Classics for Pleasure
The nation's favourite budget CD label.
Launched in 1970, Classics for Pleasure soon became the biggest-selling and best-loved UK classical budget label.
The CFP mantra was always the same - make top quality recordings of the most popular classical music, played by the best British artists and orchestras...and then sell them at a price that makes them accessible to all.
Classics for Pleasure soon became the first port of call for newcomers to classical music who appreciated the quality and affordability of the recordings and the new musical world that opened out before them. Indeed, an amazing number of music lovers say their first-ever classical LP was a Classics for Pleasure one!
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Bizet: Les Pêcheurs de Perles
Ileana Cotrubas (Leïla), Alain Vanzo (Nadir), Guillermo Sarabia (Zurga) & Roger Soyer (Nourabad)
Georges Prêtre
Bizet's score was posthumously mucked around with, and this 1977 recording was the first reliable edition. Fine singing from Cotrubas and Nadir. — More…
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A taster of the complete Ring that EMI made under Haitink in the early 1990s. Stupendous recording, uneven singing, and sedate conducting provide only mild encouragement to hear more. — More…
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Verdi: Il Trovatore (highlights)
Franco Corelli (tenor), Gabriella Tucci (soprano), Giulietta Simionato (mezzo-soprano), Robert Merrill (baritone), Luciana Moneta (mezzo-soprano), Ferruccio Mazzoli (bass), Angelo Mercuriali (tenor) & Mario Rinaudo (bass)
Rome Opera House Chorus & Orchestra, Thomas Schippers
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Puccini: Turandot (highlights)
Montserrat Caballé (soprano), José Carreras (tenor), Mirella Freni (soprano), Paul Plishka (bass), Vincente Sardinero (baritone), Remy Corazza (tenor), Riccardo Cassinelli (tenor) & Michel Senechal (tenor)
Strasbourg Cathedral Boys’ Choir, Rhine Opera Chorus & Strasbourg Philharmonic...
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Verdi: Rigoletto
Nicolai Gedda (Il Duca), Cornell MacNeil (Rigoletto), Reri Grist (Gilda), Agostino Ferrin (Sparafucile), Anna di Stasio (Maddalena), Limbania Leoni (Giovanna), Ruggero Raimondi (Monterone), Benito di Bella (Marullo), Franco Ricciardi (Borsa), Alfredo Giacomotti (Conte di Ceprano), Mirella Fiorentini...
A solid and dependable version of Verdi's classic, decently conducted and with Gedda providing a likeable Duke. Grist's Gilda is neatly done but MacNeils's jester is rough and ready. — More…
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Puccini: La Bohème
Renata Scotto (Mimì), Alfredo Kraus (Rodolfo), Sherrill Milnes (Marcello) & Carol Neblett (Musetta)
James Levine
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Sullivan, A: The Mikado: extracts, etc.
William Dickie, Edward Darling, David Croft, John Gower, Elizabeth Harwood
Westminster Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Faris, Kenneth Alwyn
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Bizet: Carmen
Grace Bumbry (Carmen), Jon Vickers (Don José), Mirella Freni (Micaëla) & Kostas Paskalis (Escamillo)
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
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