GILBERT AND SULLIVAN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gilbert & Sullivan: Ruddigore (complete operetta - original version) Marilyn Hill Smith, Gordon Sandison, Joan Davies, Alexandra Hann / Chorus and Orchestra of the New Sadler's Wells Opera / Simon Phipps [ Jay Productions / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2001 ] The New Sadler's Wells Opera was formed in the mid-eighties, filling the void (or so it was thought) that was left by the closure of the original D'Oyly Carte. It has even been suggested that the Powers that Be pushed the old Company gently into the... |
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE - Rossini: Heros and Heroines Marilyn Horne (mezzo soprano) / L'Orchestre de la Suisse romande / Royal Philharmonic Orchetra / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden [ Decca Opera Gala / CD - released 20/Jun/1998 ] 'Marilyn Horne's generously filled recital disc brings us one of the most cherishable among all Rossini aria records ever issued. The voice is in glorious condition, rich and firm throughout its spectacular range, and is consistently used with... |
GIOACCHINIO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLETCABLE: Rossini: L'italiana In Algeri (highlights from the opera] Marilyn Horne, Samuel Ramey, Kathleen Battle / I Solisti Veneti, Claudio Scimone [ Teldec Apex / CD - released 24/Jan/2005 ] "Absolutely enchanting!" - MusicWeb Feb 2005 |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Offenbach: Orpheus In The Underworld (operetta in English) Mary Hegarty, David Fieldsend, Jill Pert, Richard Suart, Rosemarie Arthars, D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, John Owen Edwards [ Sony music / 2 CD Box Set - released 20/Jan/1994 ] ".. the whole production has a real lived-in feel and, in Mary Hegarty's flighty Eurydice, a nymphet - sorry, nymph - virtually to die for. " BBC Music |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (complete opera recorded in 1983) Bayreuth Festival / Rene Kollo, Matti Salminen, Johanna Meier, Hermann Becht / Daniel Barenboim (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon / Unitel DVD / 2 DVD - released 25/Jun/2007 ] Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's celebrated Bayreuth production is filmed on the Festspielhaus stage with six cameras and in digital sound to recreate the unique intensity of a live performance in studio quality. |
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL & FRIENDS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mr Handel's Dinner: Music for the Handel opera intermissions Maurice Steger (recorder) and Ensemble La Cetra [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 26/Apr/2019 ] "Steger is brilliant when the music is lively. Into his fleetness he mixes zest, charm and impish humour, making you wonder how such artfulness, at such speed and with such nutty dexterity, is humanly possible." BBC Music |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Tosca (Complete Franco Zeffirelli production recorded in March 1985) Metropolitan Opera / Hildegard Behrens, Placido Domingo, Cornell Macneil, Italo Tajo, James Courtney / James Levine (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 1/Aug/2006 ] "This production contains enough atmosphere for 20 Tosca's." (New York Magazine) |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Manon Lescaut (Complete opera recorded in 1990) Metropolitan Opera / Renata Scotto, Placido Domingo, Pablo Elvira, Renata Capecchi / James Levine (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 1/Aug/2006 ] "What makes this performance rather special is the acted and sung interplay between Scotto and Domingo. The way she jumps up into his arms and he carries her to the coach is an effective and touching moment." MusicWeb |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wagner: Tannhauser (Complete Opera recorded in 1983) Metropolitan Opera / Richard Cassilly, Eva Marton, Tatiana Troyanos / James Levine [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 13/Oct/2002 ] The Metropolitan Opera sings deeply passionate Wagner in this 1991 production on a spare but darkly atmospheric stage. |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Don Carlo (Complete Opera with libretto recorded in 1993) Michael Sylvester, Aprile Millo, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Vladimir Chernov, Dolora Zajick / Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, James Levine [ Sony Classical / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Nov/1993 ] "Levine's performance of the five-act Italian Don Carlo supersedes all other versions, because he conducts Verdi's spacious score with such masterly skill and meticulous attention to detail, and has so magnificent an orchestra at his command" BBC |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE": Verdi: Luisa Miller (complete opera with complete libretto) Montserrat Caballe, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes / National Philharmonic Orchestra, Peter Maag [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Jul/2007 ] "Maag's sympathetic reading, by underlining the light and shade, consistently brings out the atmospheric qualities of Verdi's conception ... brilliantly played and vividly recorded." The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Turandot (Highlights from the opera) Montserrat Caballe, Jose Carreras, Mirella Freni, Alain Lombard [ EMI Redline / CD - released 29/Jun/1978 ] "From the verystart Caballe conveys an element of mystery while Freni underlines the dramatic rather than the lyrical side of Liu's role." (Penguin Guide) |
MASCAGNI / BOITO / DELIBES / PUCCINI / VERDI / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Muzio: Operatic Arias Cludia Muzio (soprano) [ Nimbus / CD ] Recorded: 1934 (Tracks 1-2); 1935 (Tracks 3-19) & 1911 (Track 20) |
DELIBES / RAVEL / MILHAUD / OFFENBACH / GOUNOD / SAUGUET / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Natalie Dessay - Airs d'operas Francais [French Opera Arias] Natalie Dessay (soprano) / Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Patrick Fourniller [ EMI Classics / CD - released 12/Jan/1996 ] "Dessay revels in Olympia's amusing aria known as the 'Doll Song', delivered with assurance and freedom; Dessay's striking coloratura makes an impression" MusicWeb |
IGOR STRAVINSKY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Stravinsky: Le Rossignol / Oedipus Rex (Complete Operas recorded 1999 & 1993) Natalie Dessay, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Marjana Lipovsek / l'Opéra National de Paris, James Conlon / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Franz Welser-Most [ EMI The Opera Series / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/May/2010 ] "A fine recording of Stravinsky's colourful ballet, The Nightingale, with Natalie Dessay perfect in the title-role." (Gramophone) |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Vivaldi:La Verita in Cimento RV739 (highlights from the complete opera) Philippe Jaroussky, Nathalie Stutzmann, Gemma Bertagnoli, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Sara Mingardo / Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi [ Opus 111 Naive / CD - released 24/Nov/2007 ] "A glorious selection of highlights, full of astonishing singing and playing, from Vivaldi's opera of 1720. The vocal cast is well-nigh ideal, and Jean-Christophe Spinosi's very theatrical reading of the score is forcefully articulated by orchestra... |
DONIZETTI / GOUNOD / PUCCINI / BISHOP / TOSTI / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Nellie Melba: Opera Arias & Songs Nellie Melba (soprano) [ EMI Classics / CD - released 2/Feb/1988 ] Nellie Melba was Australia's first international superstar, her voice and charisma captivating audiences. |
MIKHAIL IVANOVICH GLINKA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Glinka: Ivan Susanin [A Life for the Tsar] (complete opera recorded in 1986) Nicola Ghiuselev, Elena Stoyanova, Hristina Angelakova / Sofia National Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Ivan Marinov [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / 3 CD Box Set - released 11/Sep/2011 ] "In the title role we hear one of the foremost basses of the second half of the 20th century, Nicola Ghiuselev. ...he gives a rounded and deeply moving portrait of the folk hero Ivan Susanin." MusicWeb |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: La Flute enchantee [The Magic Flute] (Complete Opera recorded in 1964) Nicolai Gedda, Gundula Janowitz, Walter Berry, Lucia Popp / Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer [ EMI Classics La voix de son maitre / CD - released 23/Sep/1999 ] "I have never heard The Magic Flute sound so magical and the complete ease and seeming rightness of this performance is a wonder. The cast, chorus and orchestra are inspired under Klemperer, whom I here salute as a real genius" (Gramophone) |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Donizetti: Anna Bolena (complete opera with libretto recorded in 1970) Nicolai Ghiaurov, Elena Souliotis, Marilyn Horne, John Alexander / Wiener Staatsopernchor & Opernorchester, Silvio Varviso [ Australian Decca Eloquence / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Apr/1997 ] 'Marilyn Horne virtually carries the whole opera (in this recording) on her shoulders, and page after page of the score reveals her as a consummate singing-actress.' Opera, January 1971 |