Mozart: E Susanna non vien! … Dove sono i bei momenti (from Le nozze di Figaro)

Multi-award winning opera singer Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, praised for the ‘pristine beauty of her lyric soprano’ (The Guardian), was revered in opera houses worldwide and is perhaps most famous for her Mozart roles. However, she was also at home on the concert stage and this collection combines her acclaimed portrayals of Donna Elvira, Countess Almaviva and Richard Strauss’s Marschallin, among others, with her affecting interpretations of lieder and song-cycles.

These first releases of Margaret Price with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester cover a time period from 1977 to 1991. Her work was largely concentrated on Mozart and Verdi, to which this CD pays ample credit, and also features arias by Bellini, Cilea, Rossini and Weber. Mozartian clarity, a consistently effortless vocal production, histrionic fire and a healthy grounding – these attributes made Margaret Price an internationally revered opera star, especially by Munich audiences. Her relationship with the Bavarian State Opera was so close that Margaret Price settled in Munich for 18 years, not returning to her native Wales until the end of her career.

Previously unreleased live recordings from the “Sunday Concerts”.

Singer portrait featuring Margaret Price’s core repertoire, including famous arias from Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro, Aida, Otello and Norma.

Continuing the “Great Singers Live” series with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester under the direction of Heinz Wallberg, Leopold Hager and Thomas Fulton.

In her debut for Haenssler, the talented young soprano Juliane Banse is joined by Christoph Poppen. She has selected a highly intelligent recital including arias by Weber, Tchaikovsky, Massenet, Mozart and Puccini. She has distinguished herself not only for the beauty of her singing, but for the depth of her characterisations and deep empathy with the emotional world of the women she is portraying.

Dame Kiri te Kanawa was presented with a lifetime achievement award at the Classical Brits 2010.

Decca’s first-ever compilation devoted to the two composers most closely associated with Kiri te Kanawa: Mozart & Richard Strauss.

Selection includes arias from operas by both composers which te Kanawa has sung on stage as well as concert arias and songs she has featured in concert.

Kiri te Kanawa is accompanied by two of her greatest musical mentors – Sir Georg Solti - in his dual role as conductor and pianist – and Sir Colin Davis (with whom she first sang the role of the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1971.

Following the enormous success of the album OPERA 2009, EMI Classics is releasing OPERA 2010. Great voices of today and legendary singers of the past, from the EMI and Virgin Classics catalogue: the home of opera.

With 40 tracks, and over 2½ hours of operatic arias and duets, this double album features the best and most popular names in opera from the catalogues of both Virgin Classics and EMI Classics, ranging from the newest arrivals on the operatic scene, as well as many present day superstars, to iconic legends. This is an unmissable collection of the best in opera that will have a wide appeal.

Present day superstars include Angela Gheorghiu, Natalie Dessay, Sarah Brightman, Barbara Hendricks, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Jessye Norman, Placido Domingo, José Carreras, Rolando Villazón, Roberto Alagna and Bryn Terfel.

Rising new artists are strongly represented by Joyce DiDonato, Diana Damrau, Elina Garanca, Vivica Genaux, Véronique Gens, Patrizia Ciofi, Philippe Jaroussky, Jonas Kaufmann, David Daniels, Max Emanuel Cencic and Laurent Naouri.

The programme also contains tracks by some of the world’s greatest singers of the past such as Victoria de los Angeles, Teresa Berganza, Mirella Freni, Lucia Popp and Franco Corelli as well as the legendary Luciano Pavarotti and the unique Maria Callas.

All the most popular operatic composers are represented, from Baroque masters like Vivaldi, Rameau and Handel, through Gluck and Mozart to Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni, Cilea and Gershwin, as well as French favourites Gounod, Massenet and Offenbach.

In her second recording as an exclusive Virgin Classics artist Diana Damrau interprets concert and operatic arias by Mozart in a programme which displays her virtuosity and impressive vocal range.

Indeed Diana Damrau’s new recital shows she can sing practically all of Mozart’s notably varied soprano roles – ranging from the bravura (Donna Anna, Konstanze, Donna Elvira…) via the more serious (Pamina) to the lighter soprano (generally soubrette roles such as Susanna, Blonde…).

From her first recording everyone noted her outstanding Queen of the Night – here she is Pamina (in New York’s Met last Fall, Diana Damrau alternated the two roles with brio). She is also Susanna and the Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), Konstanze and Blonde (Die Entführung), Donna Anna and Elvira (Don Giovanni), Servilia and Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito), pairing major soprano roles within the operas, and concert arias.

As for her first recital, ‘Arie di bravura’, French conductor Jérémie Rhorer, who is rapidly gaining international recognition, directs his French period-instrument ensemble Le Cercle de l’Harmonie