Browse: Opera Sets (series)
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Strauss, R: Die Frau ohne Schatten RecommendedHildegard Behrens (Die Färberin), Julia Varady (Die Kaiserin), Plácido Domingo (Der Kaiser), José van Dam (Barak), Reinhild Runkel (Die Amme), Sumi Jo (Stimme des Falken)
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Georg Solti
This was the most ambitious project on which Strauss and his librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal collaborated. It's both fairy tale and allegory with a score that's Wagnerian in its scale and breadth.... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 1992, Winner - Opera
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Presto Greatest Recordings of the 1980s
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Grammy Awards, 35th Awards (1992), Best Engineered Album, Classical
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Grammy Awards, 35th Awards (1992), Best Opera Recording
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Dvořák: Rusalka, Op. 114 RecommendedRenée Fleming (Rusalka), Ben Heppner (Prince), Dolora Zajick (Jezibaba), Eva Urbanová (Foreign Princess), Franz Hawalta (Water Goblin)
Kühn Mixed Choir, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Mackerras
Renée Fleming's tender and heartwarming account of Rusalka's Invocation to the Moon reflects the fact that the role of the lovelorn water nymph, taken by her in a highly successful production... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 1999, Recording of the Year
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Puccini: Turandot RecommendedJoan Sutherland (Turandot), Luciano Pavarotti (Calaf), Montserrat Caballé (Liù), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Timur), Tom Krause (Ping), Pier Francesco Poli (Pang), Piero De Palma (Pong), Peter Pears (L'imperatore Altoum), Sabin Markov (Un mandarino)
John Alldis Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin...
Turandot is a psychologically complex work fusing appalling sadism with self-sacrificing devotion.
The icy Princess of China has agreed to marry any man of royal blood who can solve three riddles... — More…Awards:
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Building a Library, July 2012, First Choice
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Presto Greatest Recordings of the 1970s
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Puccini: La Bohème RecommendedMirella Freni (Mimi), Luciano Pavarotti (Rodolfo), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Colline), Elizabeth Harwood (Musetta), Rolando Panerai (Marcello), Gianni Maffeo (Schaunard), Michel Sénéchal (Alcindoro/Benoit), Gernot Pietsch (Parpignol)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Pavarotti's Rodolfo is perhaps the best thing he has ever done: not only the finest recorded account of the role since Björling's on the Beecham set, but adding the honeyed Italianate warmth... — More…
Awards:
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Presto Greatest Recordings of the 1970s
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Janáček: From the House of the Dead RecommendedJiri Zahradnicek, Ivo Zidek, Dalibor Jedlicka
Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Mackerras
From the House of the Dead (the 1980 Gramophone Record of the Year) was here recorded for the first time in its proper, original version; and this revealed it as even more of a masterpiece –... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 1980, Record of the Year
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Grammy Awards, 24th Awards (1981), Best Opera Recording
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Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann RecommendedJoan Sutherland (Antonia/Stella/Giulietta/Olympia), Plácido Domingo (Hoffmann), Gabriel Bacquier (Coppélius/Dapertutto/Lindorf/Miracle), Huguette Tourangeau (Nicklausse), Hugues Cuénod (Franz)
Suisse Romande Choir & Orchestra, Richard Bonynge
This is a wonderfully refreshing set. The story emerges crystal-clear, even the black ending to the Giulietta scene in Venice, which in Bonynge's text restores the original idea of the heroine... — More…
Awards:
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Presto Favourites, Recommended Recording
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Handel: Rinaldo RecommendedCecilia Bartoli (Almirena), David Daniels (Rinaldo), Bernarda Fink (Goffredo), Gerald Finley (Argante), Luba Orgonasova (Armida), Daniel Taylor (Eustazio), Bejun Mehta (A Christian Magician)
Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood
most familiar and unfamiliar opera: familiar because, as his lavish first stage work for London, it has been much written about both by modern historians and by the composer's contemporaries;... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2001, Winner - Editor's Choice
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Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor RecommendedJoan Sutherland (Lucia), Luciano Pavarotti (Edgardo), Sherrill Milnes (Enrico), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Raimondo)
Chorus & Orchestra of Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Richard Bonynge
As Callas's star waned so Joan Sutherland's rose. Her Lucia is different, moving the heart through beauty of tone. Sutherland recorded the role four times - the first two have vocal freshness... — More…
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 18th November 2010
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Presto Favourites
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Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24
RecommendedNicolai Gedda, Jules Bastin, Josephine Veasey, Richard Van Allan, Gillian Knight
Ambrosian Singers, London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Colin Davis
Awards:
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Grammy Awards, 17th Awards (1974), Best Choral Performance
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Building a Library, February 2018, Also Recommended
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Rossini: Il Turco in Italia RecommendedCecilia Bartoli (Fiorilla), Ramon Vargas (Narciso), Michele Pertusi (Selim), Laura Polverelli (Zaida), Alessandro Corbelli (Don Geronio), Roberto De Candia (Prosdocimo), Francesco Piccoli (Albazar)
La Scala Milan Chorus & Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly
Chailly has recorded the work before, but in the years since he's matured as a Rossini conductor, and the Scala orchestra has this music under its fingers; there's an energy and vitality to this... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 1998, Winner - Opera
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