Various Artists – Great Opera Arias

Recorded between 1979 & 1988

About these works:
The fourteen extracts recorded here are among the best-loved arias from the worlds’s most famous operas. All of them were recorded with the most famous and reputed singers and orchestras, in some cases during live performances. This recording is a good opportunity for those prefering short pieces, to get familiar with the greatest arias.

Track List & Artists:
01. Puccini – Tosca – E Lucevan Le Stelle (3:14)
Giacomo Aragall: Cavaradossi
National Philharmonic Orchestra – Sir Georg Solti
Recorded in 1984

02. Puccini – Manon Lescaut – In quelle Trine Morbide (2:17)
Kiri Te Kanawa: Manon
Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna – Riccardo Chailly
Recorded in 1987

03. Mozart – Le Nozze Di Figaro – Voi Che Sapete (2:57)
Frederica Von Stade: Cherubino
London Philharmonic Orchestra – Sir Georg Solti
Recorded in 1981

04. Rossini – Il Barbiere Di Siviglia – Largo Al facotum (5:06)
Leo Nucci: Figaro
Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna – Giuseppe Patanè
Recorded in 1988

05. Verdi – Ernani – Surta È La Notte (6:06)
Susan Sunn: Elvira
Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna – Riccardo Chailly
Recorded in 1987

06. Massenet – Werther – Pourquoi Me Réveiller (3:06)
Luciano Pavarotti: Werther
National Philharmonic Orchestra – Oliviero de Fabrittis
Recorded in 1979

07. Beethoven – Fidelio – Abscheulicher, Komm, Hoffung (8:03)
Hildegard Behrens: Leonore
Chicago Symphony Orchestra – Sir Georg Solti
Recorded in 1979

08. Boito – Mefistofele -Sono Lo Spirito Che Nega (3:32)
Nicolai Ghiaurov: Mefistofele
National Philharmonic Orchestra – Oliviero de Fabrittis
Recorded in 1980

09. Boito – Mefistofele – L’altra Notte In Fondo Al Mare (6:56)
Mirella Freni: Margherita
National Philharmonic Orchestra – Oliviero de Fabrittis
Recorded in 1980

10. Puccini – Manon Lescaut – Donna Non Vidi Mai (2:14)
José Carreras: Des Grieux
Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna – Riccardo Chailly
Recorded in 1987

11. Giordano – Andrea Chénier – La Mamma Morta (5:15)
Monserrat Caballé: Maddalena
National Philharmonic Orchestra – Riccardo Chailly
Recorded in 1984

12. Rossini – La Donna Del Lago – Mura Felici (9:57)
Marylin Horne: Malcolm
New York City Orchestra: Richard Bonynge
Recorded in 1981

13. Puccini – La Bohème – Che Gelida Manina (4:34)
Luciano Pavarotti: Rodolfo
New York City Orchestra: Richard Bonynge

14. Verdi – Il Masnadieri – Tu Del Mio Carlo..Carlo Vive (8:20)
Joan Sutherland: Amalia
New York City Orchestra: Richard Bonynge
Recorded in 1981

Stereo, DDD, mp3, 320 kbps, 188.99 Mb, 71:43 minutes

Part1 –  Part2

George Frideric Händel – Imeneo

Recorded in 1986.

About this opera:
Imeneo (Hymen, HWV 41) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was adapted from Silvio Stampiglia’s Imeneo. Handel had begun composition in September 1738, but did not complete the score until 1740. The opera received its first performance at the Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London on 22 November 1740, and received another performance on 13 December. Handel then revised the score, and this revised version received concert performances in Dublin, on 24 and 31 March 1742. The first modern production was in Halle on 13 March 1960. The work was soon after performed in Birmingham in 1961, under the direction of Anthony Lewis. Lewis also led the first London revival of the opera since Handel’s time, in 1972 at the Royal Academy of Music. Lewis has prepared a performing edition of the opera.

Synopsis:
The opera opens with Tirinto’s lamentation of his lost love, Rosmene, to barbaric pirates. Another girl has been abducted, Clomiri. Together he grieves with Clomiri’s father, Argenio. But they learn that a brave, strong man named Imeneo had killed every pirate while they were sleeping. Everyone rejoices, and Imeneo, along with the rest of the country and Rosmene’s parents, expects Rosmene to marry him, though her true feelings are for Tirinto. Thus Rosmene is caught in a painfully awkward love triangle. Additionally, Clomiri has amorous feelings for Imeneo. Clomiri helps Imeneo realize that Rosmene is hesitant because of her relationship with Tirinto, and that she is putting his contentment before hers. When Imeneo, who insists that Rosmene is ungrateful, and Tirinto, who calls her unfaithful, tell her to decide who she will marry, she feigns a nervous breakdown in front of the characters. Eventually, she marries Imeneo. She learns that true love is not as important as honor and duty. Rosmene asks Tirinto to be happy for her. Her decision leaves Clomiri and Tirinto to cry at the end. The chorus at the end of the opera restates that one must not bow down to one’s desire, but to reason; one must not follow true feelings and fidelity, but gratitude and honor.

The Artists:
Brewer Chamber Orchestra
Rudolph Palmer: conductor
John Ostendorf: Imeneo
Julianne Baird: Rosmene
D’Anna Fortunato: Tirinto
Beverly Hoch: Clomiri
Jan Opalach: Argeno

Track List:
cd1:
1. Act I, Overture/Prelude (5:17)
2. Act I, Scene 1 (12:06)
3. Act I, Scene 2 (10:31)
4. Act I, Scenes 3-4 (9:05)
5. Act I, Scenes 5-6 (11:54)
6. Act II, Scene 1 (8:54)
cd2:
1. Act II, Scenes 2-3 (9:13)
2. Act II, Scenes 4-5 (8:36)
3. Act II, Scene 6 (8:22)
4. Act III, Scenes 1-2 (7:51)
5. Act III, Scenes 3-6 (9:43)
6. Act III, Conclusion (11:07)

Stereo, DDD, mp3, 320 kbps, 295.42 Mb, 82:39 minutes. Covers & info included.

Part1 — Part2 — Part3

George Frideric Händel – Arias for Cuzzoni, Durastani, Senesimo & Montagnana

Recorded between November 1986 and October 1991 in California.

About these works:
This bargain-priced box set is a must-have for anyone who loves Handel’s operas. Whilst Nicholas McGegan has had his critics over some of his Goettingen recordings, it cannot be denied that he has rescued some of Handel’s finest arias and operas from the dustbin of History. And here (87 arias later), he has a fine cast of singers all re-living the repertoire of some of the best singers of the 18th century – Lisa Saffer sings arias by Cuzzoni, Drew Minter arias by Senesino, David Thomas arias for Montagnana, and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson arias by Durastanti.
The excellent Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra provide superb accompaniment for each singer, and the sound quality is very good across all four discs. The whole comes with a very informative and exhaustive booklet containing introductory essays for each singer, as well as full libretti.
Highlights include Lisa Saffer’s ravishing account of Falsa Imagine (Ottone) which Cuzzoni allegedly refused to sing as it was too plain – until Handel threatened to throw her out of the window..! Lorraine Hunt’s re-enaction of Durastanti’s Sesto role from Giulio Cesare sees a committed ‘L’angue offenso mai riposa’. Drew Minter’s coppery and languid countertenor gives delight in little-known arias from Riccardo Primo (Agitato da fiere tempeste) and Tolomeo (Stille Amare). Whilst David Thomas’ cavernous bass voice ranges across opera and oratorio roles for Montagnana.
In all this is a superb collection that illustrates what a genius Handel was at characterisation and word-painting. No Handel lover will want to miss it.

The Artists:

Track List:

cd1:
01. Spietati (Rodelinda) (4:17)
02. Ombre, piante, urne funeste! (Rodelinda) (4:46)
03. Il volo cosi fido (Riccardo Primo) (5:10)
04. Se pieta di me non senti (Giulio Cesare) (10:56)
05. Piangero la sorte mia (Giulio Cesare) (6:03)
06. Da tempeste il legno infranto (Giulio Cesare) (6:17)
07. Scoglio d’immota fronte (Scipione) (5:27)
08. False immagine (Ottone) (7:17)
09. Affani del pansier (Ottone) (7:34)
10. Se non mi vuol amar (Tamerlano) (7:14)
11. L’Amor che per te sento (Alessandro) (4:42)
12. Amante stravagante (Flavio) (4:24)
cd2:
01. Ogni vento (Agrippina) (5:21)
02. Pensieri, voi mi tormentate (Agrippina) (4:47)
03. Ombra cara di mia sposa (Radamisto) (8:02)
04. Qual nave (Radamisto) (6:16)
05. Dimmi, crudele Amore (Muzio Scevola) (6:30)
06. Vieni, o figlio (Ottone) (7:55)
07. Svegliatevi nel core (Giulio Cesare) (5:12)
08. Cara speme (Giulio Cesare) (4:54)
09. L’angue offeso mai riposa (Giulio Cesare) (5:47)
10. L’aure che spira (Giulio Cesare) (5:17)
11. La giustizia (Giulio Cesare) (4:22)
12. Mirami altero in volto (Arianna) (3:54)
13. Qual leon (Arianna) (5:56)
cd3:
01. Va tacito (Giulio Cesare) (6:17)
02. Non e vago e bello (Giulio Cesare) (3:02)
03. Vivi, tiranno (Rodelinda) (5:33)
04. Che piu si tarda omai (Tolomeo) (6:36)
05. Nube che il Sole (Riccardo Primo) (6:14)
06. Agitato da fiere tempeste (Orlando) (4:38)
07. Ah Stigie larve! (Orlando) (7:50)
08. Gia per la man (Orlando) (5:45)
09. T’ubbidiro, crudele (Orlando) (3:35)
10. E queste la Mercede (Orlando) (5:04)
11. Amor, nel mio penar (Flavio) (6:06)
cd4:
01. Se un bell’ardire (Ezio) (3:29)
02. Nasce al bosco (Ezio) (5:39)
03. Già risonar (Ezio) (5:37)
04. Fra l’ombre e gli orrori (Sosarme) (5:07)
05. Sento il cor (Sosarme) (5:05)
06. Tiene Giove (Sosarme) (3:06)
07. Pluck root and branch (Esther) (2:26)
08. Turn not, O Queen (Esther) (2:35)
09. How art thou fall’n (Esther) (4:21)
10. Ferito son d’Amore (Acis & Galatea) (3:47)
11. Piangi pur (Tolomeo) (2:34)
12. Lascia Amor (Orlando) (4:10)
13. Sorge infausta una procella (Orlando) (6:42)
14. Awake the ardour (Deborah) (3:33)
15. Swift inundation (Deborah) (3:26)
16. Tears, such as tender fathers shed (Deborah) (2:39)
17. Ah, canst thou but prove me! (Athalia) (3:23)

Stereo, DDD, mp3, 320 kbps, 240:35 minutes, 756.19 Mb (music) + 97.22 Mb (scans). Full info included.

Part1 –  Part2 –Part3 –Part4 –Part5 –Part6 –Part7
Scans

Joseph Haydn – Orlando Paladino

Recorded at the Grande Salle, Epalinges, Switzerland in June 1976

About this opera:
The Philips series, conducted by Antal Dorati, was an eye-opener and by general consent Orlando Paladino was the masterpiece. It is an opera in three acts by Joseph Haydn which was first performed at Eszterháza on 6 December 1782. The libretto by Nunziano Porta is based on another libretto, Le pazzie d’Orlando, by Carlo Francesco Badini (set by the composer P.A. Guglielmi in 1771), itself inspired by Ariosto’s epic poem Orlando furioso. The opera was described as a dramma eroicomico and the plot mixes heroic and comic elements. It was Haydn’s most popular opera during his lifetime.
Haydn contributed an exceptionally inventive and varied score to a libretto that was not written specifically for him but for the Italian composer Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi. It is of course built on the “Chanson de Roland”, written around 1100. During the Renaissance Boiardo extended the story in his unfinished poem “Orlando inammorato” and Ariosto went one step further in his “Orlando furioso”. Both Lully and Handel wrote operas on the subject, in 1685 and 1733 and so came Guglielmi’s “Le pazzie di Orlando”, performed in London in 1771, where he explored the humorous side of the subject. The text Haydn set was further developed but is in the main the same story as Guglielmi’s. It was performed at Esterháza in 1782, 1783 and 1784 and after that was a resounding success in Central Europe, being played during the composer’s lifetime in Bratislava, Prague, Brünn (Brno), Vienna, Budapest, Mannheim, Frankfurt, Cologne, Graz, Nuremberg, Berlin, Hanover, Bremen, Leipzig, Munich, Augsburg, Königsberg, Hamburg, Breslau and Dresden. Eventually it disappeared from view, only to be revived in our time. There is no evidence that Mozart or Da Ponte knew the work but there are similarities between Orlando and Don Giovanni. Don Ottavio could be modelled on Medoro, Donna Anna could be a younger sister of Angelica and Leporello has learnt a thing or two from Pasquale, who boasts about his travels around Europe in a kind of catalogue aria, Ho viaggiato in Francia, in Spagna. This buffo character has another aria, demonstrating his musical capacity, imitating instruments in the Maestro di Cappella manner, known from works by both Cimarosa and Paër.

The Artists:

Track List:

cd1:
01. Sinfonia (3:53)
02. 1. Akt – (Introduzione) Eurilla, Licone, Rodomonte – Il lavorar l’e pur la brutta cosa (3:27)
03. 1. Akt – (Recitativo) Rodomonte, Licone, Eurilla – Presto rispondi, indegno (1:53)
04. 1. Akt – (Aria) Eurilla – Ah se dire io vi potessi (3:28)
05. 1. Akt – (Recitativo) Rodomonte, Licone – Non perdiamo piu tempo (0:40)
06. 1. Akt – (Aria) Rodomonte – Temerario, senti e trema (3:05)
07. 1. Akt – (cavatina) Angelica – Palpita ad ogni istante (5:11)
08. 1. Akt – (Recitativo) Angelica – Angelica infelice (1:30)
09. 1. Akt – Sinfonia (0:28)
10. 1. Akt – (Recitativo) Alcina, Angelica – Che brami dalla fata¿ (1:49)
11. 1. Akt – (Aria) Alcina – Ad un guardo, a un cenno solo (3:48)
12. 1. Akt – (Recitativo) Angelica, Medoro – D’Alcina i detti (1:35)
13. 1. Akt – (Aria) Medoro – Parto. Mah, oh dio, non posso (6:30)
14. 1. Akt – (Cavatina) Pasquale – La mia bella m’ha detto di no (1:35)
15. 1. Akt – (Recitativo) Pasquale, Rodomonte, Eurilla – Pasquale disgraziato (1:50)
16. 1. Akt – (Aria) Pasquale – Ho viaggiato in Francia, in Spagna (3:04)
17. 1. Akt – (Recitativo) Medoro, Angelica – Si, regina, ho deciso (0:47)
18. 1. Akt – (Aria) Angelica – Non partir, mia bella face (5:10)
19. 1. Akt – (Recitativo) Medoro – In odio al mio bel nume (0:34)
20. 1. Akt – (Recitativo, accompagnato) Orlando – Angelica, mio ben (5:06)
21. 1. Akt – (Aria) Orlando – D’Angelica il nome (3:30)
22. 1. Akt – (Recitativo) Pasquale, Rodomonte, Orlando, Eurilla – D’evitare i rumor dicea Catone (1:44)
23. 1. Akt – (Finale I) Orlando, Eurilla, Pasquale – Presto rispondi, indegna (2:08)
24. 1. Akt – (Finale I) Angelica, Pasquale, Eurilla, Rodomonte – Sento nel seno, oh dio (4:15)
25. 1. Akt – (Finale I) Medoro, Angelica, Eurilla, Pasquale – Chi mi salva o tien nascoso (3:42)
26. 1. Akt – (Finale I) Alcina, Rodomonte, Angelica, Eurilla, Medoro, Pasquale – Van timore il cor ti muove (2:00)
27. 1. Akt – (Finale I) Angelica, Eurilla, Medoro, Pasquale, Alcina, Rodomonte – Ferma, ferma Belzebu! (3:35)
cd2:
01. (Recitativo) Orlando, Rodomonte, Eurilla – Sempre, sempre presente (1:27)
02. (Aria) Rodomonte – Mille lampi d’accese faville (2:04)
03. (Recitativo) Medoro, Eurilla – In questo solitario orrido luogo (1:48)
04. (Aria) Medoro – Dille che un infelice (5:20)
05. (Cavatina) Pasquale – Vittoria, vittoria! (1:36)
06. (Recitativo) Eurilla, Pasquale – Vuo divertirmi adesso (1:28)
07. (Duetto) Eurilla, Pasquale – Quel tuo visetto amabile (3:24)
08. (Aria) Angelica – Aure chete (5:16)
09. (Recitativo) Alcino – D’Angelica le smanie (1:01)
10. (Recitatico accompagnato) Angelica, Medoro – Fra queste selve invan (5:11)
11. (Duetto) Medoro, Angelica – Qual contento io provo in seno (3:56)
12. (Recitativo)Medoro, Angelica, Orlando, Alcina – Ma no perdiamo, oh cara (3:45)
13. (Aria) Orlando – Cosa vedo, cosa sento (3:04)
14. (Recitativo) Pasquale, Eurilla – Con quest’abito addosso (1:45)
15. (Aria) Pasquale – Ecco spiano (4:26)
16. (Recitativo) Rodomonte, Alcina, Eurilla – Angelica, dov’e (1:18)
17. (Finale II) Orlando, Pasquale, Alcino – Nel solitario speco (5:50)
18. (Finale II) Angelica, Medoro, Eurilla, Rodomonte, Pasquale, Alcina – Per quest’orrido sentieri! (6:07)
19. (Finale II) Orlando, Rodomonte, Angelica, Alcina, Eurilla, Medoro, Pasquale – Dove son (4:10)
cd3:
01. (Aria) Caronte – Ombre insepolte (2:43)
02. (Recitativo) Alcina, Caronte – Nella mente d’Orlando (1:17)
03. (Recitativo accompaganto) Orlando – Sogno¿ veglio¿ cos’e¿ (2:20)
04. (Aria) Orlando – Miei pensieri, dove siete (3:34)
05. (Recitativo accompagnato) Caronte, Orlando – L’irremeabil onda: (Recitativo) Angelica, Medoro, Orlando, Rodomonte, Pas (1:36)
06. Combattimento (1:03)
07. (Recitatico accompagnato) Angelica – Implacabili numi (4:13)
08. (Aria) Angelica – Dell’estreme sue voci dolenti (4:26)
09. (Recitativo) Alcina, Angelica, Rodomonte, Orlando, Medoro, Pasquale, Eurilla – Non tormentari piu (3:44)
10. (Coro) Tutti – Son confuso e stupefatto (2:43)

Stereo, ADD, mp3, 320 kbps, 147:58 minutes, 513.89 Mb. Covers, info & synopsis included.

Part1 –  Part2 –  Part3 –  Part4 –  Part5

Giuseppe Verdi – From La Scala: Aida

Recorded in 1982.

About this collection of operas from La Scala:
Between 1960 and 1981, the music label Deutsche Grammophon recorded the eight greatest operas composed by Verdi at La Scala in Milan, the home of Italian operas. World’s leading singers and conductors were involved in the recording. The result provides you with the best possible way to get familiar with Verdi’s operas.

About this opera:
Aida, an Arabic female name meaning “visitor” or “returning”) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Aida was first performed at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo on 24 December 1871, conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, commissioned Verdi to write the opera for performance in January 1871, paying him 150,000 francs, but the premiere was delayed because of the Franco-Prussian War. One scholar has argued that the scenario was written by Temistocle Solera and not by Auguste Mariette. Contrary to popular belief, the opera was not written to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, nor that of the Khedivial Opera House (which opened with Verdi’s Rigoletto) in the same year. (Verdi had been asked to compose an ode for the opening of the Canal, but declined on the grounds that he did not write “occasional pieces”.) Verdi originally chose not to write an overture for the opera, but merely a brief orchestral prelude. He then composed an overture of the “potpourri” variety to replace the original prelude. However, in the end he decided not to have the overture performed because of its – his own words – ‘pretentious insipidity’. Aida met with great acclaim when it finally opened in Cairo on 24 December 1871. The costumes, accessories and stages for the premiere were designed by Auguste Mariette. Although Verdi did not attend the premiere in Cairo, he was most dissatisfied with the fact that the audience consisted of invited dignitaries, politicians and critics, but no members of the general public. He therefore considered the Italian (and European) premiere, held at La Scala, Milan on 8 February 1872, and in which he was heavily involved at every stage, to be its real premiere. Verdi had also written the role of Aida for the voice of Teresa Stolz, who sang it for the first time at the Milan premiere. Verdi had asked her fiancé, Angelo Mariani, to conduct the Cairo premiere, but he declined, so Giovanni Bottesini filled the gap. The Milan Amneris, Maria Waldmann, was his favourite in the role and she repeated it a number of times at his request. Aida was received with great enthusiasm at its Milan premiere. The opera was soon mounted at major opera houses throughout Italy, including the Teatro Regio di Parma (20 April 1872), the Teatro di San Carlo (30 March 1873), La Fenice (11 June 1873), the Teatro Regio di Torino (26 December 1874), the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (30 September 1877, with Giuseppina Pasqua as Amneris and Franco Novara as the King), and the Teatro Costanzi (8 October 1881, with Theresia Singer as Aida and Giulia Novelli as Amneris) among others. As of 2007, the Metropolitan Opera of New York alone has given more than 1,100 performances of the opera, making it the second most frequently performed work by the company behind La Bohème.

The Players:

Track List:

Stereo, ADD, mp3, 320 kbps, 340.71 Mb, 2 hours 20 minutes. Covers, info & synopsis included.

Part1 —–   Part2 —–   Part3 —–   Part4

Giuseppe Verdi – From La Scala. Simon Boccanegra

Recorded in January 1977.

About this collection of operas from La Scala:
Between 1960 and 1981, the music label Deutsche Grammophon recorded the eight greatest operas composed by Verdi at La Scala in Milan, the home of Italian operas. World’s leading singers and conductors were involved in the recording. The result provides you with the best possible way to get familiar with Verdi’s operas.

About this Opera:
In 1855, the Fenice Theatre of Venice asked Verdi for a new opera, but the contract was signed only a year later, when the composer had already seen the outline of a work by the playwright Antonio Garcia Gutiérrez: Simon Boccanegra. The Maestro started writing his own version while in Paris, where he got Giuseppe Montanelli to shave down and model the libretto Francesco Maria Piave had already finished, communicating to Piave his modifications by letter, fait accompli. The opera opened on March 12th, 1857, with baritone Leone Gilardoni as Simon Boccanegra, bass Giuseppe Etcheverry as Fiesco, baritone Giacomo Vercellini as Paolo, and soprano Luigia Bendazzi as Maria/Amalia. The opera was a clamorous flop, almost as bad as La traviata four years earlier. Twenty-two years later, urged by his publisher and friend Ricordi, Verdi took the old score of Simon Boccanegra in hand once again, turning to Arrigo Boito for the modifications to Piave’s libretto. The first act was completely revised; Verdi was inspired by two letters of Francesco Petrarca, one to the Doge of Genoa, Boccanegra himself, and the other to the Doge of Venice, condemning the fratricidal wars between the two republics; Petrarca’s letter was to be used not only in the libretto, it was to appear on the stage as well. With this and other modifications Simon Boccanegra was presented to the public at the Scala Theatre in Milan on March 24th, 1881.

The Artists:

Track List:

cd1:
01. Prologue -[Preludio] Che dicesti? (7:03)
02. L’altra magion vedete? (3:29)
03. A te l’estremo addio…Il lacerato spirito (5:09)
04. Suona ogni labbro il mio nome (6:21)
05. Oh, de’ Fieschi implacata (4:04)
06. [Preludio: L'aurora] (2:26)
07. Come in quest’ ora bruna (3:52)
08. Cielo di stelle orbato… Vieni a mirar la cerula marina tremolante (7:25)
09. Propizio ei giunge! (5:00)
10. Paolo/Signor (3:24)
11. Orfanella il tetto umile…Figlia! a tal nome io palpito (9:35)
12. Che rispose (1:16)
13. Messeri, il re di Tararia vi porge (6:59)
14. Ferisci! / Amelia! (0:58)
cd2:
01. Amelia, di’ come fosti rapita (2:34)
02. Plebe! Patrizi! Popolo…Piango su voi (5:02)
03. Ecco la spada… Sia maledetto! (4:37)
04. Quei due vedesti (2:33)
05. Prigioniero in qual loco m’adduci? (1:50)
06. Udisti? / Vil disegno!… Sento avvampar nell’anima… Cielo pietoso, rendila (5:47)
07. Tu qui? / Amelia (4:33)
08. Figlia! / Si afflitto, o padre mio? (5:54)
09. Oh, Amelia, ami un nemico… Perdon, Amelia (6:55)
10. All’armi, all’armi, o Liguri (1:20)
11. Evviva il Doge (6:49)
12. M’ardon le tempia…Come un fantasima Fiesco t’appar (7:15)
13. Piango, perche mi parla in te (3:47)
14. Chi veggo! (2:43)
15. Gran Dio, li benedici (7:20)

Stereo, ADD, mp3, 320 kbps, 317.07 Mb, 137 minutes. Covers, info & synopsis included.

Part1 —–   Part2 —–   Part3 —–   Part4

Giuseppe Verdi – From La Scala: Macbeth

Recorded in January 1976.

About this collection of operas from La Scala:
Between 1960 and 1981, the music label Deutsche Grammophon recorded the eight greatest operas composed by Verdi at La Scala in Milan, the home of Italian operas. World’s leading singers and conductors were involved in the recording. The result provides you with the best possible way to get familiar with Verdi’s operas.

About this opera:
Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei, based on Shakespeare’s play of the same name. It was Verdi’s tenth opera and also the first of Shakespeare’s plays which he adapted for the operatic stage.
Written after the success of Atilla in 1846 by which time the composer had become well established, it was before the great successes of 1850 to 1853, Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata which propelled him into universal fame. As sources, Shakespeare’s plays provided Verdi with lifelong inspiration: some, such as King Lear were never realized but he wrote his two final operas using Othello as the basis for Otello (1887) and The Merry Wives of Windsor as the basis for Falstaff (1893).
The first version of Macbeth was completed during the middle of what Verdi was to describe as his “galley years”. Ranging from 1842 to 1850, this period saw the composer produce 14 operas, but by the standards of the subject matter of almost all Italian operas during the first fifty years of the 19th century, Macbeth was highly unusual. The 1847 version was very successful and it was presented widely. Pleased with his opera and with its reception, Verdi wrote to Antonio Barezzi, his former father-in-law and long-time supporter, on 25 March 1847 just about two weeks after the premiere: “I have long intended to dedicate an opera to you, who have been father, benefactor, and friend to me. It was a duty I should have fulfilled sooner if imperious circumstances had not prevented me. Now, I send you Macbeth which I prize above all my other operas, and therefore deem worthier to present to you”.
The 1865 revision, produced for Paris in a French translation and with several additions, was less successful and the opera largely faded from public view until the mid-20th century revivals.
In 1864 Verdi was asked to provide additional music – a ballet and a final chorus – for a production at the Théâtre Lyrique (Théâtre-Lyrique Impérial du Châtelet) in Paris. Initially thinking these additions were all that was needed, he realized that an overhaul of the opera was required. Advising the impresario of the Lyrique that more time was needed, he took the opportunity to revise the entire opera, in particular by adding music for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Acts 1 and 3; the addition of a ballet in Act 3; and changing the endings of Acts 3 and 4, in the latter case by dropping Macbeth’s aria Mal per me che m’affidai – “Trusting in the prophesies of Hell” and adding the triumphal choral ending.
Once again Piave was called into service and the new version was first performed on April 21, 1865. Overall, the first performance was poorly received, something which puzzled the composer: “I thought I had done quite well with it…it appears I was mistaken”. It remains the preferred version for modern performances.
The 1847 version was successful and was performed all over Italy until the revised version appeared in 1865. The first version was given its US premiere in April 1850 in New York and its UK premiere took place in October 1860 in Manchester. After the 1865 premiere of the revised version, which was followed by only 13 more performances, the opera generally fell from popularity. It was given in Paris in April 1865 and up to about 1900, it was rarely performed until after World War II. The US premiere of this version did not take place until 24 October 1941 in New York.
Two European productions, in Berlin in the 1930s and at Glyndebourne in 1938 and 1939, were important in helping the 20th Century revival. The 1938 production was the UK premiere of the revised version and the first to combine the death of Macbeth from the 1847 version with the triumphal ending from the 1865 version, something totally against Verdi’s wishes. Glydebourne revived it in the 1950s but it was not until 1959 that it appeared on the Metropolitan Opera’s roster for the first time. (It has been given 91 performances between 1959 and the 2008 revival). Similarly, the first presentations at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with Tito Gobbi and then others in the title role, took place only in 1960.
In recent times, the opera has appeared more frequently in the repertories of the Washington National Opera (2007) and the San Francisco Opera (Nov/Dec 2007) and many other opera houses worldwide, but almost all productions stage the revised version with the exception of both the original and the revised versions which were presented in 2003 as part of the Sarasota Opera’s “Verdi Cycle” of all the composer’s operas in their different versions.

The Players:

Track List:

Stereo, ADD, mp3, 320 kbps, 353.747 Mb, 2 hours 33 minutes. Covers, info & synopsis included.

Part1 —–   Part2 —–   Part3 —–   Part4

Ludwig Van Beethoven – 9 Symphonien (legendary Karajan’s, 1963)

Ludwig Van Beethoven – 9 SYmphonien (Herbert Von Karajan, 1963)
Recorded at The Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin between December 1961 and November 1962.

Coments:

• By general consensus, Herbert von Karajan’s first (1963) Beethoven cycle for Deutsche Grammophon is the best of the four (!) that he recorded. The Berlin Philharmonic was in top form, and they had not yet made an artistic fetish out of the bland smoothness that typified the conductor’s later recordings of this music (and just about everything else). Karajan’s squeaky clean, emotionally cool Beethoven will always be something of an acquired taste, but this set makes the best possible case for it. –David Hurwitz

• This celebrated set, recorded in 1961-62, is generally considered the best of Herbert von Karajan’s four Beethoven symphony cycles. (His cycles from the 1950s, 1970s, and 1980s are also available.) Karajan had trained the Berlin Philharmonic to produce an ultra-smooth sound — the conductor’s trademark — yet their playing crackles with energy. The recorded sound has held up amazingly well, especially in this latest remastering…Barnes & Noble

• Herbert von Karajan recorded the symphonies of Beethoven four times in his remarkable career — once with the Philharmonia in the Fifties and three times with the Berlin Philharmonic (1961-2, 1975-7, 1982-5). In many ways, his 60s cycle stands out from the other three. It was the first recording of the Nine to be conceived, planned and sold as an integral set. The initial purchasers had to pay a subscription for the LPs which were sent to them symphony by symphony. Thirty-six years later, this cycle has become somewhat of a benchmark for these cornerstones of the symphonic repartoire.Upon first hearing, I was struck by the tremendous enthusiasm in the playing of the orchestra. I can just imagine the excitement in the recording sessions, one of the finest orchestras of the time conducted by this energetic conductor at the start of what was to become a long tenure. This notion of a great event must have added a frisson to the atmosphere, and it certainly shows here…Isaak Koh

• Ah, fame! Beethoven is such a ubiquitous presence that even gangsters, immigrants, and devotees of Mantovani know his name, while bankers, rock hounds and mental patients will regale you with the joke about the origin of the Fifth Symphony in a landlady’s odd laugh — Ha-ha-ha-huh! And because so much of his work is surefire, it communicates even when performed by bush league bands and amateurs. Which is to say that he is both superficially known and badly overexposed. As the trunk of the mighty Beethoven tree, the symphonies have been heard so often that, often, they are hardly heard at all. Ha-ha-ha-huh-ho hum. The glut of new Beethoven symphony recordings never ceases — the flood, at least, lasted but 40 days and 40 nights. The original instruments craze promised to deliver Beethoven’s work with pristine authenticity by taking us back to limitations the composer manifestly sought to transcend. Meanwhile, we rummage among the rich trove of artifacts left by the great interpreters of the past — Mengelberg, Toscanini, Klemperer, Furtwangler — for revelations of the divine spark animating these Promethean works, and we find them inseparable from the flat, primitive technology of their era. But every generation presents us with a tiny elite of interpretive genius and Herbert von Karajan, born in 1908, had the great good fortune of having been born into a time and place in which his native gifts could play upon a rich inheritance. In the early 1960s, when these recordings were made, Karajan was in his vigorous mid-fifties, only recently at the helm of the Berlin Philharmonic — which he had already made his own— and playing to a superb recording technology which digitalization only gussies up a bit. A bloom attended everything he touched. Want the revolutionary Beethoven in all his power and his glory? Try Karajan in his prime…Adrian Corleonis

Artists:

Track List:

cd1:
1. Symphony no.1 in C major, op.21 – Adagio molto. Allegro con brio (9:33)
2. Symphony no.1 in C major, op.21 – Andante cantabile con moto (5:53)
3. Symphony no.1 in C major, op.21 – Menuetto. Allegro molto e vivace (3:57)
4. Symphony no.1 in C major, op.21 – Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace (5:51)
5. Symphony no.3 in E flat major, op.5 – Allegro con brio (14:48)
6. Symphony no.3 in E flat major, op.5 – Marcia funebre. Adagio assai (17:10)
7. Symphony no.3 in E flat major, op.5 – Scherzo. Allegro vivace (5:48)
8. Symphony no.3 in E flat major, op.5 – Finale. Allegro molto (12:20)
cd2:
1. Symphony no.2 in D major, op.36 – Adagio. Allegro con brio (10:21)
2. Symphony no.2 in D major, op.36 – Larghetto (10:36)
3. Symphony no.2 in D major, op.36 – Scherzo. Allegro (3:53)
4. Symphony no.2 in D major, op.36 – Allegro molto (6:28)
5. Symphony no.4 in B major, op.60 – Adagio. Allegro vivace (9:54)
6. Symphony no.4 in B major, op.60 – Adagio (9:58)
7. Symphony no.4 in B major, op.60 – Allegro vivace (5:45)
8. Symphony no.4 in B major, op.60 – Allegro ma non troppo (5:23)
cd3:
1. Symphony no. in C minor, op.67 – Allegro con brio (7:19)
2. Symphony no. in C minor, op.67 – Andante con moto (10:05)
3. Symphony no. in C minor, op.67 – Allegro (4:54)
4. Symphony no. in C minor, op.67 – Allegro (9:07)
5. Symphony n.6 in F major, op.68 ‘Pastorale’ – Allegro ma non troppo (9:01)
6. Symphony n.6 in F major, op.68 ‘Pastorale’ – Andante molto mosso (11:36)
7. Symphony n.6 in F major, op.68 ‘Pastorale’ – Allegro (3:02)
8. Symphony n.6 in F major, op.68 ‘Pastorale’ – Allegro (3:25)
9. Symphony n.6 in F major, op.68 ‘Pastorale’ – Allegretto (8:46)
cd4:
1. Symphony No.7 in A major, op.92: I. Poco sostenuto · Vivace (11:27)
2. Symphony No.7 in A major, op. 92: II. Allegretto (8:01)
3. Symphony No.7 in A major, Op.92: III. Presto (7:50)
4. Symphony No.7 in A major, Op.92: IV. Allegro con brio (6:46)
5. Symphony No.8 in F major, op.93: I. Allegro vivace e con brio (9:20)
6. Symphony No.8 in F major, Op.93 – II. Allegretto scherzando (3:58)
7. Symphony No.8 in F major, Op.93 – III. Tempo di menuetto (5:58)
8. Symphony No.8 in F major, Op.93 – IV. Allegro vivace (7:06)
cd5:
1. Symphony no.9 in D minor, Op.125 “Choral” – I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso (15:32)
2. Symphony no.9 in D minor, Op.125 “Choral” – II. Molto vivace (11:03)
3. Symphony no.9 in D minor, Op.125 “Choral” – III. Adagio molto e cantabile (16:28)
4. Symphony no.9 in D minor, Op.125 “Choral” – IVa. Presto (6:22)
5. Symphony no.9 in D minor, Op.125 “Choral” – IVb. Presto · “O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!” · Allegro assai (17:34)

Stereo, ADD, mp3, 320 kbps CBR, 5 hours 32 minutes. Covers, pictures & full info included.

cd1 Part1 — cd1 Part2
cd2 Part1 — cd2 Part2
cd3 Part1 — cd3 Part2
cd4 Part1 — cd4 Part2
cd5 Part1 — cd5 Part2

Scans

Para Amelia.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – 4 Horn & Bassoon Concertos

Recorded in New York on March & December, 1987.

About these works:
The Bassoon Concerto in B flat major (K. 191), written in 1774 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is the most standard piece in the entire bassoon repertory. Nearly all professional bassoonists will perform the piece at some stage in their career, and it is probably the most commonly requested piece in orchestral auditions – it is usually requested that the player perform the excerpts from concerto’s first two movements in every audition. Although the autograph is lost, the exact date of the finishing is known: 4 June 1774. Mozart wrote the bassoon concerto when he was 18 years old, and it was his first concerto for wind instruments. Although it is believed that it was commissioned by an aristocratic amateur bassoon player Thaddäus Freiherr von Dürnitz, who owned seventy-four works by Mozart, this is a claim that is supported by little evidence. Scholars believe that Mozart wrote perhaps three bassoon concerti, but that only the first has survived.

Horn Concerto No. 2 in E-flat major, K. 417 was completed in 1783. The work is in three movements: Allegro maestoso, Andante & Rondo Più allegro. Mozart’s good-natured ribbing of his friend is evident in the manuscript inscription “W. A. Mozart took pity on Leitgeb, as, ox and fool in Vienna on 27 May 1783.” This is one of two horn concerti of Mozart to omit bassoons. It is also one of Mozart’s two horn concerti to have ripieno horns (horns included in the orchestra besides the soloist), though in contrast to K. 495, the solo horn in this one does not duplicate the first ripieno horn’s part in the tutti passages.

Horn Concerto No. 1 in D major, K. 412/386b was completed in 1791. The work is in two movements. This is one of two horn concerti of Mozart to include bassoons (the other is K. 447), but in this one he “treats them indifferently in the first movement.” It is the only one of Mozart’s horn concerti to be in D major (the rest are in E-flat major) and the only one to have just two movements instead of the usual three. Although numbered first, this was actually the last of the four to be completed. Compared to the other three concertos, it is shorter in duration (two movements rather than three), and is much simpler in regard to both range and technique, perhaps in a nod to Leitgeb’s, the horn player and Mozart’s great friend, advanced age and (presumably) reduced capabilities at the time of composition. The second movement was shown by Alan Tyson to have been finished by Mozart’s student Franz Xaver Süssmayr after Mozart’s death.

Horn Concerto No. 3 in E-flat major, K. 447 was completed between 1784 and 1787, during the Vienna Period. The composition was written as a friendly gesture for the hornist Joseph Leutgeb (his name is mentioned few times in the score), and Mozart probably didn’t consider it as particularly important, since he failed to enter it to the autograph catalogue of his works. The autograph score remained well preserved, it is stored in the British Library in London.

Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat major, K. 495 was completed in 1786. The work is in three movements. The manuscript, written in red, green, blue, and black ink, was formerly considered as a jocular attempt to rattle the intended performer, Mozart’s friend Joseph Leutgeb. However, recently it was suggested, that the multicolored score may be also a kind of “color code”. The last movement is a “quite obvious” example of the hunt topic, “in which the intervallic construction, featuring prominent tonic and dominant triads in the main melody, was to some degree dictated by the capability of the horn, and so was more closely allied with the original ‘pure’ characteristics of the ‘chasse’ as an open-air hunting call.” This concerto is one of Mozart’s two horn concerti to have ripieno horns (horns included in the orchestra besides the soloist), though in contrast to K. 417, the solo horn in this one duplicates the first ripieno horn’s part in the tutti passages.

Artists & Track List:

Stereo, DDD, 320 kbps, 186.41 Mb, 74:04 minutes. Covers & info included.

Part1 —–   Part2

Este es para “tete”

George Frideric Händel – L’Allegro, Il Penseroso Ed Il Moderato

Recorded in Paris in 2000.

About this work:
L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (HWV 55) is a pastoral ode by George Frideric Handel based on the poetry of John Milton. Handel composed the work over the period of 19 January to 4 February 1740, and the work was premiered on 27 February 1740 at the Royal Theatre of Lincoln’s Inn Fields. One of Handel’s librettists, Charles Jennens, arranged Milton’s two poems, L’Allegro and il Penseroso, interleaving them to create dramatic tension between the personified characters of Milton’s poems (L’Allegro or the “Joyful man” and il Penseroso or the “Contemplative man”). The first two movements consist of this dramatic dialog between Milton’s poems. In an attempt to unite the two poems into a singular “moral design”, Jennens added a new poem, “il Moderato”, to create a third movement. In 1988, Mark Morris choreographed a dance performance to accompany the music and poetry.

The Artists:

Track List:

Stereo, DDD, mp3, 320 kbps, 299.20 Mb, 1 hours 48 minutes. Covers & info included.

Part1 —–  Part2 —–  Part3