Opera
Reviews of full operas as well as collections and recitals of arias
Bellini: Norma (Divina Records)
Simply one of the greatest ‘bel canto’ performances on record [MBu]
Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel
A survey by Lee Denham
Erlanger: La sorcière (B Records)
A tremendous performance of an unexpectedly compelling French rarity [PSt]
Handel: Fernando, Re di Castiglia (Erato)
(Déjà Review) A delightful score, fortunate here in being both sensitively and expressively performed [IB]
Verdi: Don Carlo (Orfeo)
The best live Italian version in the best sound available [RMo]
Donizetti: Pia de’ Tolomei (Dynamic)
The whole production is effective both visually and dramatically [RJF]
Wagner: Tannhäuser (Warner Classics)
After 64 years this recording remains a major contender despite a couple of flaws in the casting [MP]
Ponchielli: La Gioconda (Pristine Audio)
Pristine’s fine new transfer gives a boost to Maria Callas’ first recording of La Gioconda with impressive results [MP]
Verdi: Il trovatore (Pristine Audio)
An obligatory buy for lovers of Il trovatore, never mind how many modern recordings you have [GF]
Rameau: Les Boréades (Erato)
This splendid production might convert newcomers to the delights of French baroque [SB]
Maria – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Warner Classics)
Callas’ voice restored for a film score; if you love her voice, maybe this is one for you [KT]
Puccini: Turandot (Pristine Audio)
Birgit Nilsson’s first Turandot now remastered on Pristine Audio brings the recording back into the field of comparison [PCG]
Tippett: The Midsummer Marriage (London Philharmonic Orchestra)
Step into a magical forest and the transcendent realm of Tippett’s Midsummer Marriage [PH]
Bellini: Norma (Pristine Audio)
Pristine’s remastering into Ambient Stereo both enhances the beauty of Callas’ Norma and amplifies that which is less admirable here [RMo]
Puccini: La Bohème (Decca)
A classic recording in a splendid remastering [JQ]
Mussorgsky: Sorochintsï Fair & Salammbô Suite (Naxos)
A completely convincing account of a rarely performed opera in a new orchestration for chamber orchestra [MP]
Raff: Die Eifersüchtigen (Naxos)
A delightful and musically substantial premier recording [MP]
Recordings of fifteen lesser-known Massenet operas
A survey by Ralph Moore
Offenbach: La vie parisienne (Bru Zane)
An admirable effort to reconstruct the original version of a once popular work which veers between the highly entertaining and the banal [RMo]
Puccini: Turandot (Pristine Audio)
A most worthwhile remastering of this classic Turandot, with sonic improvements throughout [EJW]
Monteverdi: L’Orfeo (Château de Versailles)
L’Orfeo with a difference, especially in instrumental colour and dramatic projection [RWe]
Aleksandra Kurzak (soprano): Falcon (Aparté)
Aleksandra Kurzak is in striking form with an album of arias sung by legendary French soprano Cornélie Falcon [MC]
Raff: Samson (Schweizer Fonogramm)
An operatic discovery which delivers a musical and dramatic feast despite some deeply flawed vocal performances [MP]
Rameau: The Sound of Light (Sony Classical)
Put aside preconceptions of “authenticity” and enjoy this for what it is – a celebration of some of Rameau’s most appealing music [RMo]
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