Opera CDs

5099996670399

Libretto: Joseph Sonnleithner & Friedrich Treitschke after Jean-Nicolas Bouilly

Opera in two acts

"The moral force of Beethoven’s spirit sweeps aside merely practical or theatrical objections; and it is much the same with Klemperer’s reading…what we have from Dr. Klemperer is more than good: it is inspired."

5099994817225

Libretto:

Opera in Two Acts

"There are marvellous things in this Fidelio, exquisite inflexions by Dernesch, a massive dependability from Vickers, an overtly vile and detestable, but always musical Pizarro by Kélémen, one of the best on record." Gramophone

5099909489523

Libretto:

Opera in Two Acts

"The moral force of Beethoven’s spirit sweeps aside merely practical or theatrical objections; and it is much the same with Klemperer’s reading … what we have from Dr. Klemperer is more than good: it is inspired." Gramophone

5099964063720

Libretto: Felice Romani

Opera in two acts

"Muti reveals all the beauty and subtlety of Bellini’s scoring, emphasising the opera’s romantic eloquence and giving its tautly shaped scenes the benefit of his understanding of the flow and pulse of the score." Gramophone

5099945637520

Libretto: Carlo Pepoli

Opera in three acts

"I can hardly think of any music in all Callas’s recorded repertory I would rather hear her interpret than ‘Qui la voce’, ‘Oh, vieni al tempio’ from the Wedding Scene, or ‘Son vergin vezzosa’. Nobody who admires her art can be without this historic set."

5099996670927

Libretto: Felice Romani

Opera in two acts

"That the phrasing, the pronunciation, the weight and shape and meaning of the music, are peerlessly conceived can go without saying. The conducting is spacious, unhurried, elevated and eloquent. The Scala playing is superlative, and the recording is excellent."

5099909483026

Libretto:

"That the phrasing, the pronunciation, the weight and shape and meaning of the music, are peerlessly conceived can go without saying. The conducting is spacious, unhurried, elevated and eloquent." Gramophone

5099964066226

Libretto: Libretto after the drama Woyzeck by Georg Büchner

Opera in three acts

"Ingo Metzmacher’s blisteringly conducted live Wozzeck — an account that blends the Sturm-und-Drang vehemence of Mitropoulos, the explosiveness of Abbado and the arch-Mahlerian beauty of Dohnanyi — also pushes Bo Skovhus to provide a powerfully characterised Wozzeck." Gramophone

5099945637520

Libretto: Henri Meilhac & Ludovic Halévy

Opera in four acts

"The recording is dazzling down to tiny details. More and more and at each crucial patch I felt that among living conductors Prêtre is the one who instinctively gets Carmen right. To agree so strongly about the tempi chosen and to feel in sympathy with the degree of elegance and snap applied gives the feeling of watching haute école horsemanship: something animal and physical."

5099994821529

Libretto:

Opera in Four Acts

"The moral force of Bizet’s spirit sweeps aside merely practical or theatrical objections; and it is much the same with Prêtre’s reading…what we have from Dr. Prêtre is more than good: it is inspired." Gramophone

5099909486829

Libretto:

Opera in Four Acts

"Gheorghiu is a remarkably dramatic lady in distress … Alagna is really inside the character [of Don José] and portrays the man’s descent into degradation." Gramophone

5099964067827

Libretto: Carré & Cormon · Version: 1893 · Éditions Choudens

Opera in three acts

"The second-act Serenade, 'De mon amie fleur endormie', arguably the score’s most subtle number, is beautifully sung by Gedda. Ernest Blanc, in the difficult role of the alternately jealous and forgiving Zurga, is in superb voice, showing a real understanding of the right style and of character." Gramophone

5099908795625

Libretto: Arrigo Boito after Goethe’s Faust

Opera in four acts and a prologue

"This is a fine performance of Mefistofele, superbly conducted and thrillingly recorded ... It is a magnificently baroque opening – a triumph for Rudel, for the Ambrosian Opera Chorus, for balance engineer Robert Gooch, and for the Kingsway Hall." Gramophone

5099994822328

Libretto:

Opera in Four Acts

"The famous dances are played and sung with splendid brio and the lead-in to them is dramatic and alive, as indeed is everything in which Boris Christoff (like Chaliapin, doubling the roles of Kontchak and Galitzky) has a hand." Gramophone

509996406212

Libretto: Libretto from the play by William Shakespeare, adapted by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears

Opera in three acts

"Hickox and his orchestra bring out the genius of the scoring, melody and harmony, at once so spare and so lush and, literally, so magical."

5099945694325

Libretto: Montagu Slater after the poem of George Crabbe

Opera in three acts

"This is an inspired performance in a superbly lifelike recording. Haitink uncovers the raw nerve-ends of the music, its astonishing and ongoing vigour shading into violence, while giving full measure to its lyrical poetry."

5099945637926

Libretto: Myfanwy Piper after the story by Henry James

Opera in two acts

"The Governess is unerringly portrayed by Joan Rodgers, and Ian Bostridge’s other-worldly, insinuating Quint is eerily magnetic. Over all presides Daniel Harding, piercing the heart of the piece in a reading that catches all the score’s inner tension, reveals all its instrumental acuity and brings out the best in his cast."

5099996672327

Libretto: Maurice Maeterlinck

Opera in five acts

"A distinctive and unforgettable experience … the opera has never moved me so much either on record or in the theatre. Karajan’s intellect and sensitivity is seen here completely at the service of finding out the heart of the music. The recording will surely survive as one of the classics of the gramophone."

5099909484825

Libretto: Edmond Gondinet & Philippe Gille

"Natalie Dessay is certainly a star in the title role and yet she never fails to remember that Delibes’s heroine must be a fragile and sensitive young creature." Gramophone

5099908796929

Libretto: Libretto by the composer · Revised version by Tom Hammond

"I know of no music more hauntingly beautiful than this, and under Meredith Davies it exerts all its unique and irresistible spell. I would advise anyone who is not absolutely and irrevocably prejudiced against Delius to get hold of this recording and consider whether A Village Romeo and Juliet is not amongst the greatest works of the whole late-Romantic period." Gramophone

5099964069029

Libretto: Gaetano Donizetti & Giovanni Ruffini

Comic opera in three acts

"The charm of this recording lies in the ensemble work, the elegance of Gösta Winbergh’s tenor, and the excellence of the orchestral playing. It is also a genuine production, with a sense of occasion: a sparkling occasion too and a pleasure to attend."

5099994828023

Libretto:

Opera in Two Acts

"This is an opera of youth, and here are a soprano and tenor with quite exceptionally firm, sweet, pure, young sounding voices. Freni was then at her light lyrical best, and over long years I cannot think of a soprano with a more radiant, crystal-clear purity. Gedda leaves a vivid memory for many reasons, and again the voice was exceptionally pure and sweet." Gramophone

5099909487024

Libretto: Salvatore Cammarano after Sir Walter Scott

"Gruberová constantly pleases by her innate musicality ... Kraus is a master of Donizetti style." Gramophone

5099996673126

Libretto: Salvatore Cammarano after Walter Scott. French adaptation by Alphonse Royer & Gustave Vaëz. Critical edition Ricordi, 2000.

Opera in three acts. French version of 1839 supervised by the composer.

"Natalie Dessay phrases ‘À toi ma vie’ (‘Alfin son tua’) with real feeling… Roberto Alagna is a fine Edgard."

5099908822529

Libretto: Luigi Illica

Opera in four acts

5099964072821

Libretto: Philippe Quinault

Opera in five acts

"The playing and singing of Hickox’s own orchestra and chorus are always mindful of stylistic matters, crisp and airy in the sensuous dance music, urgent and theatrical (in the best sense) in passionate sections of the score, which Hickox holds together in exemplary manner." Gramophone

5099994827026

Libretto:

Opera in Three Acts

"It is a very accomplished performance technically… Agnes Baltsa has a finely controlled, focused voice, capable of conveying strong feeling while preserving the purity of line. It is a reading of rare poise and dignity, free of any sort of emotional artifice." Gramophone

5099996677322

Libretto: Jules Barbier & Michel Carré after Goethe

Opera in five acts

"Richard Leech as the eponymous hero sings his part with the fresh, eager tone, the easy legato, the sense of French style that it has so badly been wanting all these years. Studer’s Marguerite is sung with her customary attributes of innate musicality, firm tone and expressive phrasing. Van Dam is a resolute, implacable Devil … Plasson and his team restore the work to something near its idiomatic best."

5099909486225

Libretto:

Opera in Five Acts

"Domingo is gentlemanly of manner and lustrous of tone. The direction is firm but sympathetic and there is much to enjoy." Gramophone

5099968618629

Libretto: Michel Carré after Frédéric Mistral

Opera in five acts

"A colourful and committed performance in which rhythms are well sprung. When for moments of uplift Gounod turns to the more sugary style with which rather unfairly he came so much to be associated, Plasson’s directness avoids sentimentality without underplaying what Gounod intended … Mirella Freni was a self-evident choice for the recording."

5099964070025

Libretto: Jules Barbier & Michel Carré

Opera in five acts

"Gheorghiu brings a fine conviction to the despairing scene with Friar Laurence and then to the scene of the potion … There are many, many things to enjoy as one listens to Alagna’s Romeo." Gramophone

5099908802125

Libretto: Opera in three acts

anonymously adapted from Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto

"This recording is a vocal tour de force. Arleen Augér’s meticulously controlled phrasing, liquid in its discreet ornamentation and its dying falls, delights consistently as Alcina, and is matched by the muscularity, in fioritura, of Della Jones's Ruggiero. Kathleen Kuhlmann is a deliciously fiery and purposeful Bradamante, Eiddwen Harrhy an energetic Morgana, and Patrizia Kwella an irresistible Oberto." Gramophone

5099964070827

Libretto: Libretto after Xerse by Nicolò Minato, revised by Silvio Stampiglia

Opera in three acts

"Christie masterminds an entertaining performance … This recording captures a theatrical flow and affectionate atmosphere that is deeply satisfying." Gramophone

5099964075426

Libretto: Libretto by the composer

Opera in seven tableaux

"This is a very fine version of one of the pinnacles of 20th-century German opera … Kubelík’s devilish-sounding Bavarians in the famous “Temptation of St Antony” scene are excellent … All those who, like me, love this score will want this recording."

509996407162

Libretto: Adelheid Wette

Opera in three acts

"We have come near to perfection before, but never so close as in this recording of Humperdinck’s exquisite fairy-tale opera. It sounds as if it was sung, played, recorded, and – not least – directed with love. For that and this beautiful result our most grateful thanks." Gramophone

5099994826524

Libretto:

Opera in Three Acts

"A fine performance that includes some of the greatest Czech singers of the day in roles they knew and loved deeply … old Janáèek hands treasure this set." Gramophone

5099945638527

Libretto: Ludwig Herzer & Fritz Löhner

Operetta in three acts

"To praise the performance, the recording, the production of the opera, as they deserve would soon exhaust the limited stock of laudatory adjectives in our language. Otto Ackermann conducts with complete understanding, and notable sympathy for the singers, and the Philharmonia Orchestra play like angels for him. Each of them sounds like a magnum of champagne!"

5099964072227

Libretto: Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti & Guido Menasci after Giovanni Verga

Opera in one act

"Callas’s singing and acting is the principal glory here … There is a uniquely compelling quality about everything that she does." Gramophone

5099908802927

Libretto: Opera in three acts

Albert Lortzing

"This is a delightful work, admirably done, with some lovely tunes, swinging bass and chorus numbers, plenty of patter and ensemble and a clog dance to boot. The recording is first rate and in stereo very exciting at times. Gottlob Frick ... is a tower of strength throughout." Gramophone

5099909483828

Libretto: Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti & Guido Menasci

‘Caballé and Scotto have some lovely moments and both are strong in dramatic commitment … Carreras gives generously of voice and emotion in both of his roles – they are among his best achievements on records.’ Gramophone

5099930910027

Libretto: Henri Cain, after Le Lorrain

Comedie héroïque in five acts

"Massenet's Don Quichotte marks the ripe maturity of his art…Van Dam has sung beautifully throughout…Berganza as Dulcinée has the appropriate maturity of tone…while chorus and orchestra both do good work under an able conductor."

5099945638923

Libretto: Henri Meilhac & Philippe Gille

Opéra Comique in five acts and six tableaux

"Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna have the advantage of both possessing instantly recognisable voices. The surrounding cast is fine, and this is the best-recorded of the modern sets."

5099930911321

Libretto: Edouard Blau, Paul Milliet & Georges Hartmann after Goethe

Opera in four acts

"All those who love this impassioned Goethe setting have a treat in store for them here; so do lovers of eloquent singing."

5099994825329

Libretto:

Opera in Five Acts

"Haïm’s performance has a much stronger Italianate sense than the comparatively English school that has hitherto dominated the discography, and her compelling perspective on Monteverdi's opera certainly possesses a lively spirit that makes the listening hours fly." Gramophone

5099996678527

Libretto: Lorenzo da Ponte

Opera in two acts

"All the singers are at the peak of their form. Schwarzkopf is most characterful, Alfredo Kraus is even more delicate in ‘Un’ aura amorosa’ than I had remembered, and throughout one has a clear impression of Karl Böhm’s masterly and sympathetic direction. On any count this is one of Walter Legge’s finest Philharmonia sets."

5099994824520

Libretto:

Opera in Two Acts

"Karajan's eye for local detail never disturbs his grasp of overall form …one is never likely to be more aware of the opera’s underlying humanity… Nan Merriman's radiant vibrancy and Bruscantini's judiciously matured tone give a glow to the whole performance." Gramophone

509996407342

Libretto: Gottlieb Stephanie after Christoph Friedrich Bretzner

Opera in three acts

"Anneliese Rothenberger sings Constanze’s music quite beautifully. Krips takes all the arias at just the right pace, never hurrying her and always allowing her time to phrase as she wants to … Popp is an enchanting Blonde." Gramophone

5099996679326

Libretto: Emanuel Schikaneder

Opera in two acts (arias and ensembles only)

"Not the least extraordinary thing about this wonderful blend of the sublime and the humane is that it draws from all musicians the best of which they are capable … This issue is specially commended to those who are after the mystery and elevation of The Magic Flute."

5099909488724

Libretto:

Opera in Two Acts

"Lucia Popp is, as always, a joy, light-toned yet intense in feeling where that is needed; and Siegfried Jerusalem sounds young and heroic." Gramophone

5099996679920

Libretto: Lorenzo da Ponte after Giovanni Bertati

Opera in two acts

"This set … put into the hands of those who have not yet unlocked the paradise of Mozartean opera, is worth … what? A year at a foreign university? I don't believe I exaggerate."

5099994823820

Libretto:

Opera in Three Acts

"This set, enshrining Mackerras's profound and mature understanding of the music, is the most moving performance of the opera, perhaps of any opera, that I have heard on record." Gramophone

5099996680728

Libretto: Lorenzo da Ponte

Opera in four acts

"The casting is admirable; the orchestral playing is of the highest possible quality, and the problems of producing the opera, in a studio performance, have evidently been most carefully considered ... Elisabeth Schwarzkopf makes a truly great lady of the Countess and she is most affecting in her two arias. Irmgard Seefried, a wholly bewitching Susanna, communicates a radiant joy, a moving tenderness, a sense of fun that makes her every utterance a delight."

5099909489325

Libretto: Lorenzo da Ponte, after Beaumarchais

"The quality of the Giulini Figaro is unmistakable; for sheer musicianship it stands in a class by itself." Gramophone

5099945639425

Libretto: Jules Barbier & Michel Carré after E.T.A. Hoffmann

Opera in four acts

"Cluytens has plenty of drive and knows how to relax without letting the sentiment become sloppy. Gedda is an admirable Hoffmann: the tone has both sweetness and power, while his feeling for the character extends beyond Romantic convention to include a sense of the comic-grotesque."

5099994823325

Libretto:

Opera in Two Acts

"Marc Minkowski provides thoughtful and lively direction [in] a consistently imaginative performance… at its best a superbly musical version of Offenbach's sparkling creation." Gramophone

5099994821024

Libretto:

Opera in Four Acts

"Absolutely everything – performance, production, recording – has come out right. Kent Nagano conducts with zest and finesse … The cast could scarcely be better." Gramophone

5099996677926

Libretto: Luigi Illica & Giuseppe Giacosa after Henri Murger: ‘Scènes de la vie de Bohème’

Opera in four acts

"Goose-pimples throughout: magical opera: adorable performance. There is nothing apparently preconceived about it. Instead, it is a responsive, spontaneous performance, that goes along with the music, discovering all sorts of delights on the way."

5099909481923

Libretto:

Opera in Four Acts

"Alagna is a bright, jokey Rodolfo, singing persuasively in character under the lively baton of Antonio Pappano. … Ruth Ann Swenson is a charming Musetta and Simon Keenlyside an outstanding Schaunard." Gramophone

509996407482

Libretto: Giuseppe Adami after Dr A. M. Willner & Heinz Reichert

Lyrical comedy in three acts

"From first to last, tenderly, often with a throb in the voice, Gheorghiu’s vocal acting convinces you that Magda’s are genuine, deep emotions, painful at the end, intensified by the ravishing beauty of her voice." Gramophone

5099945639821

Libretto: Giuseppe Giacosa & Luigi Illica

Opera in two acts

"Still feeling the impact of that devastating final chord in the opera, I believe devoutly that Madama Butterfly is the most moving of all works for the stage, that this is the best recording of it, and that it is Callas’s greatest achievement on records. The morning after may bring a hesitation or two, but at present belief seems firm as Butterfly’s own and a good deal more securely grounded."

5099909488922

Libretto:

Opera in Two Acts

"This is one of Sir John Barbirolli’s very finest recordings … That it was recorded con amore comes out from first to last." Gramophone

5099964075426

Libretto: Domenico Oliva, Giulio Ricordi, Luigi Illica, Giuseppe Giacosa & Marco Praga after Abbé Prévost

Opera in four acts

"Callas may present a rather formidable portrait of a young girl in Act 1, but here the final act is far more than an epilogue to the rest, rather a culmination, with Callas at her very peak. Di Stefano too is in superb form and Serafin’s pacing of the score is masterly." Gramophone

5099902885223

Libretto:

Opera in Three Acts

"Antonio Pappano's conducting alone would make this a Tosca of distinction … Gheorghiu is a very complete Tosca indeed, and intelligently capable of bringing her own perceptions to the role ... The recording is all that could be wished." Gramophone

5099996681527

Libretto: Luigi Illica & Giuseppe Giacosa

Opera in three acts

"The vocal characterisations have yet to be surpassed for sheer vividness. Di Stefano is at his lyrical best … Gobbi is marvellous throughout. And Callas? She is a mass of contradictions: haughty and vulnerable, uncompromising and uncertain, yet always passionate – in short, the diva’s diva."

5099909486928

Libretto: Giuseppe Giacosa & Luigi Illica

"Scotto provides perhaps the most telling use of the text since Callas’s, and she constantly lets one see the distraught, temperamental woman behind the notes." Gramophone

5099945640223

Libretto: Giuseppe Adami & Renato Simoni after Carlo Gozzi Last duet and finale of the opera completed by: Franco Alfano

Opera in three acts

“To have Callas, the most flashing-eyed of all sopranos, as Turandot, is – on record at least – the most natural piece of casting … one of the most thrillingly magnetic of all her recorded performances.”

5099996682128

Libretto: Nahum Tate

Opera in three acts

"Luminosity is key to Emmanuelle Haïm’s highly evocative and atmospheric reading … Susan Graham brings a mesmerising degree of expressive nuance … Haïm uses her instrumentalists, Le Concert d'Astree, to excellent effect.”

5099908819222

Libretto:

Semi-opera in five acts by Henry Purcell, anonymously adapted from William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

"An extraordinarily tidy, persuasively articulated and lean account: the instrumental dances contain a textural luminosity which is at times revelatory and the attention to detail gives the marvellously fleeting nuance of Purcell’s part-writing the chance to be noticed ... a skilfully chosen array of singers, each of whom evidently suits Norrington’s highly focused view of the music." Gramophone

5099964076324

Libretto: Étienne de Jouy, Hippolyte Bis & Armand Marrast

Opera in four acts

"Lamberto Gardelli draws rich and lucid playing from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, giving a splendid performance of the overture and the ballet music and accompanying tactfully and with a quick ear for the textures and the sometimes very original scoring which Rossini employs." Gramophone

5099945644429

Libretto: Cesare Sterbini after Beaumarchais

Opera in two acts

"This is one Callas set where the prima donna doesn't by any means dominate. Gobbi's quick-witted, fast-speaking Figaro is the pivot of the action, mercurial in fioriture and constantly alive to action and reaction. Who wouldn’t be spellbound by the seductive fresh sounds of the young Alva’s Count? Listen to all three in the Second Act trio, and if you can remember hearing it better done, I'll eat my critical hat.”

5099909489226

Libretto:

Opera in Two Acts

"James Levine conducts a performance that is always rhythmically on its toes and has much polish and zest. It is excellent entertainment: the gaiety infectious, the comedy unforced." Gramophone

5099994820423

Libretto:

Opera in Two Acts

"This is an opera of youth, and here are a soprano and tenor with quite exceptionally firm, sweet, pure, young sounding voices. Freni was then at her light lyrical best, and over long years I cannot think of a soprano with a more radiant, crystal-clear purity. Gedda leaves a vivid memory for many reasons, and again the voice was exceptionally pure and sweet." Gramophone

5099902884622

Libretto:

Opera in Two Acts

"The engineers have captured the Glyndebourne production to perfection, even the most difficult to balance of the ensembles comes out well. The tone, texture and spirit of the performance come alive without a single dud patch. And with such a well rehearsed company and such a good Rossini conductor as Vittorio Gui, nothing could really go wrong." (Gramophone)

5099908819826

Libretto: Ferdinand Lemaire

Opera in three acts

"Chung’s achievement is to have welded the elements of pagan ruthlessness, erotic stimulation and Wagnerian harmony that comprise Saint-Saëns’s masterpiece into a convincing whole. Without doubt this is the most subtly and expertly conducted performance of this work to appear on CD, and also the best played and sung." Gramophone

5099996683828

Libretto: Shostakovich & Alexander Preis after Nikolai Leskov

Opera in four acts

"The cast is an impressive one, with a completely convincing performance from Galina Vishnevskaya in the title role. The moments of tenderness are beautifully controlled, and the voice coloured to great effect to convey a whole range of moods."

5099908820426

Libretto: Joseph Gregor

"Haitink does everything in his appreciable power to convince us of the diaphanous quality of the scoring, sustains the long paragraphs of what is, in effect, a long symphonic poem with an unfailing grip on structure, and supports his singers splendidly ... Lucia Popp, predictably, makes a lovely Daphne." Gramophone

5099996682425

Libretto: Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Opera in three acts

"It really does triumph over them all, and the triumph is, almost entirely, Schwarzkopf's own. There is never any sense of mere manner: rather her volatility, dignity, and her ability to catch the evanescent life-breath of each word and phrase as it is spun into line sets the pace and spirit of the performance as a whole."

5099908821126

Libretto: Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Opera in three acts

"One is convinced, after listening to these discs, that this is Strauss’s grandest and most ambitious, if not his most consistent, score, and that the beauty and imaginative genius of the orchestration are unsurpassed in all his music ... The highest honours must go to Wolfgang Sawallisch, whose passionate devotion to Strauss in general and to this opera in particular results here in a notable milestone." Gramophone

5099964077925

Libretto: Hugo von Hofmannsthal after Sophocles

Opera in one act

"Marton’s reading is delivered straight at you, no holds barred. At her very first entry we meet a woman totally at the end of her tether, distraught, obsessed, single-minded in her thoughts of revenge, a powerful, tragic presence."

5099996683224

Libretto: Hedwig Lachmann after Oscar Wilde

Opera in one act

"This is a reading which no one from now on will be able to ignore, with its overpowering warmth of expression, its sensuous texturing and not least the superb playing of the Vienna Philharmonic."

5099996684429

Libretto: Carl Haffner & Richard Genée after Henri Meilhac & Ludovic Halévy

Operetta in three acts

"Karajan’s interpretation is a most stylish, winning one. The cast, too, is splendid, led majestically and ravishingly by Schwarzkopf … Rita Streich is an agile, utterly charming foil. The lesser roles are all well taken, and the effectiveness of the whole production still strikes home."

5099945650024

Libretto: Le Rossignol - Stravinsky & S.M. Mitusov

Lyric tale in three acts after Hans Christian Andersen

"One great quality of Conlon’s performance is that he emphasises the miniature opera’s straddling of two expressive worlds. … With the arrival of the exceptionally beautiful tenor voice of Vsevolod Grivnov as the Fisherman you strongly suspect that this is the recording The Nightingale has been waiting for. Natalie Dessay is lovely in the title-role."

5099964063027

Libretto: Antonio Ghislanzoni

Opera in four acts

"This is an outright winner … I am sure that Verdi would have liked Muti’s concentration on essentials and the way he suggests a real theatrical experience." Gramophone

5099909482425

Libretto:

Opera in Four Acts

"This is an outright winner … I am sure that Verdi would have liked Muti’s concentration on essentials and the way he suggests a real theatrical experience." Gramophone

5099930910621

Libretto: Temistocle Solera

Lyric drama in a prologue and three acts

"Ramey’s is truly an Attila-sized voice, used with impressively commanding authority. Studer phrases beautifully, has a floatingly free upper register and the clarity to dominate an ensemble."

5099996685020

Libretto: Josephy Méry & Camille du Locle after Friedrich von Schiller

Opera in five acts

"Six interesting and complicated charaters are enmeshed in a web of Church and State where their actions affect not only one another, but the fate of three nations. And on every level Verdi rises to the subject with some of his most powerful and passionate music ... in Giulini’s performance, it becomes a tense, gripping drama in which every episode and every action has its part to play."

5099994819922

Libretto:

Opera in Three Acts

"On all sides, not least the playing of the Philharmonia Orchestra, Karajan presides over the highest technical standards. What other conductor conjures such magic in the simple chords that accompany the strokes of midnight under Herne's Oak? How appropriate that this evergreen performance should sound younger with each reappearance." Gramophone

5099908821928

Libretto: Temistocle Solera

Lyric drama in a prologue and three acts

"What Caballé does is to use her fullest range of tone to make Verdi’s endless lyricism sound even more inspired than it is. The whole trio of principal soloists could hardly be more impressive." Gramophone

5099964077321

Libretto: Salvatore Cammarano after Antonio García Gutiérrez

Opera in four acts

"Leonora was one of Callas’s finest stage roles and this recording is wonderfully intense, with a dark concentrated loveliness of sound in the principal arias. Karajan conducts with that almost insolent mastery of score and orchestra which made him such a phenomenon at this period of his career. Whatever you do, don’t miss this set." Gramophone

5099909483927

Libretto: Salvatore Cammarano

"Tucci really seems to feel the music’s shape and her singing is always a good instrument for Verdi’s ideas." Gramophone

5099994819120

Libretto:

Opera in Four Acts

5099996685822

Libretto: Francesco Maria Piave

Opera in three acts

"The final act is greatness itself, and indeed no part, and hardly any phrase, of Callas’s performance throughout the opera fails to provoke and deserve special comment…a performance of rare depth and beauty."

5099909489127

Libretto: Francesco Maria Piave after Alexandre Dumas

"Beverly Sills is a spirited, subtle and sensitive heroine. Nicolai Gedda gives an attractive performance and Aldo Ceccato conducts with finesse." Gramophone

5099945644726

Libretto: Temistocle Solera

Opera in four acts

"Muti once again proves an energetic, almost compulsive Verdian, springing the fierce rhythms of this score with immediate vigour, taking care of the spicy orchestration of this, for its time, very original score, and urging on the Philharmonia Orchestra to its most alert form. Scotto sings with tremendous fire and insight." Gramophone

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Libretto:

Opera in Four Acts

"Muti once again proves an energetic, almost compulsive Verdian, springing the fierce rhythms of this score with immediate vigour, taking care of the spicy orchestration of this, for its time, very original score, and urging on the Philharmonia Orchestra to its most alert form. Scotto sings with tremendous fire and insight." Gramophone

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Libretto: Arrigo Boito after the tragedy by William Shakespeare

Opera in four acts

"This performance of Verdi’s masterpiece is large, bold, and brilliant. The set represents a noble attempt to recreate on records the grandeur, the musical richness, the passions and the subtleties of Verdi’s tragedy. Listening to it was an exhilarating experience."

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Libretto: Francesco Maria Piave after Victor Hugo

Opera in three acts

"No Rigoletto has surpassed Gobbi in tonal variety, line, projection of character and understanding of what Rigoletto is about; no Gilda has come anywhere near Callas in meaningful phrasing; no conductor matches Serafin in judging tempo and instrumental detail to a nicety. This remains the classic performance of the opera on record, and one that should be on every Verdi collector’s shelf."

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Libretto: Francesco Piave

"Kraus’s singing is elegant and attractive throughout ... The Philharmonia plays with admirable élan and a great deal of subtlety for Rudel." Gramophone

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Libretto: Agostino Piovene

Critical edition: Fabio Biondi Tragedia per musica Presentato al Nuovo Teatro dell’Accademia di Verona, Carnevale di 1735 WITH BONUS 30-MINUTE DVD

"David Daniels is in typically beautiful voice as Tamerlano, and Vivica Genaux gives a show-stopping display as Irene. Fabio Biondi and his players bring out countless nuances in the score with their usual array of interpretative devices. There could hardly be a better way to bring this opera to life.”

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Libretto: Richard Wagner after Heinrich Heine · Original Dresden version

Opera in three acts

"I will refrain from pouring out superlatives over the superb, vivid and colourful playing of the New Philharmonia Orchestra: their precision and attack is a joy from start to finish. This performance is as perfect as we have any right to demand."

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Libretto: Richard Wagner

Opera in three acts

"If I could hear only one opera for the rest of my life, it would have to be Die Meistersinger; and so if I were sent to Siberia with only one record album, it would be the album here reviewed. Hearing it has been a joy, a profound and moving experience." Gramophone

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Libretto: Richard Wagner

Opera in three acts

"Thomas combines ardour and anguish as well as any, and with Fischer-Dieskau a formidable (but never over-emphatic) antagonist, and Gottlob Frick a majestic King Henry, the drama of the opera’s central conflict remains supremely immediate and powerful."

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Libretto: by the composer

"Thomas combines ardour and anguish as well as any. Fischer-Dieskau is a formidable (but never over-emphatic) antagonist, and Gottlob Frick a majestic King Henry." Gramophone

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Libretto:

Opera in Three Acts

"This is an important and deeply satisfying performance…Wagnerians will want to have it for the truthfulness and elevation of Goodall's reading." Gramophone

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Libretto: Richard Wagner

Opera in three acts

"Haitink’s conducting is direct and fiery. He relishes the fleshpots of the Venusberg scene, captures the fevered ecstasy of the hero’s hymn to Venus, and directs the contentious doings on the Wartburg with theatrical verve. … Klaus König certainly has the muscle and stamina for the title role and also encompasses its vein of inner torture." Gramophone

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Libretto: Richard Wagner

Opera in Three Acts

“Domingo gives us a performance of Tristan, carefully studied, heroically sung, sympathetically interpreted, that truly crowns his career as a tenor and recording artist. Even more remarkable is the Isolde of Nina Stemme. Her strong, dark-hued, vibrant tone allied to her meaningful enunciation of the text is something to wonder at. Over all presides the alert and commanding Pappano." Gramophone

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Libretto:

Opera in Three Acts

"Never before on record has the sensuousness of Wagner's great score been so ravishingly realised, nor has any previous Isolde so captured the femininity of the heroine: a girl embracing love, passionate and tender, as well as an epic figure." Gramophone

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Libretto:

Opera in Three Acts

"Domingo gives us a performance of Tristan, carefully studied, heroically sung, sympathetically interpreted, that truly crowns his career as a tenor and recording artist." Gramophone

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Libretto:

Opera in Three Acts

"This is a performance that succeeds on all counts. It is very well cast and recorded, thoroughly rehearsed, and unfailingly musical, revealing fully the manifold beauties of the score…it is an opera that one returns to with renewed delight, certain of finding in it new beauties." Gramophone