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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Romantic Overtures - Vol. 5: Italian Opera Overtures
During the 1950s, 60s and 70s, Decca recorded a number of albums with some of its key conductors of Overtures. Many of these were singled out by the press for their terrific sound quality (the fabled ‘Decca Sound’) and for their often adventurous programming. Some of them also included entr’actes and intermezzi. Prized as collectors’ items, many of the original LPs exchange hands at high prices. And most of these reissues, in Decca Eloquence’s ‘Romantic Overtures’ series appear in CD, in part or whole, for the first time. Romantic Overtures – Volume 5 is a collection of Overtures and Intermezzi from grand Italian opera. Thugs drowning blind women, a mountain lass buried in an avalanche, a cup of poison for two… this is the stuff of this highly entertaining CD conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni, who conducted several recordings of Italian opera for Decca. Mascagni is represented by his little known operas Le maschere and Guglielmo Ratcliff; the operas La Wally and Norma not by their single ‘big’ arias, but by Preludes. And to round off the original – and extremely rare – 1956 LP (entitled ‘Great Moments from Italian Opera’), we have the Prelude and ‘Dance of the Hours’ from La Gioconda. | 
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| |  | Live Recording from The Teatro Comunale, Florence, 2006
Ruggero Raimondi (Sir John Falstaff), Barbara Frittoli (Mrs. Alice Ford), Laura Polverelli (Mrs. Meg Page), Elena Zilio (Mistress Quickly), Mariola Cantarero (Nannetta), Manuel Lanza (Ford), Daniil Shtoda (Fenton), Carlo Bosi (Dr Cajus), Luigi Roni (Pistola), Gianluca Floris (Bardolfo) Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Zubin Mehta (conductor) & Luca Ronconi (stage director) The Maggio Musicale in Florence is the oldest and one of the most famous music festivals in Italy. When it’s director, Zubin Mehta, celebrated his 70th birthday, the staging of Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff was part of the festivities. The opera was conducted by Zubin Mehta himself and directed by Luca Ronconi. Adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare’s play The Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff was Verdi’s last opera and one of his few comedies. It was also the third of Verdi’s operas to be based on a Shakespearean play, and like his first adaptation of the English playwright, Macbeth, it concludes with a fugue, the famous “Tutto nel mondo è burla” (“All the world’s a joke”). The successful first performance took place at La Scala in Milan in 1893. While not as immensely popular as the works that immediately preceded it (Aida and Otello) Falstaff’s refinement and melodic invention have made it a long-term favourite with both artists and audience. Luca Ronconi’s production for the 2006 Maggio Musicale Fiorentino finds ready equivalents for Shakespeare’s Windsor in both the social context and imagery of modern Britain – an enjoyable comedy and a musical feast for home-viewing. The main characters are sung by leading exponents of their respective roles, including Barbara Frittoli as Alice and Ruggero Raimondi as Sir John Falstaff. Raimondi values the part for the way Falstaff takes part in the action both comically and dramatically, and perhaps this is the real strength and beauty of the role. Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1 Picture Format: 16:9 DVD Format: DVD 9 / NTSC Subtitle Languages: IT (Original Language), GB, DE, FR, ES Running Time: 128 mins FSK: 0 |
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| |  | live recording from the Teatro Comunale, Firenze 2007
La forza del destino (The Force of Fate), premiered in St. Petersburg 1862, is one of Verdi’s most important opera compositions. Its plot is complicated and combines a sequence of interlaced unfortunate strokes of fate. Donna Leonora is the centre of events, together with her brother Don Carlo di Vargas and her lover Don Alvaro. The story was originally set in 18th century Spain, however the French director Nicolas Joël established the action in a slightly later period, in the time of the Empire, the early 19th century. The 2007 performance at the beautiful Maggio Musicale theatre in Florence, conducted by Zubin Mehta, who is a frequent guest artist there, stars Violeta Urmana as Donna Leonora with Carlo Guelfi and Marcello Giordani as Don Carlo and Don Alvaro. “The singing and playing are fantastic, and the production is faithful and unobtrusive. [...] To my mind this set now leads the field and takes its place as one of the great Verdi productions [...] A real classic.” MusicWeb International |
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| |  | Recorded ‘live’ at Teatro Alighieri, Ravenna, VII.1994
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This live perfomance of Nabucco was recorded in Florence on 26th August 1961. The Italian conductor Bruno Bartoletti is particularly associated with Italian operatic repertoire. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Joan Sutherland (Violetta Valéry), Miti Truccato Pace (Flora Bervoix), Dora Carral (Annina), Carlo Bergonzi (Alfredo Germont), Robert Merrill (Giorgio Germont), Giorgio Germont (Gastone), Paolo Pedani (Barone Douphol), Silvio Maionica (Marchese d’Obigny), Giovanni Foiani (Dottore Grenvil), Angelo Mercuriali (Giuseppe), Tenero Meridionale (Domestico di Flora) Orchestra e coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Sir John Pritchard La Traviata – the ultimate opera of love and loss – is a great favourite of opera-goers. To coincide with Opera Australia’s Traviata production in the spectacular setting of “Opera on the Harbour”, Eloquence releases Joan Sutherland’s first recording of La Traviata, complete on 2 CDs. It is for many her greatest recorded portrayal of the doomed heroine Violetta. Her Alfredo is the ‘simply supreme’ (Gramophone) Carlo Bergonzi and Sir John Pritchard conducts a ‘most persuasive, well-balanced and well-timed account’ (Gramophone) of this magnificent opera. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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“Verrett's portrayal, always one of her best roles, is given here with more feeling and involvement than anyone else in the cast...Vocally speaking, the two veteran singers are well attuned to each other, attempting the familiar with nicely varied accents and dynamics...[Pavarotti] sings [Manrico] with such unfailing musicality and sense of line (listen to the recitative before "Ali si, ben mio", indeed the aria itself) that the missing decibels are hardly missed” Gramophone Magazine, July 1995 | | | (Sorry, download not available in your country) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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This newly remastered recording was made in the Teatro della Pergola in Florence in 1960. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Joan Sutherland: The Voice of the Century
Bellini: | Casta Diva (from Norma) Recorded 1960 Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli O rendetemi la speme...Qui la voce sua soave...Vien, diletto (from I Puritani) Recorded 1960 Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli Ah! non giunge uman pensiero (from La Sonnambula) Recorded 1962 Orchestra del maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Richard Bonynge Eccomi pronta...Deh, se un'urna (from Beatrice di Tenda) Recorded 1962 London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge | Bizet: | Vasco da Gama: La marguerite a fermé sa corolle … Ouvre ton coeur Recorded 1969 Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Richard Bonynge | Coward, N: | This is a changing world (from Pacific 1860) Recorded 1966 Richard Bonynge | Delibes: | Où va la jeune Indoue? 'Bell Song' (from Lakmé) Recorded 1960 Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli | Donizetti: | Il dolce suono mi colpì di sua voce! … Spargi d'amaro pianto (from Lucia di Lammermoor) Recorded 1962 Rinaldo Pelizzoni (Normanno), Cesare Siepi (Raimondo), Robert Merrill (Enrico) Orchestra dell’Accademia de Santa Cecilia, Rome, John Pritchard Pour ce contrat fatal...Salut à la France (from La fille du régiment) Recorded 1967 Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Richard Bonynge Una parola…Chiedi all'aura (from L'elisir d'amore) Recorded 1970 Luciano Pavarotti (Nemorino) English Chamber Orchestra, Richard Bonynge Da tutti abbandonata (from Maria Stuarda) Recorded 1975 Luciano Pavarotti (Leicester) Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Richard Bonynge Figlio, e spento...Era desso il figlio mio (from Lucrezia Borgia) Recorded 1978 National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge Ancor non giunse...Torna, torna, o caro oggetto (from Rosmonda d’Inghilterra) Recorded 1961; bonus track Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, John Pritchard | Gounod: | Ah! Je veux vivre dans ce rêve (from Roméo et Juliette) Recorded 1960 Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli Ah! Je ris de me voir (from Faust) Recorded 1960 Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli | Heuberger: | Gehen wir ins Chambre séparée) from The Opera Ball Recorded 1966 New Philharmonia, Richard Bonynge | Lehár: | Wär' es auch nichts als ein Augenblick (Eva) Recorded 1966 New Philharmonia, Richard Bonynge | Massenet: | De cet affreux combat…Pleurez, mes yeux ! (from Le Cid) Recorded 1962 London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge | Offenbach: | Les oiseaux dans la charmille (from Les Contes d'Hoffmann) Recorded 1969 Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Richard Bonynge | Puccini: | In questa reggia (from Turandot) Recorded 1972 Luciano Pavarotti (Calaf) London Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta | Rossini: | Bel raggio lusinghier (from Semiramide) Recorded 1966 London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge | Strauss, J, II: | Nun's Chorus from Casanova Recorded 1966 New Philharmonia, Richard Bonynge | Verdi: | È strano! è strano!...Ah! fors è lui (from La traviata) Sempre libera (from La Traviata) Recorded 1960 Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli Che! e segnar questa mano potrebbe l’onta mia (from Luisa Miller) Tu puniscimi, o Signore … A brani, a brani, o perfido (from Luisa Miller) Recorded 1963 London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge È il sol dell'anima (from Rigoletto) Recorded 1971 Luciano Pavarotti (Duca) London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge Caro nome (from Rigoletto) Recorded 1971 London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge |
In tribute to one of Decca’s very greatest artists, a 2-for-1 double jewel-case version of Dame Joan Sutherland’s classic ‘The Voice of the Century’ 2-disc compendium is now available for release. The track contents are identical those of the original hardback version of ‘The Voice of the Century’ (4757981), and include arias from Lucia di Lammermoor, La sonnambula, Norma, Lakmé, Semiramide, La Fille du Régiment, Turandot, and many more. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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