Hi-Res Highlights,
Hi-Res Downloads - The Pavarotti Collection
The latest batch of our new HD downloads focuses on one of the greatest singers of the twentieth century, Luciano Pavarotti, in some very illustrious company: these eleven complete opera recordings also feature many of his finest contemporaries and regular collaborators including Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Joan Sutherland, Mirella Freni, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Richard Bonynge and Herbert von Karajan. Dating from the later 60s and early 70s, these recordings show Pavarotti in his prime, with repertoire ranging from comic and tragic bel canto roles to Puccini and Verdi - all in glorious HD sound!
Richard Bonynge conducts this 1971 recording with the orchestra and chorus of Covent Garden, starring Joan Sutherland in the title-role, Pavarotti as Edgardo, Sherrill Milnes as Enrico and Nicolai Ghiaurov as Raimondo.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Sutherland takes the title-role in Bellini's 1833 rarity, here receiving its first studio outing under the direction of Bonynge. Pavarotti sings Orombello (described by BBC Music Magazine as 'wonderfully stylish here, elegant and ringing: Nureyev, vocally-speaking') and Cornelius Opthof as the villainous Filippo.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The role of Tonio catapulted Pavarotti to stardom and earned him his nickname 'King of the high Cs': he's caught here in 1967, shortly after his Covent Garden triumph in the opera with Sutherland as Marie, a role which she reprises here. Bonynge conducts the Royal Opera House Orchestra.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Pavarotti sings Nemorino on this 1970 recording, with Bonynge in the pit and Sutherland as Adina: Gramophone praised his 'Gigli-like quality in characterisation and this suits him ideally for the role of the simple, devoted Nemorino'. Dominic Cossa is Belcore, Spiro Malas Dulcamara.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Lamberto Gardelli conducts the London Philharmonic on this 1970 studio recording, with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Elena Souliotis as the ambitious couple, Pavarotti as Macduff and Nicolai Ghiaurov as Banco.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
A Building a Library choice in 2012, this 1972 recording under Zubin Mehta stars Pavarotti in one of his most acclaimed roles (Gramophone dubbed him 'an inspired Calaf'), with Sutherland as the ice-princess, Nicolai Ghiaurov as his distraught father Timur, and Montserrat Caballé as the devoted slave-girl Liù.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Pavarotti is Rodolfo to Mirella Freni's Mimi on Herbert von Karajan's 1972 studio recording with the Berliner Philharmoniker; Classics Today described him as 'in full bloom, with golden sound pouring forth and impeccable diction; vocally this Rodolfo hasn’t a worry in the world'.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The stratospheric role of Arturo (top F and all!) holds no terrors for Pavarotti on this 1973 Puritani, with Sutherland as Elvira, Piero Cappuccilli as Riccardo Forth and, Nicolai Ghiaurov as Giorgio Walton. Bonynge conducts LSO and the Covent Garden Chorus.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Herbert von Karajan is at the helm of this 1974 Butterfly, with Freni in the title-role, Christa Ludwig as Suzuki and Robert Kerns as Sharpless; the Gramophone Guide deemed Pavarotti 'a Pinkerton of exceptional subtlety, not just a roistering cad but in his way an endearing figure'.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This 1974 recording pits Pavarotti's ardent Fernando against Fiorenza Cossotto's fiery Leonora, with Gabriel Bacquier as Alfonso and Richard Bonynge conducting the forces of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
