The World's Greatest Arias
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Brand: *Performer: Robert Merrill
Composer: Georges Bizet
Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Composer: Jacques Offenbach
Composer: Giacomo Puccini
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor: Anton Guadagno
Conductor: Colin Davis
Conductor: Erich Leinsdorf
Conductor: Fernando Previtali
Conductor: Georg Solti
Conductor: Luis A. Garcia-Navarro
Conductor: Nello Santi
Conductor: Renato Cellini
Conductor: Roberto Abbado
Performer: David Syrus
Performer: Shirley Verrett
Performer: Teresa Berganza
Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
Published: 2000
CD Release Date: 2000-09-26
Music Label: Bmg Special Product
Soundtracks:
- Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly), opera
- La bohème, opera: Mi chiamano Mimi
- L'elisir d'amore, opera: Act II: Una furtiva lagrima
- Les Pêcheurs de perles, opera in 3 acts: Au fond du temple saint
- Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), opera, K. 492: Dove sono
- Turandot, opera: Nessun dorma
- Rigoletto, opera: Gaultier Malde...Caro nome
- Carmen, opera: L'Amour est un oiseau rebelle (Habanera)
- La Traviata, opera: Libiamo, ne' lieti calici (Brindisi)
- Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act II: Barcarolle: Belle nuit
Music reviews of The World's Greatest Arias
Music Review: Want Some Great Opera Music Cheap?
Rating: 5 Stars
Psst... Wanna buy a good opera CD cheap? Get a load of this: Ten famous operatic arias and duets (about 45 minutes' worth) sung by world-renowned artists accompanied by fine orchestras and recorded in very good sound. A bargain at twice the price!
Well, I may not be much of a huckster, but the above paragraph does give a pretty fair description of this CD ("The World's Greatest Arias," BMG 7 55714 56602). And it's not counterfeit, either!
Whether it's a bargain for you depends. If you're a confirmed opera listener, you may find nothing here that you don't already have in your collection. But if you're a newcomer or only an occasional listener to opera, you may well find this little disk useful to have on hand when you're in the mood to hear some good operatic music. For youngsters just beginning to develop an interest in or a taste for opera, this disk may be a good start to their collection of recordings (assuming it can be transferred to their iPOD). For youthful singers this may provide a handy introduction to various vocal styles and techniques they may one day wish to cultivate.
Objectively, this is quite a good small collection of some of the best-known and best-loved opera pieces. Of course, your favorite aria(s) or singer(s) may somehow have escaped inclusion; that could happen in a collection even many times the size of this one. So look over the contents carefully (both arias and singers) if there's something you specially want.
Strictly speaking, an operatic aria is usually construed as a vocal solo. But, as this set of "arias" includes duets as well, we may complain about the title's accuracy. Still, the detailed listing of contents currently displayed by Amazon makes pretty clear what's present. And the 3 duets included (#4 - Au Fond du Temple Saint, #9 - Libiamo, and #10 - Belle Nuit) are veritable gems of the operatic repertory, very beautifully performed!
In putting this CD together BMG has made very good use of its vast trove of recordings spanning nearly a century of operatic performance (both on stage and in studio). None of the tracks is less than very good, and some are arguably the best to be found anywhere. There is plenty of variety, of singers, of musical styles, and of mood. Six tracks were recorded "before 1972," one dates from 1974, and three are from 1991-92. We may assume then that all but 3 tracks are remastered from analog sources. The sound is nevertheless quite good throughout, and none of the tracks was recorded by the primitive technologies of the 1920s or 1930s. (I would even venture that all, or very nearly all, were recorded after 1960 or so, in stereo.)
If you choose to buy this CD, be prepared to hear some stunningly beautiful singing. Ben Heppner's performance of Nessun Dorma is possibly the finest available anywhere, rivaling the late, great Luciano Pavarotti. The soprano/mezzo-soprano duet between Montserrat Caballé and Shirley Verrett in the barcarolle from Tales of Hoffman [Contes d'Hoffman] is ravishing. Teresa Berganza's Habanera from Carmen is lively, sultry, and sensuous, beautifully sung and accompanied, recorded live in digital sound and followed by well-earned, enthusiastic applause. Anna Moffo's delivery of Verdi's coloratura soprano aria Caro Nome from Rigoletto is sensational! Júlia Várady's Dove Sono i Bei Momenti [Where are the beautiful moments] from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro is remarkably fine in its classical purity.
And all this delicious stuff can be yours for an exceedingly modest price here at Amazon, even well under $4.00 including shipping. (If you need to buy a Christmas gift for an opera- or classical music-loving friend and are on a tight budget, this may be just the thing!)
I recommend this CD to lovers of opera, to lovers of brilliant singing, to those curious to learn a little about opera music; in short, to anyone open to the experience of hearing exceptionally gifted singers performing great works of musical drama. Thanks, BMG!
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