The most epic yet most human of Verdi’s operas, Don Carlos exists in multiple versions, but this (in its original French) is one of the best and features Plácido Domingo in the title role.ĩ Verdi Falstaff (conductor Herbert von Karajan) EMI £11.74, RRP £12.99 Russia’s greatest opera, amid strong competition, Tchaikovsky’s 'lyric scenes’ have not been better served on disc than by the idiomatic conducting of Semyon Bychkov and a cast including Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s fresh-voiced Onegin.Ĩ Verdi Don Carlos (conductor Claudio Abbado) DG £48.92, RRP £59.99 Witty yet wistful, Erich Kleiber’s interpretation with the Vienna Philharmonic of Strauss’s masterpiece is a classic boasting a dream cast.ħ Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin (conductor Semyon Bychkov) Philips £17.60, RRP £17.99 The cast is led by an ebullient Cecilia Bartoli on her best form.Ħ Strauss Der Rosenkavalier (conductor Erich Kleiber) Decca £12.72, RRP £12.99 The greatest of all Toscas, Maria Callas is captured at her legendary best, urged on by a distinguished cast and conducting of dramatic sweep.ĥ Rossini La Cenerentola (conductor Riccardo Chailly) Decca £24.45, RRP £24.99įrom high spirits to deep pathos, La Cenerentola ('Cinderella’) holds in perfect balance everything we love most about Rossini. The dialogue may be cut, but no CD collection should be without Mozart’s 'opera for everybody’ or a cast that includes Lucia Popp’s Queen of the Night and Nicolai Gedda’s Tamino.Ĥ Puccini Tosca (conductor Victor de Sabata) EMI £17.60, RRP £17.99 With a great line-up also including Christa Ludwig and Gottlob Frick, this Fidelio is timeless.Ģ Mozart Così fan tutte (conductor Bernard Haitink) EMI £17.60, RRP £17.99īeneath its unruffled, Mediterranean surface, Mozart’s sublime yet cruel comedy comes to life in Bernard Haitink’s interpretation from Glyndebourne, with a cast including Carol Vaness and Claudio Desderi.ģ Mozart Die Zauberflöte (conductor Otto Klemperer) EMI £17.60, RRP £17.99 Otto Klemperer’s lofty conducting evokes the transcendental spirit and Jon Vickers’s anguished Florestan is all suffering strength. Though the Fidelio discography is large, few recordings stand out as this one continues to, nearly half a century after it was first captured in stereo. MUST BUY: 1 Beethoven Fidelio (conductor Otto Klemperer) EMI £17.60, RRP £17.99īeethoven’s opera is heart-stopping in the theatre but also a sublime, uplifting musical experience without that staging not many operas convey as much of a message in 'tone’ alone. But contrary to popular belief, opera, like Greggs, isn’t that expensive, or very highfalutin, much of it being about as accessible as a strawberry tart. Opera, like Greggs, gets a lot of bad press. Princess Margaret once described opera as fat people shouting at each other, which also seems a good description of my local Greggs. Really!.Let's have a look form the 9/09/09 edition of the UK Telegrpah? Any comments about their choices?.um.
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