VERDI
Verdi Arias III (1964-69) Maria Callas with Paris Conservatoire Orchestra & Paris Opéra Orchestra, Nicola Rescigno [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Remastered / CD - released 10/Nov/2014 ] 'I love these recordings: for Callas' command of line, of declamation, of rhythm, of dramatic and musical sense. Callas at her very finest!' (Gramophone) |
Mado Robin, Agnes Disney, Libero de Luca. Orchestre et choeur de l'Opera-Comique, Paris. Georges Sebastian
Delibes - Lakme (Highlights from the opera) [ Decca Heritage / CD - released 25/Aug/2004 ] "Another very recommendable 'highlights' disc from Decca...the recording is perfect." Gramophone April 1955 |
BIZET / MENDELSSOHN / MOZART / PUCCINI / STRAUSS 11 / RAMEAU
THE BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: Opera and Ballet Highlights Paris Opera Ballet / Royal Opera House / Teatro Real, Madrid / Glyndebourne Opera / Pacific Northwest Ballet / Drottningholms Slottsteater [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jan/2009 ] Blu-Ray - Opera and Ballet Highlights from the Opus Arte catalogue at a very special price. |
TCHAIKOVSKY / DELIBES / PROKOFIEV / WALTON / ADAM / etc
I Love Ballet (music from Swan Lake, Cinderella, Nutcracker, Romeo & Juliet, Coppelia, etc) The Philarmonia Orchestra, London Symphony, Paris Opera Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Orchestra, etc [ EMI Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2009 ] "I Love Ballet is overall an attractive compilation of some very good music and other, slightly less good but pleasant enough. Above all, I think it is an excellent introduction to classical ballet music for beginners of all ages" (MusicWeb March 2010) |
VERDI / DONIZETTI / GOUNOD / ARDITI
La Stupenda Joan Sutherland (soprano) / Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden & Paris Conservatoire Orchestra [ Alto / CD - released 10/Aug/2013 ] (* Penguin Guide Rosette on Art of Prima Donna vol.2) "this 1959 recital** at once put her on the map as one of the greatest recording artists of all time" "most cherishable of all operatic recital records" (Penguin Guide) "breathtaking display" re... |
PUCCINI
Tosca (complete opera recorded in 1964/5) Maria Callas, Carlo Bergonzi, Tito Gobbi, Giorgio Tadeo / aris Conservatoire Orchestra, Paris Opera Chorus, Georges Prêtre [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Remastered / 2 CD - released 10/Nov/2014 ] Tosca was the role in which - in 1965, the year this recording was made - Callas gave her last complete performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera and the Paris Opéra. This was her final complete recording of an... |
CHARPENTIER / FRANCK / LALO / MASSENET
Fete a la Francaise [incls 'Rhapsodie Norvegienne' & Phedre - Overture] Paris Conservatoire Orchestra & Orchestre de l'Opéra-Comique Paris, Albert Wolff [ Australian Decca SBS Eloquence / 2 CD - released 20/Dec/2010 ] "beautifully warm and clear orchestral sound … a most excellent recording" Gramophone Magazine (Liszt) // "played with finesse and recorded with clarity" Gramophone Magazine (Massenet) |
MAURICE RAVEL
Ravel: Orchestral Works (Incls 'Daphnis et Chloe', 'Ma Mere l'Oye' & 'Bolero') Choeurs du Theatre National de l'Opera / Orchestre de Paris, Jean Martinon [ Warner Classics / 3 CD - released 21/Oct/2007 ] "Fortunate the collector who chances on this set; delight and revelation await. At bargain price this is a gift that will cast its smiling spell for years to come" (MusicWeb Bargain of the Month October 2007) |
GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Carmen (complete opera recorded in 1964) Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Andréa Guiot, Robert Massard, Nadine Sautereau / Orchestre du Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris, Georges Prêtre [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Remastered / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2015 ] Towards the end of Callas's career, there were many rumours that she was planning to perform Carmen on stage. This was never to be, but Carmen became her penultimate complete recording of an opera - and her only complete recording of a French opera.... |
LEO DELIBES
Delibes: Coppelia (complete ballet) (with Minkus - Don Quixote highlights) Orchestre du Theatre National de l'Opera de Paris / Jean-Baptiste Mari [ EMI Ballet Edition / 2 CD - released 1/Sep/2010 ] The Ballet Edition is a series of 2 CD sets drawn from the catalogues of EMI Classics, presenting the best-loved and most popular ballets, performed by the world's leading orchestras and conductors. |
MAURICE RAVEL
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe (complete ballet) / La Valse Orchestre et Choeurs de L'Opera national de Paris, Philippe Jordan [ Erato / Warner Classics / CD - released 1/May/2015 ] This new recording of Daphnis et Chloé, Ravel's most sumptuous score, marks a number of firsts as it evokes the heady days of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in Paris in the early years of the 20th century. It grew from performances of the... |
FRANCIS POULENC
Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites (Complete opera) Denise Duval, Regine Crespin / Choeurs et Orchestre du Theatre National de l'Opera de Paris / Pierre Dervaux [ Warner Erato Home of Opera / 2 CD - released 20/May/2016 ] 'A classic and irreplaceable recording. It is evident that the singers were inspired by the piece to give of their considerable best and Pierre Dervaux's conducting of the work is both inspired and inspiriting.' (Gramophone) |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24 / La mort de Cleopatre Janet Baker, Nicolai Gedda, Gabriel Bacquier / Chœurs de 'Opera de Paris, Orchestre de Paris & LSO / Georges Pretre & Alexander Gibson [ EMI Gemini / 2 CD - released 1/May/2007 ] "Prêtre's "Damnation de Faust"...does have some of the finest singers of the day. Nicolai Gedda and Gabriel Bacquier both turn in excellent professional performances. Dame Janet Baker was evidently determined to stretch herself no matter what the... |
DELIBES
Lakme (complete opera) Mado Robin (soprano) / Agnes Disney (mezzo) / Libero de Luca (tenor) / Paris Opera-Comique Chorus and Orchestra / Georges Sebastien [ Naxos Historical / 2 CD - released 4/Mar/2007 ] The great soprano Mado Robin made her début at the Paris Opéra in 1945 as Gilda, and gave her first performance as Lakmé, which was to become her most famous rôle, the following year at the Opéra-Comique. |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Tosca (complete opera recorded in 1964/5) Maria Callas, Carlo Bergonzi, Tito Gobbi, Giorgio Tadeo / Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Paris Opera Chorus, Georges Prêtre [ Warner Classics Legendary Opera Recordings / 2 CD Box Set - released 23/Sep/2016 ] This Tosca was Maria Callas's final studio recording of a complete opera. In 1965, 12 years after her first recording of the opera (made in Milan Victor de Sabata) she was reunited in Paris with the Scarpia of Tito Gobbi. Both singers bring new... |
GEORGES BIZET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bizet: Les Pecheurs des Perles [The Pearl Fishers] (Complete Opera recorded in 1963) Ileana Cotrubas, Alain Vanzo, Guillermo Sarabia, Roger Soyer / Choeur & Orchestre du Theatre National de 'Opera de Paris / Georges Pretre [ EMI Classics For Pleasure / 2 CD - released 10/Feb/1990 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die - "The well-recorded CfP set is valuable principally because it has Cotrubas at her best, a most appealing Leila and worth the bargain price of the discs on her own account." (Gramophone) |
PUCCINI / BELLINI / ROSSINI
Maria Callas: Toujours - Paris 1958 BLU-RAY Maria Callas (soprano) / Orchestra & Chorus of the Paris National Opera [ Warner Classics Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Nov/2015 ] This Blu-ray disc is part of a collection of three that gather together concert and stage performances from the latter phase of Callas's career, 1958-1964. These are the only professional video recordings of Callas in performance on stage. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
The World of Ballet [2 CD set] Paris Conservatoire, New Symphony Orchestra, Royal Opera House Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 10/Nov/2011 ] "I soon found my attention held with delight. This is Strauss as Strauss is played in Vienna" (Gramophone) |
PROKOFIEV
Romeo & Juliet (Complete Ballet recorded in 1995. Choreography by Rudolf Nureyev) BLU-RAY Paris Opera Ballet / Monique Loudieres, Manuel Legris, Charles Jude / Vello Pahn (cond) [ Kultur / Warners / Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Apr/2014 ] "this is an often scintillating performance, and should be seen by any lover of ballet wanting to experience Nureyev's own idiosyncratic take on one of the most iconic ballets in the 20th century repertoire." - Jeffrey Kauffman, Blu-Ray.com |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: La Traviata (Complete opera recorded in 2014) BLU-RAY Paris Opera / Diana Damrau, Francesco Demuro, Ludovic Tézier / Francesco Ivan Ciampa (cond) [ Erato / Warner Classics Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 4/Sep/2015 ] "Violetta is played by Diana Damrau, a soprano of matchless intelligence. Technically, she is perfectly at ease in a role that has sometimes been described as demanding too much of one singer." Guardian |