Massenet: Ah! fuyez douce image (from Manon)

Constantino was five years older than Caruso and was one of the “old School” of tenors. He sang effortlessly and his voice had an unmistakable character marked by a round, compact sound and a rapid, regular vibrato. He has never been granted a place among the great tenors, but certainly belongs there.

Born in Modena, a small town in northern Italy, Luciano Pavarotti (1935–2007) was the son of a baker and amateur tenor. He grew up surrounded by his father’s recordings of the day’s leading opera singers - including Giuseppe Di Stefano, Jan Kiepura, and Enrico Caruso - and he went on to become one of the most popular vocalists of all time. This 2-CD set includes arias from Verdi’s Rigoletto, Puccini’s Turandot, Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Massenet’s Manon, Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci and Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi.

Despite having a voice of reputedly high quality, which could have made him a highly paid global star, Giovanni Malipiero (1906-70) restricted his career almost exclusively to Italy, turning down international engagements. These wonderful recordings were made for the Cetra and Parlophone labels between 1937 and 1941.

Piotr Beczala has established himself as one of the most outstanding young lyric tenors. Born in Southern Poland, he studied with Pavel Lisitsian and Sena Jurinac. After his first engagement at the Landestheater in Linz (Austria) he became a permanent member of the Zurich Opera and remains closely associated with this company.

He made his Covent Garden debut as the Italian tenor in Rosenkavalier and followed with an acclaimed Faust in 2004 and 2006. He returned as Lensky in Eugene Onegin this April with another Rosenkavalier at the Festival Hall, again with Zurich Opera.

He made a sensational role debut, in January of this year, as Riccardo in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera with the Berlin State Opera, where he was enthusiastically celebrated by both audience and press.The last two years

has seen a series of successful firsts including Alfredo, in La Traviata, with the Bavarian State Opera, Berlin's Deutsche Oper and also in Tokyo; the Duke in Rigoletto at La Scala and as his debut with the Metropolitan Opera; and Lensky in Eugene Onegin with the San Francisco Opera, where he returned as Tamino last year. In Frankfurt and in Munich he has been acclaimed for his portrayal of Werther, as was his Don Ottavio at Zurich Opera and the Salzburg Festival. In 2007 he added Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia to his repertoire: singing this role he will return to the New York Met in autumn 2008.

His wide concert repertoire ranges from Mozart, Cherubini and Haydn's sacred music, via Rossini's Stabat Mater and Petite Messe Solennelle to Mahler's Das Lied. He has appeared on many recordings and DVDs but this is his first recital disc with excerpts from French and Italian operas, many of which he has already sung on stage.