Opera
Reviews of full operas as well as collections and recitals of arias
Mozart: Zaide (Orfeo)
A very good cast in a version with more linking dialogue than on other recordings [MP]
Janáček: Káťa Kabanová (Decca)
An incandescent central performance heads an excellent ensemble cast under Mackerras’ renowned leadership [MP]
Ponchielli: La Gioconda (Pristine Audio)
No one who loves this opera can afford to be without this recording for Callas’ unique insight into the title role [GF]
Rossini: L’italiana in Algeri (Decca)
A pleasing but hardly essential recording of Rossini’s opera, noteworthy for being the first recorded in stereo [MP]
Britten: Albert Herring (Decca)
A touchstone recording which is hard to beat for its general excellence and superbly detailed sound [MP]
Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music (Albion Records)
This important historical document must be judged on its own terms [JF]
Gloire immortelle! Grandes oeuvres patriotiques (Château de Versailles)
A pleasant romp through the realm of French patriotic music and beyond [MP]
Ponchielli: La Gioconda (Decca)
Perhaps not the finest La Gioconda recording but a deeply satisfying one nonetheless [MP]
Rossini: La donna del lago (C Major)
Rossini standards held high in a new production of The Lady of the Lake [PCG]
Purcell: The Fairy Queen (Harmonia Mundi)
This 35-year-old recording is still a worthy competitor in a crowded field and the sound comes up as fresh as new paint [GF]
Strauss: Die Ägyptische Helena (Decca)
Not ideal in every respect, this recording is a fine achievement nonetheless [MP]
Puccini: Symphonic Suites (Signum Classics)
Newly edited Puccini operatic suites receive glowing performances [PCG]
Verdi: Macbeth (Decca)
A recording of power and presence, but with some really disfiguring cuts to the music [MP]
Cherubini: Medea (Pristine Audio)
Callas’ stereo studio Medea gets the Pristine XR treatment [PT]
Daniel Behle (tenor) R Strauss & Wagner (Prospero)
An important album. One which may surprise those who admire this tenor’s Mozart recordings [MP]
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (Pristine Audio)
On balance, still the best of Callas’ recordings of Lucia di Lammermoor [RMo]
Bizet: Carmen (Warner Classics)
The most authentically French recording of Carmen from the stereo era [MP]
Donizetti: La fille du régiment (Decca)
Sign me up for this regiment: this recording is as good as it gets [MP]
Lully: Atys (Château de Versailles)
This will bring much pleasure to lovers of French Baroque [SG]
Paderewski: Manru (cpo)
A most welcome recording of a neglected opera [EJW]
Diana Damrau (soprano): Operette (Erato)
An interesting and unhackneyed programme of operetta arias, with a soprano who possibly divides opinion [PT]
R Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (Deutsche Grammophon)
(Déjà Review) A reminder of all the strengths of this cruelly-underrated conductor/composer. Certainly, this is a major addition to the Strauss discography [CC]
Gershwin: Porgy and Bess (Decca)
This remains a powerful experience 49 years after its initial release [MP]
Sir Adrian Boult (conductor) Berg, Stravinsky & Vaughan Williams (SOMM Recordings)
A significant addition to the Boult discography [SG]
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Featured Naxos review |
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