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
Nicolai Gedda (tenor, vocals), Erika Köth (soprano), Anneliese Rothenberger (soprano), Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano), Rudolf Schock (tenor), Lucia Popp (soprano), Renate Holm (soprano), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (bass-baritone), Brigitte Fassbaender (mezzo-soprano), Walter Berry (bass-baritone, bass), Jürgen Förster (tenor), Adolf Dallapozza (tenor, Senta Wengraf (mezzo-soprano, Manfred Schmidt (tenor), Helga Hildebrand (vocals), Gustav Neidlinger (bass), Hermann Prey (baritone, bass-baritone), Streichergruppe Hans Georg Arlt (vocal ensemble), René Kollo (tenor), Gisela Litz (vocals, mezzo-soprano), Hans Günter Grimm (bass-baritone), Marjorie Heistermann (vocals), Cesare Curzi (vocals), Christian Oppelberg (bass-baritone), Rita Streich (soprano), Christine Görner (soprano), Karl Kreile (vocals), Franz Gerstacker (director), Fritz Wunderlich (vocals), Cynthia Glover (vocals), William McAlpine (tenor), Rita Williams Singers (vocals, vocal ensemble), Eric Wilson Hyde (vocals), Leslie Fyson (vocals), Charles Young (vocals), Howell Glynne (bass), June Bronhill (soprano, Peter Glossop (bass-baritone), Monica Sinclair (contralto), Patricia Kern (mezzo-soprano), Geoffrey Coleby (bass-baritone), Barbara Hendricks (soprano), James Hawthorne (vocals), Victoria de los Angeles (soprano), Sinfonia Of London, Rolando Villazón (tenor), Pedro Lavirgen (tenor), Estrella Alsina (soprano), Dolores Ripollés (vocals), Michel Dens (bass-baritone, baritone, Liliane Berton (soprano, Janine Micheau (soprano), Mady Mesplé (vocals, soprano), Jules Bastin (bass), José van Dam (baritone), Michèle Pena (vocals), Michèle Command (vocals), Jane Berbié (vocals), Régine Crespin (soprano), Jean Philippe Lafont (baritone), Leonard Pezzino (tenor), Jane Rhodes - Roberto Benzi - Orch De Bordeaux Aquitaine, Jane Rhodes (soprano, Charles Burles (tenor, John Aler (tenor), Nicole Carreras (vocals), Jessye Norman (soprano, Jean-Philippe Lafont (baritone), Colette Alliot-Lugaz (soprano), Gabriel Bacquier (baritone, José Carreras (tenor, Teresa Berganza (mezzo-soprano, Pierrette Delange (vocals), Michel Trempont (bass-baritone, Calvin Sieb (vocals), Wolff (vocals), Eliane Lublin (mezzo-soprano, Dominique Tirmont (baritone), Sári Barabás (soprano), Fritz Helfer (vocals), Klaus Hirte (bass-baritone), Heinz Zednik (tenor), Gabriele Fuchs (soprano), Hans Putz (bass-baritone), Karl Dönch (bass-baritone), Gerhard Unger (vocals), Wolfgang Anheisser (bass-baritone), Karl Doench (baritone), Karl H. Bennert (bass), Josef Schmidhuber (vocals), Max Mairich (vocals), Peter Brandt (vocals), Horst Sachtleben (vocals), Cornelius Eberhardt (director), Erich Kuchar (tenor), Kurt Böhme (bass), Willi Brokmeier (vocals), Biserka Cvejic (mezzo-soprano), Grace Bumbry (mezzo-soprano), James King (tenor), Margit Schramm (soprano), Michel Sénéchal (vocals), Bernard Sinclair (vocals), Jean-Christophe Benoit (baritone), Jean Doussard - Mady Mesple - Orchestre Du Théatre National De L'Opéra Comique - Christiane Stutzmann, Paris Opera-Comique Orchestra (vocals), Christian Stutzmann (vocals), Dame Felicity Lott (soprano), André Mallabrera (vocals), Segundo García (tenor), Coro Cantores de Madrid, Pablo Sorozabal (director), Mari Carmen Ramírez (mezzo-soprano), Pedro Farres (vocals), Richard Lewis (tenor), Owen Brannigan (bass), Peter Gellhorn (director), Geraint Evans (tenor), Stella Hitchens (soprano), Marjorie Thomas (contralto), Elsie Morison (soprano), Edna Graham (soprano), Helen Watts (contralto), James Milligan (bass-baritone), Lavinia Renton (soprano), John Cameron (baritone), Alexander Young (tenor), Eric Wilson-Hyde (vocals)
Symphonie Orchester Graunke Munchen, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, FFB-Orchester, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia Chorus, Wiener Symphoniker, Chor Der Wiener Staatsoper In Der Volksoper, Berliner Symphoniker, Ambrosian Singers, Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Symphonie-Orchester Graunke, RIAS-Tanzorchester, Jankowski Singers, Bayerisches Symphonie-Orchester, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Gilbert Vinter & His Orchestra, Michael Collins & His Orchestra, Nigel Brooks Chorus, The Lessa Gray Singers, Cyril Ornadel & His Theatre Orchestra, New World Show Orchestra, Ian Humphris, Linden Singers, Orquesta Conciertos de Madrid, 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, Orch Ste Conc Du Conservatoire, Choeur René Duclos, Orchestre du Théatre National de l'Opéra Comique, Choeur Opéra de Paris, Orch Sym De La Rtb, Choeur Théatre Royal De Monnaie, Choeur De La Rtb, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Choeur Capitole Toulouse, Orchestre Philharmonic De Monte Carlo, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Choeur du Capitole de Toulouse, Philharmonia Hungarica, Chor der Kölner Oper, Chor des Theaters am Gärtnerplatz, München, Orchester der Bayerischen Staatsoper 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, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Plácido Domingo, Frederico Moreno-Torroba, Yvon Leenart, 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, Geoff Love, Cyril Ornadel
