RICHARD STRAUSS
Ariadne auf Naxos (Complete opera) [Recorded in 2000] Deborah Voigt, Natalie Dessay, Anne Sofie von Otter (sopranos) Ben Heppner (tenor) / Staatskapelle Dresden / Giuseppe Sinopoli [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] 'Any opera house in the world would think themselves fortunate to assemble this cast … A landmark in the history of the gramophone … this really does triumph over them all.' Gramophone |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss, (R.): Ariadne auf Naxos (Complete Opera recorded in 1955) Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Rita Streich, Rudolf Schock, Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Warner Classics Home Of Opera / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2019 ] 'Perfectly cast, magnificently performed and superbly recorded, this is one of Karajan's most stylish performances. Under his direction everyone is inspired to give of their best.' Gramophone |
W. A. MOZART / VERDI / LEHAR / J. STRAUSS II / RICHARD STRAUSS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf - Opera arias Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (sop), with Karl Schmitt-Walter (bar) / Philharmonia Orchestra. Vienna Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, Wilhelm Furtwangler [ EMI / CD - released 2/Feb/1990 ] Recordings from 1950, Le Nozze di Figaro, to, 1959, Capriccio. |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Siegfried (complete opera recorded 2017) Simon O'Neill, Matthias Goerne, David Cangelosi, Heidi Melton, Werner van Mechelen / Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden [ Naxos / 4 CD Box Set - released 2/Nov/2017 ] "New Zealand tenor Simon O'Neill is surely the Siegfried for our generation." MusicWeb |
JULES MASSENET
Opera Explained: MASSENET - Werther Narrated by David Timson [ Naxos Educational Opera Explained / CD - released 27/Jun/2005 ] Massenet's Werther combines a deeply tender story with music of beauty and eloquence. One act alone contains two of the greatest arias in the repertoire: the mezzo-soprano aria 'Va! Laisse couler mes larmes' and the tenor's 'Pourquoi me rèveiller'.... |
CARLOS GOMES
Gomes: Opera Overtures and Preludes Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra / Fabio Mechetti [ Naxos The Music of Brazil / CD - released 10/Mar/2023 ] Carlos Gomes was not only Brazil's leading operatic composer, but he also helped pave the way for Italian verismo during the latter part of the 19th century. The preludes and overtures from his operas chart a course from early experimentation with... |
JAMES PRICE JOHNSON
Johnson: De Organizer / The Dreamy Kid (excerpts) Rabihah Davis Dunn, Olivia Duval, Lori Celeste Hick & other soloists / University of Michigan Opera Theatre and Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Kiesler [ Naxos American Opera Classics / CD - released 8/Sep/2023 ] Renowned as an influential jazz pianist, James P. Johnson also flourished as a composer of opera and of show tunes in the 1920s and 1930s. His two short operas The Dreamy Kid and De Organizer offer contrasting stories of African American life at that... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Marvellous Mezzo-Soprano and Contralto: Best Loved Opera Arias Agnes Baltsa (mezzo-soprano), Sonia Ganassi (mezzo-soprano), Marjana Lipovšek (mezzo-soprano), Ewa PodleÅ› (contralto) [ Naxos / CD - released 23/Apr/2021 ] Portraying characters such as Rossini's lovestruck heroines, Verdi's dramatic roles and the seductive Carmen, the mezzo voice is valued for a tone that embodies richness and sensuality in all its operatic variety. |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Il Signor Bruschino (complete opera recorded in 2002) Alessandro Codeluppi, Maurizio Leoni, Elena Rossi / I Virtuosi Italiani, Claudio Desderi (conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jun/2010 ] Born in Pesaro in 1792, the son of a horn-player and a singer, Rossini even in childhood had experience of the theatre, both as an orchestral player and as a singer himself. |
ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK
Humperdinck: Music for the Stage Andrea Chudak, Ruxandra Voda van der Plas, Harrie van der Plas, Malmö Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Dario Salvi [ Naxos / CD - released 27/Nov/2020 ] Engelbert Humperdinck won a worldwide reputation through his application of Wagnerian techniques to folk music in Hänsel und Gretel. But he wrote far more widely for the stage than is acknowledged. |
RAFFAELLO DE BANFIELD
Lord Byron's Love Letter (complete opera recorded in 1958) Astrid Varnay / Gertrude Ribla / Nicoletta Carruba / Mario Carlin / Academy Symphony Orchestra of Rome / Nicola Rescigno [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Recordings / CD - released 10/May/2011 ] The RCA Victor recording of Raffaello de Banfield's 1955 opera Lord Byron's Love Letter is a true rarity, remaining in their catalogue for only a short time and never reissued on CD before now. Based on a Tennessee Williams play set in late... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 4 (Kleiber / Pfitzner) (1928-1929) Berlin State Opera Orchestra / Hans Pfitzner / Erich Kleiber [ Naxos Historical Great Conductors / CD - released 13/Jan/2002 ] Erich Kleiber's Berlin State Opera Orchestra set of the Second Symphony was one of the first to enjoy the benefits of electrical recording techniques and, during the LP era, was even passed off as the work of Wilhelm Furtwängler - not surprisingly,... |
Berlin State Opera Orch/Muck
Wagner: Overtures & Preludes [ Naxos Historical / CD - released 29/Jul/2002 ] |
RAVEL
Daphnis and Chloe Bordeaux Opera Chorus / Bordeaux Aquitaine National Orchestra / Laurent Petitgirard (Conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 4/Dec/2006 ] Daphnis et Chloe, generally regarded as Ravel's masterpiece, is one of the numerous important scores that owe their existence to the famous ballet impresario Sergey Diaghilev, who commissioned new works for his Paris-based troupe. |
YANNIS MARKOPOULOS
Shapes in Motion Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra / Flanders Opera Symphony Orchestra / Abrath, Edwig / Leonidakis, Iannis / Tilkin, Michel [ Naxos Greek Classics / CD - released 1/Sep/2009 ] "This is a satisfying piece providing for reflection and gentle discourse." MusicWeb International on Markopoulos' 'The Liturgy of Orpheus' Naxos 8.572235 |
SIMON MAYR
Il sogno di Partenope (Cantata Opera) Caroline Adler (soprano)/ Florence Lousseau (mezzo-soprano)/ Andrea Lauren Brown (soprano)/ Cornel Frey (tenor)/ Simon Mayr Ensemble / Franz Hauk [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Dec/2014 ] Franz Hauk and the Simon Mayr Chorus and Ensemble have spear headed the revival of the music of Johann Simon Mayr who was born in Bavaria but lived in Italy. In the latest instalment of their critically acclaimed recordings they turn to Il sogno di... |
ILDEBRANDO PIZZETTI
Pizzetti: Canti Della Stagione Alta Chemnitz State Opera Chorus / Robert Schumann Philharmonie / Oleg Caetani [ Naxos Italian Classics / CD - released 1/Sep/2009 ] A new recording of works from "one of the leading Italian composers of [his] generation"... |
MAURICE RAVEL
Ravel: L'enfant et les sortilèges & Ma Mère l'Oye Choeur Britten, Jeune Choeur symphonique, Maitrise de l'Opera National de Lyon & Orchestre National de Lyon, Leonard Slatkin [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Oct/2015 ] Ravel's opera L'Enfant et les sortilèges captures an imaginative child's world in which the creatures and objects around him come to life. |
JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: Opera Overtures Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice, Michael Halász [ Naxos / CD - released 29/Jan/2016 ] "The woodwind offer sweet commentaries and the horns…ring out joyfully…there's not a duff note here and, despite the odd string lapse, not a moment that isn't an utterly joyful account of Haydn's wit and wisdom." (Gramophone) |
Czech-Slovak Rso/Dohnanyi
Verdi:opera Choruses [ Naxos / CD ] |