Opera Classics
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Special offer. Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia
Recommendedde Grandis, Ganassi, Romero, Servile, Vargas
Hungarian Radio Choir, Failoni Chamber Orchestra, Budapest, Willi Humburg
Not everyone will approve, but there are ways in which this super-budget set of Il barbiere diSiviglia puts to shame just about every other version of the opera there has been. Those it may... —
Awards:
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Building a Library, December 2001, Budget Choice
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Building a Library, February 2017, First Choice
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Special offer. Adams, J: I was looking at the ceiling and then I saw the sky
RecommendedJeannette Friedrich, Lilith Gardell, Darius De Haas, Jonas Holst, Martina Muhlpointner, Markus Alexander Neisser & Kimako Xavier Trotman
The Band of the Holst-Sinfonietta, Klaus Simon
John Adams's stylistic range is vast, yet even in such a diverse output, I Was Looking at the Ceilingand Then I Saw the Sky (1995) stands apart. Conceived, in the composer's words, as 'a Broadwaystyle... —
Awards:
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Special offer. Rossini: Il Signor Bruschino
Alessandro Codeluppi, Maurizio Leoni, Elena Rossi, Dario Giorgelè, Antonio Marani, Clara Giangaspero, Massimiliano Barbolini, Vito Martino
I Virtuosi Italiani, Claudio Desderi
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Special offer. Vivaldi: Griselda, RV718
Giles Tomkins, Marion Newmann, Carla Huhtanen, Lynne McMurtry, Jason Nedecky & Colin Ainsworth
Opera in Concert & Aradia Ensemble, Kevin Mallon
Mallon directs with an assured stylistic sense. Marion Newman in the title role and Colin Ainsworth's Ottone, rejected lover of Griselda, who steal the show. —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, May 2008, Opera Choice
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Special offer. Rossini: La Cenerentola
RecommendedJoyce DiDonato (Cenerentola), Jose Manuel Zapata (Don Ramiro), Paolo Bordogna (Dandini), Bruno Pratico (Don Magnifico), Patrizia Cigna (Clorinda), Martina Borst (Tisbe), Luca Pisaroni (Alidoro)
Prague Chamber Choir & SWR Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern, Alberto Zedda
Alberto Zedda leads with plenty of sparkle and rhythmic verve. —
Awards:
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Building a Library, December 2012, First choice (CD)
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Special offer. Kalman: Die Csárdásfürstin
Yvonne Kenny, Michael Roider, Mojca Erdmann, Karl Michael Ebner, Marko Kathol, Heinz Holecek, Hellmuth Klumpp, Yvonne Kálmán
Slovak Philharmonic Choir and Radio Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge
The English title of Kálmán's most celebrated operetta is a misnomer. The heroine is a princess not of gypsies but (as the German title, DieCsárdásfürstin, indicates) of the csárdás; she's a... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2005, Editor's Choice
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Special offer. Mayr: L’amor coniugale
Cinzia Rizzone (soprano), Francescantonio Bille (tenor), Tatjana Charalgina (soprano), Dariusz Machej (bass), Giovanni Bellavia (bass-baritone) & Bradley Trammell (tenor)
Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra, Christopher Franklin
The recording, conducted by Christopher Franklin, is gorgeous, with exceptional singing from Cinzia Rizzone and Tatjana Charalgina as Zeliska and Floreska. —
Awards:
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Opera, May 2009, Recording of the Month
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Special offer. Britten: The Turn of the Screw
Philip Langridge (Prologue/Quint), Felicity Lott (Governess), Sam Pay (Miles), Eileen Hulse (Flora), Phyllis Cannan (Mrs Grose), Nadine Secunde (Miss Jessel)
Aldeburgh Festival Ensemble, Steuart Bedford
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Special offer. Rossini: Tancredi
Sumi Jo, Lucretia Lendi, Anna Maria di Micco, Stanford Olsen, Patrick Peire, Ewa Podles, Pietro Spagnoli
Collegium Instrumentale Brugense, Capella Brugensis, Alberto Zedda
Tancredi is a seminal work in the Rossini canon, mingling a new-found reach in the musical architecture with vocal and instrumental writing of rare wonderment and beauty. The singing is splendid... —
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Special offer. Britten: Albert Herring
Christopher Gillett (Albert), Josephine Barstow (Lady Billows), Gerald Finley (Sid), Ann Taylor (Nancy), Felicity Palmer (Florence Pike), Robert Lloyd (Budd), Peter Savidge (Mr Gedge), Della Jones (Mum), Susan Gritton (Miss Wordsworth), Stuart Kale (Mr Upfold)
Northern Sinfonia, Steuart Bedford
Vivid as Hickox's traversal of the score for Chandos may be, Bedford's is just that much more alert, crisper. With his long experience of Britten in the theatre, dating back to Death in Venice... —
