Opera
Reviews of full operas as well as collections and recitals of arias
Corfield Godfrey: Blithe Spirit (Prima Facie)
A fascinating and entertaining black comedy bordering on surrealism; maybe not for listeners with weak hearts [GF]
Puccini: Turandot (Pristine Audio)
A thrilling – though not flawless – performance enhanced by Pristine’s remastering [RMo]
Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame (RCA)
A fine testament to five great singers at the top of their game in this beautifully engineered live recording [MP]
Puccini: Love Affairs (Sony Classical)
Not a great recital disc, but of enough quality and interest to make it worth considering [PSt]
Rihm: Jakob Lenz (Oehms Classics)
A good performance of an uningratiating work [SB]
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]
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Featured Naxos review |
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