Tosti: Aprile

Although no longer a regular guest, José Carreras was in the 1970s and ’80s one of the great, up-and-coming singers and he returns in 2012 once more for a song recital in Salzburg on August 30. Accompanied here by Edoardo Müller, his recital of 1981 takes us from the French song with piano by Massenet and Fauré via the tenor “classics” of Tosti to the canciones of De Falla, Mompou and Turina – and all sung with a secure sense of style and with great subtlety.

Carreras’s encores delighted adherents of the brilliant tenor repertoire, and can be appreciated on this recording too.

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Maltese soprano Gillian Zammit studied in Italy with Carlo Bergonzi and Victoria de los Angeles and is a versatile performer with an operatic repertoire that ranges from Baroque to 20th century opera. Roles include Semel, Tales of Hoffmann, Gianni Schicchi, Hansel and Gretel, Due Zauberflote and Rigoletto which gained her glowing review from OPERA magazine. Gillian is also highly regarded as a recital singer with a varied repertoire of Lieder, Spanish, French and Italian song, as well as being a respected exponent of Maltese Baroque music of which she has recorded several CD s. She has performed in Germany, US, France, London, and Romania and has collaborated with many notable artists including Joseph Calleja.

Legendary tenor José Carreras performed the evening of music recorded here at the Vienna State Opera in September 1988 as a musical “thank you” to all the Austrians who had supported him in his fight over the previous year against the potentially lethal condition of leukaemia. The pianist is at this very special concert was Vincenzo Scalera, and the repertoire encompasses Fauré, Massenet, Turina, Liszt, Puccini, Tosti and more.

Jose Carreras was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1987, and was only given a 10% chance of survival. However, as a result of an iron will, a positive outlook and good fortune, he gradually regained his health, and went on to produce the best selling series of “Three Tenors” recordings alongside Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. During 1988 he appeared in a series of comeback concerts including this one that took place on 16 September in Vienna.

DVD+CD

Recorded live in concert in Barcelona, this DVD features Pavarotti performing in front of an international audience held spellbound as his dazzling, excitingly powerful voice fills the auditorium. The set also includes a bonus CD of 20 unforgettable live performances celebrating over 25 years of Pavarotti’s legendary career.

This DVD+CD set provides an opportunity to see and hear one of the greatest tenors the world has ever known. The concert covers a wide range of musical offerings, from very well-known works to lesser-known arias and sonnets. Viewers are introduced to Pavarotti through behind-the-scenes interviews and outtakes from the original concert recording that give rare insight into the planning and hard work that go into the creation of such a production.

Marc Hervieux has dedicated his third ATMA CD to Neapolitan songs. He delivers superb renditions of these favourite songs assisted by some superb musicians such as pianist and arranger Louise-André Baril, violinist François Pilon, guitarist Daniel Bolshoy and flautist Marie-André.

This 2-CD set features 22 groundbreaking performances by the legendary Luciano Pavarotti. The recordings include Neapolitan songs by Tosti, Bixio, De Curtis and many more by Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini, Mascagni and other composers. The set is one of five new releases featuring the great tenor to be issued by the American label Opera d’Oro during the early summer.

The late 19th Century was the heyday of the drawing-room ballad, when families and friends entertained each other with a wide range of songs. Sir Paolo Tosti was one of the most successful composers of such music, alongside his contemporaries Pietro Mascagni and Stefano Donaudy.