This 6CD set contains 100 tracks from the international catalogues of EMI Classics and Virgin Classics of the best songs from the most famous operettas from Vienna, Berlin, London, New York and Madrid.

The operettas represented here are among the most popular and successful ever written, covering the period from the middle of the 19th century to the early part of the 20th century, after which the genre evolved into what we now know as musicals. These operettas produced some of the world’s best-known melodies that have become established in their own right outside of the theatre and have been heard in every context, including concerts, recordings and film soundtracks.

All the items are sung in the language in which they were originally written.

The Austro-Hungarian composers like Johann Strauss II, Franz Lehár and Emmerich Kálmán contribute many gloriously romantic pieces from their timeless operettas, including Die Fledermaus, Der Zigeunerbaron, Gräfin Mariza, Der Graf von Luxemburg, Das Land des Lächelns and of course the immortal Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow).

There is also a representation of the Berlin school of operetta with extracts from works by Eduard Künneke (Der Vetter aus Dingsda) and Walter Kollo (Drei alte Schachtein and Marietta), the latter sung by the composer’s grandson, the tenor René Kollo.

The French operetta tradition is strongly represented by some of the finest operettas ever written such as Orphée aux Enfers, La vie Parisienne and La Belle Hélène by Offenbach, Véronique by Messager and La Fille de Madame Angot by Lecocq.

The works of Gilbert and Sullivan are acknowledged to be the pinnacle of English operetta and they are represented by items like ‘Poor wand’ring one’ from The Pirates of Penzance and ‘Take a pair of sparkling eyes’ from The Gondoliers. Other English composers include Edward German (Merrie England), Ivor Novello (Glamorous Night) and Noël Coward (Bitter Sweet).

In America, a group of composers produced some superb operettas that were fully comparable to the Viennese models that inspired them. These include The Belle of New York by Gustave Kerker, Naughty Marietta by Victor Herbert and The Firefly by Rudolf Friml.

The lively world of the Spanish zarzuela is not neglected, with a generous selection of arias and choruses from some of the most attractive works of this genre, including Doña Francisquita by Vives, Los gavilanes by Guerrero, La taberna del puerto by Sorozábal and La tempranica by Giménez.

All the performances are in authentic style, and the singers are international stars who have appeared in all the major performing centres of the world. Their names include Victoria de los Angeles, Sari Barabas, Teresa Berganza, June Bronhill, José Carreras, Michel Dens, Nicolai Gedda, Barbara Hendricks, Mady Mesplé, Jessye Norman, Lucia Popp, Anneliese Rothenberger, Rudolf Schock, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Rolando Villazón and Fritz Wunderlich.

Artists

Anneliese Rothenberger (soprano), Erika Köth (soprano), Nicolai Gedda (tenor, vocals), Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano), Melitta Muszely, Karl-Ernst Mercker, Ursula Schirrmacher, Rudolf Schock (tenor), Lucia Popp (soprano), Brigitte Fassbaender (mezzo-soprano), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (bass-baritone), Renate Holm (soprano), Adolf Dallapozza (tenor, vocals), Jürgen Förster (tenor), Senta Wengraf (mezzo-soprano, vocals), Walter Berry (bass-baritone, bass), Gustav Neidlinger (bass), Helga Hildebrand (vocals), Manfred Schmidt (tenor), Hermann Prey (baritone, bass-baritone), René Kollo (tenor), Streichergruppe Hans Georg Arlt (vocal ensemble), Cesare Curzi (vocals), Christian Oppelberg (bass-baritone), Christine Görner (soprano), Gisela Litz (vocals, mezzo-soprano), Hans Günter Grimm (bass-baritone), Marjorie Heistermann (vocals), Rita Streich (soprano), Karl Kreile (spoken voice), Franz Gerstacker (director), Fritz Wunderlich (vocals), Cynthia Glover (vocals), William McAlpine (tenor), Rita Williams Singers (vocals, vocal ensemble), June Bronhill (soprano, vocals), Peter Glossop (bass-baritone), Monica Sinclair (contralto), Patricia Kern (mezzo-soprano), Howell Glynne (bass), Geoffrey Coleby (bass-baritone), Charles Young (vocals), Eric Wilson Hyde (vocals), Leslie Fyson (vocals), Barbara Hendricks (soprano), James Hawthorne (vocals), Victoria de los Angeles (soprano), Rolando Villazón (tenor), Estrella Alsina (soprano), Frederico Moreno-Torroba (manager orchestra), Pedro Lavirgen (tenor), Dolores Ripollés (vocals), Liliane Berton (soprano, vocals), Michel Dens (bass-baritone, baritone, vocals), Yvon Leenart (second vocals, vocals), Orch Ste Conc Du Conservatoire, Janine Micheau (soprano), Mady Mesplé (vocals, soprano), Jules Bastin (bass), José van Dam (baritone), Jane Berbié (soprano), Michèle Command (soprano), Michèle Pena (soprano), Christiane Château (narrator), Luis Masson (narrator), Michel Jarry (narrator), Régine Crespin (soprano), Leonard Pezzino (tenor), Jean Philippe Lafont (baritone), Jane Rhodes - Roberto Benzi - Orch De Bordeaux Aquitaine, Jane Rhodes (soprano, mezzo-soprano), Charles Burles (tenor, vocals), Jessye Norman (soprano), José Carreras (tenor, vocals), Teresa Berganza (mezzo-soprano, vocals), Calvin Sieb (vocals), Michel Trempont (bass-baritone, baritone), Pierrette Delange (vocals), Dominique Tirmont (baritone), Éliane Lublin (soprano), Sári Barabás (soprano), Fritz Helfer (spoken voice), Gabriele Fuchs (soprano), Heinz Zednik (tenor), Wolfgang Anheisser (bass-baritone), Gerhard Unger (vocals), Karl Dönch (bass-baritone), Karl Doench (baritone), Horst Sachtleben (vocals), Josef Schmidhuber (vocals), Karl H. Bennert (bass), Max Mairich (vocals), Peter Brandt (vocals), Erich Kuchar (tenor), Cornelius Eberhardt (director), Kurt Böhme (bass), James King (tenor), Margit Schramm (soprano), Michel Sénéchal (tenor), Bernard Sinclair (vocals), Jean-Christophe Benoit (baritone), Gabriel Bacquier (bass-baritone), Jean Doussard - Mady Mesple - Orchestre Du Théatre National De L'Opéra Comique - Christiane Stutzmann, Christian Stutzmann (second vocals), Paris Opera-Comique Orchestra (second vocals), Dame Felicity Lott (soprano), André Mallabrera (tenor), Segundo García (tenor), Coro Cantores de Madrid, Mari Carmen Ramírez (mezzo-soprano), Pablo Sorozabal (director), Pedro Farres (vocals), Richard Lewis (tenor), Alexander Young (tenor), Edna Graham (soprano), Elsie Morison (soprano), Helen Watts (contralto), James Milligan (bass-baritone), John Cameron (baritone), Lavinia Renton (soprano), Marjorie Thomas (contralto), Owen Brannigan (bass), Peter Gellhorn (director), Geraint Evans (tenor), Stella Hitchens (soprano), Eric Wilson-Hyde (vocals), Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Symphonie Orchester Graunke Munchen, Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, FFB-Orchester, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Philharmonia Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra, Chor Der Wiener Staatsoper In Der Volksoper, Wiener Symphoniker, Berliner Symphoniker, Ambrosian Singers, Symphonie-Orchester Graunke, Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Jankowski Singers, RIAS-Tanzorchester, Bayerisches Symphonie-Orchester, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Gilbert Vinter & His Orchestra, Michael Collins & His Orchestra, Nigel Brooks Chorus, Cyril Ornadel & His Theatre Orchestra, The Lessa Gray Singers, Linden Singers, Ian Humphris, New World Show Orchestra, Orquesta Conciertos de Madrid, Sinfonia of London, Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, Orquesta de Conciertos de Madrid, Orquesta Nacional de España, Coros Líricos de Hispavox, Orchestre de l'Association des Concerts Lamoureux, Choeur René Duclos, Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Choeur Opéra de Paris, Orchestre du Théatre National de l'Opéra Comique, Choeur De La Rtb, Choeur Théatre Royal De Monnaie, Orch Sym De La Rtb, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Chœur du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Choeur Capitole Toulouse, Orchestre Philharmonic De Monte Carlo, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Chœur René Duclos, Orchestre Lamoureux, Philharmonia Hungarica, Chor des Theaters am Gärtnerplatz, München, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orquesta Lírica Española, Pro Arte Orchestra, Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, Chorus & Orchestra, The Linden Singers, Brian Fahey & His Orchestra, Willy Mattes, Otto Ackermann, Werner Schmidt-Boelcke, Sir Neville Marriner, Willi Boskovsky, Frank Fox, Franz Allers, Horst Jankowski, Hans Moltkau, Lawrence Foster, Kenneth Alwyn, Pablo Sorozábal, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Plácido Domingo, Franck Pourcel, Jean-Claude Hartemann, Jean Doussard, Edgard Doneux, Cyril Diederich, Michel Plasson, Manuel Rosenthal, Roberto Benzi, Jean-Pierre Marty, Fried Walter, Louis Frémaux, Armin Jordan, Federico Moreno Torroba, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Derek Taverner, Alan Braden, Cyril Ornadel, Geoff Love