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Herbert von Karajan's 1950 Vienna recording of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro was the first made for the then-new LP medium. Like its EMI predecessor on 78s (the 1934 Fritz Busch/Glyndebourne version), this recording omits all of the recitatives. Still and all, the Vienna Philharmonic's vital work, so full of character, attests to its reputation as a singer's orchestra. It's a joy to encounter Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in her silvery prime as the Countess. Sena Jurinac spins out Cherubino's arias with irrepressible elegance and richness of tone. The same comment holds true for George London's fresh, youthful Almaviva. Irmgard Seefried shines as Susanna, most tellingly so in her lovely Letter Duet with Schwarzkopf. The true heart of the title role lies within the missing recitatives, yet one still can tell that Erich Kunz's Figaro commands vivid presence and style. All in all, Karajan's first recorded Figaro, if hardly the one from which to learn this indestructible masterpiece, will appeal chiefly to aficionados of Mozart singing at its zenith. ~ Jed Distler, amazon.com

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Here we have an excellent Bach recital of Michael Murray performed at the Methuen Great Organ. This was built for the Music Hall, Boston but later moved to the Methuen Hall and partly rebuilt by G. Donald Harrison, who is said to have changed little of the principals but given the ensemble ''an English warmth''.
Michael Murray's performance of the great Passacaglia in C is awe inspiring. Bach's Passacaglia may be the greatest piece of music ever written, and it is hard not to believe it when listening to this magificent performance. The Passacaglia is a strong, driving work, working out the variations on the theme with an inexorable logic. There is absolutely nothing like it, and this is the ideal performance.

Domingo and Milnes are very famous for their tenor/baritone combination in many operas, and show that excellence in this recording of Pagliacci. Milnes' Prologue is outstanding, his high notes ringing clearly yet with soft power. Throughout, he shows versatility and power, yet enough softness when dealing with Nedda. Domingo's voice is perfect for this role, his "Vesti la giubba" is outstanding. Caballe is an above average Nedda, but not perfect. Her aria is sung well, and her duet with Silvio (McDaniel), Nedda's secret lover, is beautiful.

From his youth in Imperial Berlin and Vienna until his retirement in his late 80's, Wilhelm Kempff's interpretations of Beethoven's Piano works have never been anything other than controversial, polarising the opinions of music lovers for almost a century to an even greater extent than Kemperer did with the symphonies.

The mythic story of Orfeo ed Euridice has been one of the standards since the beginning of opera. It concerns a widower’s quest to rescue his wife from Hades. With the blessing of Cupid, Orpheus is permitted to cross over to the underworld and bring Euridice home only on condition that he does not look at her. After a fantastic journey in which his path is barred by furies and the delights of Elysium, Orpheus finds his greatest obstacle is Euridice, who is baffled by his refusal to return her gaze. To relieve her distress, he looks at her and she dies, but then, in most opera versions anyway, Cupid intervenes and saves them both for the greater glory of love.

Aram Khachaturian is especially famous for the ballets Spartacus and Gayane, both of which contain Khachaturian's most well-known music. Gayane is featuring in its final act what is considered Khachaturian most famous music, the "Sabre Dance". The Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia was used as the theme for a popular BBC drama series, The Onedin Line, during the 1970s. This music has a rich and colorfull orchestration and it features an impressive freshness and vitality

This Decca “Live Recital” is a compilation old Italian songs, operatic arias, and sentimental favorites recorded in four different recitals in Europe, in four different years and four different opera houses ranging from 1997 to 2000. Usually a true recital recording is one performance and shows how an artist connects with the audience. On the other hand the singing is fantastic here and those who want more different projects of Pavarotti won't be disappointed.
This is a must for Pavarotti fans and tenor fans alike.

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If you could have only one or two CDs of Luciano Pavarotti, this 2-CD set probably would be an excellent choice. The first CD contains a great selection of 21 arias (such as Nessun dorma, Brindisi, Di quella pira, M'appari, Una furtiva lagrima, Amor ti vieta, La donna e mobile, etc.) recorded over a period of three decades (from 1968 to 1997), and the second CD comprises 20 beautiful songs (mostly Italian lyric songs, such as O sole mio, Torna a Surriento, Core 'ngrato, Ave maria, Caro mio ben, Santa Lucia, etc.) recorded from 1974 to 1995. ~ amazon.com

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- Baroque Vocal category finalist - 2009 Classic FM Gramophone Awards
- CD of the Month - Gramophone Magazine January 2009
- Opus d'Or Award

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The Dunedin Consort, having scored such a big hit with Handel's Messiah ("Best Baroque Vocal Album" 2007), now heads into 2009 with what is an even better version of the same composer's Acis and Galatea. The scholarly approach continues and here John Butt's forces shrink to perform the masque exactly as it was given at its premiere at the Early of Carnaervon's country house at Cannons, Edgeware, in 1718. The ensemble is nigh perfect - not only is every word of Alexander Pope's and John Gay's text crystal clear and tuning immaculate, but the freshness with which they sing radiates joy throughout the entire score. ~ Classic FM Magazine, Rick Jones

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Belgian singer and songwriter, Jacques Brel created and performed a catalog of literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that brought him a large, devoted following in France. His songs, frequently sharply satirical and often implicitly religious, became hugely popular in Europe. His audience extended internationally, making him a major influence on English-speaking writers and performers including Leonard Cohen and David Bowie, while translations of his songs were recorded by a wide range of performers from the Kingston Trio to Frank Sinatra. ~ allmusic.com Here we have a three DVD 9 collection, about 7 hours, including virtually every piece of moving footage taken of Brel. This collection, commemoration of 25 years since Brel’s death, is the definition of comprehensive and it portrays not just the artist but his time, making it a valuable historical document. ~ amazon.ca

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Belgian singer and songwriter, Jacques Brel created and performed a catalog of literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that brought him a large, devoted following in France. His songs, frequently sharply satirical and often implicitly religious, became hugely popular in Europe. His audience extended internationally, making him a major influence on English-speaking writers and performers including Leonard Cohen and David Bowie, while translations of his songs were recorded by a wide range of performers from the Kingston Trio to Frank Sinatra. ~ allmusic.com Here we have a three DVD 9 collection, about 7 hours, including virtually every piece of moving footage taken of Brel. This collection, commemoration of 25 years since Brel’s death, is the definition of comprehensive and it portrays not just the artist but his time, making it a valuable historical document. ~ amazon.ca

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Here we have a three DVD 9 collection, about 7 hours, including virtually every piece of moving footage taken of Brel. This collection, commemoration of 25 years since Brel’s death, is the definition of comprehensive and it portrays not just the artist but his time, making it a valuable historical document. About two-thirds of the material on this collection is made up of staged variety show performances. The rest is non-scripted live performances and interviews, and these are by far the most exciting. The interviews are all interesting, and some are quite revealing and introspective. The two strongest performance sequences are the 1963 'Bruxelles'/'La statue'/'La Fanette'/'La pendu'/'Les fenetres' perfomance at the Club Domino on disc 2 and the 1965 'La Fanette'/'Les vieux'/'Les bonbons'/'Les bigotes'/'Le plat pays'/'Madeleine' performance on disc 3. The performance is everything I ever expected to see on this collection and more. Sometimes Brel borders on a vaudeville act but it's all great, especially 'Les bonbons' - in fact all his performances of 'Les bonbons' throughout the collection are winners. ~ amazon.ca

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"Although this phenomenally popular body of music has attracted almost every important pianist of the last 150 years, its unlikely that Frédéric Chopin ever found, or will ever find, a more ideal interpreter than Artur Rubinstein... The key to Rubinstein's greatness as a Chopin interpreter was the combination of utter naturalness as a performer and his enormously sophisticated musical mind. Nothing ever seems forced or premeditated: there are no sharp edges or sudden flashes of insight. In fact, the illusion the performances create is one of the music flowing, without benefit of a human intermediary, directly from Chopin's heart to the listener's... At almost every moment in these classic recordings, Rubinstein discovers some wonder of color or phrasing, brings out a beautiful inner voice it seems we've never heard before, and in general creates the impression of a man for whom playing this often fiendishly difficult music is no more difficult than breathing or making love." ~ Jim Sveda, from The Record Shelf Guide to the Classical Repertoire On 11 discs this set contains virtually all of Artur Rubinstein's classic stereo recordings made for RCA in the 1950's and 60's. In addition there is a bonus disc, number 11, with earlier interpretations from 1946 of the Berceuse, Barcarolle and Sonata no. 2. The later stereo recordings of these works are included in the set as well, but this one mono disc also includes the only RCA recording of the Preludes, Op.28. ~ Arkiv.Music.com

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"Although this phenomenally popular body of music has attracted almost every important pianist of the last 150 years, its unlikely that Frédéric Chopin ever found, or will ever find, a more ideal interpreter than Artur Rubinstein... The key to Rubinstein's greatness as a Chopin interpreter was the combination of utter naturalness as a performer and his enormously sophisticated musical mind. Nothing ever seems forced or premeditated: there are no sharp edges or sudden flashes of insight. In fact, the illusion the performances create is one of the music flowing, without benefit of a human intermediary, directly from Chopin's heart to the listener's... At almost every moment in these classic recordings, Rubinstein discovers some wonder of color or phrasing, brings out a beautiful inner voice it seems we've never heard before, and in general creates the impression of a man for whom playing this often fiendishly difficult music is no more difficult than breathing or making love." ~ Jim Sveda, from The Record Shelf Guide to the Classical Repertoire On 11 discs this set contains virtually all of Artur Rubinstein's classic stereo recordings made for RCA in the 1950's and 60's. In addition there is a bonus disc, number 11, with earlier interpretations from 1946 of the Berceuse, Barcarolle and Sonata no. 2. The later stereo recordings of these works are included in the set as well, but this one mono disc also includes the only RCA recording of the Preludes, Op.28. ~ Arkiv.Music.com This set doesn't include all of Chopin's piano music because Artur Rubinstein didn't record all of it. (The Etudes are the most notable omission.) But it does include the last, and usually best, versions of all the Chopin he did record, along with three earlier versions. Other pianists have had other things to say about Chopin, and it's a mistake to think that any one performer can give you the complete picture of any music. But these performances, for the most part, are as good as we've come to think they are. ~ Leslie Gerber (Amazon.com)

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"Although this phenomenally popular body of music has attracted almost every important pianist of the last 150 years, its unlikely that Frédéric Chopin ever found, or will ever find, a more ideal interpreter than Artur Rubinstein... The key to Rubinstein's greatness as a Chopin interpreter was the combination of utter naturalness as a performer and his enormously sophisticated musical mind. Nothing ever seems forced or premeditated: there are no sharp edges or sudden flashes of insight. In fact, the illusion the performances create is one of the music flowing, without benefit of a human intermediary, directly from Chopin's heart to the listener's... At almost every moment in these classic recordings, Rubinstein discovers some wonder of color or phrasing, brings out a beautiful inner voice it seems we've never heard before, and in general creates the impression of a man for whom playing this often fiendishly difficult music is no more difficult than breathing or making love." ~ Jim Sveda, from The Record Shelf Guide to the Classical Repertoire On 11 discs this set contains virtually all of Artur Rubinstein's classic stereo recordings made for RCA in the 1950's and 60's. In addition there is a bonus disc, number 11, with earlier interpretations from 1946 of the Berceuse, Barcarolle and Sonata no. 2. The later stereo recordings of these works are included in the set as well, but this one mono disc also includes the only RCA recording of the Preludes, Op.28. ~ Arkiv.Music.com This set doesn't include all of Chopin's piano music because Artur Rubinstein didn't record all of it. (The Etudes are the most notable omission.) But it does include the last, and usually best, versions of all the Chopin he did record, along with three earlier versions. Other pianists have had other things to say about Chopin, and it's a mistake to think that any one performer can give you the complete picture of any music. But these performances, for the most part, are as good as we've come to think they are. ~ Leslie Gerber (Amazon.com)

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