La Battaglia di Legnano (Complete opera) Matteo Manuguerra, Jose Carreras, Katia Ricciarelli, Nicola Ghiuselev / ORF Symphony Orchestra and Chorus / Lamberto Gardelli [ Decca / Philips / 2 CD - released 1/Sep/2007 ] "Gardelli directs a fine performance, helped by a strong cast of principals, with Carreras, Ricciarelli and Manuguerra all at their finest. Excellent recording." The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs |
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HASSE
Rokoko: Hasse Opera Arias Max Emanuel Cencic (countertenor), Armonia Atenea, George Petrou [ Decca / CD - released 20/Jul/2014 ] "Whatever the piece, one hears Cencic at his best, in quality of voice and in his control of it...These Hasse arias would make a worthy introduction to Cencic's abilities for anyone who has yet to make his acquaintance and are confirmation for his ad |
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LEONARDO VINCI
Catone in Utica (complete opera) Max Emanuel Cencic, Franco Fagioli, Valer Sabadus, Martin Mitterutzner / Il Pomo D'oro, Riccardo Minasi [ Decca / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Aug/2015 ] "Sancho's beefy tenor aptly characterises Cato's scepticism about reaching a diplomatic resolution...Il Pomo d'Oro, directed by Riccardo Minasi, vividly characterise each scene with theatrical zest." (Gramophone) |
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GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Arminio (complete opera) Max Emanuel Cencic, Layla Claire, Ruxandra Donose, Vince Yi, Juan Sancho, Xavier Sabata, Petros Magoulas / Armonia Atenea, George Petrou [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 11/May/2016 ] "Petrou's direction keeps the drama moving, animated by clean articulation from Armonia Atenea . . . On balance, this "Arminio" is probably now the best out there." Gramophone May 2016 |
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RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss, (R.): Der Rosenkavalier (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Metropolitan Opera / Renee Fleming, Elina Garanca, Gunther Groissbock, Erin Morley / Sebastian Weigle (cond) [ Decca Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 26/Jan/2018 ] "The dramatic chemistry between Ms. Fleming and Ms. GaranĨa came through in their every exchange" New York Times |
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W. A. MOZART
Lucio Silla (complete opera) Peter Schreier, Arleen Augér, Edith Mathis, Julia Varady, Helen Donath / Salzburger Rundfunk- und Mozarteumchor, Leopold Hager [ Decca / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Aug/2014 ] "Leopold Hager...paces the arias admirably and draws clean, euphonious playing from the Mozarteum Orchestra. The cast could scarcely be bettered, as the presence of singers like Helen Donath and Edith Mathis in the secondary roles implies" Gramophone |
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PUCCINI
Tosca (complete opera recorded in 1978) Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes / National Philharmonic Orchestra, Nicola Rescigno [ Decca Operas / 2 CD - released 24/Oct/2011 ] "The great merit of this new version of Tosca...is that the stage picture is so clear, with the words sharply audible from beginning to end...Pavarotti makes an unusually positive and bright-eyed Cavaradossi, by no means the cipher this character can |
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MASSENET
Manon (complete ballet) Covent Garden Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Richard Bonynge [ Decca Ballet Edition / 2 CD - released 14/Nov/2011 ] |