GIOVANNI PAISIELLO
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Paisiello: Nina, O Sia la Pazza per Amore Marina Bolgan, Don Bernardini, Francesco Musinu, Fiorella Pediconi / Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Massimo "Bellini" di Catania, Richard Bonynge [ Nuova Era / 2 CD Box Set - released 12/Nov/2003 ] Giovanni Paisiello, is best known for composing the original Barbiere di Siviglia. He was a favorite of the crowned heads of Europe; Napoleon considered him "the greatest composer there is" - but, on the strength of Nina, it's easy to see why Rossini... |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: The World Of The Spirit / King Arthur Suite / American Overture Martyn Hill (tenor), Pamela Helen Stephen (mezzo-soprano), Stephen Varcoe (baritone) / Britten Singers, BBC Philharmonic, Richard Hickox [ Chandos / CD - released 2/Feb/1996 ] "The recording is superbly wide in its range and offers a realistic quality." Gramophone |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Offenbach: Orpheus In The Underworld (operetta in English) Mary Hegarty, David Fieldsend, Jill Pert, Richard Suart, Rosemarie Arthars, D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, John Owen Edwards [ Sony music / 2 CD Box Set - released 20/Jan/1994 ] ".. the whole production has a real lived-in feel and, in Mary Hegarty's flighty Eurydice, a nymphet - sorry, nymph - virtually to die for. " BBC Music |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
DonizettI: Lucia di Lammermoor (complete opera recorded in 1982) Metropolitan Opera / Joan Sutherland, Alfredo Kraus, Pablo Elvira & Paul Plishka / Richard Bonynge (conductor) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 20/Jun/2019 ] With an exhilarating performance of her signature role, Dame Joan Sutherland captivates the audience in this elaborate production of Donizetti's bel canto masterpiece, taped during its celebrated 1982 run at the Metropolitan Opera |
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. |
PHILIP GLASS
Glass: Satyagraha (complete opera recorded in 2011) Metropolitan Opera / Richard Croft, Rachelle Durkin, Kim Josephson, Alfred Walker / Dante Anzolini (cond) [ Orange Mountain Music DVD / DVD - released 10/Dec/2021 ] "The cast is on the mark both vocally and physically…this release is especially recommended as a starting point to Glass's world of music theatre." Gramophone |
MALCOLM ARNOLD
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Arnold - Concertos Michael Collins (clarinet) Richard Watkins (horn) Karen Jones (horn) David Nettle, Richard Markham (piano) / London Musici, Mark Stephenson [ Conifer / CD - released 20/May/1993 ] Arnold was an exceptionally gifted orchestrator, and his writing for solo instruments, particularly winds and brass, is always extremely effective. All the soloists here seem to be having a great time with this light-hearted and gratifying music. |
MALCOLM ARNOLD
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Arnold - Concertos Michael Collins (clarinet) Richard Watkins (horn) Kenneth Sillito, Lyn Fletcher (violins) / London Musici, Mark Stephenson [ Conifer / CD - released 20/May/1990 ] "One of the most prolific British composers of the 20th century, Sir Malcolm Arnold remains best known for his phenomenal success in film and light music, as well as Concertos and Symphonies. |
ANTON RUBINSTEIN / SIGISMOND THALBERG
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rubinstein: Piano Concerto No.4 in D minor / Thalberg: Piano Concerto in F minor Michael Ponti (piano) / Philharmonia Hungarica, Othmar Maga / Westphalian Symphony Orchestra, Richard Kapp [ Vox Prima / CD - released 27/Jun/1987 ] Originally recorded in 1983 |
JEAN PHILIPPE RAMEAU
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rameau: Zoroastre (highlights) Nancy Deering, Lou Ann Wyckoff, Bruce Brewer / Hamburg Chamber Orchestra, Richard Kapp [ Vox Turnabout / CD - released 27/Jun/1987 ] Zoroastre, one of Rameau's major operas, never appeared in the edition of his "Complete Works" which date from early in the twentieth century, and consequently it was long in the shadows and passed over in favor of some of the published operas. |
PYOTR TCHAIKOVSKY / JACQUES OFFENBACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker / Offenbach: Le Papillon (Complete Ballets) National Philharmonic Orchestra / London SymphonyOrchestra / Richard Bonynge [ Double Decca / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2001 ] "Richard Bonynge has the feel of this music (Nutcracker) in his bones, and gives a warmly expressive performance...he plays the 'Divertissement' with splendid panache, and he is very good indeed in the Valse des Fleurs" Gramophone |
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: La Boutique fantasque (with Britten: Musicales) National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. [ Decca / CD - released 12/Aug/1983 ] While Richard Bonynge has long been associated with opera, particularly with that of the Bel Canto age, he has been one of the most active revivers and conductors of ballet in the 20th and 21st centuries. |
CARL MARIA von WEBER / HECTOR BERLIOZ / CHARLES LECOCQ
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Weber: Invitaion to the Dance / Berlioz: Les Troyens Ballet Music / Lecocq: Mam'zelle Angot (Complete Ballet) National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge [ Decca / CD - released 20/May/1985 ] A perennial best-seller in the catalogue, and much beloved of balletomanes, these vividly recorded ballet masterpieces were recorded at the Kingsway Hall, London, in 1983 |
LEO DELIBES
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Delibes: Sylvia (complete ballet), with Massenet: 'Le Cid' ballet National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 16/Apr/1989 ] Original recording: Kingsway Hall, London, June 1972 (Sylvia) & January 1975 |
ADOLPHE ADAM
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Adam: Giselle [complete ballet] Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Richard Bonynge [ Decca / 2 CD - released 19/Apr/2012 ] "Richard Bonynge's performance on Decca restores Adam's original and is a bit more strongly characterised, while the Decca sound has a slightly sharper and brighter profile." (Three Stars penguin Guide) |
MITCH LEIGH
Leigh: Man of La Mancha Richard Kiley & Irving Jacobson / Original 1965 Broadway Cast Recording [ Decca Broadway / CD - released 2/Feb/2001 ] Man of La Mancha is a 1965 musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes and his... |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Recorder Sonatas Pamela Thorby (recorder) Richard Egarr (harpsichord) [ Linn SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 4/Jul/2004 ] On Hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD) format! PLAYABLE ON ANY CD SYSTEM "Better known as a member of the Palladian Ensemble, Pamela Thorby has given the recorder a status in the Baroque repertoire that it deserved to recapture. Childhood memories of the... |
ALFRED CELLIER
Cellier: Dorothy [Operetta] Majella Cullagh, Lucy Vallis, Stephanie Maitland, Matt Mears, John Ieuan Jones / Victorian Opera, Richard Bonynge [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Feb/2019 ] Alfred Cellier was a contemporary of Arthur Sullivan as a Chapel Royal chorister, and would later conduct several Gilbert and Sullivan productions. With its rural tale of disguise and romantic scheming, its jaunty tunes, lively characters and... |
DONIZETTI / VERDI
An Evening With Pavarotti And Joan Sutherland (recorded at the Met in 1987) Luciano Pavarotti and Joan Sutherland with Leo Nucci and the Metropolitan Orchestra conducted by Richard Bonynge [ Decca DVD / DVD - released 21/Mar/2008 ] Two of the greatest opera stars of the time, and long-term singing partners, Luciano Pavarotti and Joan Sutherland, come together to perform four famous scenes from Acts I and III of Lucia di Lammermoor, Act III of La Traviata and Act III of... |
MALCOLM ARNOLD
Arnold: Cello Concerto / Saxophone Concerto / Fantasy for Recorder and String Quartet / etc Raphael Wallfisch (cello) John Turner (recorder) / Northern Chamber Orchestra & Manchester Sinfonia, Richard Howarth & Nicholas Ward [ Naxos / CD - released 10/Sep/2011 ] "The disc is a hands-down winner in the Naxos catalogue and slips nicely into the same rank occupied by Penny's symphonies." (MusicWeb Recording of the Month Sept 2011) |