CD-Charts Position 41
Average Rating:

Puccini: Tosca (1953) with Callas, di Stefano, Gobbi, cond. by de Sabata

CD-Charts > Music > Operettas
from: EMI Classics

Release Date December 02, 2003
NOTE: While all my remarks are valid for this CD incarnation, the remastering is generally regarded as poor. Instead, I strongly recommend the original 1997 Callas Edition of this same recording, still in print and easily available here on Amazon. The Callas Edition has better, more natural sound AND it has the libretto/notes described in the official Amazon review above (which incorrectly attributes them to this budget edition).

This was originally posted in my music review blog. Check my profile if you are interested.

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Music critics have long been fond of drolly referring to Tosca as a "shabby little shocker" and then misattributing the comment to George Bernard Shaw. No small wonder, then, that this Tosca ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 42
Average Rating:

Purcell - The Fairy Queen / Hunt, Pierard, Bickley, Crook, Padmore, Wilson-Johnson, Wistreich, Schütz Choir, LCP, Norrington

CD-Charts > Music > Operettas
from: Virgin Veritas

Release Date April 09, 2002
I have recently discovered Purcell's music. While singing in choir as a young college student, I sang, "Sound the Trumpet" which I loved and am anxiously awaiting a recording of that piece I ordered off Amazon. During my search, I came upon this recording written on a completely different theme and took interest, since it was loosely based on Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Nights Dream."

The other reviewers have described the format of this semi-opera well and I agree that the music and singers perform fabulously. The only other thing I have to add is that I find music can sometimes be used as a vehicle to relax the mind and even problem solve and I find these works to be that kind of music that isn't too demanding of the listener. You can ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 43
Average Rating:

The Mario Lanza Collection (3CD)

CD-Charts > Music > Operettas
from: RCA Victor

Release Date November 12, 1991
I don't know how this could be any better. Mario sings like an angel and I love most of the selections. I have thoroughly enoyed listening to my cd's, over and over.

CD-Charts Position 44
Average Rating:

The 3 Tenors in Concert 1994

CD-Charts > Music > Operettas
from: Atlantic / Wea

Release Date August 30, 1994
I enjoyed this CD because I like the tenors on it very much, and it included a number of selections where the three men are singing together, or cooperatively and that was the best part.

CD-Charts Position 45
Average Rating:

The Classical Child at the Opera

CD-Charts > Music > Operettas
from: Sophia Sounds/Metro Music

Release Date May 04, 2001
As a music teacher, you learn just how little non-pop music children are exposed to, so I made an effort to get them exposed to this form of musical art. I'm not a huge fan of opera myself, but I want my students to have an appreciation for all aspects of my art, and finding a way to introduce them to it without playing into their stereotypes of the fat lady with horns. So, I tried this CD, and am quite pleased with it. It gives enough of an overview that I can use it with my younger students, but has great classics so that I can go a little more in-depth with my older students. A great find!

CD-Charts Position 46
Average Rating:

Purcell: Dido and Aeneas / James, Lewis, Baker, Herincx

CD-Charts > Music > Operettas
from: Decca

Release Date April 11, 2000
Henry Purcell's (1659-1695) opera "Dido and Aeneas" tells, in approximately one hour, of the frustrated passion of Dido, queen of Carthage, for the Trojan hero Aeneas, whose destiny it is to found Rome. The opera is based upon Virgil's Aeneid with a highly compressed libretto by Nahum Tate. Purcell's opera includes three parts for women and only one, Aeneas, for a male. The brief opera is in three Acts. According to "The New Grove Book of Operas", Purcell based his work on an earlier English opera, "Venus and Adonis" by John Blow. With its heavy emphasis on dance and chorus, "Dido and Aeneas" also draws heavily on French baroque opera.

This reissue of a 1961 recording of a young Janet Baker in the role of Dido is an outstanding way to get to know ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 47
Average Rating:

Korngold - Die tote Stadt / Leinsdorf

CD-Charts > Music > Operettas
by: Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Erich Leinsdorf, Carol Nebrett, René Kollo, Hermann Prey, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Benjamin Luxon, Rose Wagemann, Gabriele Fuchs, Patricia Clark, Tölzer Knabenchor

Release Date July 02, 1991
Korngold's art and sin lay more in the necessity of making a living than in writing opera. So he came to Hollywood and wrote movie scripts. And then his music was no good any more. As if there was an American composer of the times who could even equal him in talent, no, genius. American composers of the time had talent, not genius. Yet he had composed Die tote Stadt and Das Wunder der Heliane (a much neglected work also) in his youth. Such treasures! And to be abandoned!

CD-Charts Position 48
Average Rating:

Gilbert & Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance

CD-Charts > Music > Operettas
from: Decca

Release Date May 13, 2003
I agree with the other 5 star reviewers. This is a fine production of this wonderful comic/parody operetta. Staid? Well, that's part of the fun. It's ridiculousness combined with its cleverness is what makes it great! It is simply wonderful that this performance is available on CD.

A small flaw - in days of LPs, a much higher level of distortion was acceptable. This CD preserves that distortion, so don't be surprised. But the quality of the performance overcomes any defects. The Mona Lisa was not thrown away because the paint became cracked.

CD-Charts Position 49
Average Rating:

Delibes - Lakmé / Dessay, Kunde, van Dam, Petibon, Haidan, Konsek, Leguérinel, Plasson

CD-Charts > Music > Operettas
from: EMI Classics

Release Date October 20, 1998
Natalie Dessay's crystal clear coloratura is what brings this set to absolute life. One only needs to hear the beginning of the "Air des clochettes" to know that his has to be one of the greatest artists of our time. The subtlety and clarity in her voice is astonishing. Having heard the Sutherland version, I can say with utmost confidence that this set...kicks the Sutherland one in the pants (and I'm a big Sutherland fan).

The rest of the cast is just as impressive. Gregory Kunde soars to the rafters as Gerald, and Jose van Dam makes a dark and imposing Nilakantha.

The only problem that I could have with this set is the libretto. It was just a little sloppy. Reading the English side, there were several grammatical errors (verb tense and so forth). It was as if ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 50
Average Rating:

Classical Music for People Who Hate Classical Music

CD-Charts > Music > Operettas
from: Compendia

Release Date June 09, 1994
Cheers to those with drive to attain "real" music student status. However, I just want to listen to music passages I have found enjoyable over the years. There is no pretense of this selection being a student workbook of classical music for the serious scholar - it is just an enjoyable alternative to that shared by those offensively loud vehicles near me at the stoplight.