GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: L'Elisir d'amore [Elixir of Love] (Complete opera) Roberto Alagna, Angela Gheorghiu, Robert Scaltriti / Orchestre et Choeur de l'Opera National de Lyon / Evelino Pido [ Decca Opera! / 2 CD - released 10/Feb/2011 ] "..becomes a clear and welcome choice for this work, worth every penny of the asking price." (Gramophone) |
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: The Barber of Seville [Il Barbiere di Siviglia] (Complete Opera recorded in 1983) Francisco Araiza, Agnes Baltsa, Thomas Allen, Robert Lloyd / Academy St Martins / Neville Marriner [ Decca Opera! / 2 CD - released 10/Mar/2011 ] Sir Neville Marriner makes one of his rare appearances as an opera conductor and the combination of a superb cast and stylish orchestral playing combine to make a magnificent recording of Rossini's comic masterpiece. |
DONIZETTI
Don Pasquale (complete opera) / Il campanello di notte (one act opera) Alfredo Mariotti, Anna Maccianti, Alberto Rinaldi, Ugo Benelli / Coro e Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Ettore Gracis [ Deutsche Grammophon Opera House / 2 CD - released 1/May/2006 ] "This welcome issue provides a good introduction to two of Donizetti's lighter compositions and at bargain price" (MusicWeb May 2006) |
VERDI
Rigoletto (Complete opera recorded in 1964) Carlo Bergonzi, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Renata Scotto, Ivo Vinco, Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala. Rafael Kubelik [ Deutsche Grammophon Opera House / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2005 ] 'Kubelik is a conductor in Fricsay's class as his support for Fischer-Dieskau's Rigoletto reveals. Fischer-Dieskau once more reaches to a character's soul' (Gramophone) |
SHOSTAKOVICH
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Complete Opera) Maria Ewing, Aage Haugland, Sergei Larin, Philip Langridge / Orchestre et choeurs de l'Opera Bastille, Myung-Whun Chung [ Deutsche Grammophon Opera! / 2 CD - released 1/May/2012 ] "Chung's version of Shostakovich's sardonic tragedy still packs tremendous punch" (BBC Music) |