Massenet: Don Quichotte (Don Chisciotte, Don Quixote)

Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto is one of the most sought-after interpreters of French, Italian and Russian repertoire.

Here he joins Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky orchestra for a sumptuous recording of Massenet’s final great opera. Gergiev is no stranger to conducting Massenet, having recorded an outstanding performance of 'Hérodiade' in 1995 with Renée Fleming and Placido Domingo.

'Don Quichotte', Massenet’s comédie-héroïque, is a tale of heroism, adventure and unrequited love. The plot relates only indirectly to the great novel by Miguel de Cervantes and more likely refers to the play Le chevalier de la longue figure, by the poet Jacques Le Lorrain. Massenet, nearing the end of his career, probably identified with the character of Don Quichotte, and fell in love with the mezzo-soprano Lucy Arbell, who played Dulcinée in the first performance of the work.

Praised for his vast range, thundering vocal power, and exceptional acting ability, Ferruccio Furlanetto has performed at the world’s leading opera houses, including La Scala, the Royal Opera House, the New York Metropolitan Opera and the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. His 2011-12 season is dominated by performances of 'Boris Godunov' with the Chicago Lyric Opera, Vienna Staatsoper and the Teatro Massimo (Palermo). Furlanetto will also sing Méphistophélès in Gounod’s 'Faust', Don Basilio in 'Il Barbiere di Siviglia' and Silva in 'Ernani' at the Met.

Mezzo-soprano Anna Kiknadze is a principal soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg. Highlights of her early career include being a finalist at the 2001 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, 2002 Placido Domingo Operalia Competition in Paris and the International Rimsky-Korsakov Competition in St. Petersburg.

"Massenet's Don Quichotte marks the ripe maturity of his art…Van Dam has sung beautifully throughout…Berganza as Dulcinée has the appropriate maturity of tone…while chorus and orchestra both do good work under an able conductor." Gramophone

Three new releases in the new mid-price opera packaging. Verdi's Attila with Riccardo Muti and 2 Massenet operas, Werther and Don Quichotte with idiomatic cast and orchestras under the direction of Michel Plasson.

Each opera appears in a multipack with separate booklet of 16 pages. New introduction in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. Original booklet material with extensive notes and complete libretto with translations is on a separate bonus disc (CDROM).

An excellent release of Massenet’s wonderful but rarely performed operatic version of the Don Quixote story.

Recorded in Milan in 1957

13 August 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Jules Massenet (born 12 May 1842).

Massenet is best-known for his operas and this set contains his two most famous - Manon and Werther as well as rarer works which owe their modern revivals and recordings during the 1970s to the advocacy of Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge.

Richard Bonynge has been a lifelong champion of Massenet and his reference-status recordings of the ballets are included as an integral element in this edition. He also features as an accompanist to Huguette Tourangeau in a widely-admired but long out of print recording of a selection of Massenet Songs.

The 140-page booklet includes full cast lists of the operas and detailed track lists.

Opera critic and writer George Hall has written an article on Massenet's life and works.

Richard Bonynge also contributes a personal note on his discovery and love of Massenet's music.

A CD-ROM contains the opera libretti and song-texts with translations.

This comprehensive 23-CD set with a wealth of glorious music is a must for all Massenet fans and lovers of French music alike.