PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin (complete opera) Bernd Weik, Teresa Kubiak, Stuart Burrows / Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Music Group Limited DVD / DVD - released 16/Aug/2004 ] Director Petr Weigl is celebrated for his sumptuous opera films, using magnificent natural settings and casting photogenic actors in the principal roles. |
RICHARD WAGNER
Birgit Nilsson Sings Wagner Birgit Nilsson (soprano) / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Leif Segerstam / London Symphony, Sir Colin Davis [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Sep/2008 ] "Even allowing for the fact that these were demonstration records when they first appeared, the sound on this CD is astonishing in its lifelike presence and its warmth." Gramophone |
BIRGIT NILSSON
La Nilsson (arias and songs by Wagner, Weber, Beethoven, Gounod, etc) Birgit Nilsson (soprano) / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Sir Edward Downes (with Ake Leven, organ) [ Decca ABC Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Sep/2008 ] One of the greatest soprano legends of all time, Nilsson's 1963 Decca recital with Sir Edward Downes of popular opera arias by Wagner, Weber, Beethoven, et.al. has never been fully issued. Here it is on CD - issued complete for the first time and in... |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Great scenes from Aida (with Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder) Birgit Nilsson (soprano), with Grace Hoffman, Luigi Ottolini / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, John Pritchard [ Decca Most Wanted Recitals Vol. 31 / CD - released 16/Oct/2016 ] [This recording captures] the voice of the soprano at the zenith of his means. The stamp is bright and beautiful, perfect intonation, vibrato absent, acute triumphant! Technically, Nilsson is close to perfect, with perfect breath control, flawless... |
VERDI
Aida [recorded live in 1953] Maria Callas, Kurt Baum, Giulietta Simionato, Jess Walters / Covent Garden Opera Chorus & Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli [ Testament / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2009 ] "it was in many ways a performance that outshines all [Callas's] studio recordings, with the stage atmosphere well caught. Barbirolli too is a winningly warm and sympathetic Verdian" (Penguin) |
VINCENZO BELLINI
Bellini: Norma (complete opera recorded live in 1952) Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Mirto Picchi / Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Vittorio Gui [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Live Remastered / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2019 ] 'Bellini's Norma is an epic and multi-faceted role, often considered the ultimate vocal challenge for an operatic soprano. Callas sang it on stage 92 times, more often than any other heroine, and her achievement casts a long shadow: more than 50... |
WOLF-FERRARI / VERDI / PONCHIELLI
Overtures and Ballet Music (Recorded 1958-1960) Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Charles Mackerras [ Testament / CD - released 20/Apr/2011 ] Recorded 1958-1960, some tracks mono |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Lucia Di Lammermoor (complete opera recorded in 1972) Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, Nicolai Ghiaurov / Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Richard Bonynge [ Decca / 2 CD - released 24/Oct/2011 ] "Though some of the girlish freshness of voice which marked the 1961 recording had disappeared by the 1971 set, Sutherland's detailed understanding was intensified. Power is there as well as delicacy, and the rest of the cast is first-rate." Penguin |
MAURICE RAVEL
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe (complete ballet) / Rapsodie espagnole / etc Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / London Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Monteux [ Decca Historic / CD - released 10/Apr/1990 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) "There is only one word for this work, this performance, and this recording, and that is - ravishing." Gramophone |
VERDI / PUCCINI / DONIZETTI / MASCAGNI / ROSSINI
Italian Opera Choruses Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Lamberto Gardelli [ EMI Studio / CD - released 25/Jan/1995 ] 11 masterpieces from Italian opera. |
GILBERT and SULLIVAN
Gilbert & Sullivan: Ruddigore (Complete opera) coupled with Sullivan's Cox and Box D'Oyly Carte Opera Company with John Reed; Kenneth Sandford; Jean Hindmarsh / Orchestra of The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Isidore Godfrey [ Decca Records / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2003 ] *** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo Guide. |
MAX RICHTER
Richter: Recomposed - The Four Seasons, Vasks, Pärt Fenella Humphreys (violin), Covent Garden Sinfonia, Ben Palmer [ Rubicon / CD - released 28/Jun/2019 ] "Humphrey's utter absorption and delight shines forth at every turn… strong toned, easy fluidity and immaculate technique" - Gramophone Since winning the BBC Music Magazine Instrumental award in 2018 Fenella Humphreys has been in demand throughout... |
W. A. MOZART
Fernando Corena: Arias for Bass Fernando Corena (bass) / Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 20/Sep/2015 ] "'Corena sings with a fine, resonant, clean tone. His production is easy and completely natural, and his diction, phrasing and general musicianship are most praiseworthy" (Gramophone) |
The Garden
Kiss My Super Bowl Ring [ Epitaph / CD - released 13/Mar/2020 ] Fourth studio album from The Garden (Wyatt and Fletcher Shears)! Though primarily self-produced, the album includes tracks co-produced by Dylan Brady, and Wharfwit, along with tracks featuring Ariel Pink, Khalif Jones (aka Le1f) and even a... |
The Garden
Kiss My Super Bowl Ring (LP) [ Epitaph / LP - released 13/Mar/2020 ] |
MENDELSSOHN / VERDI / CHOPIN / SATIE / SAINT-SAENS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Romantic Ballet Music - The Lady and the Fool / A Midsummer Night's Dream / etc [2 CD set] Garrick Ohlsson (piano) / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / London Philharmonic Orchestra [ EMI Ballet Edition / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2011 ] Sir Frederick Ashton appropriates Mendelssohn's exquisite incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream and Satie's haunting Gymnopédies; John Cranko, ably abetted by Sir Charles Mackerras, cherry-picks from the early operas of Verdi. |
DUKAS / OFFENBACH / ROSSINI / TCHAIKOVSKY
Solti at the Ballet [Incls 'La Boutique fantasque' & 'Gaîté Parisienne'] Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 20/Jul/2016 ] "an absolutely splendid recording …This Solti performance [of La Boutique fantasque] is sheer delight, played as it is with a combination of style and gusto it needs; a most exhilarating performance …this is an excellent debut on Decca" Gramophone |
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress (Complete Opera) Gerald Finley, Rebecca Evans / Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Hickox [ Chandos Classics / 2 CD - released 21/Sep/2001 ] Rosette (Penguin Stereo Guide) - "The Chandos recording is superb, spacious and atmospheric, with the many onstage effects beautifully balanced, yet with words always clear…(an) overpowering recording." |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Elektra (Complete Opera) Gerda Lammers / Hedwig Muller-Butow / Georgine Von Milinkovic / Covent Garden Opera Chorus And Orchestra / Rudolf Kempe [ ROYAL OPERA HOUSE HERITAGE SERIES / 2 CD ] |
WAGNER
Parsifal (complete opera) (Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 16 June 1959) Gottlob Frick, Gerda Lammers, Eberhard Waechter, Karl Liebl, Forbes Robinson / Covent Garden Orchestra & Chorus / Rudolf Kempe [ Testament / 4 CD Box Set - released 30/Jan/2010 ] Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 16 June 1959 |