Puccini: E lucevan le stelle (from Tosca)

This will be of great interest to Mario Lanza collectors and the concert contains a very varied repertoire; arias from La Traviata, Madame Butterfly, La Bohème and Der Freischutz, as well as The Blue Danube and Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor and others.

Recorded on 27th August 1947

The Italian Salvatore Licitra, who tragically died on September 5th 2011 after a motorbike accident, was one of the leading tenors of his generation in the highly sought-after dramatic Italian repertoire. A frequent guest at major opera and concert stages in Europe, the United States and the Far East, he was particularly devoted to Verdi repertoire.

As a tribute to this exceptionally gifted artist we are releasing a selection of his best arias and songs taken from operas from the dramatic Italian oeuvre. Operas by Giuseppi Verdi and Giacomo Puccini feature heavily in the track-listing with each disc opening with a show-stopping famous tenor aria; Nessun Dorma and Celeste Aida respectively.

The 2-CD set ends with five previously unreleased tracks - all well-loved Italian songs recorded with Marco Armiliato and The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

Giuseppe de Stefano was renowned as the true successor of Gigli and was known as the “Golden Voice”. This collection of recordings made in San Francisco in 1950 includes excerpts from Gounod’s Faust, Verdi’s Rigoletto and Puccini’s La Boheme. In the excerpt from Madame Butterfly, di Stefano is joined by Renata Tebaldi.

‘Melodies of Love and Death’ features the highly regarded Osiris Trio, a Dutch piano trio that since its formation over 20 years ago has been the recipient of many major awards. Their programme is an unusual but rewarding one, since it is devoted to special arrangements made by Bob Zimmerman of some of the best loved opera arias in the repertoire, from Bizet and Verdi to Puccini and Janacek.

The Osiris Trio was formed in 1988 and over the following years the group has won a number of Dutch awards, including the ‘Philip Morris Finest Selection’ award and the Annie Bosboom Prize. Since 2001 the trio has received financial support by the Dutch Ministry of Culture. The trio’s discography encompasses two centuries of repertoire for piano trio, and includes song cycles and a critically acclaimed recording of Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps. In 2009 the group released a fine CD featuring the piano trios of Antonin Dvořák.

Composer and arranger Bob Zimmerman is mostly known for his work on the album ‘Fascinating Gershwin’ that was released on the label Pentatone in 2007. He has also collaborated with the great Dutch choreographer Krzysztof Pastor in the 2010 ballet production, “Nijinsky”.

This stunning collection showcases the greatest stars of classical music with dazzling performances from Gustavo Dudamel, Cecilia Bartoli, Lang Lang and Anna Netrebko, to name but a few...

Also includes legendary performances from some of the greatest artists of all time, including Luciano Pavarotti, Sir Georg Solti, Plácido Domingo and Daniel Barenboim.

Introducing the exciting talents of a number of rising stars such as Jonas Kaufmann, Danielle De Niese, Julia Fischer and Alice Sara Ott

With 40 tracks and over 2½ hours of music this collection is outstanding value for money, providing the foundation for a library of classical music.

Sony Classical ORIGINALS offer listeners outstanding enjoyment, authentically recapturing the fascination of legendary recordings from the age of long-playing records and preserving worthwhile releases from two labels with particularly long and distinguished traditions: RCA Red Seal and Columbia Masterworks. These superb recordings by great artists have enjoyed international acclaim ever since they were first released. Showered with critical plaudits, they are part of the 20th century’s cultural legacy. All have been remastered and carefully restored using the latest studio technology in order to reproduce the original interpretations as faithfully as possible. The CD covers are taken over from the original LPs. The original introductions and LP labels are also reproduced in full, making Sony Classical ORIGINALS unique documents in the history of recorded sound.

Featuring original LP cover artwork in full size and reproduction of original labels in mini LP design.

Contains original liner notes in 3 languages (English, French and German) Jewel case packaging with fully coloured booklets.

The Sony Classical Originals bring together for the first time at the Mid Price the greatest recordings from across all of the labels which are part of the Sony Classical umbrella, and are a perfect starting point for any classical collector.