|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|---|
 |
 |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARTISTS TRACKLISTING Leontyne Price was born in Laurel, Mississippi, on 10 February 1927 and studied at the Juilliard School as a result of winning a scholarship there in 1949. Her early career was dominated by her portrayal of Bess in Porgy and Bess in a Broadway production which toured for two years. 1955 saw a television appearance as Tosca which brought her before an even wider public and which she later recorded for Decca with von Karajan in 1962 (466 384-2). Other important roles in her early career included Madame Lidoine (Dialogues des Carmélites) and Aida. Another recording which achieved legendary status was her portrayal of Aida with Sir Georg Solti conducting (460 765-2). 1958 saw Price's debuts at the Verona Arena, Vienna and Covent Garden and two years later (in 1960) her La Scala debut. It was as Leonora (Il trovatore) that Leontyne Price made her Met debut in January 1961 and it was with this role that she appeared in Salzburg - again with von Karajan - in a series of performances with Franco Corelli and Ettore Bastianini that are part of operatic legend. Throughout her distinguished career Leontyne Price performed a wide variety of roles both old and new but it is for her Verdi interpretations that she is best-remembered and this Verdi recital, recorded in July 1980, is a reminder of her wonderful vocal talents and insights into a selection of key Verdi roles. |
||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARTISTS TRACKLISTING On 27 February 2005 Mirella Freni celebrated her 70th birthday and 2005 also marks 50 years since her debut at Modena as Michaëla (Carmen). A much-loved and popular artist, Freni has recorded a substantial discography. In addition to the various complete operas she has recorded for Decca and other companies she is heard here in a recital of operatic duets with Renata Scotto which was made in July 1978. Renata Scotto, born at Savona on 24 February 1934, sang some similar repertory to Mirella Freni in the earlier part of her career but in the early 1970s began to take on heavier roles such as Norma. She can be heard here with Mirella Freni in the great Act 2 duet. Also included here is another Bellini piece - and something of a rarity - a duet from Bianca e Fernando. A Mozart duet from Le nozze di Figaro and another substantial rarity - from Mercadante's Le due illustri rivali - opens this feast of duets for female voices on top form. |
||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARTISTS TRACKLISTING French-Canadian Huguette Tourangeau was born in 1938 and made her debut at the Stratford Festival in Ontario in 1964 when she sang Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro). It was while a member of the Metropolitan Opera touring company that she first came to the attention of Richard Bonynge. Working together they established a great rapport and appeared together in many performances and recordings. Tourangeau's Decca discography includes her participation in complete recordings of Lucia di Lammermoor, Maria Stuarda, Esclarmonde, Les Huguenots, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, and Rigoletto - all with Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge. A recital of Massenet songs - also with Richard Bonynge - recorded in 1975 was an important release in bringing largely forgotten songs by this composer to a wider public. This album of 'Arias from forgotten operas' was recorded in 1970 and is now made available as an international CD release for the first time. It was previously included, together with the Massenet songs, on the Richard Bonynge release in the Australian Heritage series, a collection that won a coveted Penguin Guide 'Rosette'.
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARTISTS TRACKLISTING The Italian tenor Giuseppe di Stefano was born near Catania on 24 July 1921. He first sang at La Scala in 1947 and the New York Met in 1948 when he sang the Duke (Rigoletto). He appeared regularly at the Met for nearly twenty years - his last appearances there were in 1965. In the earlier part of his career he focused on lighter roles for which he was highly praised for the warm and rounded tone that he produced. His most famous musical partner was, of course, Maria Callas and with her he appeared in many performances and recordings. Di Stefano made his British debut in 1957 at the Edinburgh Festival A CLASSIC RECITAL has already been devoted to Di Stefano and in that program he sings popular Italian arias from a variety of operas with which he was associated (475 6236). This additional Di Stefano release shows a lighter side to his repertory with a program of popular Italian songs recorded in 1958. This release appears on CD for the first time as the original LP album. |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
ARTISTS TRACKLISTING |
||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARTISTS TRACKLISTING The legendary Italian bass Cesare Siepi was one of the great Don Giovannis and at the height of his career - during the 1950s and 1960s - this particular role was very much his 'calling card'. In Decca's 1955 recording of the complete opera under Josef Krips he sang the title-role and this set has remained one of the classics of the gramophone. The year before the complete Don Giovanni Siepi recorded the present album of arias in which several of his other important roles are essayed. Filippo II in Don Carlos, Zaccaria in Nabucco, and Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra are just three of the roles in which he can be heard in this program and for which he was acclaimed throughout the operatic world. |
||||||||
