Here are the operas I want to buy:
Turando
Tosca
Don Giovanni
Magic Flute
Barber of Seville
Carmen
Aida
Marriage of Figaro
Rigaletto
Can you recommend any particular versions? There are a lot of CDs of these operas out there, and I'd like to get some really stellar recordings.
2007-07-10 05:02:10 · 6 answers · asked by movielovingirl 3 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Music ➔ Classical
I already have Mme Butterfly, La Traviata, and La Boheme. LOVE "Un Bel Di" from Butterfly!
2007-07-10 21:11:46 · update #1
I'd follow Vincent who usually has a taste. My collection has:
- Turandot with Nilsson and Corelli plus one with Martinucci and Pretre conducting
- Tosca with Callas, Di Stefano (holy Pippo!) and Gobbi; De Sabata conducting
- Don Giovanni, the film of the legendary 1954 Salzburg edition conducted by Furtwaengler and Siepi as DG; another live from Ferrara with Claudio Abbado conducting and Antonacci as Donna Elvira
- Magic Flute the Karajan edition with Schreier, Mathis
- Another legend: Barber by Abbado, Prey, Alva, Berganza, Dara, Montarsolo; another one live from Zurich with Kasarova, an old Ghiaurov and Santi conducting
- Carmen with Karajan, Leontyne Price and Corelli
- Marriage of Figaro by the immense Karl Boehm, with Hermann Prey, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Edith Mathis and Gundula Janovitz
- Rigoletto conducted by Solti, with Robert Merrill and the fantastic Alfredo Kraus; another one with Leo Nucci live from Arena di Verona.
Beyond that, make sure you collection has good live recordings of the young Callas (1950-1955): Norma, Macbeth, Medea.
2007-07-10 06:48:35 · answer #1 · answered by the italian 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You might want to consider versions that include any of the following tenors or sopranos: Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Di Stefano, Luciano Pavarotti, Corelli, Del Monaco, Renata Tebaldi, Beverly Sills, Maria Callas and Leutine Price.
I noticed you do not have La Traviata, La Boheme and Madam Butterfly listed...if you do not have these in your collection they are a must. Glad to see there is still an interest in opera.
Try the following link:
http://www.belcantosociety.org/store/index.php
2007-07-10 16:28:00 · answer #2 · answered by RITI 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am assuming you're new"ish" to opera and may want some sonically more modern recordings then many of the really GREAT suggestions ,,,, EMI Turandot Nillsonn Corelli, Decca Tosca Freni, Pavarotti, Milnes, Sony Don Giovanni, Ramey, BMG Barber of Seville, Peters, Merrill, EMI Carmen, de los Angeles, Gedda, BMG, Aida, L Price, Bumbry, Domingo, Decca Marriage of Figaro, Te Kanawa, Solti, BMG Rigoletto, Moffo, Merrill ..... DG Magic Flute Wunderlich, Lear, Peters ..... I don't disagree with most of the specific answers above but these like the ones above each have a flaw either in a performance or the sound quality ... I actually own 6 Fausts because each one is flawed in a major way an example is the Mephistopheles (Ghiaurov) in his early recording he is in magnificent voice but his interpretation is weak but in his later recording the voice is showing a lot of wear and tear but the interpretation is fabulous
2007-07-11 03:23:54 · answer #3 · answered by toutvas bien 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hi there I have two Opera recordings from your list you may be interested in.
CARMEN Decca 414 489-2
Tatiana Troyanos,Placido Domingo,Jose van Dam,Kiri Te Kanawa.
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Georg Solti Conductor.
This is a great recording made in 1976. The analogue transfer is very well handled and the sound quality is Decca's usual sweet and clear recording.
Highly recommended.
AIDA EMI CDCC 77271(usa only)
Montserrat Caballe,Placido Domingo,
Chorus of The Royal Opera House,Covent Garden.
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Riccardo Muti,Conductor.
This recording was made in 1974. The sound is exceptionally well recorded by the EMI Engineers and the musical performance is high up on my list as one of the best .Deffinitely recommended.
2007-07-10 16:35:30 · answer #4 · answered by ROBERT P 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I will give you a couple.
The Tosca with Martinelli
Rigoletto with Tito Gobbi
The Aida with Gigli
Carmen with Rise Stevens
The Toscannini Boheme
I have several recordings of each, but like these the best/
The Italian is usually right, but, I have the dvd with Nucci, and in spite of his most excellent voice, the acting is not to be compared with Tito.
He 100% right aboout Tosca, no other versions come close.
2007-07-10 05:41:31 · answer #5 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For Turandot, the Pavarotti/Sutherland London recording tops all others for me. And I also think the Pavarotti/Freni Tosca is wonderful. You can get both on CD. Check Ebay for good prices.
I also highly recommend "Suor Angelica" also by Puccini, part of his three one-act operas called "Il Trittico".
Enjoy!
2007-07-13 03:15:15 · answer #6 · answered by Nightlight 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋