GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Equivoco stravagante (Complete Opera recorded in 2018) BLU-RAY Königliches Kurtheater, Bad Wildbad / Antonella Colaianni, Giulio Mastrototaro, Emmanuel Franco, Patrick Kabongo / José Miguel Pérez-Sierra (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 10/Oct/2021 ] No opera has been performed at Rossini in Wildbad as often as L'equivoco stravagante, so it was the perfect choice for the festival's 30th anniversary in 2018. |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera [The Masked Ball] (complete opera recorded in 2005) BLU-RAY Leipzig Opera / Massimiliano Pisapia, Franco Vassallo, Chiara Taigi, Annamaria Chiuri, Eun Yee You / Riccardo Chailly [ EuroArts / Unitel Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jan/2017 ] "traditional costumes and stylized sets...[Talgi] has a pure, warm soprano, finely controlled in her legato singing, and Franco Vassallo sings magnificently, making his defying aria, Eri tu, a powerful climax, helped by Riccardo Chailly's conducting" |
VERDI
Falstaff (complete opera recorded in December 2013) BLU-RAY Metropolitan Opera / Ambrogio Maestri, Angela Meade, Franco Vassallo, Lisette Oropesa, Paolo Fanale / James Levine (cond) [ Decca Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Oct/2015 ] Verdi's brilliant final masterpiece Falstaff, in its first new Met production in 50 years -- and conducted by Met Music Director James Levine in his first new production since his return to his podium at the Met. |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Lucrezia Borgia (complete opera recorded in 2007) BLU-RAY Nationaltheater, Munich / Edita Gruberova, Pavol Breslik, Franco Vas / Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Bertrand de Billy [ EuroArts / Unitel Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Feb/2014 ] "the major vocal honours of the evening belong to Pavol Breslik as Gennaro. He sings with excellent diction, variety of tone and good characterisation whilst acting with conviction." (MusicWeb) |
LOWELL LIEBERMANN
Liebermann, Lowell - Five Pieces from Album of the Young; Sonata for flute & Guitar; Eight Pieces Alexa Still, flute, with David Korevaar (piano); Franco Platino (guitar) [ Koch International Classics / CD - released 5/Jun/2005 ] Alexa Still, dazzling international flautist "has a gorgeous sound, …a limitless technique and combines this with the musical intelligence to give utterly ravishing performances". |
LEONARDO BALADA
Balada: Caprichos Nos. 1 & 5 Bertrand Piertrand Piétu (guitar)/ Aldo Mata (cello)/ Tatiana Franco (flute) / Iberian Chamber Orchestra, José Luis Temes [ Naxos / CD - released 10/Apr/2012 ] Catalan-born Leonardo Balada fuses tradition with modernity and folk with the avant-garde, producing music of stunning sonorities. Caprichos No. 1 pays homage to the poet Lorca in a blend of virtuosic writing and transformative dance rhythms. In... |
Giuseppe V
Luisa Miller Bonaldo Giaiotti, Franco Bonisolli, Christa Ludwig, Malcolm Smith, Giuseppe Taddei, Lilian Sukis, Milkana Nikolova, Hors [ ORFEO / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2010 ] |
CAMILLO SIVORI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Sivori: The Complete Trios Bruno Pignata (violin) Riccardo Agosti (cello) Franco Giacosa (piano) [ Dynamic / CD - released 2/Feb/1994 ] Camillo Sivori, Paganini's only pupil, can be considered not only the greatest performer of the Italian violin school after Paganini, but also one of the greatest virtuosi violinists of the nineteenth century. |
Buddy De Franco
Buddy De Franco And The Oscar Peterson Quartet [ CD ] |
Buddy De Franco
Four Classic Albums Plus (Buddy De Franco / The Artistry Of Buddy De Franco / Mr Clarinet / Pretty Moods) [ Avid / 2 CD - released 17/Nov/2014 ] AVID Jazz presents four classic Buddy De Franco albums plus, including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. "Buddy De Franco"; "The Artistry of Buddy De Franco"; "Mr. Clarinet"; "Pretty Moods" plus selections... |
Buddy De Franco
Generalissimo [ CD ] |
Buddy De Franco
Wholly Cats [ CD ] |
Buddy De Franco And Oscar Peterson / Orchestra conducted by Russell Garcia
Buddy De Franco And Oscar Peterson Play The George Gershwin Song Book [ Definitive Records / CD ] Buddy DeFranco and Oscar Peterson Play George Gershwin is a 1954 album by Buddy DeFranco, accompanied by the Oscar Peterson trio, of songs composed by George Gershwin. Billboard in 1955 wrote: "The flashy talents of clarinetist DeFranco and pianist... |
GASPARE SPONTINI
Spontini: La Vestale (complete opera remastered recorded live 1954) Maria Callas, Franco Corelli, Ebe Stignani, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni / Teatro alla Scala, Antonino Votto [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Live Remastered / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2019 ] The central character in La Vestale, as in Norma, is a priestess who transgresses her holy vows for love. Spontini's nobly-conceived opera, composed for Paris in the Napoleonic era, brought Callas' first collaboration on a new production with the... |
VINCENZO BELLINI
Bellini: Norma (complete opera recorded in 1960) Maria Callas, Christa Ludwig, Franco Corelli, Nicola Zaccaria / Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala Milan, Tullio Serafin [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Remastered / 3 CD - released 18/Nov/2014 ] Callas first sang Bellini's Norma in 1948, when she was just 25. She went on to perform the role of the heroic, but vulnerable Druid priestess - the ultimate embodiment of bel canto - more frequently than any other. In this second studio recording... |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: La Traviata (complete opera recorded live in 1958) Maria Callas, Alfredo Kraus, Mario Sereni, Laura Zannini, Maria Cristina de Castro / Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisboa Franco Ghione [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Live Remastered / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2019 ] Callas sang La traviata more frequently than any other opera, apart from Norma. She performed it over 60 times between 1951 and 1958, most famously in Luchino Visconti's production at La Scala in 1955/56. Her only studio recording of the role was... |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Vivaldi: Gloria RV589 / Nisi Dominus (Psalm 126) RV608 / Nulla in mundo pax sincera RV630 Julia Lezhneva (soprano), Franco Fagioli (countertenor) / I Barocchisti, Coro della Radiotelevisione Svizzera, Diego Fasolis [ Decca Records / CD - released 1/Aug/2018 ] "Crisp tempos, disciplined ensemble, and solo improvisations both vocal and instrumental unleash the tremendous energy of the choir-and-solo Gloria." (BBC Music) |
AGOSTINO STEFFANI
Stabat Mater / etc Cecilia Bartoli, Nuria Rial, Yetzabel Arias Fernandez, Franco Fagioli / I Barocchisti & Coro della Radiotelevisione Svizzera, Diego Fasolis [ Decca / CD - released 13/Sep/2013 ] Cecilia Bartoli's exploration of the music of Steffani continues on from her best-selling recording 'Mission' with an album of the celebrated Stabat Mater alongside Steffani's greatest sacred works for chorus, orchestra and soloists, constituting the... |
PAGANINI
Works for Violin & Piano [Incls 'Variations' & 'Moto perpetuo'] Salvatore Accardo (violin) / The Chamber Orchestra of Europe / Franco Tamponi [ EMI Classics / 2 CD - released 20/Dec/2009 ] A classic 1984 recording now available in limited quantities. |
DANIEL-FRANCOIS AUBER
Auber: Le Philtre (complete opera) Eugenio Di Lieto, Luiza Fatyol, Emmanuel Franco, ;Adina Vilichi / Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus, Luciano Acocella [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 27/Jan/2023 ] In 1831 Auber and his long-standing librettist Eugène Scribe produced Le Philtre, which took the concept of petit opéra to the extreme, even outdoing Rossini's Le Comte Ory in depicting a rural setting. |