RICHARD STRAUSS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Strauss, (R.): Elektra (complete opera recorded in 1981) Vienna State Opera / Astrid Varnay, Leonie Rysanek, Catarina Ligendza, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau / Karl Bohm (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/Aug/2005 ] "Karl Bohm - Strauss's protégé - conducts, while Gotz Friedrich directs the stage production itself, dramatically evoking and emphasizing the expressionist set design inherent in Strauss's original conception." (Rovi) |
BEDRICH SMETANA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Die Verkraufte Braut [The Bartered Bride] (complete opera recorded in 1982) Vienna State Opera / Lucia Popp / Siegfried Jerusalem / Karl Ridderbusch / Adam Fischer (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon / DVD - released 7/Aug/2007 ] Every bar bubbles with the spirit of the Bohemian countryside in Otto Schenk's picturesque 1982 production from Vienna, where Smetana's comic masterpiece, The Bartered Bride, first conquered the hearts of opera lovers with its lilting melodies,... |
GEORGES BIZET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bizet: Carmen (complete Franco Zeffirelli production recorded in 1978) Vienna State Opera / Placido Domingo, Elena Obraztsova, Isobel Buchanan, Yuri Mazurok, Isobel Buchanan / Carlos Kleiber (cond) [ Arthaus DVD / Blu-ray Disc - released 12/Jul/2004 ] The Vienna Carmen from 1978 is a sensational filmed document from the musical legacy of Carlos Kleiber: the meticulous conductor only ever conducted a highly selected repertoire, and among his very few audio and video recordings are only seven... |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Don Giovanni (Highlights from the complete opera) William Shimell, Cheryl Studer, Samuel Ramey / Vienna Philharmonic / Riccardo Muti [ EMI Encore / CD - released 22/Feb/2005 ] Combining comedy and drama, Don Giovanni is one of the most well-known and often praised operas ever written. First performed in 1787, it has been appealing to audiences ever since with its multitude of moral, as well as musical themes. |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera recorded in 2005) Zurich Opera / Cristina Gallardo-Domas, Elena Mosuc, Marcello Giordani, Cheyne Davidson / Franz Welser-Most (cond) [ EMI Classics / DVD - released 26/Mar/2007 ] The Belgian director of this production, Philippe Sireuil, was heavily inspired by Aki Kaurismäki's film version of Henri Murger's novel "Scènes de la vie de Bohème". |
RICHARD STRAUSS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Ariadne auf Naxos (complete opera recorded 1986 with libretto) Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnes Baltsa, Kathleen Battle, Gary Lakes, Hermann Prey / Wiener Philharmoniker, James Levine [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD Box Set - released 30/Oct/2014 ] "For its debut on CD, Ariadne auf Naxos receives a bright, clear DG recording, ... Much of this can be credited to James Levine's acute sense of tempo throughout" Gramophone |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wagner: Tannhauser (Complete opera at a special price) Brigitte Nilsson, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Theo Adam / Berlin Opera, Otto Gerdes [ Deutsche Grammophon Trio / 3 CD Box Set - released 11/Sep/2002 ] "...a fine chorus and orchestra, and Windgassen offers an experienced, sincere, and intensely sung account of the title role, Fischer-Dieskau, in peak form, a wonderful Wolfram ...one has to admire [Nilsson's] vocal security throughout." Gramophone,... |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: La Cenerentola [Cinderella] (complete opera with full libretto recorded in 1992) Cecilia Bartoli, William Matteuzzi, Enzo Dara, Alessandro Corbelli / Orchestra & Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Riccardo Chailly [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 28/Aug/2014 ] "All eyes and ears, inevitably, are on Bartoli, and she doesn't disappoint...The singing itself is ravishing. At the same time, the performance makes dramatic sense." Gramophone |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Handel: Agrippina (complete opera recorded in 2004) Combattimento Consort Amsterdam / Renate Arends / Annemarie Kremer / Jan Willem de Vriend (cond) [ Challenge Records DVD / DVD - released 25/Sep/2006 ] "A viable work of art, as witnessed by those who experienced this almost perfect production" Ivo Sindelár (The Czech Handel Society) |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Donizetti: Olivo e Pasquale (complete opera recorded in 1980 with complete libretto) Eva Czapò, Benedetta Pecchioli, Gastone Sarti, Gino Orlandini, Mario Chiappi / Coro Della Radio Televisione Della Svizzera Italiana, Bruno Rigacci [ Nuova Era / 2 CD Box Set - released 21/Jun/1997 ] Recording Date: October 26, 1980 Recording Location: Lugano, Svizzera, Auditorio RSI |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Tosca (complete opera recorded 2000) Francesca Patane, Jose Cura, Renato Bruson / Symphony Orchestra of the Province of Bari / Pier Giorgio Morandi [ PIM DVD / DVD - released 4/Sep/2003 ] This performance was acclaimed as an operatic event, and the superstar cast makes it a Tosca for the ages. Enrico Castiglione has directed the work with tremendous originality and dramatic power. |
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: The Barber of Seville [Il Barbiere di Siviglia] (Complete Opera recorded in 1983) Francisco Araiza, Agnes Baltsa, Thomas Allen, Robert Lloyd / Academy St Martins / Neville Marriner [ Decca Opera! / 2 CD - released 10/Mar/2011 ] Sir Neville Marriner makes one of his rare appearances as an opera conductor and the combination of a superb cast and stylish orchestral playing combine to make a magnificent recording of Rossini's comic masterpiece. |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Fidelio, Op. 72 (Complete Opera recorded in 1970) Helga Dernesch, Jon Vickers, Zoltán Kéléman, Helen Donath / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ EMI Classics Opera / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Aug/1995 ] "Helga Dernesch as Leonare gives a glorious, thrilling peformance. The orchestral playing is superb." (Penguin Guide) |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Cosi fan Tutte (complete opera with libretto) Kiri te Kanawa, Marie McLaughlin, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Thomas Hampson / Vienna Philharmonic,James Levine [ Deutsche Grammophon / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/May/1990 ] "Te Kanawa is in fine voice, a little looser and more mature-sounding than in her two previous assumptions of Fiordiligi but her soprano is bigger and her characterisation more assertive than before, making more of the text." MusicWeb |
UMBERTO GIORDANO
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Giordano: Andrea Chenier (complete opera) Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Ettore Bastianini / Orchestra e cora dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Roma, Gianandrea Gavazzeni [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 2/Feb/1990 ] Originally recorded 1957 |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Il Trovatore (Complete opera) Veronica Villarroel; Elena Zaremba; Andrea Bocelli; Carlo Guelfi / Orchestra conducted by Steven Mercurio [ Decca Records / 2 CD - released 27/May/2004 ] "Lay misconceptions aside: this version of a popular favourite challenges the best" Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine Sept 2004 |