Since you are interested in 40 Most Beautiful Arias, here is a list of other items that you may find interesting.
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
England My England Alastair Hussain (treble) Thomas Bullard (baritone) / Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Cambridge University Musical Society Chorus, etc [ EMI / Warner Classics / 2 CD - released 20/Jul/2009 ] There is surely no more quintessentially English sound than that of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, its unaccompanied voices - evocative of immemorial sandstone, of cool cloisters, of evensong in church, chapel and cathedral. |
HENRY PURCELL / GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Sound the Trumpet - Royal Music Of Purcell And Handel Alison Balsom (natural trumpets) / The English Consort, Trevor Pinnock [ Warner Classics / CD - released 19/Oct/2012 ] "For historical accuracy, she plays the valve-less "natural" trumpet: it really does appear to offer a more direct access to the human voice, a quality confirmed when she duets with countertenor Iestyn Davies" (The Independent) |
PURCELL
O Solitude Andreas Scholl (countertenor) / Accademia Bizantina, Stefano Montanari [ Decca Music Group / CD - released 17/Jan/2011 ] "Ethereal yet visceral, Scholl's voice is the dream vehicle for Purcell...Stefano Montanari coaxes thrilling playing from Accademia Bizantina" BBC Music Magazine Awards 2012 - Vocal WINNER |
BOITO / CATALANI / CILEA / GIORDANO / LEONCAVLLO / PUCCINI
Anna Netrebko: Verismo Anna Netrebko (soprano) / Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano, with Yusif Eyvazov (tenor) [ Deutche Grammophon / CD - released 9/Sep/2016 ] "all sung with plenty of voice and abandon...when she settles into a long extract from Puccini's Manon Lescaut, with tenor husband Yusif Eyvazov and Antonio Pappano conducting, the recital hits an impressively impassioned peak" Financial Times |
ARAIA / CALDARA / GRAUN / PORPORA / etc.
Sacrificium Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano) / Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini [ Decca Music Group / CD - released 14/Dec/2009 ] "Porpora's opening aria reveals just what has made Bartoli unique in this field - a stupefying range, fearless vocal leaps and the sort of relentless passagework that makes you suspect the singer might be on a heart-lung machine." (William Dart NZ... |
GOUNOD / VERDI / BIZET / MASCAGNI / OFFENBACH / PUCCINI / etc.
50 Best Choruses Choeurs du Capitole de Toulouse / Chorus del Teatro alla Scala, Milano / Ambrosian Opera Chorus / etc. [ Warner Classics 50 Best / 3 CD - released 12/Dec/2011 ] This three-CD set contains a collection of 50 operatic choruses performed by some of the world's leading ensembles. |
ALBINONI / HANDEL / PACHELBEL / BACH / CORELLI
The Best of Baroque Music Cologne Chamber Orchestra / Helmut Muller-Bruhl, conductor [ Naxos / CD - released 7/Aug/2003 ] The first half of the eighteenth century saw the culmination of a musical synthesis between elements predominant in three major musical countries in Europe. From Italy came, above all, song, from France dance and from Germany the more academic... |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV / SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Rachmaninov / Prokofiev: Cello Sonatas Gautier Capucon (cello) Gabriela Montero (piano) [ Erato Classics / CD - released 26/Jan/2008 ] "Capuçon's elegant, singing tone responds especially well to the Andante, with gentle exchanges between the instruments." Gramophone Magazine |
REMEMBRANCE
Remembrance and other favourite piano pieces Georgina Zellan-Smith (piano) [ Ode Records / CD - released 20/Nov/2010 ] PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS IS THE CD ONLY.- NO COVER OR LINER NOTE"Favourites from granny's piano stool played with affection by Georgina Zellan-Smith. Mozart goes Turkish and Albert Ketelby saunters through a Persian market." (William Dart NZ Herald) |
FREDERIC CHOPIN / FRANZ LISZT / MAURICE RAVEL
Benjamin Grosvenor - Chopin Liszt Ravel (Recital) Benjamin Grosvenor (piano) [ Decca Music Group / CD - released 19/Jan/2012 ] "evidence of an awesome talent, a pianist with fantastic natural reflexes in the Cziffra class and, more excitingly, a musician with purpose and imagination, whose playing transcends the sterile confines of the studio" Gramophone Award WINNER 2012:... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Complete Violin Concertos Isabelle Faust (violin) / Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 20/Nov/2016 ] "her sound growing out of the corporate entity to glitter, coax, snarl and soar as required…[a] thought-provoking and eminently enjoyable cycle" Gramophone Award WINNER 2017 - RECORDING OF THE YEAR |
EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Cello Concerto / Sea Pictures / Overture: Cockaigne Jacqueline Du Pre (cello) Dame Janet Baker (mezzo) / London Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli [ Warner Classics Original Jacket Reissues / CD - released 22/Aug/2015 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE 100 GREATEST RECORDINGS OF ALL TIME |
HENRY PURCELL
Music for a While: Improvisations on Purcell Philippe Jaroussky, Raquel Andueza, Vincenzo Capezzuto, Dominique Visse, Trovesi, Muthspiel / L'Arpeggiata, Christina Pluhar [ Warner Classics / CD - released 26/Oct/2014 ] "most of these songs retain their essential character, and far from having his genius dimmed, Purcell still shines as a writer of songs timelessly receptive to reinterpretation and capable of reaching the heart by the power of melody alone." Gramopho |
TRADITIONAL / JOHN RUTTER / etc
The Colours of Christmas The Bach Choir & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, John Rutter, with Over the Bridge [ Decca Music Group / CD - released 1/Dec/2011 ] "If you believe that Christmas music should have a warm, comfortable feel, then this CD will fit the bill perfectly." (Gramophone) |
VARIOUS OPERETTA COMPOSERS
Jonas Kaufmann Wien Jonas Kaufmann (tenor) / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Ádám Fischer, with Rachel Willis-Sørensen (soprano) [ Sony Classical / CD - released 11/Oct/2019 ] "There is enough cream and sugar in his selection of golden and silver-age serenades by Johann Strauss II and Franz Lehár to satisfy the sweetest tooth....The orchestral sound glistens like Cellophane" The Times |
FRANZ LISZT
Liszt: Freudvoll Und Leidvoll Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Helmut Deutsch (piano) [ Sony Classical / CD - released 17/Sep/2021 ] "At its most larger-than-life, a thrilling recording not for the faint-hearted; but it's also a heart-on-sleeve reminder of Liszt's abiding versatility." BBC Music |
PUCCINI / BOITO / CILEA / GIORDANO / LEONCAVALLO / etc
Jonas Kaufmann: The Age of Puccini Jonas Kaufmann (tenor) / Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, with Renée Fleming (soprano) [ Decca / CD - released 21/Aug/2015 ] Jonas Kaufmann, the tenor of our time, takes us to The Age of Puccini. This collection showcases the unique quality of Kaufmann's award-winning recordings of best-loved Italian operatic 'verismo' repertoire for Decca. |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Nessun Dorma - The Puccini Album Jonas Kaufmann (tenor) / Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano, with Kristine Opolais (soprano) [ Sony / CD - released 6/Oct/2015 ] "...a gloriously bronze-voiced German tenor, welding musicianship with smouldering emotion...Pappano and his Santa Cecilia orchestra fire up every track with native Italian passion." Financial Times |
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde Jonas Kaufmann (tenor) / Wiener Philharmoniker, Jonathan Nott [ Sony Classical / CD - released 22/Apr/2017 ] "played with shimmering detail by the Vienna Philharmonic...As expected, Kaufmann is glorious in the tenor songs. In those for lower voice he sings with the same, unaffected sensitivity...An interesting, one-off experiment." Financial Times *** |
PONCHIELLI / MASCAGNI / LEONCAVALLO / PUCCINI / etc
Jonas Kaufmann - An Italian Night - Live from the Waldbuhne Berlin (recorded in 2018) Jonas Kaufmann (tenor) with Anita Rachvelishvili (mezzo) / Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Jochen Rieder [ Sony / CD - released 1/Nov/2018 ] A magical evening dedicated to beautiful Italian music with the world's greatest tenor. Captured live for release on CD. Featuring Anita Rachvelishvili. This is the key release this year from "The world's greatest tenor" (The Telegraph). This summer... |