ARAIA / CALDARA / GRAUN / PORPORA / etc.
Sacrificium - The Art of the Castrati Cecilia Bartoli (soprano) / Il Giardino Armonico / Giovanni Antonini [ Decca Music Group DVD / DVD - released 15/Mar/2010 ] Cecilia Bartoli sings virtuoso arias from her Sacrificium album, on location in and around the spectacular baroque palace of Caserta in Southern Italy. |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL / ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI / ANTONIO CALDARA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Cecilia Bartoli - Opera Proibita Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano) / Les Musiciens du Louvre / Marc Minkowski [ Decca Records / CD - released 20/Sep/2005 ] "A touch of the Fellinis as a scorching Bartoli meets the banned" RECORDING OF THE MONTH GRAMOPHONE Nov 2005 |
VINCENZO BELLINI / GIOACHINO ROSSINI / GAETANO DONIZETTI
Cecilia Bartoli - An Italian Songbook Cecilia Bartoli (soprano) with James Levine (piano) [ Decca Originals / CD - released 15/Feb/2009 ] In 2007/08, Bartoli devoted her time to studying and recording the early 19th-century repertoire - the era of Italian Romanticism and bel canto - and especially the legendary singer Maria Malibran. |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Don Pasquale (complete opera recorded in 2006) BLU-RAY Zurich Opera / Juan Diego Florez, Isabel Rey, Ruggero Raimondi, Oliver Widmer / Nello Santi (cond) [ Decca Music Group Limited Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 12/Mar/2009 ] Decca presents Florez in one of his most famous stage roles with this performance of Donizetti's irresistible comedy from Zurich Opera House. This is the first recording, both audio and visual, of Flórez singing the role of Ernesto. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Into the Light The Sixteen (Featuring Kaori Muraji, guitar) / Harry Christophers [ Decca / CD - released 18/Feb/2007 ] The beautiful blend of Britain's best-loved choir and a chart-topping Japanese guitarist...Marrying centuries of great European choral tradition with the sublime sonorities and simplicity of the classical guitar. |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Tosca (complete opera recorded in 2009) Zurich Opera / Jonas Kaufmann, Thomas Hampson, Emily Magee / Paolo Carignani (cond) [ Decca DVD / DVD - released 10/Jun/2011 ] "Jonas Kaufmann is so eloquent that the deficiencies flying around him on stage vanish as soon as he opens his mouth...A modest word of praise, too, for Giuseppe Scorsin as the Sacristan" (Times) |
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PERGOLESI
Pergolesi: Stabat Mater / Nel chiuso centro - chamber cantata / etc [standard edition] Anna Netrebko (soprano) & Marianna Pizzolato (contralto) / Orchestra dell' Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 1/May/2011 ] ".the singers blend perfectly, and time and again the attention is caught by the quality of the playing. It is a most distinguished issue." (Gramophone Editor's Choice April 2011) |
JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU / MARC-ANTONIE CHARPENTIER / MICHEL LAMBERT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Anne Sofie von Otter - Ombre de Mon Amant: French Baroque Arias Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo) / Chœur et orchestre Les Arts florissants, William Christie [ Deutsche Grammophon Archiv / CD - released 25/Jan/2010 ] "Von Otter sounds utterly wretched in Medea's lament for her lost love; then she intensifies her tone as she summons up demons and monsters...[she] conveys Phaedra's various emotions with consummate ease." Gramophone Awards 2010 Finalist - Recital |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schubert: Songs (Songs orchestrated by: Berlioz-Britten-Brahms-Liszt-Offenbach-Reger-Webern ) Anne Sofie von Otter / Thomas Quasthoff / The Chamber Orchestra of Europe / Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 28/Apr/2003 ] "Von Otter remains one of the most searching, verbally aware of Lieder interpreters. Quasthoff, with his warm noble baritone, is just as compelling. Abbado is a near-ideal accompanist, alive to any special felicities of scoring but always considerate... |
BELLINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bellini: La Sonnambula (complete opera in hard cover with full libretto) Cecilia Bartoli, Juan-Diego Florez, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo / Orchestra La Scintilla / Alessandro De Marchi [ Decca Music Group / 2 CD - released 5/Nov/2008 ] "In this recording, thanks to the soloists and conductor, it manages to come over as I suspect Bellini and Romani intended, as a mini-drama with a happy ending. I have enjoyed the performance immensely and will return to it. (MusicWeb) |
CACCINI / HANDEL / VIVALDI / BELLINI / ROSSINI / SCHUBERT / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Cecilia Bartoli - Live In Italy (Recorded live in June 1998) Cecilia Bartoli (soprano) with Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano) [ Decca Records / CD - released 15/Feb/2001 ] Cecilia live! |
J. S. BACH
Bach: St. John Passion (complete oratorio recorded in 1986) Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Stephen Varcoe, Cornelius Hauptmann, Nancy Argenta / The Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner [ Deutsche Grammophon Archiv / 2 CD Box Set - released 10/Apr/2000 ] "Gardiner conducts an exhilarating performance. Speeds are regularly on the fast side but, characteristically, he consistently keeps a spring in their rhythm. Chorales are treated in contrasted ways." Penguin Guide |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia [The Barber of Seville] (complete opera recorded in 1988) Metropolitan Opera / Kathleen Battle, Rockwell Blake, Leo Nucci / Ralf Weikert (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 17/May/2010 ] ""one of the most mechanically ingenious stagings that the company has offered in recent years. Robin Wagner's multifaceted set, rotating on the stage turntable, lets the action flow smoothly from place to place and makes possible an almost... |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: La Traviata (complete opera recorded in 2006) Los Angeles Opera / Renee Fleming (soprano) Rolando Villazon (tenor) Renato Bruson (baritone) / James Colon (cond) [ Decca DVD / DVD - released 12/Dec/2007 ] "With the benefit of the latest picture technology, this performance goes to the top of the list for those preferring a traditional production." (Recording of the Month May 2008) |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto no 3 (coupled with Ravel-Piano Concerto in G) Martha Argerich (piano) / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 5/May/2000 ] "all done with the most engaging reckless abandon." (Gramophone) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Il Trovatore (complete opera recorded in 1988) Metropolitan Opera / Luciano Pavarotti, Éva Marton, Dolora Zajick, Sherrill Milnes / James Levine (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 30/May/2008 ] "The best justification for buying this issue is to see and hear Pavarotti nearer to his vocal peak in a role which his strong lyric voice and clear diction is ideally suited" (MusicWeb) |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
The Prince of the Pagodas, Op. 57 (complete ballet) Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Benjamin Britten [ Decca Ballet Edition / 2 CD - released 16/Apr/2012 ] The first recording of The Prince of the Pagodas at the Royal Opera House, with Britten himself conducting. The Prince of the Pagodas is Britten's only full-length ballet - a glittering score full of the oriental harmonies and instrumental colour... |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: La Cenerentola [Cinderella] (complete opera recordedin 1992) Cecilia Bartoli, William Matteuzzi, Enzo Dara, Alessandro Corbelli / Orchestra & Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Riccardo Chailly [ Decca Operas / 2 CD - released 28/Aug/2014 ] "All eyes and ears, inevitably, are on Bartoli, and she doesn't disappoint...The singing itself is ravishing. At the same time, the performance makes dramatic sense...Decca provide a superb Alidoro, an alluring Clorinda, inventive and elaborate conti |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: La Traviata (complete opera) BLU-RAY Los Angeles Opera / Renee Flemin, Rolando Villazon, Renato Bruson / James Colon (cond) [ Decca Music Group Limited Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 9/Mar/2009 ] "With the benefit of the latest picture technology, this performance goes to the top of the list for those preferring a traditional production." (Recording of the Month May 2008) |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
101 Vivaldi Salvatore Accardo, Eduardo Fernandez, Severino Gazzelloni, Emma Kirkby, Neville Marriner, Simon Preston, etc [ Decca / 6 CD Box Set - released 20/Jul/2014 ] This six-CD collection of 101 favourite tracks is the perfect introduction to the wonderful music of Vivaldi. |