GEORGE GERSHWIN
The Very Best of Gershwin Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Nina Simone, Boston Pops orchestra, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, etc [ Decca Records / 2 CD - released 6/Mar/1998 ] This European imported 2CD set is a fabulous collection of 28 Gershwin greats including Oscar Peterson "Strike Up the Band"; Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong "Summertime"; Sarah Vaughan "The Man I Love"; Fred Astaire "Funny Face", Audrey Hepburn... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Requiem (LP) Simone Kermes, Stephanie Houtzeel, Markus Brutscher / MusicAeterna / New Siberian Singers, Teodor Currentzis [ Alpha Classics / 2 LP - released 23/Aug/2019 ] Mozart's Requiem is a supreme masterpiece of the history of music and a work inextricably bound up with the Mozartian legend. Now Alpha's recording of it under the direction of Teodor Currentzis is given a new lease of life in a vinyl reissue. A... |
Nina Simone
I Put a Spell on You (180g LP) [ Verve Music Group / LP - released 30/Sep/2016 ] One of her most pop-oriented albums, but also one of her best and most consistent. Most of the songs feature dramatic, swinging large-band orchestration, with the accent on the brass and strings. Simone didn't write any of the material, turning to... |
Nina Simone
Little Girl Blue [ Hallmark / CD - released 14/Nov/2011 ] Whilst history has made this something of an important album for Nina, at the time it failed dismally, with Nina feeling that the record label (Bethlehem) did little or nothing to promote it... |
Nina Simone
Little Girl Blue (LP) [ DOL / LP - released 13/May/2022 ] Little Girl Blue (also known as Jazz As Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club) is the debut album by Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Nina Simone. It was originally released by Bethlehem Records in February 1959. At the time, Simone was in her mid-20s and... |
Nina Simone
Nina's Back (LP) [ Verve / LP - released 15/Mar/2024 ] Recorded in 1985 after a break from recording and time spent living in Barbados and Liberia, Nina's Back features a rejuvenated Nina Simone reaching out to a wider musical audience. Featuring a number of memorable original Simone compositions, the... |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore (Complete opera recorded in 1996) Lyon Opera / Roberto Alagna, Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Scaltriti, Simone Alaimo, Elena Dan / Evelino Pido (cond) [ Decca / RM Associates DVD / DVD - released 20/Sep/2003 ] "Frank Dunlop's witty, unvarnished view of Donizetti's country comedy, updated to the 1930s, is delightful to see, wondrous to hear." Gramophone |
VINCI / BONONCINI / HASSE / STING / ALBINONI / etc
Simone Kermes - Inferno e Paradiso Simone Kermes (soprano), Amici Veneziani [ Sony Classical / CD - released 15/May/2020 ] Simone Kermes releases her latest album, which features arias by baroque composers that have long numbered among her favorites, including Handel, Hasse, and Caldara. |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Mio caro Händel Simone Kermes (soprano) / Amici Veneziani, Boris Begelman [ Sony Classical / CD - released 1/Mar/2019 ] "there is no more individual or idiosyncratic baroque diva around." (The Sunday Times) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: La Traviata (complete opera recorded at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus 2015) BLU-RAY Baden-Baden Festspielhaus / Olga Peretyatko, Atalla Ayan, Simone Piazzola, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Tom Fox / Pablo Heras-Casado (cond) [ C Major Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Dec/2016 ] Staged by Rolando Villazón Star tenor and director Rolando Villazón's staging of La Traviata at the Festspielhaus in Baden Baden is "visually spectacular" (The Huffington Post) and made for "an enthusiastic reception for the premiere" (Stuttgarter... |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Poets Of Sensibility Vols 1 & 2 Thomas Bauer (baritone) Simone Nold (soprano) Marcus Ullman (tenor) / Ulrich Eisenlohr (fortepiano) [ Naxos Schubert Lieder Edition Vol 19 / 2 CD - released 1/Aug/2005 ] |
HANS PFITZNER
Pfitzner: Palestrina (complete opera) Christopher Ventris / Peter Rose / Michael Volle / Falk Struckmann / Christiana Karg / Bavarian State Opera Chorus and Orchestra / Simone Young [ Euroarts DVD / 2 DVD - released 15/Jun/2010 ] "Simone Young directs a flowing and nicely paced account. Christopher Ventris is sensitive, achieving exhausted nobility as the composer, and Falk Struckmann provides a rounded portrayal of the subtle Borromeo." (Gramophone) |
VINCENCO BELLINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bellini: Zaira (complete opera recorded live in 1990) Katia Ricciarelli, Simone Alaimo, Ramon Vargas, Alexandra Papadjakou / Orchestra del Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania, Paolo Olmi [ Nuova Era / 2 CD Box Set - released 4/Sep/2009 ] "(Katia Ricciarelli gives) a highly impressive portrayal of the title part. As Orosmane, Simone Alaimo's lean bass is also a further strength with his clear diction a welcome hallmark." MusicWeb |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Il Turco in Italia (complete opera recorded in 2008) BLU-RAY La Fenice Opera / Simone Alaimo, Myrto Papatanasiu, Bruno De Simone / Jonathan Webb, conductor [ Arthaus Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Mar/2010 ] Il Turco in Italia is one of Rossini's wittiest but most neglected works. It is full of ingenious and freshly composed invention. It is Rossini's first collaboration with Felice Romani - Bellini's librettist - on this opera and Romani understood... |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: Discoveries María José Siri, Veronica Simeoni, Giorgio Berrugi, Simone Piazzola, Riccardo Zanellato / Coro e Orchestra del Teatro [ Decca Records / CD - released 15/Sep/2002 ] "Chailly's Scala forces give the 13 movements their all...it's a fascinating testament to a historical event that never was. Verdi's movement for soprano and chorus is the best music here, justifying his decision to write his own Requiem" Sunday Time |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: La Cenerentola [Cinderella] (complete opera recorded in 2009) BLU-RAY Metropolitan Opera / Elina Garanca, Lawrence Brownlee, Simone Alberghini / Maurizio Benini (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 12/Dec/2014 ] Elina Garanca builds on the success of her previous album, Bel Canto, incarnating the bel canto title role heroine, Cinderella, in Rossini's touching and hilarious comic masterpiece, La Cenerentola. This new DVD was recorded live at the... |
Nina Simone
Angel Of The Morning: The Best Of Nina Simone [ Sony Gold Series / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2009 ] |
Nina Simone
At The Village Gate [ Hallmark / Pickwick / CD - released 11/May/2015 ] |
Nina Simone
At Town Hall (LP) [ Vinyl Passion / LP - released 10/Jun/2011 ] One of Nina Simone's finest recordings, this Colpix LP features the unique singer/pianist performing classic versions of "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," "The Other Woman," and "Wild Is the Wind"... |
Nina Simone
At Town Hall (LP) [ Wax Time / LP - released 10/Jun/2011 ] One of Nina Simone's finest recordings, this Colpix LP features the unique singer/pianist performing classic versions of "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," "The Other Woman," and "Wild Is the Wind." With supportive work from bassist Jimmy... |