Mid-Price Opera
Opera has always been an important part of the EMI and Virgin Classics catalogues. The company's collaborations with the greatest singers and conductors of the day have over the years produced some of the finest recordings of all time and an important legacy for future generations.
In 2006 they launched a new mid-price opera series with 20 superb releases. The majority of them appear at mid-price for the first time, and include a number of award-winning recordings. An attractive and distinctive feature is the specially commissioned cover artwork by the well-known London-based illustrator Sarah McMenemy.
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Prokofiev: The Love for Three Oranges
RecommendedBacquier, Viala, Gautier, Dubosc & Bastin
Choeurs et Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Lyon, Kent Nagano
The only problem with Nagano's effervescent Three Oranges is that it's available with almost the same ensemble cast on an even more enjoyable DVD version. — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 1990, Recording of the Year
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Gramophone Awards, 1990, Winner - Opera
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Massenet: Manon
RecommendedAngela Gheorghiu (Manon), Roberto Alagna (Le Chevalier Des Grieux), Earle Patriarco (Lescaut), José van Dam (Le Compte des Grieux), Sophie Koch (Javotte), Anne Maria Panzarella (Poussette), Susanne Schimmack (Rosette), Nicolas Rivenq (De Brétigny), Nicolas Cavallier (L'Hôtelier), Gilles Ragon (Guillot...
In Act 1 Gheorghiu instantly establishes the heroine as a vivacious, wilful character with a great sense of fun and her singing is both imaginative and technically flawless...while Alagna, always... — More…
Awards:
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Building a Library, December 2000, First Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2001, Winner - Opera
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Verdi: Otello
RecommendedPlacido Domingo (Otello), Katia Ricciarelli (Desdemona), Justino Diaz (Iago), Ezio Di Cesare (Cassio), Constantin Zaharia (Rodrigo), John Macurdy (Lodovico), Edward Toumajian (Montano), Petra Malakova (Emilia)
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Lorin Maazel
another fine performance from Domingo and generally taut subtle control from Maazel, particularly good in the spacious, tenderly emotional treatment of the final scene — More…
Awards:
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites
RecommendedJose Van Dam (Le Marquis de la Force), Catherine Dubosc (Blanche de la Force), Jean-Luc Viala (Le Chevalier de la Force), Rita Gorr (La Prieure du Carmel), Rachel Yakar (La Nouvelle Prieure), Martine Dupuy (Mere Marie), Brigitte Fournier (Constance), Michel Senechal (L'Aumonier), Francois Le Roux...
It's… good to welcome back EMI's reissue of the 1992 Virgin Classic's Dialogues… superbly cast. Catherine Dubosc is Blanche par excellence, Rita Gorr graduates from Mere Marie in 1958 to the... — More…
Awards:
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Building a Library, February 2006, First Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 1993, Winner - Opera
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Rossini: Il Turco in Italia
RecommendedMaria Callas (Donna Fiorilla), Nicolai Gedda (Don Narciso), Nicola Rossi-Lemeni (Selim), Jolanda Gardino (Zaida), Franco Calabrese (Don Geronio), Mariano Stabile (Il poeta Prosdocimo), Piero De Palma (Albazar)
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Callas and Rossi-Lemeni head a superb ensemble in this classic recorded premiere, noticeably cut but well remastered for its age. — More…
Awards:
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Chabrier: L'Étoile
RecommendedColette Alliot-Lugaz, Georges Gautier, Gabriel Bacquier, Ghyslaine Raphanel, Magali Damonte, François le Roux & Antoine David
Choeurs et Orchestre de l'Opéra de Lyon, John Eliot Gardiner
A vintage champagne of an opera served up with all the passion of a master sommelier. Gardner the Francophile conducts with real zest. A splendid memento of his work in Lyon and the wonderful... — More…
Awards:
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Puccini: La Bohème
Roberto Alagna, Leontina Vaduva, Ruth Ann Swenson, Thomas Hampson, Simon Keenlyside & Samuel Ramey
London Voices, London Oratory Junior Choir & Philharmonia Orchestra, Antonio Pappano
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Smetana: The Bartered Bride
RecommendedMarcel Cordes, Nada Puttar, Pilar Lorengar, Gottlob Frick & Fritz Wunderlich
Bamberger Symphoniker & RIAS-Kammerchor, Rudolf Kempe
Awards:
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Building a Library, May 2023, German Version
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Gounod: Roméo et Juliette
Roberto Alagna, Angela Gheorghiu, José van Dam, Simon Keenlyside, Marie-Ange Todorovitch & Alain Fondary
Choeur et Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson
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Mozart: Don Giovanni, K527
RecommendedThomas Allen (Don Giovanni), Carol Vaness (Donna Anna), Maria Ewing (Donna Elvira), Elizabeth Gale (Zerlina), Keith Lewis (Don Ottavio), Richard van Allan (Leporello), John Rawnsley (Masetto), Dimitri Kavrakos (Il Commendatore)
Glyndebourne Chorus & London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard...
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 1985, Winner - Opera
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