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PUCCINI - LE VILLI & EDGAR NAIVE V4958 & NAIVE V4957
 Le Villi (‘The Willies’) was Giacomo Puccini’s first opera and received its highly successful premiere performance in 1884. Telling the story of a faithless lover destroyed by the spirit of his beloved, it had a libretto by Ferdinando Fontana. This new recording on the Naive label features the Radio France Chorus and French Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Marco Guidarini, with soloists Melanie Diener (Anna), the young Venezuelan singer Aquiles Machado (Roberto), Ludovic Tezier (Guglielmo) and Sylvie David. Naive are also issuing a Radio France recording of Puccini’s second opera, EDGAR, written five years after Le Villi and set in 13th Century Flanders In this more ambitious and complicated work, Puccini develops his technique using a score that merges stirring arias and ensembles. Julia Varady takes the role of the pure Fidelia, with Carl Tanner as Edgar and Mary Ann McCormich as the demonic Tigrana. The conductor is Yoel Levi. These outstanding recordings of two rare works are a must for anyone wishing to explore Puccini’s early music.
BARTOK - DUKE BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE WARNER 2564 61953-2
Composed in 1911, when Béla Bartók was 30 years old, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle was first performed in 1918. Dedicated to the composer’s young wife, this one-act opera reinterprets an old fairy tale telling of Judith’s persistent demands to know all Bluebeard’s secrets (represented by the seven doors concealing his seven dead wives) becomes a destructive quest for knowledge of another’s mind. Bartók’s sumptuous score, influenced by Mussorgsky, Debussy and Strauss as well as by the rhythms and harmonies of Hungarian folk music, is perhaps best appreciated on disc. This CD features a recording one of the highlights of the BBC Proms season of 2004, with a sublime performance of Bartók’s masterpiece (and only opera). The excellent BBC Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste and the vocal soloists are John Tomlinson (Bluebeard), Jeanne-Michele Charbonnet (Judith) and Mátyás Sárközi. The sensual music makes magical what might otherwise be a grim fable of human isolation. ‘The sense of gathering tension in the drama was wonderfully conveyed and the final revelation of Bluebeard’s dead wives was shattering...John Tomlinson rose magisterially above [the din of Bartók’s orchestra]. More importantly, he gave Bluebeard a world-weary and heart-sick tone that went straight to the heart of this strange and riveting drama’ - The Daily Telegraph.
SCARLATTI - IL TRIONFO DELL’ONORE URANIA URN 22.277
The prolific Sicilian composer Alessandro Scarlatti was born in Palermo in 1660 and played a crucial role in the development of opera as founder of ‘Neapolitan school’. He studied in Rome 1672 with Carissimi and wrote first opera there 1679, spending most of the rest of his life working Rome or Naples in various court and church appointments. One of his main contributions to opera was liberation of dramatic expression and his greatest opera is probably Mitridate Eupatore (1707), composed for Prince Ferdinando de Medici. He wrote twenty oratorios, ten masses, several settings of Stabat Mater, many motets, over six hundred solo cantatas with basso continuo and sixty with other instruments and thirty chamber cantatas, as well as serenatas, madrigals, chamber concsertos, sonatas and harpsichord. pieces. Of his 115 operas, only about half survive, wholly or in part, the last one being La Griselda (1721). They include only one comic opera, Il trionfo dell’onore, a tale of love and betrayal set in Pisa, written in 1718. This ‘commedia in musica’ was a great success at its premiere in Naples and is performed here in a historic recording made in Milan in 1950. The excellent Carlo Maria Giulini conducts the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano dell Rai, with soloists including Amedeo Berdini (as the seducer Riccardo), Amalia Pini (as the deserted Leonora), Mario Borriello and Rossana Zerbini.
BIZET - CARMEN BERLIN CLASSICS ETERNA 0032952BC
Both of Georges Bizet's parents were professional musicians - his mother a pianist and his father a composer and a singing teacher. The precocious Georges Bizet entered the Paris Conservatory of Music aged nine and won several awards there before studying in Italy. In 1875, he wrote his best-known work, Carmen, based on a story by Merimee, incorporating Spanish rhythms to set the stage for the story. This new release features a 1961 recording of Bizet’s masterpiece, with Herbert Kegel conducting the Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester of Leipzig. Rolf Apreck makes a powerful Don Jose and Sona Cervana is delightfully seductive in the title role. The two disc set is part of a grand reissue of complete operas in the Eterna Collection series. High quality former East German recordings have been expertly remastered and are beautifully packaged with lavish booklets containing the libretto as well as striking original illustrations. Other gems in the series include Handel’s Judas Maccabaus and Otmar Suitner’s recordings of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte (0032992BC) and Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (0032932BC), as well as Richard Strauss’s Salome with Heinz Hoppe and Christel Goltz as the definitive Salome (0032942BC). This splendid collection will delight opera lovers and is a fine tribute to a great era of classic recordings.
CHAUSSON - LE ROI ARTHUS TELARC CD-80645
Ernest Amédée Chausson (1855–99) was born in Paris into an upper middle-class family. After completing his law studies, he began attending the classes of Jules Massenet at the Paris Conservatoire, having already composed several piano pieces and songs. He later studied under César Franck and his work shows the influence of Massenet, Franck, Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms, bridging the gap between Massenet and Franck and the next generation of French composers such as Debussy. Chausson died in Limary, Seine-et-Oise, at the age of 44 as a result of a freak bicycle accident and was buried in the Cimetière du Père Lachaise in Paris. A fastidious craftsman, he was seldom satisfied with his compositions although these include some outstanding chamber music, a once popular symphony, and the opera, Le Roi Arthus. Chausson worked on Le Roi Arthus for a decade, completing it in 1895, and did not live to hear the music performed (the opera received its premiere in 1903). This excellent 3-CD set features a fine recording of a work that has been unjustifiably neglected. Leon Botstein conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Apollo Voices, with soloists who include Andrew Schroeder, Susan Bullock, Sir Donald McIntyre, Simon O'Neill and Francois Le Roux. The accompanying booklet has much useful background information as well as biographies of the performers and the full libretto in French and English.
VERDI - LA TRAVIATA PEARL GEMS 0228
In 1958, for the first and only time, the voice, the stage presence and artistry of Maria Callas graced Portugal’s most historic opera house: The Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon. She played Violetta only twice in Lisbon (on the 27th and 30th of March) but those memorable performances earned a place in operatic history. There are few performances and recordings more famous than ‘the Lisbon Traviata’ and it has circulated widely in several inferior transfers that have not managed to satisfy connoisseurs and collectors. This new transfer, however, is from an entirely fresh sound source and can only enhance the reputation of this important production. Maria Callas is in magnificent form, with her voice more fragile than in earlier performances as Violetta but still extraordinarily beautiful. The cast also features Alfredo Kraus (a graceful Alfredo), Mario Sereni (superb as Germont), Laura Zannini (Flora) and Alvaro Malta (Duphol). The Orchestra and Chorus are conducted by the excellent Franco Ghione. The double CD set also includes three legendary Cetra recordings of Callas performing in Norma (her favourite role), I Puritani and Tristan.
JOHN CASKEN - GOLEM ANCORA NMC D113
After studying composition at Birmingham University, John Casken was awarded a scholarship in 1971 to study in Warsaw, where he began a long association with Witold Lutoslawksi. John Casken is currently a lecturer at Birmingham and Durham Universities and is Professor of Music at the University of Manchester. As well as chamber and orchestral works, he has written two operas. The first of these, Golem, was premièred at the 1989 Almeida Festival, directed by Pierre Audi, and in 1990 the composer was awarded the First Britten Prize for this composition. Golem was subsequently issued on a Virgin Classics recording with the original cast, conducted by Richard Bernas, and won the 1991 Gramophone Award in the contemporary category. This acclaimed recording is now re-issued in NMC’s admirable Ancora series. The legend of the golem has its roots in the stories of Jewish communities of central Europe dating back several centuries. Casken energetically explores these great legend and myths, matching imagery from the stories with his powerful and lyrical music. ‘Casken’s musical invention is attention-grabbing in the best sense of the term…Golem was one of the most distinctive and successful British operatic creations of the 1980s’ - Tempo.
GREAT CONDUCTORS AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA GUILD GCHD 2300/2
This triple CD set features excerpts from Wagnerian works performed at the Metropolitan Opera by three of the twentieth century’s greatest conductors: Fritz Busch, Sir Thomas Beecham and George Szell. Act 1 of Lohengrin is conducted by Busch in a 1945 production that featured Torsten Ralf in the title role, Helen Traubel as Elsa and the imposing baritone Herbert Janssen as Telramund. We also get the Bridal Scene from Act II, conducted by Bruno Seidler-Winkler in 1939. Beecham conducts Act II of Tristan und Isolde in fine romantic style, with splendid singing by the great tenor Lauritz Melchior. Beecham also conducts Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Kirsten Flagstad in 1952. The third disc has a 1945 production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Act II, as well as extracts from Act III, conducted by George Szell. These star Herbert Janssen again (this time as Hans Sachs), Eleanor Steber as Eva and the mezzo-soprano Kerstin Thorborg as Magdelane. Recording quality is inevitably less than perfect but the historic importance and frequently thrilling sounds captured here make this a worthy release.
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA GEMS, VOL. 2 GUILD GHCD 2287/9
The second volume in Guild’s ‘San Francisco Opera Gems’ series features supreme performers such as Kirsten Flagstad, Beniamino Gigli and Lotte Lehmann in music recorded between 1936 and 1945. Among many interesting items that will appeal to the opera connoisseur is a 1936 recording of act 2 of Jacques François Halevy’s La Juive, with Elisabeth Rethberg in superb form as Rachel and Giovanni Martinelli as Eleazer. Other works in this three CD collection include Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (with the marvelous soprano Licia Albanese, Raoul Jobin and Francesco Valentino), excerpts from Bizet’s Carmen (a seductively voiced Risë Stevens in the title role and Charles Kullman as Don Jose), Act 3 of Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier (with Lotte Lehmann and Risë Stevens), Act 3 of Wagner’s Die Walküre and a scene from Act 1 of Giordano’s Andrea Chenier (the incomparable Gigli with Elisabeth Rethberg).
ROBERT SAXTON - CARITAS & OTHER WORKS NMC ANCORA D102
The excellent Ancora series of re-issues form NMC continues with a double CD set of music by the British composer Robert Saxton. Works include Saxton’s two-act opera Caritas (performed by the English Northern Philharmonia and Soloists, conducted by Diego Masson), his Violin Concerto (with the renowned Tasmin Little and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Matthias Bamert), Music to celebrate the resurrection (the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Steuart Bedford) and I Will awake the dawn (the BBC Singers. directed by John Poole. The 80 minute opera Caritas tells the gripping story of a 14th century anchoress unable to sustain her dedication and not permitted to revoke her vow. Arnold Wesker’s libretto, based on his stage play, shows the destructive effect of unquestioning dogma. All the works on this album were previously released on Collins Classics and have been transferred to an exemplary standard. Highly recommended.
HANDEL - LOTARIO DHM 82876 58797 2
Handel’s three-act opera, with a libretto adapted by Giacomo Rossi from Antonio Salvi’s Adelaide, was first performed at the King’s Theatre, London, in 1729. The composer had visited Italy and Rome to recruit new singers but this musically sophisticated and dramatic work was not a success with audiences looking for easy diversion, although it did provide material that Handel used again in later works. In fact, lotario failed so badly that it vanished from the stage for two and a quarter centuries. In this new recording Alan Curtis conducts Complesso Barocco and a fine cast to bring a true gem to light: As well as the complete recording of one of Handel’s sparkling opera there is an essay by author Donna Leon. Soloists include the soprano Simone Kermes as Adelaide (Queen of Italy), Sara Mingardo (contralto) as Lotario (King of Germany), Steve Davislim as Berengario (Duke of Spoleto) and Hilary Summers (contralto) as Idelberto (Berengario's son and in love with Adelaide).
CHARLES WUORINEN - THE HAROUN SONGBOOK ALBANY TROY664
This collection of excerpts is taken from American composer Charles Wuorinen’s opera Haroun and the Sea of Stories (with lyrics by James Fenton, based on the novel by Salman Rushdie), rearranged for four singers and with a newly composed piano obbligato. The selections are arranged to make a completely independent work, but for this recording an outline of the opera’s plot is included to set the individual pieces in their original context. The Haroun Songbook was commissioned by Works and Process at the Guggenheim and premiered in October 2002 at the Guggenheim Museum, performed by the excellent cast heard in this recording: Elizabeth Farnum (soprano), Emily Golden (mezzo-soprano), James Schaffner (tenor), Michael Chioldi (bass-baritone) and Phillip Bush (piano). The CD is part of an exemplary Charles Wuorinen series from Albany Records. Other recordings so far include Fast Fantasy (TROY658, chamber works featuring Fred Sherry on cello and the composer as pianist) and Genesis (TROY678, including The Latin Mass for the Restoration of St. Luke in the Fields, written to celebrate the rededication of a church in lower Manhattan which had burned to the ground and was subsequently rebuilt, and a distinguished choral work, Genesis).
GLUCK - L’INNOCENZA GIUSTIFICATA DHM 2CD 82876587962
The splendidly named composer Christoph Willibald Gluck was born in Erasbach, Bavaria. After studying music, teaching and working as an organist in Prague, he later studied in Vienna and Milan (with Sammartini). In 1741 he started to write operas, the best known perhaps being Orfeo ed Euridice (1762) and Alceste (1767). Paris during the 1770s was divided between those who supported his ‘French international’ opera style and those preferring the Italian style of Niccolo Piccinni. The charming work featured on this recording is a little known ‘festa teatrale’ style, two act baroque opera with a story set around the Temple of Vesta in Rome at a time when the Roman Empire was beginning to crumble through decadence. The young English conductor.Christopher Moulds directs the excellent Cappella Coloniensis, which this year celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. The soloists include Maria Bayo, Andreas Karasiak, Marina De Liso and Veronica Cangemi.
AGRIPPINA - HANDEL DYNAMIC CDS431
Handel’s delightful opera Agrippina was first staged in December 1709, or possibly at the beginning of 1710, at Venice’s Teatro San Grisostomo and met with enormous success, as testified by twenty-seven following performances, a record number even by 18th-century standards. This work established the composer's international reputation and even nearly 300 years later Agrippina is still seen as a masterpiece and an extraordinarily innovative work, especially since Handel wrote it when he was only twenty-four. The composer’s melodic creativity and remarkable sense of theatre are most impressive in this three-CD box set live recording. La Grande Ecurie et La Chambre du Roy are conducted by Jean-Claude Malgoire and soloists include the outsanding soprano Véronique Gens as the conniving Agrippina (wife of Emperor Claudius), male alto Philippe Jaroussky (her ruthless son Nero), Ingrid Perruche (the sensuous Poppea), Nigel Smith (Claudius), Bernard Deletré, male soprano Fabrice Di Falco and bass Alain Buet.
ROSMIRA FIDELE - VIVALDI DYNAMIC CDS437
This Vivaldian rarity, a three-act opera with a libretto by Silvio Stampiglia, was first staged at Venice’s Teatro Sant’Angelo in 1738. Written three years before the composer’s death, Rosmira Fedele marks the end of one of the most fertile theatrical careers in the history of music. On the model of Dorilla in Tempe (1734) and Bajazet (1735), and unlike the compilations of fashionable arias which were mechanically produced by many composers at that time, Rosmira is a pastiche. According to Vivaldi’s own words; many parts were written ex novo, with the Venetian composer keeping for himself the best passages of the opera, from a musical and dramatic point of view. In this world premiere recording, the beautiful mezzo voice of Marianna Pizzolato is outstanding in the title role. Other members of the fine cast include Claire Brua, Salomé Haller and John Elwes. The Ensemble Baroque de Nice is conducted by Gilbert Bezzina.
FAUST - GOUNOD GUILD GHCD 2258/59
This opera in five acts, based on part 1 of Goethe's 'Faust' and first performed in Paris in 1859, has music by Gounod and a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. This recording dates from 1944 and features the Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, with soloists Raoul Jobin (Faust), Ezio Pinza (a suave and sardonic Méphistophélès), Licia Albanese (Marguerite), Martial Singher (Valentin), Lucielle Browning (Siébel), Thelma Votipka (Marthe) and John Baker (Wagner). This was originally a private recording made for Raoul Jobin of the ‘Met’ tour broadcast from Boston and is issued by arrangement with The National Library of Canada, to whom Jobin bequeathed the master acetates. The album makes it possible to admire again the wonderful performances of Pinza and Beecham in particular on this bargain-price album.
MOZART - DON GIOVANNI GUILD GHCD 2236/7
This historic recording of Mozart’s profound opera stars the magnificent Ezio Pinza as Don Giovanni, with Salvatore Boccaloni (Leporello), Zinka Milanov (Donna Anna), Jarmila Novotna (Donna Elvira), Bidù Sayão (Zerlina), James Melton (Don Ottavio), Mack Harrell (Masetto), Norman Cordon (Commendatore). The Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera are conducted by Paul Breisach. The opera is governed by a single idea, Don Giovanni’s flouting of society in pursuit of sexual pleasure, which binds together a disparate set of ambivalent or comic incidents. Divine retribution appears like an act of God, or a different kind of life-force personified in the statue; what in previous treatments had been comic, perfunctory or merely gruesome, is raised to sublimity by Mozart’s music.
RICHARD STRAUSS - DER ROSENKAVALIER NAXOS HISTORICAL 8.110277-79
This acclaimed performance of Der Rosenkavalier opened the 1949-50 season at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and was televised live. The soundtrack has been restored for this new release, which features a starry cast that includes soprano Erna Berger, a young Guiseppe di Stefano, Viennese-born bass Emanuel List, Eleanor Steber as the Fieldmarschallin and the wonderful American mezzo-soprano Rise Stevens. The New York Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra are conducted by Fritz Reine, a strict disciplinarian who was a master of orchestral balance. Richard Strauss was the leading German operatic composer after Wagner and he wrote his masterpiece Der Rosenkavalier to a libretto by Hugo von Hoffmansthal. In this work the composer turned away from the intensity and dramatic fervour of his earlier operas to a more conservative look back to the end of the eighteenth century.
MOZART - LA BETULA LIBERATA DYNAMIC IDIS 6408
La Betulia liberata (The Liberation of Bethulia) is the only real oratorio that Mozart ever composed. It was commissioned in 1771 by Don Giuseppe Ximena of Padua, Prince of Aragon, and the oratorio, drawn from the works of Viennese court poet Pietro Metastasio, was to be performed in Padua the following Lent. The religious theme of La Betulia liberata, based on the apocryphal Book of Judith, was eminently suitable for a Lenten performance. In May 1952, the RAI of Turin engaged a formidable vocal cast which included Myriam Pirazzini in the main role, as well as such stars of the operatic world as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Boris Christoff and Cesare Valletti. All were at the peak of their careers, making this a truly memorable recording, in which the rarity of the composition is matched by interpretative quality. The excellent Orchestra e Coro di Torino della RAI are conducted by Mario Rossi.
VERDI - AIDA URANIA URN 22.244
This live recording, made in New York in 1949, captures a famously controversial production of Aida conducted by Toscanini. For half a century, RCA submitted the sound of this legendary performance to strong compressions, which erased, through drastic equalizations, all the original frequencies, which could have restored the ambience. Urania's restoration, mindful of all the musical values, has brought back the huge dynamic of Toscanini's and the NBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and, above all, the whole sound spectrum of Studio 8H. This milestone in the history of operatic interpretation also features Herva Nelli (Aida), Richard Tucker (Radames), Giuseppe Valdengo (Amonasro) and Eva Gustavson (Amneris).
PORGY AND BESS/CARMEN JONES SEPIA 1006
This inspired album features selections from two great musicals written and first performed in the middle of the twentieth century. Both became successful films but these impressive recordings are by members of the original New York casts, with all tracks re-mastered to capture the magic of those original stage shows. George Gershwin’s moving ‘folk opera’ masterpece, Porgy and Bess, includes such classics as Summertime (sung here by Anne Brown), I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’, and Bess, You Is My Woman (sung by Tod Duncan). Oscar Hammerstein’s Carmen Jones adapted music by Georges Bizet, interpreted here by Muriel Smith and Luther Saxon (Dere's A Cafe On De Corner), June Hawkins (Beat Out Dat Rhythm On A Drum) and Glenn Bryant (Stan' Up And Fight). The informative sleeve notes are accompanied evocative photographs of the original productions.
TOSCA & OTHER PUCCINI HEROINES PEARL GEMS 0199
Continuing Pearl’s reissue of performances by the magnificent Renata Tebaldi, this double album features a recording of her Tosca from 1952, with the chorus and orchestra of the Academia di Santa Cecilia, Rome, conducted byAlberto Erede. Cavaradossi is sung by Giuseppe Campora, Scarpia is Enzo Mascherini, the Sacristan is Fernando Corena and the Spoletta Piero di Palma. Erede's conducting is a major contribution to the structure and control of this performance, his fidelity to Puccini's instructions is obvious and his influence on the singers exemplifies his reputation as a fine conductor of the greatest operatic performers. The beauty of Tebaldi's voice, her diction, placing and control are fabulous and the simplicity of her interpretation touches the heart. The CD also includes excerpts from La Boheme, Turandot, Madama Butterfly and Manon Lescaut, with a splendid array of soloists such as Geraldine Farrar, Lotte Schone and the great Eva Turner.
DIE AGYPTISCHE HELENA - RICHARD STRAUSS TELARC CD-80605
Leon Botstein conducts the American Symphony Orchestra and the Concert Chorale of New York (directed by Gary Thor Wedow) in a revelatory live performance of one of Richard Strauss’s less well-known works, Die Ägyptische Hélèna (The Egyptian Helen). As with the composer’s more famous Die Frau ohne Schatten, this third of his ‘marriage operas’ has a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Die Ägyptische Hélèna is a mythological operetta based on the story of Helen of Troy and features one of Strauss’s greatest roles for the soprano voice. By turns satirical, mischievous and serious, the opera’s themes include marital fidelity and the restoration of trust. This double-CD set captures a New York performance of the work in its original version without cuts, representing the opera that Strauss and Hofmannsthal first envisioned. Soloists include the brilliant soprano Deborah Voigt (Helena), Carl Tanner (Menelas), Celena Shafer (Aithra), mezzo-soprano Jill Grove (Die alles-wissende Muschel - ‘The Omniscient Seashell’), Christopher Robertson (Altair), Eric Cutler (Da-ud) and Tamara Mesic (Die erste Dienerin).
VIVALDI - LA VERITA IN CIMENTO NAIVE OPUS111 OP 30365
Amazingly, this lavishly presented three-CD box set is the world first recording of Vivaldi’s forgotten Baroque opera, La verità in cimento. The composer wrote this complicated and exotic eastern family drama for his come-back after a three-year absence, and it was a great success when first performed in 1720. The music’s characteristic rhythms and melodies are immediately recognisable as his personal style. The excellent Ensemble Matheus are dazzlingly directed here by Jean-Christophe Spinosi, and the fine cast of international soloists includes Gemma Bertagnolli (Rosane), Guillemette Laurens (Rustena), Sara Mingardo (Melindo), Nathalie Stutzmann (Damira), Philippe Jaroussky (Zelim) and Anthony Rolfe Johnsson (Mamud). This is a marvellous discovery is a delight that makes the listener wonder how many other Vivaldi treasures may yet be found!
OTTO EDELMANN PREISER RECORDS MONO 90498.
The powerful young Viennese-born bass, who had originally intended to become a boxer, came to prominence in the postwar years of the 1940s with his sensational performances at the Vienna Volksoper. Minor roles in Freischutz and Don Carlo soon lead to much greater parts as Mephistopheles in Faust and the title role in The Barber of Bagdad by Cornelius. He moved on to the State Opera company, giving acclaimed performances as Pizarro in Fidelio and taking the title role in Verdi’s Falstaff, and to star at Bayreuth. His most famous roles were as Hans Sachs and as Baron Ochs in der Rosenkavalier, which he performed no less than 236 times in his career. This fine collection from Preiser features Edelmann at his best in excerpts from operas by Wagner, Beethoven, Verdi and Cornelius.
IL TROVATIRE/MANON LESCAUT CAPRICE CAP22051
The marvellous recordings on this double CD set show the great Jussi Bjorling at his best, captured in live performance at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm during its 1956-57 season. Bjorling made fourteen guest performances in five operas on the stage where he had made his debut 25 years earlier. As well as Bjorling’s stunning Manrico, this production of Verdi’s Il Trovatore also features Norwegian soprano Aase Nordmo Lovberg as Leonora, Margareta Bergstrom as the gypsy Azcena and Hugo Hasslo as Count Luna. It is from Bergstrom’s original tape recording that this enthralling CD has been produced. As the first scene of the work is missing, there is space here to include Jussi Bjorling in all the des Grieux solo sections as well as the entire final scene from Puccini’s Manon Lescaut with Hjordis Schymberg, recorded in 1959.
GUSTAVO III - VERDI DYNAMIC CDS 426/1-2
Verdi’s ‘Ballo in maschera’ was originally set in Stockholm, at the Court of Gustav III, King of Sweden, but that first version was censured for political reasons and Verdi had to change names, setting and several passages of the score. Now, thanks to the rediscovery of some of Verdi’s manuscripts and to Philip Gosset and Ilaria Narici, musicologists of Casa Ricordi, Gustavo III has been reconstructed. The most relevant change perhaps concerns the famous romance Eri tu of the baritone: the original E sei tu is quite different, and instead of a fierce aria it becomes a melancholic Swedish song of popular inspiration. Gustav III is one of the noblest figures of Swedish history and the prospect of staging in a lyrical theatre the magnificence of his court and the sad story of his downfall has always been deep-felt in Sweden. Thanks to the collaboration between the Gothenburg Opera House and Dynamic, this splendidly produced double CD set reveals one of Verdi’s greatest masterpieces as it was initially conceived. The soloists are Tomas Lind (tenor), Hillevi Martinpelto and Carolina Sandgren (sopranos), Krister St. Hill (baritone), Susanne Resmark (mezzo), Jonas Landström and Mats Almgren (bass) and Åke Zetterström (bass-baritone). The Chorus and Orchestra of the Gothenburg Opera House are conducted by Maurizio Barbacini.
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT VIENNA MODERN MASTERS VMM 4004
Nancy Van de Vate has written over 130 works, from compositions for solo instrument based on only one note to opera. Her music has been performed at major international music festivals including the Polish-American Music Festival in Krakow, the 23rd Forum Feldkirch in Austria and Vienna Music Summer. Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, the composer has dual Austrian and American citizenship and now lives in Vienna. She is one of the most recorded composers in the world, with four operas and 26 orchestral and orchestral-choral works available on CD, in addition to 37 solo and chamber pieces. On this outstanding recording of her grand opera, All Quiet on tbe Western Front, inspired by the Erich Maria Remarque anti-war novel, the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by Toshiyuki Shimada. Soloists include Michael Polscer, Dominic Natoli, Steven Scheschareg and Linda Healy-Steck
CAIN & ABEL - TIPPI FLEISCHER VIENNA MODERN MASTERS VMM 4005
Haifa-born Tsippi Fleischer has been composing for more than 30 years and has gained an international following for her compositions Her work in Israel brings together composition and music education, fostering the ability to harmonize and leading research into Hebrew Song towards its full historical-stylistic definition. After dealing extensively with Arabic-Western connections, Tsippi Fleischer’s work now concentrates on expressing philosophical-spiritual ideas in large-scale symphonies and operas, such Cain and Abel, which deals with the relationship between the two men. Their lambs have have here become female lambs/women, loved by the two brothers, and sacrificed on the altar. The biblical story is presented in a way that emphasises universally held emotions and questions how the world might have been today had the first murder not taken place. The soloists are Doron Tavori (Cain, dramatic baritone), David Sebba (Abel, lyric baritone), Adi Even-Or (Cain's Lamb, mezzo soprano) and Chen Reiss (Abel's Lamb, soprano). The director is Jiri Mikula.
RAVENSHEAD - STEVEN MACKEY MINMAX CD 0111
Steve Mackey's Ravenshead is an energetic tour de force combining a multi-faceted score with the dazzling physicality and mordant wit of Rinde Eckert, who performs his own text here with the Paul Dresher Ensemble, directed by Tony Taccone. The work is based on the real life story of the British entrepreneur Donald Crowhurst, who attempted to be the first person to sail solo around the world. A meditation on the meaning of heroism vs. hubris, of competence vs. charisma, Ravenshead had its first New York audience ‘hanging on the edge of their seats’ - American Theatre. Mackey, whose idiom draws on western art music as well as popular music, has been commissioned by such sources as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Dawn Upshaw. Champions of his remarkable music include Michael Tilson Thomas and the Kronos Quartet. ‘Best Opera of '98... Eckert [delivered] a tour de force to Mackey's insinuating rock-influenced score’ - USA Today.
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA - GOB CALLISTO RECORDS CLS0301
For more than a hundred years, the Gruppo Ocarinistico Budriese (GOB) has linked the town of Budrio with the name of the ocarina. The ‘Ocarina’ (from bolognese dialect ‘ucarina, meaning little goose) was created in Budrio, a town near Bologna, in 1853 thanks to Giuseppe Donati. Having made seven ocarinas of different sizes, the first Gruppo Ocarinistico Budriese was formed in 1864 with the name ‘i Celebri Montanari degli Appennini’ and was a big at many theatres around Europe. Today’s GOB is the result of many years of evolution and has a very active concert life, having performed at more than 700 concerts in Italy and abroad. The group won the ‘Ribalte di Fantasia 1998’ prize for the show Il Barbiere di Siviglia made with the puppet company I Burattini di Riccardo and the ingenious arrangement of Rossini’s music can be heard on this unusual and enjoyable CD.
THE ISLE OF BLISS - ROSENBERG PHONO SVECIAE PSCD 722 (1-2)
Hilding Rosenberg was born in Bosjokloster, Sweden, in 1892 and became a leading conductor at the Stockholm Opera as well as a composer of orchestral and chamber music. Among his opera compositions is The Isle of Bliss, written in 1943 and based on the romantic poet Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom’s fairy play, Lycksalightens O. The hero Astolf, riding his winged horse Pegasus, heads for a magic isle of poetry and love to find the queen of his dreams: Felicia. The excellent cast on this double CD includes Patrik Forsman (Astolf), Agneta Eichenholz (Felicia) and Lisa Gustafson (Zephyr). The Symphony Orchestra of Norrlands Opera and The Children’s Choir and Choir of Norrlands Opera are conducted by Kristjan Jarvi.
HANDEL - SAMSON K & K ISBN 3-930643-62-6.
Samson, an impressive oratorio in three movements Georg F. Handel, is performed in a historical setting by Sinéad Pratschke, Michael Chance, Marc LeBrocq, Raimund Nolte, David Thomas, Maulbronner Kammerchor and Barockorchester der Klosterkonzerte. Juergen Budday conducts this double-CD box set concert recording made at the convent church in Maulbronn in 1999.
HANDEL - JUDAS MACCABAUS K & K ISBN 3-930643-71-5.
G.F.Handel’s oratorio in three movements, Judas Maccabaeus, is performed in English in a historical setting by Sinéad Pratschke, Catherine King, Charles Humphries, Mark LeBrocq, Christopher Purves, Maulbronner Kammerchor and Musica Florea Prag. Juergen Budday conducts this concert recording from the convent church in Maulbronn..
VERDI: AIDA - RENATA TEBALDI PEARL GEMS 0191
In this 1952 recording, now expertly transferred to two CDs, the soloists featured are widely regarded as leading exponents of their roles. As well as the superb Renata Tebaldi (Aida), the principals here include Ebe Stignani (Amneris), Fernando Corena (King of Egypt) and Mario del Monaco (Radames). These performers probably never sang together on stage so this recording is a unique opportunity to hear a definitive performance of Verdi’s popular masterpiece. The Chorus and orchestra of the Accademia di santa Cecikia, Rome, are conducted by Alberto Erede.
LEBENDIGE VERGANGENHEIT - LAWRENCE TIBBETT PREISER 89576
Lawrence Tibbett was born in obscure poverty in 1896 in Bakersfield, California, the son of a sheriff. His singing and acting talents soon became evident and after moving to New York City he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1923. He excelled in works by Italian composers and this disc includes many wonderful historic performances of excerpts of operas by Rossini, Verdi, Leoncavallo and Puccini. Among other composers featured on this impressive collection are Wagner, Gounod and Bizet. As well spending 23 seasons at the Metroploitan Opera, Lawrence Tibbett found time to become a popular film and stage actor (appearing in The Rogue Song, New Moon and Cuban Love Song) and was also a star in the early days of American radio. Sadly, his later years were marred by vocal decline and alcoholism before his death in 1960.
DER FREISCHUTZ - WEBER PREISER PR 20018
This latest double CD set in the excellent Paperback Opera seires from Preiser Records features Carl Maria von Weber’s enthralling and sometimes sombre three-act opera, Der Freischütz. This historical recording was made in 1951 by the Vienna State Opera Chorus with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Otto Ackerman. Soloists include baritone Alfred Powell (Ottakar), soprano Maud Cunitz (Agathe) and bass Marjan Rus (Kaspar). The part of Samiel is memorably taken by Reinhold Siegert.
MOZART - LE NOZZE DI FIGARO ANDANTE ANDCD 3981
This superb three-CD set is the first release of a highly acclaimed version of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, recorded live at the Salzburg Festival in 1937. The conductor is Bruno Walter and the outstanding cast features Ezio Pinza (Figaro), Jarmila Novotná (Cherubino) and Esther Réthy (Susanna). The recording has been digitally remastered from the original source on Selenophone (an early system for documenting broadcasts on disc). Long-unseen photos enhance the elaborate 384-page booklet which also has a scene-setting introduction by Tim Page and essays by Gottfried Kraus (‘Salzburg, Summer 1937,’ including notes on the Selenophone) and Erik Ryding (‘Shadow and Light: Bruno Walter and the Salzburg Figaro’). Also included are detailed biographies of the artists as well as a synopsis of the opera and Lorenzo Da Ponte's full libretto in Italian, French, German and English.
GIANNI SCHICCHI/SALOME GUILD 2230/1
An excellent Metropolitan Opera double bill features recordings from 1949 of Puccini’s charming comedy Gianni Schicchi and the shocking tragedy, Salome, by Richard Strauss. These contrasting one-act operas make for a fascinating album. Gianni Schicchi features of Italo Tajo, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Lucia Albanese and Cloe Elmo. Strauss’s Salome has the wonderful voices of Ljuba Wellitch, Herbert Janssen, Frederick Jagel and Kerstin Thorborg, and is conducted with great élan by Fritz Reiner. These are outstanding historic performances that will excite any opera lover, and the included booklet has informative articles about the performances as well as biographies of the singers.
PORGY AND BESS - GERSHWIN NAXOS HISTORICAL 8.110219-20
George Gershwin’s unconventional folk opera Porgy and Bess was controversial when premièred but has since been increasingly appreciated since then as a masterpiece. Gershwin, with his brother, Ira, and the author DuBose Heyward, created Porgy and Bess in 1935 and this two-disc set includes recordings made soon after its premiere and for the first ten years of its life. Side one features Decca’s original cast album, recorded in 1940, making it possible to imagine how the score would have sounded to listeners of the 1930s and 1940s. The second disc includes the first contemporary recordings of the score: a set of highlights made by Victor with the Metropolitan Opera stars Lawrence Tibbett and Helen Jepson, under the direction of the show’s original conductor, Alexander Smallens. There are also performances by the great Paul Robeson, an intriguing non-vocal treatment by Jascha Heifetz, and the first recording of Robert Russell Bennett’s orchestral adaptation, Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture. This is a much overdue slice of musical Americana.
MOUSSORGSKY - BORIS GODUNOV PEARL GEMS 0188
This superb 1952 recording of Moussorgsky’s greatest opera features Boris Christoff in the title role and is now available to be heard for the first time as it should be, this fine transfer improving on both the original and the re-cut LP versions. Christoff’s formidable performance is complemented by a marvellous cast that includes Nicolai Gedda, Kim Borg and Eugenia Zareska. The Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française is conducted by Issay Dobrowen. The 3 CD box set also includes two of Moussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death (with accompaniment by the incomparable Gerald Moore) and songs by Tchaikovsky (Song of the Dark Forest) and Rimsky-Korsakov (The Prophet).
MARIA STUARDA - DONIZETTI DYNAMIC CDS407
This complete opera recording of Gaetano Donizetti’s masterpiece, Maria Stuarda, was made during a live performance in 2001. The high quality production, directed by Francesco Esposito at Teatro Donizetti di Bergamo, features Carmela Remigio (Maria Stuarda) and Sonia Ganassi (Elisabetta), displaying thrilling vocal and acting skills. The other fine singers include Joseph Calleja (tenor), Riccardo Zanellato (bass), Marzio Giossi (baritone) and Cinzia Rizzone (soprano). The conductor is Fabrizio Maria Carminati. The informative CD booklet has exhaustive liner notes, and includes the plot and libretto in four languages. The recording is also available in a lavish DVD version with subtitles in six languages, plus interviews with the two female leads, the conductor, the director and the set-designer.
PURCELL - DIDO & AENEAS CBC SMCD 5147
The English composer Henry Purcell's exhilarating Dido and Aeneas, the story of a Queen thwarted in love by Fate, was celebrated on the 300th anniversary of Purcell’s death in a film by the award-winning company Rhombus Media. Staged by the Mark Morris Dance Company and directed by Barbara Willis Sweete, the film’s music was recorded by the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra for this sumptuous CBC release. The fine soloists include Russell Braun (baritone), Jennifer Lane (mezzo soprano), Ann Monoyios (soprano), Shari Saunders (soprano), Meredith Hall (soprano) and Benjamin Butterfield (tenor). The conductor is Jeanne Lamon, and this album forms a worthy tribute to one of the world’s first great composers.
HANDEL - TOLOMEO VOX 3 7536.
This world premiere recording features Handel’s marvellous 1728 Italian opera Tolomeo, an involved tale of romantic intrigue set in ancient Cyprus. The complete opera is superbly performed on these three CDs by a brilliant American cast that includes Jennifer Lane, Brenda Harris, Andrea Matthews, Mary Ann Hart and Peter Castaldi. The poised Manhattan Chamber Orchestra is conducted by Richard Auldon Clark. ‘A noteworthy addition to the Handel opera discography, and one that recommends itself’ - Fanfare.
THE ART OF MARIA CEBOTARI PREISER RECORDS PR 90511.
Maria Cebotari was born on 10 February 1910 and her artistic talent was evident at an early age. After a short period of intensive study she was engaged by Fritz Busch for the Dresden State Opera, and under his direction made her debut in April 1931 as Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme. In 1934 she received the title ‘Kammersängerin’, a distinction reserved for meritorious singers, which had never been, and has never since been, awarded to a 24-year-old. Maria Cebotari was very active as a touring artist, making guest appearances at great opera houses around Europe. A few months before her sudden death in 1949, she triumphed as Mistress Ford in a brilliant production of Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor, entrancing the audience with her waggish humour and scintillating temperament. This wonderful double-CD collection of historic recordings includes masterpieces by Mozart, Otto Nicolai, Johann Strauss, Verdi, Puccini and Richard Strauss.
HANDEL - FARAMONDO VOX 3 7536.
Another very welcome world premiere recording of an enjoyable and dramatic three-act Handel Italian opera, Faramondo, which like the VOX Tolmeo set is wonderfully produced by John Ostendorf. The Brewer Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Rudolph Palmer, perform on period instruments to give the music true authenticity and the assured American cast is headed D’Anna Fortunato (Faramondo), Julianne Baird (Clotilde), Drew Minter (Gernando), Jennifer Lane (Rosimonda) and Peter Castaldi (Gustavo).
CHARLES GOUNOD - FAUST ANDANTE 3995
Hailed by record collectors as the version of Gounod’s Faust, this 1930 recording with Marcel Journet as Mephistopheles and the Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Henri Busser is now available in a splendid new remastering, complemented by an abridged version of the work and comparative excerpts. Soloists include Germaine Martinelli as Marguerite and Rene Lapelletrie as Faust, and the exceptional Orchestre de l’Association des Concerts Lamoureux is conducted by Albert Wolff.
RENATA TEBALDI - LA BOHÈME AND RECITAL PEARL GEMS 0165.
Renata Tebaldi's earlier recordings (this twin-CD set is taken from those made in 1951) can be intensely moving, as her pure, full-toned voice had a creamy freshness that could thrill like no other. This gripping performance of La Bohème also features Prandelli, Corena, Inghilleri, de Palma and Hilde Gueden. The Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia is conducted by Alberto Erede. The 30 minute recital which follows includes music by Gounod, Verdi and Puccini, and there are two final tracks by Giordano (La Mamma morte) and Catalani (Ebben...ne andro lontana), which until now have rarely been heard.
WAGNER - LOHENGRIN URANIA URN 22.200.
This historic recording of Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin (recorded in 1951) features the renowned Rudolf Kempe conducting the Orchestra e Coro Dell’Opera Di Stato Bavarese. The distinguished soloists are George Vincent (Lohengrin), Marianne Schech (Elsa), Margarete Klose (Ortrud), Andreas Boehm (Telramund), Kurt Bohme (Konig Heinrich) and Willy Wolff (Der Heerufer).
BELLINI - I PURITANI URANIA URN 22.203.
Fernando Previtali conducts the Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro Di Roma della Rai in a thrilling performance of Vincenzo Bellini’s three-act opera, I Puritani on this double CD recording from 1952. The featured soloists include Franco Calabrese (Valton), Sesto Bruscantini (Giorgio), Mario Filippeschi (Arturo), Rolando Panerai (Riccardo), Enzo Moro (Bruno) and Lina Pagliughi (Elvira).
VERDI - LA TRAVIATA DYNAMIC IDIS 6367/68.
In this 1952 radio recording, made at the height of her youth and her tremendous vocal resources, Renata Tebaldi presents her authentic and personal interpretation of Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi’s Traviata. The great Italian soprano’s touching interpretation is heightened by the extraordinary conducting of Carlo Maria Giulini who, at the beginning of the 1950s, long before the ‘Verdi Renaissance’, understood completely that the operas by the composer from Busseto are really quite modern. The other soloists include Giacinto Prandelli (Alfredo), Gino Orlandini (Germont) and Liliana Pellegrino (Flora).
HANSEL AND GRETEL/ZAR UND ZIMMERMANN PEARL GEM 0155.
In 1929 and 1930 the German company Polydor produced an excellent series of abridged operas and operettas that are models of their kind thanks to the musicianship of the adapter and conductor Hermann Weigert. This welcome reissue from Pearl couples Humperdinck’s perennial favourite Hansel & Gretel with the less well-known but equally delightful Zar Und Zimmermann by Albert Lortzing. Among the fine singers featured here are Else Ruziczka, Tilly de Garmo and Willy Domgraf-Fassbänder.
NEMO - NANCY VAN DE VATE VIENNA MODERN MASTERS VMM 4002.
The adventurous Austro-American composer Nancy van de Vate wrote her splendid four act Nemo, Jenseits von Vulkania, in 1995. This brilliant romantic opera is given a finely judged performance on this double CD set, in which the Japanese-born Toshiyuki Shimada conducts the Mährische Philharmonie (Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra). The Chorus Ars Brunensis is ably directed by Roman Válek and the outstanding soloists are Zoltán Korda (tenor), Andrea Kotulanová, Jirí Klecker (bass), Marek Olbrzymek (tenor), Adriana Hlavsová (mezzo-soprano), Tomás Badura (baritone) and Milan Vleck (tenor).
REINER SUSS - COMIC OPERA SCENES BERLIN CLASSICS 0094672BC.
Born in Chemnitz, the popular bass Reiner Suss has played more than 50 different roles in in over 1000 performances. On this highly enjoyable CD he visits the rich world of comic opera, with lively scenes from works by Albert Lortzing (Zar und Zimmerman), Domenico Cimarosa (Der Operndirektor), Johann Adolf Hasse (Der verliebte Dichter), Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (Doktor und Apotheker) and Georg Philiipp Telemann (Der Schulmeister). A delight for lovers of light opera.
TCHAIKOVSKY - MAZEPPA PREISER 90522.
Tchaikovsky composed eight full-length operas during his lifetime, all in the mainstream Russian style. For Mazeppa, he used the plot from his beloved poet Pushkin’s epic work, Poltava., an exciting blood-thirsty story of love, abduction, political persecution, execution and murder. The opera was first performed at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1884 and the performance on this outstanding CD was recorded there in 1952. The conductor is Vassili Nebolsin and the excellent soloists include the bass Ivan Petrov as Kochubey and the soprano Nina Pokrovskaya as Maria.
WAGNER - DAS RHEINGOLD URANIA URN 22.206.
In this performance recorded in 1951, the legendary Herbert Von Karajan conducts the Bayreuth Choir and Orchestra in a sprited performance of Richard Wagner’s Das Rheingold. The amazing cast of singers includes Sigurd Bjorling (Wotan), Walter Fritz (Loge), Werner Faulhaber (Donner), Heinrich Pflanzl (Alberich), Paula Brivkalne (Freia), Ruth Siewart (Erda) and Elizabeth Schwartzkopf (Woglinde).
GILBERT & SULLIVAN - IOLANTHE & PATIENCE PEARL GEMS 0163.
Recorded under the direction of Bridget D'Oyly Carte, this is the latest release in Pearl’s acclaimed series of Gilbert & Sullivan reissues. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Orchestra and Chorus are conducted by Isidore Godfrey and the marvellous cast from the 1950s includes Martyn Green (The Lord Chancellor), Leonard Osborn (Earl Tolloller), Ann Drummond-Grant (Iolanthe), Ella Halman (Queen of the Fairies), Darrell Fancourt (Colonel calverley) and Muriel Harding (The Lady Ella).
DIE FLEDERMAUS/DER ZAREWITSCH - STRAUSS & LEHÁR PEARL GEMS 0140.
This fine double-CD features two of the world's favourite operettas: Franz Lehar’s Der Zarewitsch and Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss. Each has a star-studded cast, including Wilma Lipp, Hilde Gueden, Sieglinde Wagner, Julius Patzak, Helge Roswaenge, Manfred Jungwirth and Lisa della Casa. These scintillating 1950 recordings, under Clemens Krauss and Victor Reinshagen (Der Zarewitsch is abridged), display the Viennese style and tradition to perfection.
GILBERT & SULLIVAN - PRINCESS IDA PEARL GEM 0144
The wit and glitter of Malcolm Sargent's lively 1932 recording of Princess Ida unites some of the best ever Gilbert & Sullivan soloists with Sullivan's subtle and delicate score. The superb original recording, expertly restored by Roger Beardsley, was made under the direction of Rupert D'Oyly Carte. Singers here include Derek Oldham (Hilarion), George Baker (Florian), Sir Henry Lytton (King Gama), Darrell Fancourt (Arac) and Muriel Dickson (Princess Ida).
MOZART - LE NOZZE DI FIGARO NAXOS HISTORICAL 8.110186-87.
This superb duble-CD features the first of the three 1930s HMV recordings of the wonderful Mozart/da Ponte operas based on the Glyndebourne Festival performances conducted by the former music director of the Dresden Opera, Fritz Busch. The producer at Glyndebourne was the eminent German stage director Carl Ebert and the formidable cast includes Audrey Mildmay (Susanna), Luise Helletsgruber (Cherubino), Willi Domgraf-Fassbander (Figaro), Heddle Nash (Basilio) and Constance Willis (Marcellina).
ROSSINI - L’EQUIVOCO STRAVAGANTE NAXOS 8.660087-88.
Gioachino Rossini’s delightful L'equivoco stravagante was first performed in Bologna, Italy, in 1811 and was the first of the seven opera buffa that were to ornament the composer’s twenty-year operatic career. Rossini was then barely nineteen but his music was already mature in this lively work, part social satire and part opera buffa. On this double-CD live recording of the two act opera, the Czech Chamber Chorus and Soloists are conducted by Albert Zedda. Petia Petrova is Ernestina (daughter of a rich farmer), Marco Vinco is Buralicchio (her stupid suitor), Marco di Eduardo Santamaria is Frontino (a scheming servant) and Dario Schmunck is Ermanno (a penniless tutor).
WAGNER - SIEGFRIED NAXOS 8.110211-13.
Siegfried is the third part of the tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen, in three acts, to the composer’s own libretto, based on the Nibelungen Saga. It presents the greatest challenge to an operatic tenor and in this three-CD set taken from a broadcast recorded in 1937 the role is admirably sung by Lauritz Melchior. Other memorable voices on this inspired recording include Kirsten Flagstad (Brunnhilde), Stella Andreva (Forest Bird)Friederch Schorr (Wanderer), Kerstin Thorborg (Erda) and Eduard Habich (Alberich). The Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan opera are conducted by Artur Bodansky.
THE TENDER LAND - AARON COPLAND ALBANY TROY 482/83.
In this complete performance of Aaron Copland’s unfairly neglected opera, the spirited University of Kentucky Opera Theatre troupe, directed by Everett McCorvey, is joined by the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Kirk Trevor. Copland was commissioned to write The Tender Land in 1952 but NBClater reneged on the television production and the opera was unperformed until the New York City Center Opera premiered it in the unsuitable cavernous space of City Center. Copland himself acknowledged that a college production is perhaps the most congenial atmosphere for this opera, and in this recording the exuberant University of Kentucky Opera Theatre performs to tremendous effect. This most enjoyable releases should help one of the great American composer’s lesser known works to become much better appreciated.
MATTHUS - DAS LAND PHANTASIEN BERLIN CLASSICS 0017412BC.
Siegried Matthus is one of Germany’s most important and prolific contemporary composers, with over 600 works to his credit. Das Land Phantasien is a music play inspired by Michael Ende’s cult book, The Neverending Story, in which a small boy undergoes a series of hair-raising adventures and saves the land of Phantasien from impending doom. The actor Michael Heltau tells the story and the haunting music is played by the Bruckner Orchester Linz, conducted by Ingo Ingensand.
UDO ZIMMERMANN - LEVINS MILL BERLIN CLASSICS 0094512BC.
Udo Zimmerman is one of Germany’s finest opera-house directors and wrote this well-received opera in the early 1970s, when it was premiered in Dresden. Levins Mill is an impressive achievement, telling the simple and timeless story of the Polish Jew Levin, who sees his mill washed away by his German rival and gets no justice from the court but encounters solidarity in the uprising of the oppresed. This slimmed-down version of the opera was prepared by the composer and is performed by the Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orhester and RundfunkchorLeipzig under Siegfried Kurz. The soloists include Wolfgang Hellmich, Helga Termer and Werner Haseleu.
THE PASSION OF SAINT THOMAS MORE BIS BIS-CD-1158.
This intriguing musical drama by Garrett Fisher is a meditation on the last days of the life of Thomas More before his execution at the hands of King Henry VIII. The music is based on a Norwegian folk melody and is haunting and hypnotic, using the mesmerizing sounds of an Indian Harmonium and the ritualistic drumbeat of the Dumbek. The gifted performers include Anna Vinten-Johansen (soprano), Taina Karr (cor anglais), Garrett Fisher (Indian Harmonium), Christina Högman (soprano), Olle Persson (baritone), Sven Åberg (guitar), and Göran Mansson (percussion). ‘The focus and beauty of the work stunned me’ - Seattle Weekly.
MOON IN THE BUCKET 16 VISIONS 16V002.
This contemporary opera by Garrett Fisher has a score based on the Japanese Noh play ‘Pining Wind’. The music wonderfully combines and Early music style of vocal harmonies with meditative harmonium drone, elegant Koto (a Japanese zither-like instrument) and Taiko percussion, creating a unique sound reminiscent of English Madrigal and Japanese Court music. The work, in collaboration with choreographer A.C. Petersen, uses subtle gestural movement to create a spare and minimal work loosely based on the Noh play. Fine storytelling and haunting melodies memorably bring to life a simple tale of two ghost-sisters who inhabit the pining wind on the shore.
VERDI - AIDA URANIA URN 22.190.
Herbert von Karajan conducts the Wiener Symphoniker in this 1951 exciting recording of Giuseppe Verdi’s magnificently grand opera, first performed in Egypt in 1871. Among the fine soloists are Dragica Martinis (Aida), Lorenz Fehenberger (Radames), Giovanni Malaspina (Amonsaro), Mario Petri (Ramfis) and Nell Rankin (Amneris).
TITO SCHIPA - OPERATIC RECORDINGS 1913-42 PEARL GEMM CD 9017
The incomparable lyric tenor performs largely operatic material, including rare and fascinating early recordings. There are wonderfully sung arias from La Boheme, Manon, Tosca, Lucia di Lammermoor and many others, together with the only two songs Schipa recorded in English. ‘...this compilation provides a good introduction to the Italian tenor for people who don’t like Italian tenors...’ - Opera Now.
HANDEL - SOLOMON VANGUARD SVC-146/147.
On this double CD recording, Handel’s magnificent oratorio Solomon is performed by the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Johannes Somary, with the Amor Artis Chorale (Chorus master John McCarthy). Soloists include the Puerto Rican born bass Justino Diaz (Solomon), sopranos Felicity Palmer and Sheila Armstrong (Pharoh’s Daughter and Queen of Sheba), and tenor Robert Tear (Zadok, the high priest). Thrilling performances and excellent high definition sound.
PUCCINI - GIANNI SCHICCHI DECCA 444 395-2.
One of Giacomo Puccini’s lesser known works is given a wonderful performance by Bruno Bartoletti and the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. The soloists are Leo Nucci (Gianni Schicchi), Mirella Freni (Lauretta) and Roberto Alagna (Rinuccio).
EDEL CLASSICS - OPERETTAS
This excellent series on the Edel Classics label features highlights on CDs that have been redesigned with attractive covers and informative sleeve notes. The operettas chosen include familiar favourites such as Franz Lehar’s Merry Widow (0000722CCC), Jaques Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld (0000342CCC), and The Gypsy Baron and A Night in Venice (0000772CCC) by Johann Strauss, as well as less well known but equally charming works such as Carl Mollocker’s Der Bettelstudent and Ralph Benatzky’s White Horse Inn (0000732CCC), Edward Kunneke’s Der Vetter aus Dingsda and A Waltz Dream (0000752CCC) and Emmerich Kalman’s The Csardas Princess and Countess Maritza (0000742CCC). All these CDs are terrific value and filled with delightful music.
TROJAN WOMEN - ELENI KARAINDROU ECM NEW SERIES 1810.
After making many successful albums based on her music for the cinema, the Greek composer Eleni Karaindrou has now recorded a work written for the theatre. This new staging of Euripides' tragedy Trojan Women encouraged Karaindrou to employ a broader musical canvas, including a choir, directed by Antonis Kontogeorgiou, and a wide range of folk instruments, to build mythic soundscapes of powerful emotional resonance. Trojan Women, directed by Antonis Antypas and with music by Eleni Karaindrou, was premiered at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus in 2001. The soloists on this recording include Aris Lebesopoulos (Poseidon), Yanna Nikolopoulou (Athena) and Martha Vourtsi (Hecuba). ‘The spectators were enchanted by Eleni Karaindrou's magnificent music. A very important work’ - Apogevmatini.
THE BENEFICENT DERVISH/ THE IMPRESARIO TELARC CD-80573.
The Boston Baroque, directed by Martin Pearlman, has recorded an entertaining double bill that includes the world premiere recording of The Beneficent Dervish (Der Woltatige Derwisch), a long-forgotten comic opera written for the Viennese theater by members of Mozart’s circle in the last year of the composer’s life. Dervish is the second of two rediscovered Singspiels that shed light on Mozart, his circle, and the fairy-tale opera tradition that culminated in Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute. The soloists are the excellent lyric tenor John Aler, Sharon Baker (soprano), Deanne Meek (mezzo-soprano), Kevin Deas (bass-baritone) and Alan Ewing (bass). This fine CD also features the first recording on period instruments of Mozart’s wonderfully lighthearted one-act spoof on the music business in the late eighteenth century, The Impresario (Der Schauspieldirektor). This tells the story of a competition between two dueling divas, Madame Heart and Madame Silvertone, sung here by sopranos Cyndia Sieden and Sharon Baker. Tenor John Aler sings the role of Herr Birdsong and baritone Kevin Deas sings Buff the Buffo. Both The Beneficent Dervish and The Impresario are sung in German.
THE HANDMAID’S TALE - POUL RUDERS DACAPO 8.224165-66.
This modern opera by Poul Ruders was composed for a large orchestra and organ, with a full opera chorus, and is based on one of the exciting and disturbing novel, A Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. This grim futuristic story describes a fundamentalist, misogynist society where few people are fertile, and a story of love, power and escape from an extremist right-wing regime. The libretto was written by Paul Bentley after the novel and translated into Danish by Poul Ruders. The Royal Danish Opera Chorus and Orchestra are conducted on this recording by Michael Schonwandt and the soloists include Marianne Rorholm, Poul Elming and Hanne Fischer. ‘The cast, among whom there is not a weak link, sing their hearts out, and Michael Schonwandt conveys the kaleidoscopic colours of Ruders's score with remarkable clarity; the recording is first-class’ - Gramophone.
GOUNOD - FAUST PEARL GEMM CDS 9987.
This superb double CD captures a monumental 1930 Paris performance of Gounod’s Faust, with soloists Marcel Journet (Mephistopheles), Mireille Berthon (Marguerite) and Cesar Vezzani (Faust) conducted by Henri Busser. The music’s power and grace is wonderfully captured on this splendidly remastered album. ‘Opera issue of the year’ - High End Journal.
PUCCINI - MADAMA BUTTERFLY NAXOS 8.110183-84.
This moving historical recording, dating from July 1939, was the last to be made of Puccini’s tragic masterpiece before the outbreak of the Second World War, and the sumptousness of the music is particularly moving. The splendid performers include the wonderful Italian soprano Toti Dal Monte (Madama Butterfly), Beniamino Gigli (Pinkerton) and Vittoria Palombini (Suzuki). The Chorus and Orchestra of the Rome Opera House are conducted by Oliviero de Fabritiis. The performances are exemplary throughout and this recording is especially valuable for being the only one to feature Gigli in a role that suits his voice so perfectly.
SIEGFRIED WAGNER - BRUDER LUSTIG MARCO POLO 8.225245-47.
Richard Wagner’s son Siegfried composed fifteen operas, most of them forgotten although the best contain a good deal of fine music in the late romantic style. Siegfried wrote both words and music for Bruder Lustig (Brother Lustig) and the opera was first performed in 1905. Set in pre-medieval Germany, the plot is saturated with magic, dreams and extravagant emotional conflict. On this excellent recording, Georg Fritzsch conducts the Hagen Philharmonic Orchestra and Augmented Chorus of Theater Hagen. The soloists include Krysztof Klorek (Emperor Otto with the beard), Volker Thies (Bruder Lustig), Dagmar Hesse, Stefan Adam and Marilyn Bennett.om the convent church in Maulbronn.
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