GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera (complete opera recorded in 1991) Metropolitan Opera / Luciano Pavarotti, Leo Nucci, April Millo, Florence Quivar / James Levine (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 30/May/2008 ] "The best justification for buying this issue is to see and hear Pavarotti nearer to his vocal peak in a role which his strong lyric voice and clear diction is ideally suited" (MusicWeb) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Ernani (complete opera recorded in 1983) Metropolitan Opera / Luciano Pavarotti, Leona Mitchell, Sherrill Milnes / James Levine (cond) [ Decca DVD / DVD - released 18/Jan/2008 ] " Mr. Pavarotti gave a splendid full-throated performance... He was also a sensitive partner in the many ensemble numbers... Miss Mitchell filled the house gloriously... " New York Times |
GIOACCHINIO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri (Complete opera recorded in 1986). Metropolitan Opera / Marilyn Horne, Paolo Montarsolo, Douglas Ahlstedt / James Levine (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 13/Oct/2005 ] Marilyn Horne takes centre stage in this production of Rossini's opera, recorded live at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1986. Other performers include Douglas Ahlstedt, Paolo Montarsolo and Allan Monk. James Levine conducts. |
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 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 |
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
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 |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: La Traviata (Franco Zeffirelli's film of the complete opera) Metropolitan Opera / Teresa Stratas, Placido Domingo, Cornell MacNeil, Pina Cei / James Levine (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 6/Sep/2007 ] "Surpassingly voluptuous…a spinning wheel of colors and textures." (Variety) |
RICHARD & ROBERT SHERMAN
Sherman: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Michael Ball, Emma Williams & Anton Rodgers / Original 2002 London Cast Recording [ Sony Classical / CD - released 2/Feb/2002 ] Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a musical with music and lyrics written by Richard and Robert Sherman and a book by Jeremy Sams. It is sometimes referred to as Chitty the Musical to distinguish it from the 1968 film of the same name on which it is based,... |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Piano Quartets Nos 1 & 2 Michael Barenboim (violin) Yulia Deyneka (viola), Kian Soltani (cello) Daniel Barenboim (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 22/Dec/2018 ] One of the many delights of these performances is that they recognise the intimate and non-portentous nature of the works" BBC Music Five Stars Chamber Choice November 2018 |
W. A. MOZART
Piano Sonatas 1-18 (complete) Michael Endres (piano) [ Oehms Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 20/Apr/2011 ] The pianistic refinement and interpretive imagination Michael Endres brings to his Mozart sonata cycle easily ranks alongside leading modern-day contenders... (ClassicsToday.com) |
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 |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV / LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No 3 / Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 5 Emperor Michael Houstoun (piano) / New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, James Judd, Janos Furst [ Trust / CD - released 26/Jun/2001 ] Michael Houstoun performing live with the NZSO in two exciting works from the piano concerto repertoire. The recording includes Houstoun playing Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No.3. It also includes Beethoven's Emperor Concerto. |
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) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Don Carlo (Complete Opera with libretto recorded in 1993) Michael Sylvester, Aprile Millo, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Vladimir Chernov, Dolora Zajick / Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, James Levine [ Sony Classical / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Nov/1993 ] "Levine's performance of the five-act Italian Don Carlo supersedes all other versions, because he conducts Verdi's spacious score with such masterly skill and meticulous attention to detail, and has so magnificent an orchestra at his command" BBC |
FRANCESCO CILEA
Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur (complete opera recorded in 2009) (Blu-ray) Teatro regio Torino / Michaela Carosi / Marcelo Alvarez / Marianne Cornetti / Alfonso Antoniozzi / Renati Palumbo [ Arthaus Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2010 ] "Carosi may lack some smoothness of line in her arias but she delivers them with fervour and strong tone and does not hold back in the Phaedra monologue, so the character which she projects is well drawn...Marianne Cornetti blazes forth in an... |
PROKOFIEV / LISZT / BEETHOVEN / TCHAIKOVSKY / MENDELSSOHN / DEBUSSY / etc
Kurt Masur - The Complete Warner Classics Edition (Teldec & EMI recordings) Michel Beroff (piano) Boris Berezovsky (piano) Sharom Kam (clarinet) Klaus Konig (tenor) Sylvia McNair (soprano) Sarah Chang (violin), etc / Kurt Masu [ Warner Classics / 70 CD Box Set - released 22/Apr/2022 ] Kurt Masur's achievement is defined above all by his relationships with two orchestras exemplifying vastly different traditions. This 70CD set consolidates the entirety of the catalogues that Masur built for EMI and Teldec between 1974 and 2009. |
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Impressions: The Sound of Debussy (LP) Michel Béroff, Samson François, Yuri Egorov (pianos) / Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini / Orchestre de chambre Jean-François Paillard, etc [ Warner Classics / LP - released 5/Mar/2018 ] "Music would take over at the point at which words become powerless, with the one and only object of expressing that which nothing but music could express… I love music passionately. And because I love it I try to free it from barren traditions that... |