FEATURED

The art of Galliano Masini

1. Lucia di Lammermoor – Fra poco a me ricovero
2. Manon Lescaut – Donna non vidi mai 
3. La Bohème – Che gelida manina
4. Madama Butterfly – Addio fiorito asil
5. L'Arlesiana – È la solita storia del pastore
6. Lodoletta – Se Franz dicesse il vero 
7. La forza del destino – La vita è inferno all'infelice
8. Aida – Celeste Aida
9. La Gioconda – Cielo e mar
10. Cavalleria Rusticana – Mamma quel vino
11. Andrea Chenier – Un dì all'azzurro
12. Andrea Chenier – Sì fui soldato
13. Andrea Chenier – Come un bel dì di maggio
14. Adriana Lecouvreur – La dolcissima effigie
15. Adriana Lecouvreur – L'anima ho stanca 
16. Manon Lescaut – Ah Manon
17. Tosca – Recondita armonia
18. Tosca – E lucerna le stelle
19. Turandot – Non piangere Liù 
20. Fedora – Amor ti vieta
21. Fedora – Mia madre, la mia vecchia madre
22. Fedora – La fante mi svela 

 

CARMEN, CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA, LA FORZA DEL DESTINO, OTELLO, DER FREISCHUTZ, LA GIOCONDA, LA BOHèME, MANON LESCAUT, DON CARLOS, TOSCA... - Meta Seinemeyer

LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, DIE FLIEDERMAUS, DON GIOVANNI, GLI UGONOTTI, LA BOHèME, UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, LA BOHèME, MADAMA BUTTERFLY, MANON... - Lotte Schoene

Hans Pfitzner dirige Beethoven
Sinfonia n. 1 Do maggiore op. 21 Berliner Philharmoniker 
Sinfonia n. 4 Si bemolle maggiore op. 60 Orchester der Städtischen Oper Berlin 

Hans Pfitzner, direttore
Registrazioni del 1928 

GUSTAV MAHLER – LIEDER UND GESÄNGE AUS DER JUGENDZEIT & LIEDER EINES FAHRENDEN GESELLEN

Janet Baker, mezzo soprano
Geoffrey Parsons, piano

 

1. Hans und Grete (Drei frühe Lieder)
2. Winterlied (Drei frühe Lieder)
3. Im Lenz (Drei frühe Lieder)
4. Serenade aus Don Juan (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
5. Frühlingsmorgen (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
6. Ich ging mit Lust durch einen grünen Wald (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
7. Starke Einbildungskraft (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
8. Erinnerung (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
9. Selbstgefühl (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
10. Nicht wiedersehen (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
11. Um schlimme Kinder artig zu machen (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
12. Aus! Aus! (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
13. Zu Strassburg auf der Schanz (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
14. Scheiden und Meiden (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
15. Phantasie aus Don Juan (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
16. Ablösung im Sommer (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit)
17. Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen)
18. Ging heut' morgen über's Feld (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen)
19. Ich hab' ein glühend Messer (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen)
20. Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen)

Download full libretto

ALFRED DELLER – THE COUNTER TENOR LEGACY

Traditional Songs

The Three Ravens • The Cuckoo • Barbara Allen • Hey, Ho, the Wind and the Rain • I will give my love an apple • The Oak and the ash • King Henry • Greensleeves • Sumer is icumen in

English madrigals and airs, European vocal music

Morley: Now is the month of maying • Byrd: Come, pretty babe • Wilbye: Thus Saith My Cloris Bright • Weelkes: To shorten winter's sadness • Parsons: Pandolpho • Morley: In Dew of Roses • Handel: Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, HWV74 • Lasso: Matona mia cara • Monteverdi: Lamento d'Arianna 'Lasciatemi morire' • Passereau: Il est bel et bon • Saracini: Da Te Parto • Despres: La Déploration de Johannes Ockeghem • Schütz: Erhöre mich, wenn ich rufe, SWV 289 

Vocal Music of Purcell

Music for a while, Z583 • I attempt from love's sickness to fly in vain (from The Indian Queen) • Sound the trumpet (from Come Ye Sons of Art, Z323) • One charming night (from The Fairy Queen, Z629) • Mystery’s Song (from The Fairy Queen, Z629) • Fairest Isle (from King Arthur) • If music be the food of love, Z379

Alfred Deller, Desmond Dupré, Walter Bergman, Gustav Leonhardt 
The Deller Consort, Oriana Concert Choir and Orchestra, Ensemble of Baroque Instruments, Leonhardt Baroque Ensemble

Beethoven - Spring & Kreutzer Sonatas • Various Historical Recordings

• Violin Sonata no. 5 "Spring" – Kreisler & Rupp (1936) • Goldberg & Kraus (1936) • Milstein & Balsam (1950)

• Violin Sonata no. 9 "Kreutzer" – Kreisler & Rupp (1936) • Kulenkampff & Kempff (1935) • Szigeti & Bartók (1940) • Busch & Serkin (1941)

From the archives of Japanese Television (NHK) comes this magnificent document of tenor Mario Del Monaco and soprano Renata Tebaldi in a live 1961 performance of Giordano's verismo classic. The supporting cast includes baritone Aldo Protti, and the performance is conducted by Franco Capuana. 

GIORDANO - ANDREA CHÉNIER

Tokyo 1961

Andrea Chénier - Mario Del Monaco
Carlo Gérard - Aldo Protti
Madeleine di Coigny - Renata Tebaldi
La mulatta Bersi - Anna Di Stasio
La Contessa di Coigny - Amalia Pini
Madelon - Amalia Pini
Roucher - Silvano Pagliuca

NHK Symphony Orchestra, NHK Italian Opera Chorus - Fujiwara Opera Chorus - Tokyo Choraliers

Franco Capuana

Optional subtitles in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Black & White, mono, 132 minutes.

Donizetti - La Fille Du Regiment (The Daughter Of The Regiment) Sung In English

Marie - Beverly Sills
Tonio - William McDonald
Sulplice - Spiro Malas
La Maquise - Muriel Costa-Greenspon
Hortensius - Stanley Wexler
Caporale - Raeder Anderson
La Duchesse - Evelyn Freyman

Wolf Trap Festival 

Charles Wendelken Wilson

118 minutes, color

***

"At the center, of course, is Miss Sills, in supremely confident form, vocally and histrionically... (Her) zest and vivacity prove infectious with the other performers and the entire audience." (New York Times)

"In a brief interview, Sills describes Daughter of the Regiment as “a silly little story, one long episode of Lucille Ball. I play [Marie] as Lucille Ball with high notes.” That may tell you what to expect here. Except for one or two unavoidably poignant moments, the opera is milked for laughs. The characters ham it up shamelessly the acting is often cartoonish–an effect emphasized by the flat, painted sets and the colorful costumes. Sourpuss that I am, I would prefer the comedy to be less broad; but maybe it didn’t seem so overdone in the theater. The characters’ heavy makeup and exaggerated facial expressions need also to be seen at a greater distance.

The performance is in English, a great advantage in the spoken dialog, but the level of clarity is remarkable even in the sung passages. The supporting players act well, especially Costa-Greenspon, who has the vocal strength to back up her more frenzied effusions. Malas made something of a specialty of Sulpice (he recorded it for Decca with Sutherland and Pavarotti and sang a couple of performances at the Met), and he moves comfortably on stage. McDonald is a stiffer actor, though amiable enough. His voice is bright and keenly focussed, with the timbre we associate with the typical Irish tenor. He sings his high Cs without breaking a sweat, articulating the words cleanly even in the stratosphere. He lacks something in tonal variety and strength, sounding too feeble in the final scene when the regiment rushes in to rescue Mane.

The heroine herself is sometimes fluttery and pallid, but the trills are wonderful, the coloratura is dazzling, the high notes are in place, and the acting is enthusiastic. I can imagine better orchestral playing and more dynamic conducting, but you won’t notice all that much: it’s the singers’ show, and everyone is having a great time.

The sound is not perfect. The voices are recorded at too low a level; when you boost the volume to bring them closer, the thumping stage noises become deafening. No subtitles–you probably won’t miss them." (Ralph V. Lucano, American Record Guide)

BELLINI - I Puritani • Basile

Teatro Verdi, Trieste 1966

Lord Gualtiero Valton - Silvio Maionica
Elvira - Gianna d'Angelo
Sir Giorgio - Agostino Ferrin
Lord Arturo Talbo - Luciano Saldari
Sir Riccardo Forth - Dino Dondi
Sir Bruno Roberton - Giuseppe Botta
Enrichetta di Francia - Maja Zingerle

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Verdi di Trieste
Arturo Basile
+ BONUS: Rarità Belliniane - Danilo Formaggia, tenore/Vincenzo Scalera, pianoforte

Bianco e nero/Black & white, 140 minuti; sottotitoli/subtitles: Italian, French/Francese, English/Inglese, Japanese/Giapponese

GOUNOD - FAUST 

Teatro Regio di Parma, 1987

Faust - Alfredo Kraus
Marguerite - Anna Maria Gonzales
Mefistofele - Nicola Ghiuselev
Valentino - Roberto Coviello
Wagner - Tito Tortura
Siebel - Ambra Vespasiani
Marta - Wilma Colla

Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia Romagna "Arturo Toscanini", Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma

Alain Guingal

Registrazione del febbraio 1987

Audio PCM Mono, Dolby Digital - Sottotitoli: Italiano, inglese, francese

1 DVD NTSC  180'

VERDI - La Forza Del Destino • Molinari-Pradelli

Teatro di San Carlo, Napoli 1958

Leonora- Renata Tebaldi
Don Alvaro - Franco Corelli
Don Carlo - Ettore Bastianini
Padre Guardiano - Boris Christoff
Preziosilla - Oralia Dominguez
Fra Melitone - Renato Capecchi

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro di San Carlo
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli

Bianco e nero/black & white, 160 minuti
Sottotitoli/subtitles: Inglese/English, Francese/French

VERDI - Rigoletto • Kraus

Parma 1987

Rigoletto - Leo Nucci
Duca di Mantova - Alfredo Kraus
Gilda - Luciana Serra
Sparafucile - Michele Pertusi
Maddalena - Ambra Vespasiani
Monterone - Angelo Nosotti

Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia Romagna "Arturo Toscanini", Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma
Angelo Campori

Colore, 136 minuti, sottotitoli/subtitles: inglese/English