GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Carmen (Complete opera recorded in 1977) [CDs plus Blu-ray audio / Dolby Atmos] Teresa Berganza, Placido Domingo, Sherril Milnes, Ilena Cotrubas / Ambrosian Singers / London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon / 3 CD/Blu-ray Disc - released 5/Jun/2020 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1851-1900) - Still a benchmark recording of the most famous opera of all, with an idiomatic assumption of the title role by Teresa Berganza and the young Plácido Domingo. |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore (complete opera recorded in 1971) [2 CDs plus Blu-ray audio] Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, Nicolai Ghiaurov / Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Richard Bonynge [ Decca 2 CDs plus Blu-ray audio / 3 CD Box Set - released 27/Sep/2019 ] "The "L'elisir" set was one of the loveliest things Sutherland ever did on record . . . As Donizetti's Adina she is charming -- touching, exuberant, virtuoso (her coloratura is astounding), and always very human." (Gramophone) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Macbeth (Complete Opera) [2 CD remastered + Blu-ray audio] Shirley Verrett, Piero Cappuccilli, Placido Domingo / Milan La Scala Chorus; Milan La Scala Orchestra / Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon / 3 CD/Blu-ray Disc - released 9/Nov/2018 ] A truly legendary opera recording from the golden age of stereo, remastered to true 24-bit Audio from the original analogue tapes, presented on High Fidelity Pure Audio Blu-ray disc + CD in a deluxe hardback edition with libretti and synopsis. |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Complete Opera recorded in 1961) Remastered CDs plus Blu-ray audio Birgit Nilsson, Fritz Uhl, Regina Resnik / Wiener Philharmoniker / Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Records CD + Blu-ray audio / 4 CD/Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Jul/2019 ] "Working with Georg Solti in the studio, as well as on stage, was extremely rewarding for me … I treasure our collaboration as one of the most stimulating in my whole career" (Birgit Nilsson) |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (complete opera) CD + Blu-ray audio Birgit Nilsson / Martti Talvela / Christa Ludwig / Wolfgang Windgassen / Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele 1966 / Karl Bohm [ Dutsche Grammophon CD + Blu-ray audio / 4 CD/Blu-ray Disc - released 26/Jul/2019 ] "Captured live at Bayreuth, here's a Tristan that seethes with passion. Böhm is magnificent in the pit, dramatic and vital, and Windgassen and Nilsson are quite simply glorious in the title roles." (Gramophone) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: La Traviata (Complete Opera) [2 CDs plus Blu-ray audio] Ileana Cotrubas, Placido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes / Bayerisches Staatsorchester. Carlos Kleiber (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon CDs plus Blu-ray audio / 3 CD/Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jul/2017 ] "[Kleiber] is fresh and vibrant, detailed but never fussy, heartfelt but never indulgent … This set's probably still difficult to beat when it comes to studio recordings in (good) stereo sound, and it's a 'classic' in its own right." Gramophone |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro, K492 [The Marriage of Figaro] (complete opera) [plus Blu-ray audio] Fanie Antonelou, Christian van Horn, Simone Kermes, Andrei Bondarenko / MusicAeterna, Teodor Currentzis [ Sony Classics / 4 CD/Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Aug/2017 ] "Currentzis's cast has a character and blend of its own. A premium has been put on crackling recitative, deft vocalisation (limited vibrato) and dramatic truthfulness: the sense of ensemble is palpable." Financial Times, 14th February 2014 *****t |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Fidelio (Complete Opera recorded in 1978) [Remastered CDs plus Blu-ray Audio] Gundula Janowitz, Lucia Popp, Rene Kollo, Hans Sotin, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Manfred Jungwirth / Wiener Philharmoniker, Leonard Bernstein [ Deutsche Grammophon Remasteres CDs plus Blu-ray audio / 3 CD Box Set - released 15/Aug/2019 ] "The set has a lot to recommend it: strong atmosphere, plentiful musical detail, dialogue to appreciate, real characters and much fine singing." (Gramophone) |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Lucia Di Lammermoor (complete opera recorded in 1971) Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, Nicolai Ghiaurov / Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Richard Bonynge [ Decca 2 CDs plus Blu-ray audio & Libretto / 3 CD/Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Jun/2019 ] Remastered in ultra-high quality 96kHz/24-bit audio at Abbey Road Studios in 2014 under the supervision of long-term Decca balance engineer Philip Siney. |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Die Walkure (Complete Opera recorded in 1967) [Remastered CDs plus Blu-ray Audio] Jon Vickers, Martti Talvela, Thomas Stewart, Gundula Janowitz, Régine Crespin / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon Remastered CDs plus Blu-ray audio / 4 CD Box Set - released 12/Jun/2020 ] Remastered at Emil Berliner Studios in 24 bit/192kHz. Blu-ray Audio in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. CDs are produced from the new remastering. |
JOHANN STRAUSS II
Strauss, (J.): Die Fledermaus (Complete operetta) [2 CDs plus Blu-ray audio] Julia Varady, Lucia Popp, Hermann Prey / Bavarian State Opera Orchestra / Carlos Kleiber [ Deutsche Grammophon 2 CDs + Blu-ray audio / 3 CD/Blu-ray Disc - released 25/Nov/2019 ] "Twenty-five years after its original release there's still no recording of Die Fledermaus that, for many collectors, matches this one for the compelling freshness of its conductor's interpretation " Gramophone |
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande (complete opera) Christian Gerhaher, Magdalena Kožená, Bernarda Fink, Franz-Josef Selig / London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Sir Simon Rattle [ LSO Live SACD + BLU-RAY AUDIO / 4 Hybrid SACD - released 6/Dec/2017 ] "Rattle maintains both a clear pulse in individual scenes and a through line which positively celebrates Debussy's and Maeterlinck's radical intercutting of scenes of varied physical and emotional locations in the central acts." Gramophoe |