GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Turandot (3 LP) Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Eugenio Fernandi, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Giuseppe Nessi / Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Tullio Serafi [ Warner Classics LP / 3 Vinyl Box Set - released 8/Sep/2023 ] "To have Callas, the most flashing-eyed of all sopranos as Turandot, is the most natural piece of casting. With her Turandot was not just an implacable man-hater but a highly provocative female" Gramophone |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Il Trovatore (Complete Opera recorded 1956) Maria Callas, Rolando Panerai, Giuseppe di Stefano, Fedora Barbieri / Teatro alla Scala di Milano, von Karajan [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Remastered / 2 CD - released 10/Oct/2014 ] "The combination of Karajan and Callas is formidably impressive. There is toughness and dramatic determination in Callas's singing, whether in coloratura or in dramatic passages." Penguin Stereo Guide |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Rigoletto (Complete Opera recorded in 1955) Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi, Giuseppe di Stefano, Nicola Zaccaria / Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Tullio Serafin [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Remastered / 2 CD - released 10/Oct/2014 ] "There has never been a more compelling performance of the title-role in Rigoletto than that of Gobbi on his classic La Scala set. Callas is compellingly imaginative throughout." Penguin Stereo guide |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Choruses Oro e Orchestra, Teatro alla Scala, Riccardo Chailly [ Decca / CD - released 22/Sep/2023 ] "Chorus and orchestra are both on their mettle here: the orchestral playing is clean and brilliant, the choral tone full and healthy. The range of tone and dynamics available is well displayed." BBC Music Five Stars |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Otello (complete opera recorded in 2001) BLU-RAY Teatro alla Scala / Plácido Domingo, Barbara Frittoli, Leo Nucci /Riccardo Muti (conductor) [ Arthaus Legendary Performances BLU-RAY / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jul/2015 ] The cylindrical uniform stage set by Ezio Frigerio emphasised the hopeless consequence of the tragedy, as did the Orchestra della Scala, which, under the baton of Riccardo Muti, never sacrificed the dark, disturbing elements of the score. |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera recorded in 1992) Roberto Alagna, Angela Gheorghiu, Elisabetta Scano, Simon Keenlyside / Orchestra & Chorus of Teatro alla Scala, Riccardo Chailly [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 15/Mar/2012 ] "Gheorghiu's glorious singing is powerfully matched by the heroic tones of Alagna, culminating in a deeply moving death-scene." (Penguin Guide) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Aida (Complete opera) Ruggero Raimondi, Elena Obraztsova, Katia Ricciarelli, Placido Domingo, Nicolai Ghiaurov / Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala / Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon Opera House / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2005 ] 'None is better or more thoroughly and thoughtfully conducted - and in Verdi, that is of the essence.' Gramophone |
GIUSEPPE VERDI / W. A. MOZART
Operas - Teatro Alla Scala [Aida, I Due Foscari, Die Zauberflote, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Entfuhrung] (complete operas recorded 2015 - 2019) Teatro alla Scala / Anita Rachvelishvili, George Gagnidze, Placido Domingo, Anna Pirozzi, Martin Summer, Yasmin Ozkan, Carlos Alvarez, Diana Damrau, e [ C Major DVD / 8 DVD Box Set - released 20/Aug/2021 ] FIVE OUTSTANDING OPERAS FROM THE LEGENDARY TEATRO ALLA SCALA: |
PROKOFIEV / TCHAIKOVSKY / MINKUS / MOZART
Ballets: Romeo & Juliet / The Sleeping Beauty / Don Quixote / Le Corsaire / The Lovers' Garden (Blu-ray) Teatro Alla Scala Ballet, with Natalia Osipova, Leonid Sarafanov, Nicoletta Manni, Roberto Bolle, Misty Copeland, etc [ C Major Blu-ray / 5 Blu-ray Box Set - released 12/Nov/2021 ] Five outstanding ballets from the legendary Teatro Alla Scala. |
GIUSEPPE VERDI / W. A. MOZART
Operas - Aida / I Due Foscari / Die Zauberflote / Le Nozze di Figaro / Die Entfuhrung] (complete operas recorded 2015 - 2019) Teatro alla Scala / Anita Rachvelishvili, George Gagnidze, Placido Domingo, Anna Pirozzi, Martin Summer, Yasmin Ozkan, Carlos Alvarez, Diana Damaru [ C Major DVD / 8 Blu-ray Box Set - released 20/Aug/2021 ] FIVE OUTSTANDING OPERAS FROM THE LEGENDARY TEATRO ALLA SCALA: ON BLU-RAY |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Tosca (complete opera recorded in 2000) Teatro alla Scala / Maria Guleghina, Salvatore Licitra, Leo Nucci / Riccardo Muti (cond) [ EuroArts DVD / DVD - released 23/Jun/2011 ] "As Tosca, Maria Guleghina is in fine voice, and Muti supports her at every turn. Her great Act Two lament 'Vissi d'arte' is beautifully shaped, with phrases carefully structured so as not to peak too soon." MusicWeb |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: La Boheme (Complete opera directed by Franco Zeffirelli in 1965) Teatro alla Scala Opera / Mirella Freni / Adriane Martino / Gianni Raimondi / Herbert von Karajan (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon / Unitel DVD / DVD - released 15/Jun/2006 ] "A Bohème you can believe in." (The New York Times) |
UMBERTO GIORDANO
Giordano: Andrea Chénier (complete opera recorded in 2017) Teatro alla Scala / Yusif Eyvazov, Anna Netrebko, Luca Salsi, Annalisa Stroppa / Riccardo Chailly [ C Major DVD / DVD - released 16/Apr/2021 ] By choosing to work with director Mario Martone, known for his films as well as his work in opera and theatre, Chailly has given overall coherence to his cinematic vision. |
PIETRO MASCAGNI / RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mascagni/Leoncavallo: Cavalleria Rusticana / Pagliacci (complete operas recorded in 1960/62 with libretto) Victoria de los Angeles, Lucine Amara, Franco Corelli, Tito Gobbi / Opera Roma, Gabriele Santini, Teatro alla Scala, Lovro von Matacic [ EMI Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/1991 ] "With Met stalwart Lucine Amara a strong Nedda this is one of the most bloodcurdling recordings of this finale." Musicweb (on Pagliacci) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Requiem Anja Harteros, Elina Garanca, Jonas Kaufmann, Rene Pape / Orchestra e coro del Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Daniel Barenboim [ Decca / 2 CD - released 8/Sep/2013 ] "The non-Italian soloists are in good fearless voice and aurally well integrated into this concept." Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine, November 2013 |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Requiem Anja Harteros, Elina Garanca, Jonas Kaufmann, Rene Pape / Orchestra e coro del Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Daniel Barenboim [ Decca DVD / DVD - released 30/Aug/2013 ] "Even without a fully Italianate instrument, Kaufmann's honeyed, warm tone makes him exceptional in Verdi." (The Telegraph) |
LUIGI CHERUBINI
Cherubini: Medea (complete opera recorded live in 1953) Gino Penno, Maria Callas, Maria Luisa Nache, Fedora Barbieri, Giuseppe Modesti, Enrico Campi / Teatro alla Scala, Leonard Bernstein [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Live Remastered / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2019 ] The character of Medea became closely associated with Maria Callas. In 1969, several years after she had left the opera stage, she even played the betrayed and finally infanticidal sorceress in a film directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. |
VERDI
Rigoletto (Complete opera recorded in 1964) Carlo Bergonzi, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Renata Scotto, Ivo Vinco, Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala. Rafael Kubelik [ Deutsche Grammophon Opera House / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2005 ] 'Kubelik is a conductor in Fricsay's class as his support for Fischer-Dieskau's Rigoletto reveals. Fischer-Dieskau once more reaches to a character's soul' (Gramophone) |
MINKUS
La Bayadère (ballet recorded 2006) Corpo di Ballo and Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala / Svetlana Zakharova, Roberto Bolle / David Coleman [ Arthaus Musik DVD / DVD - released 7/Aug/2011 ] In their series of classical ballet productions from La Scala Arthaus releases a DVD recording of La Bayadére in the choreography by Natalia Makarova. Her |
MONTEVERDI
L'Orfeo (complete opera recorded in 2009) BLU-RAY Teatro alla Scala / Georg Nigl, Roberta Invernizzi, Sara Mingardo, Raffaella Milanesi, Furio Zanasi / Rinaldo Alessandrini (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 11/May/2011 ] "Alessandrini directs an authentically sized La Scala orchestra in playing that is at once historically informed and always alive...Georg Nigl, previously a Wozzeck at La Scala, sings with much beauty of voice." (Gramophone) |