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. |
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) |
BEETHOVEN
Symphonies 6 & 8 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 14/Jul/2014 ] "flexible, warmly played, beautifully detailed." (Arkivmusic) |
FRITZ KREISLER
Hommage to Fritz Kreisler - 22 favourite miniatures Alfred Campoli (violin) Eric Gritton (piano) and Norihko Wada (piano) [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 25/May/2005 ] "Campoli's performances are full of flair" (Penguin Guide) |
GASPARINI / MARCELLO / PASQUINI / SCARLATTI / etc
Arcadia Andreas Scholl (counter-tenor) Accademia Byzantina, Dantone [ Decca Records / CD - released 8/Dec/2003 ] "Scholl is the star in this elegant collection of lesser-known music about rural love" Editor's Choice - Gramophone Magazine (March 2004) |
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) |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Der Rosenkavalier (Complete Opera) Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnes Baltsa, Janet Perry & Kurt Moll / Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon Opera! / 3 CD - released 1/May/2012 ] "underrated. It has strong vocal performances...and it's gloriously played by the Vienna Philharmonic...this is a set well worth having alongside more fleet-footed versions." (International Record Review) |
J.S. BACH
Arias Anne Sofie Von Otter (mezzo-soprano) with guests / Concerto Copenhagen, Lars Ulrik Mortensen [ Deutsche Grammophon Archiv / CD - released 27/Apr/2009 ] Born to sing J.S.Bach, Anne Sofie von Otter brings elegant style, richness of voice, and career-long commitment to Baroque music to this glorious recording of alto and soprano arias she herself selected. |
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... |
BENNY ANDERSSON / BJORN ULVAEUS
I let the music speak: A celebration of the music of ABBA Anne-Sofie von Otter (soprano) Benny Andersson (piano) / Fleshquartet and others [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 16/Aug/2006 ] Anne Sofie von Otter's present album was born from her passion for the music of Benny Andersson - a long-standing admiration that dates back more than two decades. |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake / Nutcracker / Sleeping Beauty (Ballet Suites) Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Mstislav Rostropovich. [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 5/May/2001 ] 'Rostropovich's trypich of Tchaikovsky ballets is very special. The remastering, always outstanding. Now approaches demonstration standard. 69 minutes of sheer joy.' - Rosette (highest rating) Penguin Guide |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 1-5 (Complete) / Sinfonia Concertante Carmignola Giuliano (violin) / Orchestra Mozart (on period instruments) / Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon Archiv / 2 CD - released 18/Aug/2008 ] Gramophone Award Finalist 2009: Concerto - "Mozart-conducting and interpretation are in the realms of greatness." |
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) |
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. |
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! |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Impromptus [complete] Daniel Barenboim (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon Galleria / CD - released 14/Jul/2014 ] Barenboim has received many awards and prizes, including an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, France's Légion d'honneur both as a Commander and Grand Officier, the German Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz and Willy Brandt Award,... |
HANDEL
Ultimate Handel: Includes Water Music Suites, Concerto grosso in B flat & Messiah [selection] Daniel Chorzempa (Organ) Concerto Amsterdam / The Brandenburg Consort / David Hill / Gillian Fisher (Soprano) / Academy of St Martin in the Fields / e [ Decca Budget Boxes / 5 CD - released 22/May/2007 ] 5 CDs in presentation slip case at SUPER-BUDGET price. An outstanding collection of Handel Favourites. Great value gift purchase. |
FREDE GROFE
Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite / Mississippi Suite (with Gershwin-Porgy and Bess Symphonic Picture) Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati / Eastman-Rochester Orchestra, Howard Hanson [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Nov/2007 ] "never more beautifully recorded … the performance is totally memorable and the sound quite superb" [Porgy and Bess] Penguin Guide to CDs |