GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Turandot (Complete Opera with complete libretto) Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Montserrat Caballe, Nicolai Ghiaurov / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta [ Decca Records / 2 CD Box Set - released 17/Feb/2015 ] "Sutherland gives an intensely appealing interpretation, while Pavarotti gives a performance equally imaginative. Mehta directs a gloriously rich and dramatic performance. Still the best-sounding Turandot on CD." Penguin Guide |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Turandot (highlights) Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Montserrat Caballe, Nicolai Ghiaurov / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta [ Decca Opera Gala / CD - released 17/Feb/2015 ] "Sutherland gives an intensely appealing interpretation, while Pavarotti gives a performance equally imaginative. Mehta directs a gloriously rich and dramatic performance. Still the best-sounding Turandot on CD." Penguin Guide |
PUCCINI / VERDI / BELLINI / DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Love Duets Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti / National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge [ Decca Opera Gala / CD - released 5/Apr/1999 ] The ardour and passion of some of the best-known love duets from Italian Opera are brought out to the full by the stunning voices of two of the world's greatest singers. |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: La Traviata (Complete Opera recorded in 1981 with libretto) Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Matteo Manuguerra / National Philharmonic / Richard Bonynge [ Decca Records / 2 CD - released 27/Sep/2001 ] Classic 1981 recording, with full libretto and translations. |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Rigoletto (Highlights from the opera) Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, Huguette Tourangeau / London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge [ Decca / CD - released 27/Sep/1988 ] "[Pavarotti] is an intensely characterful Duke: an unmistakable rogue but a charmer, too...[Sutherland] is glowingly beautiful as well as supremely assured technically. Milnes makes a strong Rigoletto." Penguin Guide |
VERDI / BELLINI / PUCCINI / PONCHIELLI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Live From The Lincoln Centre Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti / NYC Opera Orchestra / Richard Bonynge [ Decca / London / CD - released 30/Jun/1987 ] Three of operas greatest stars came together under the baton of Richard Bonynge for this sensational concert which took place in New York's Avery Fisher Hall in March 1981 and which first appeared as a 2-LP set later that year. |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: The Glories of Handel Opera Joan Sutherland, Renata Tebaldi, Emma Kirkby, Marilyn Horne, Teresa Berganza [ Decca Opera Gala / CD - released 7/Aug/2000 ] Greatest moments from Opera sung by the world's finest singers! |
PUCCINI / VERDI / HANDEL / DONIZETTI / MASCAGNI / DVORAK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Your Hundred best Opera Tunes II Joan Sutherland, Renata Tebaldi, Marilyn Horne, Teresa Berganza, Franoo Corelli, Giuseppe di Stefano [ Decca / CD - released 7/Aug/1991 ] Greatest moments from Opera sung by the world's finest singers! |
VERDI / BELLINI / DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Joan Sutherland: Verdi / Bellini / Donizetti Joan Sutherland (soprano), Orchestre de la Societe des concerts du Conservatoire, Paris, Nello Santi [ Decca Opera Gala / CD - released 10/Oct/1982 ] Original recordings from 1959 and 1960 |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Britten: Death in Venice (Complete Opera recorded in 1974) John Shirley-Quirk, Peter Pears, James Bowman / Members of the English Opera Group, English Chamber Orchestra, Steuart Bedford [ Decca Records / 2 CD - released 2/Jan/2002 ] *** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo Guide |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: La Traviata (Complete Opera) : live from Paris Josa Cura, Eteri Gvazava, Rolando Panerai / Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI/ Zubin Mehta [ Teldec / 2 CD - released 7/Jul/2000 ] "..the performances of a cast of singers chosen as much for dramatic as for musical appropriateness has resulted in a performance on disc that is thoroughly convincing." BBC Music |
JULES MASSENET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE; Massenet: Werther (Complete opera) Julia Gertseva (mezzo) Andrea Bocelli (tenor) / Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Conducted by Yves Abel [ Decca Records / 2 CD - released 24/Mar/2005 ] A studio recording of the complete opera Werther by Jules Massenet, conducted by Yves Abel. Andrea Bocelli sings the title role of Werther - which he has sung on stage several times to great critical acclaim (including his USA stage debut).... |
GEORGES BIZET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bizet: Carmen (complete opera with full libretto) Julia Migenes Johnson, Placido Domingo, Ruggiero Raimondi, Faith Esham / National Orchestra of France, Lorin Maazel [ Erato / CD - released 1/May/1984 ] "Carmen is sung here by Julia Migenes Johnson. Her Habanera is wonderfully shapely and sexy, in a quite light flirty manner. In Act 4 she and Placido Domingo (as Don José) give us a wonderfully dramatic climax to the opera." (MusicWeb) |
MEYERBEER / VERDI / BIZET / MOZART / PUCCINI / MASCAGNO / GIORDANO
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Jussi Bjoerling - 'O Paradiso' - Great Opera Arias Jussi Bjoerling (tenor), with Robert Merrill, Zinka Milanov, Anna Maria Rota, Roberta Peters & Margaret Roggero [ RCA Victor Gold Seal / CD - released 27/Sep/1996 ] Original recordings 1951-58. |
DONIZETTI / VERDI / CILEA / MASSENET / PUCCINI / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Jussi Bjorling: Opera Arias Jussi Bjorling (Tenor) / Stockholm Royal Opera Orchestra, Stockholm Symphony Orchestra, Nils Grevillius [ EMI Classics / CD - released 2/Feb/1988 ] Björling made his first stage appearance in the small part as the Lamplighter in Manon Lescaut at the Royal Swedish Opera on 21 July 1930. This was soon followed by his official debut role as Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni on 20 August 1930. |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wagner: Lohengrin (Complete opera with libretto ) Karl Ridderbusch, James King, Gundula Janowitz, Thomas Stewart / Bavarian Radio Chorus,Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Rafael Kubelik [ Deutsche Grammophon / 3 CD Box Set - released 6/Sep/2003 ] "Gundula Janowitz is an ideally innocent, vulnerable Elsa - far more so than Sharon Sweet for Davis, while Thomas Stewart and Gwyneth Jones as Telramund and Ortrud make a formidable pair of villains." (BBC Music) |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia [The Barber of Seville] (complete opera recorded in 1988) Metropolitan Opera / Kathleen Battle, Rockwell Blake, Leo Nucci / Ralf Weikert (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 17/May/2010 ] ""one of the most mechanically ingenious stagings that the company has offered in recent years. Robin Wagner's multifaceted set, rotating on the stage turntable, lets the action flow smoothly from place to place and makes possible an almost... |
GERSHWIN / MOZART / HANDEL / R. STRAUSS / DONIZETTI / LISZT / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: The Art of Kathleen Battle Kathleen Battle (soprano) / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bruno Campanella, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, James Levine (cond/piano), Margo Garrett (p [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 11/Aug/2002 ] Kathleen Deanna Battle (born August 13, 1948) is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire. |
VINCENCO BELLINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bellini: Zaira (complete opera recorded live in 1990) Katia Ricciarelli, Simone Alaimo, Ramon Vargas, Alexandra Papadjakou / Orchestra del Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania, Paolo Olmi [ Nuova Era / 2 CD Box Set - released 4/Sep/2009 ] "(Katia Ricciarelli gives) a highly impressive portrayal of the title part. As Orosmane, Simone Alaimo's lean bass is also a further strength with his clear diction a welcome hallmark." MusicWeb |
RICHARD STRAUSS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Strauss, (R.): Der Rosenkavalier (complete opera recorded in 1985) Royal Opera Covent Garden / Kiri Te Kanawa, Anne Howells, Aage Haugland, Barbara Bonney / Georg Solti (cond) [ Kultur DVD / DVD - released 10/Sep/2009 ] This opulent production by director John Schlesinger, filmed in 1985, marked the 25th anniversary of Sir Georg Solti's spectacular debut at Covent Garden, conducting this very opera. |