Giuseppe Verdi

The French soprano Géori Boué was particularly associated with French repertoire.

This collection includes works by Gounod, Massenet, Bizet and Berlioz as well as Italian composers of opera.

Many of the recordings date from 1942-1949.

Thomas Blondelle, who finished second in the prestigious Concours Reine Elisabeth 2011, was chosen by the competition’s partner BNP Paribas Fortis to record a song recital and give concerts on tour throughout Belgium and elsewhere.

This young tenor has an exceptional vocal range. He is currently a soloist with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, but he also appears at many international venues. Recent engagements include his début as Froh in a new production of Wagner’s Das Rheingold at the Bavarian State Opera (February 2012). With the pianist Daniel Blumenthal – the ideal partner for any young singer – he presents a programme of humorous French and German art songs, some of which nevertheless have an underlying seriousness. This unusual, and witty, recital has been put together very intelligently!

The death has recently been announced of one of the greatest singers of the 20th century, the German baritone Dieterich Fisher-Dieskau. Over a career spanning almost half a century Fisher-Dieskau performed all over the world with most of the major conductors, orchestras, and opera companies. He was particularly renowned for his interpretations of the lieder repertoire, especially the songs of Schubert. This 10CD set which was originally released in July 2011 covers a wide range of his performances in all areas of the vocal art.

The “heroic” tenor René Kollo was born in Berlin in 1937. He arrived at Bayreuth, the Wagner sanctum, in 1969 and, for almost a decade and a half, he would be numbered among its greatest stars. An extensive catalogue of recordings, including many award-winning recordings, shows that Kollo was the most active German tenor of his generation. This wide range of repertoire as well as his frequent television appearances have greatly contributed to his popularity over the years.

Soprano Lucia Popp (1939-1993) was one of the most acclaimed singers of her generation. In this four-CD set she is heard in arias from operas by Weber, Mozart, Lortzing, Puccini, Verdi, Massenet and Monteverdi, songs by Brahms, Mahler, Prokofiev, Dvorak, Kodaly, Janacek, and sacred music by Telemann and Bach.

After making her debut at the Vienna State Opera in the modest role of Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro, Lucia Popp worked with all the great conductors of her day including Leonard Bernstein, Sir George Solti, Rafael Kubelik, Lorin Maazel, Sir Neville Marriner, Bernard Haitink and Carlos Kleiber. The State Operas of Vienna and Munich honoured Lucia Popp with the title of Kammersängerin and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra awarded her the “Silver Rose”. In 2007 she was placed 7th on BBC Music Magazine's list ‘20 All-time Best Sopranos’ based on a poll of 21 British critics and BBC presenters.

5CD (+3 bonus DVDs)

This set provides a great opportunity to enjoy the talents of the excellent EuropaChorAcademie performing a wide range of choral works. “A truly breathtaking purity of intonation, rhythmic precision and collective engagement.” BBC Music Magazine

The first of these solo recitals (1959) is with the orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera, conducted by Savini.The second with the Vienna’ s Volksoper orchestra,devoted to Puccini, is taken from a very rare LP and is released on CD for the first time in its entirety.