Mezzo-soprano Justina Gringyte, one of the most electrifying voices of her generation, returns to Ondine with a powerhouse new album-an all-Verdi celebration recorded with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI under the dynamic baton of Robert Trevino. This album charts Verdi's creative evolution across nearly five decades, from the youthful fire of his 1839 debut opera to the sweeping emotional landscapes of his mature masterpieces. Gringyte brings blazing intensity and velvet-dark lyricism to iconic arias from Il trovatore and Aida, while also illuminating hidden gems from Verdi's rarely performed early operas-works that modern audiences seldom have the chance to experience. A thrilling blend of discovery and tradition, this release showcases Gringyte at her dramatic best, revealing Verdi's genius in all it's breadth, beauty, and operatic grandeur.

He was still young, but already an experienced composer: after all, Attila was already his ninth opera. In March 1846, the 32-year-old Giuseppe Verdi premiered it in Venice. The experience gained from his previous works is evident in the musical quality in many places: Verdi masterfully commands the dramaturgy of the grandiose choral scenes, which also play a major role in key moments of the plot in this work. At the same time, the portrayal of the individual characters' inner conflicts becomes increasingly nuanced and musically tangible. The ancient subject of the murderous Hun king offers many opportunities to present these. Marcus Bosch, the Cappella Aquileia, the Czech Philharmonic Choir of Brno, and the hand-picked ensemble of soloists work together with their usual precision and add another jewel to the multi-award-winning series of Verdi's earlier and often less-noticed operas.

With a spectacular cast and the staging direction of Stefano Poda, this production of Verdi's Nabucco presents the Arena di Verona in a postmodern aesthetic brought to light through a futuristic vision, cosmic symbolism and absolute abstraction. Anna Netrebko gifts the festival's audience with a powerful interpretation of one of Verdi's most demanding roles: her Abigaille is 'beautiful, vivacious, magnetic' (La Stampa) and 'tackles this formidable challenge with great confidence' (Rivista Musica). Amartuvshin Enkhbat is 'a marvellous performer of Nabucco, deeply moving' (Forum Opera). 'Pinchas Steinberg conducts the choir and orchestra of the Arena di Verona with verve, power, brio and fire' (Der Merker), a magnificent performance that culminated in a rendition of 'Va' pensiero' brimming with pathos and intensity.

With a spectacular cast and the staging direction of Stefano Poda, this production of Verdi's Nabucco presents the Arena di Verona in a postmodern aesthetic brought to light through a futuristic vision, cosmic symbolism and absolute abstraction. Anna Netrebko gifts the festival's audience with a powerful interpretation of one of Verdi's most demanding roles: her Abigaille is 'beautiful, vivacious, magnetic' (La Stampa) and 'tackles this formidable challenge with great confidence' (Rivista Musica). Amartuvshin Enkhbat is 'a marvellous performer of Nabucco, deeply moving' (Forum Opera). 'Pinchas Steinberg conducts the choir and orchestra of the Arena di Verona with verve, power, brio and fire' (Der Merker), a magnificent performance that culminated in a rendition of 'Va' pensiero' brimming with pathos and intensity.

Also available on Blu-ray

“The Tutto Verdi series, in its goal of being complete, makes it possible to not only hear but see performances of works one seldom encounters outside of Parma...One does not have to be a Verdi completist like me to find a lot to enjoy in Tutto Verdi. The rarities are worth knowing to expand your sense of the composer’s output. The seven operas with Nucci are fascinating on so many levels, not the least of which is that his younger colleagues respond to his work not by being in awe but by allowing themselves to dig deeper and bring their performances to a higher plain than they imagined they were capable of. What would Peppino say?” – Fred Plotkin, WQXR

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Giuseppe Verdi
TUTTO VERDI – The Operas, Vol. 3 (1855–1893)
(11-DVD Box Disc Set)

I Vespri Siciliani (Teatro Regio di Parma, 2010)
Simon Boccanegra (Teatro Regio di Parma, 2010)
Un Ballo in Maschera (Teatro Regio di Parma, 2011)
La Forza del Destino (Teatro Regio di Parma, 2011)
Don Carlo (Teatro Comunale di Modena, 2012)
Aida (Teatro Regio di Parma, 2012)
Otello (Salzburg Festival, 2008)
Falstaff (Teatro Regio di Parma, 2011)

Bonus:
- Introduction to each opera

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
Running time: 20 hours 41 mins (operas) + 1 hour 27 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 11 (DVD 9)

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD
Commissioned in 1846, Macbeth offered Verdi the opportunity to make a qualitative leap in his career and its premiere was triumphantly received by audiences. Yet the libretto had proved problematic and many Italian critics did not share the composer’s reverence for Shakespeare. Verdi surmounted all concerns with an opera that valued brevity but also preserved the play’s most important elements. The formidable final concertato stands as one of his greatest achievements thus far, his pacing and detailing of the opera as a whole far surpassing his previous works. This production preserves the preferred 1865 revision of the work, sung in Italian and retaining the original 1847 finale.

Also available on Blu-ray

Giuseppe Verdi
IL TROVATORE

Il conte di Luna – Claudio Sgura
Leonora – Teresa Romano
Azucena – Mzia Nioradze
Manrico – Marcelo Álvarez
Ferrando – Deyan Vatchkov
Ines – Cristina Giannelli
Ruiz – Roberto Jachini Virgili
Un vecchio zingaro – Enrico Rinaldo
Un messo – Seung Hwa Paek

Parma Teatro Regio Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Martino Faggiani)
Yuri Temirkanov, conductor

Lorenzo Mariani, stage director
William Orlandi, set and costume designer
Christian Pinaud, lighting designer

Recorded live at the Teatro Regio di Parma, 5 and 9 October 2010

Bonus:
- Introduction to Il Trovatore

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
Running time: 140 mins (opera) + 10 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players, and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese
Booklet: English, German, French
No. of Discs: 1
Run time: 214 minutes
Disc Format: Blu-ray 50
Picture: 16:9, HD
Audio: PCM Stereo, PCM 5.1
Bonus Material: Introduction to Don Carlo
Subtitles Bonus: Italian, English
Region Code: 0 (worldwide)

VERDI Don Carlo • Fabrizio Ventura, cond; Mario Malagnini ( Don Carlo ); Giacomo Prestia ( Filippo II ); Cellia Costea ( Elisabetta ); Simone Piazzola ( Rodrigo ); Alla Pozniak ( Eboli ); Luciano Montanaro ( Grande Inquisitore ); O Regionale dell’Emilia-Romagna; Lirico Amadeus Ch • C MAJOR 724 704 (Blu-ray: 204:00 + 11:00) Live: Modena 2012

Perhaps it is because this comes from Modena, site of the opera’s third incarnation in 1886, but this production seems a level in quality above many of the others produced for the Tutto Verdi project. The so-called Modena version of Don Carlo is the revised four-act version in Italian, first seen in 1884, with the Fontainebleau Scene restored, and that is the version performed here, making it almost as long as the French five-act original version. Perhaps taking it out of Parma, site of many of the other and mostly dreary productions in the Tutto Verdi series, has helped the quality as well. Sets are not lavish, but shrewdly functional: platforms stage left and right with ramps that frame often striking painted backdrops. Several large props are used as well: the tomb of Charles V, a statue of the Virgin in Philip’s alcove sanctuary, and a large wooden platform seen in the forest of Fontainebleau. Costumes are strictly in period and lavishly handsome, the lighting used intelligently to create additional atmosphere. Modena’s chorus is typically arrayed along the sides or back. The sound is a bit more recessed than on most of the other Tutto Verdi videos, as are the principal singers’ voices in comparison to the orchestra. I found this effect somewhat mitigated when listening in the surround format.

The singers themselves are variable in quality, but also a stronger cast than usual in this series. A cut above the other singers (or two or three cuts above) is the Elisabetta of Cellia Costea. You can tell right away she is a good one: her solid intonation, secure top, and fine ability to emotively color the text give her away. Costea also seems an excellent actress, but even she can’t rescue the poor Carlos of tenor Mario Malagnini. Malagnini looks too old and sings too poorly to be the title singer in a major production such as this, and he hasn’t got the first clue about acting or interacting with others. His most intense gesture with bosom buddy Rodrigo or beloved Elisabetta is to grasp them on the forearm, and he never looks anywhere but at the audience (or the prompter?). The King Philip of Giacomo Prestia begins with a pronounced wobble, but the voice smoothes out by the time of his big scenes in the Fourth Act, and his fine acting makes the rather unlikeable character of the king come alive as few have done in the past. Simone Piazzola sings pretty competently as Rodrigo, as does mezzo Alla Pozniak in the role of Princess Eboli, although she finds a few flat notes Verdi is not responsible for. Luciano Montanaro seems to strain to find volume as the blind Grand Inquisitor and forces his high notes, robbing the role of any real menace or authority.

Even with a mailed-in performance by the tenor, this Don Carlo makes an impression. As one of the first appearances of this opera on Blu-ray, its sharp clarity and vivid colors impress, and much of the gripping drama is evoked quite effectively. Finding any little nuggets of entertaining opera among the general dross of the Tutto Verdi series has proved difficult, yet they are out there and, as this one, probably deserve some success. Hopefully, soprano Costea will be given better opportunities in the near future; Elisabetta is a near lyric role, but any new Verdian soprano on the block is a major find these days. There are, of course, several other quite good video productions of Don Carlo available, but with versions in French and Italian, four-act and five-act, with and without ballet, there are hardly any two alike. This set from Modena deserves to be seen, and is recommended.

FANFARE: Bill White

Based on Schiller's play of the same name, Don Carlos was written for the Paris Opera between 1865 and 1867 in the tradition of a French grand opera. Reportedly revised and performed in Italian as Don Carlo, the opera seen here in the version that Verdi prepared for Modena in 1886. This is Verdi's most ambitious and most forward-looking work.

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is playable only on Blu-ray Disc players, and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Giuseppe Verdi
STIFFELIO
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Stiffelio – Roberto Aronica
Lina – Yu Guanqun
Stankar – Roberto Frontali
Raffaele – Gabriele Mangione
Jorg – George Andguladze
Federico di Frengel – Cosimo Vassallo
Dorotea – Lorelay Solis

Parma Teatro Regio Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Martino Faggiani)
Andrea Battistoni, conductor

Guy Montavon, stage director and lighting designer
Francesco Clacagnini, set and costume designer

Recorded live at the Teatro Regio di Parma, 18 and 24 April, 2012

Bonus:
- Introduction to Stiffelio

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
Running time: 117 mins (opera) + 10 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)

VERDI Attila • Andrea Battistoni, cond; Giovanni Battista Parodi (Attila); Sebastian Catana (Ezio); Susanna Branchini (Odabella); Roberto De Biasio (Foresto); Cristiano Cremonini (Uldino); Zyian Atfeh (Leone); Teatro Regio di Parma O & Ch • C MAJOR 721608 (DVD); 721704 (Blu-ray) (118:00 + 10:00) Live: Busseto 10/2010

A life of looting and pillaging may hold certain attractions, but after ravaging the countryside for long enough most of the inhabitants are driven off and there is no one left to grow new crops and raise new livestock. In the days of yore invading armies lived off the land, be they Romans, or Macedonians, or Huns and Visigoths, and without supplies for men and horses they could not sustain themselves. Such were the conditions in most of Northern Italy when the opera Attila opens. Attila and his barbaric tribes had already sacked and razed the substantial northern city of Aquileia in 452 A.D. and driven many of its surviving inhabitants into the nearby marshes (thereby creating the conditions for the founding of Venice). The victorious Hun leader then turned his sights on the much richer plum of a not yet totally defenseless Rome, as in the opera, and held parlays with several Roman envoys seeking desperately to broker peace, including Leo I, Bishop of Rome. In Verdi’s opera Attila’s forces are then turned upon in a sneak attack of Roman legions in consort with a group of surviving fighters from Aquileia. Attila himself is slain by the warrior Princess Odabella (also from Aquileia) whom he is about to wed, in revenge for the slaying of her own father. In actuality, the wily old Hun leader recognized there was simply not enough food available in the surrounding countryside to sustain an attack on Rome and took his forces safely back home to Germany. He died a year later, reportedly from overeating or overdrinking at a wedding feast. The city of Rome wasn’t spared for long, it was sacked and burned by other Germanic tribes just two years later.

One of the problems with this early Verdi opera is there is no one to like. The so-called good guys are all busy plotting with each other and doing underhanded things. Odabella makes nice to Attila in order to further her lust for revenge and actually prevents him from being poisoned at a celebration in his camp so she can do the dirty deed herself. Her boyfriend Foresto, leader of the remaining Aquileia forces, spends most of the three acts moaning about Odabella’s unfaithfulness (not true). He plots with the Roman general Ezio to set upon Attila’s forces even though their own men have been granted safe passage by the Huns. Ezio, with the only opposing professional soldiers in the area, first tries to cut a political deal with Attila to divvy up the territory, and with that rejected, schemes with Foresto to first poison Attila and then betray his honorable truce. So, who do we root for, Attila, the scourge of God on earth? Poor Hun, everyone’s out to get him. The opera itself hangs precariously off the edge of the standard repertoire, trotted out now and then because it has such a juicy role for a star basso. This particular production is a part of the “Tutto Verdi” project sponsored by the Regio di Parma Foundation in conjunction with C Major to perform all of Verdi’s operas and record them on Blu-ray disc.

The opera house and stage in Busseto are both very small. Stage Director Pierfrancesco Maestrini must find creative ways to use the small space to advantage. He generally does very well, foregoing heavy stage scenery for a few light props and appropriate videos on the rear backdrop that set the scene then freeze-frame as the action begins on stage. It helps that there are only four principal singers who can be grouped in tight tableaus, but things get a bit crowded when the chorus of Huns or refugees from Aquileia are called upon. Attila descends from on high on a platform surrounded by skulls in the Prologue and departs dead on the same platform to end act III. Costumes are a bit campy, perhaps fantasy Hun: animal skull headpieces, fierce face paint, and plenty of robes and animal skins. The Roman soldiers appear vaguely military, but not like Roman soldiers from the classic movies of the ’50s and ’60s, Ben Hur, Cleopatra, etc. Odabella, ostensibly a warrior, looks rather sexy in her outfit but she couldn’t possibly have been fighting in it. The Huns and Visigoths seem a pretty tame bunch for pillagers and rapists. Performances are a mixed bag here. Giovanni Batista Parodi provides a good bass voice and much fine singing in the lead role, but lacks the stage presence, gravitas, and acting skills to really bring off the critical role of Attila. Soprano Susanna Branchini brings a big voice into the small house and frankly, everything she sings sounds double forte. She also has trouble modulating in her top range, approaching shriek level to hit some of the notes. She sings much better in lower registers and she handles the young Verdi’s ornamentation quite competently. The Foresto of Italian tenor Roberto De Biasio and the Ezio of baritone Sebastian Catana are both very well sung and prove to be highlights of this set. It is hard to believe the Teatro Regio Orchestra from Parma can stuff enough bodies in that small orchestra pit to produce such a full sound, but they somehow manage to do it quite well under the leadership of conductor Andrea Battistoni. The smallish chorus sounds good too.

Competing sets of this opera on video include a 1985 production from the Arena di Verona which I have not seen and a 1991 live production from La Scala in Milan that I have. The La Scala set features Samuel Ramey in the lead role when he was still singing well and the Odabella of Cheryl Studer in the midst of her very few peak seasons. Both are superior in their roles to the two on this C Major disc, Ramey bringing a major stage presence and gravity to the role of Attila that makes you really believe he is a grade-A scourge. The two Busseto singers get the nod over Giorgio Zancanaro as Ezio and Kaludi Kaludov as Foresto at La Scala, but the larger house in Milan has one of Italy’s finest orchestras and choruses. Sets and costumes are quite traditional at La Scala as well. The Blu-ray hi-def video and audio is a definite plus for this C Major production, but I would give the slight edge overall to La Scala, just for Ramey’s menacing presence and fine acting. This C Major set also provides a quite fine portrayal of Verdi’s opera and you won’t go wrong with either choice. Recommended.

FANFARE: Bill White   

Also available on Blu-ray

Giuseppe Verdi
STIFFELIO

Stiffelio – Roberto Aronica
Lina – Yu Guanqun
Stankar – Roberto Frontali
Raffaele – Gabriele Mangione
Jorg – George Andguladze
Federico di Frengel – Cosimo Vassallo
Dorotea – Lorelay Solis

Parma Teatro Regio Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Martino Faggiani)
Andrea Battistoni, conductor

Guy Montavon, stage director and lighting designer
Francesco Clacagnini, set and costume designer

Recorded live at the Teatro Regio di Parma, 18 and 24 April, 2012

Bonus:
- Introduction to Stiffelio
Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
Running time: 117 mins (opera) + 10 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

As part of the ambitious Tutto Verdi project, the rarely performed La battaglia di Legnano is available for the first time on DVD and Blu-ray. The patriotic war story of La battaglia gives a taste of the real-life revolutionary ideals of the composer, as he delivers a thinly veiled exhortation to throw off the bonds of foreign rule for love of country.

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Giuseppe Verdi ALZIRA
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Alvaro – Francesco Facini
Gusmano – Thomas Gazheli
Ovando – Joshua Lindsay
Zamoro – Ferdinand von Bothmer
Ataliba – Yasushi Hirano
Alzira – Junko Saito
Zuma – Anna Lucia Nardi
Otumbo – Joe Tsuchizaki

Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento
(chorus master: Marco Medved)
Istituto Corale ed Orchestrale di Dobbiaco
Gustav Kuhn, conductor

Andreas Leisner, scenic concept

Recorded live at the Grand Hotel Centro Culturale, Dobbiaco, 13 and 15 September 2012, in a concert performance from the Alto Adige Festival

Bonus:
- Introduction to Alzira

Picture format: 1080i HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
Running time: 107 mins (opera) + 10 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)

Available for the first time on Blu-ray, the lesser known Verdi opera I due Foscari is ready for appreciation by a new generation. A great cast with the likes of Leo Nucci and Roberto de Biasio is assembled at the Teatro Regio di Parma as part of the 200th anniversary series "Tutto Verdi". FAZ notes "This is how Verdi should be played".

Part of the 200th anniversary series "Tutto Verdi," this admirable Ernani starring the likes of Marco Berti and Carlo Guelfi will become the first recording of this work available on Blu-ray. Staged by legendary director Pierluigi Pier'Alli of La Scala fame, this version from the Tetro Regio di Parma is sure to become legend itself!

What happens when the illustrious brass sections of the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic come together? The answer: The Philharmonic Brass. Making it's debut in Vienna's Musikverein in April 2023 the group will come together for recording, tours and education work. Comprising some of the best-known faces in the brass world from Berlin, Vienna and their friends, the group includes Sarah Willis, horn, Matthias Hofs, trumpet, or Paul Halwax, tuba. In February 2025, a new chapter began with the release of their first album on Supreme Classics: Italiana! Conducted by Maestro Riccardo Muti includes virtuoso arrangements of some of the best-known music including Verdi's Sinfonia di Nabucco, Rossini: Guillaume Tell - Overture and many more. We can now look forward to the ensemble's very first vinyl release and this exceptional album in an audiophile pressing by the renowned record manufacturer Pallas.

Among Teatro alla Scala's most unforgettable productions, this La forza del destino is a performance of striking musical energy, with Riccardo Chailly conducting an exceptional cast of opera stars. Anna Netrebko (Leonora), confirms her absolute dominance of the Verdian repertoire, showcasing 'beautiful floating high notes and enviable fiato' (OperaWire). Brian Jagde (Don Alvaro) and Ludovic Tezier (Don Carlo), give impeccable performances of great emotional depth and timbral richness. Joining forces, Stage Director Leo Muscato and Set Designer Federica Parolini deliver a reinterpretation of Verdi's classic in a modern key. On a set that impresses for both beauty and functionality, the scenes are set across different eras, reminding us that war is always part of humans' fate. 'The undisputed star of the evening is Anna Netrebko. She elevates Donna Leonora with her distinctive, dark, velvety timbre, impeccable high notes, and acting presence.' (Orpheus Magazine)

Among Teatro alla Scala's most unforgettable productions, this La forza del destino is a performance of striking musical energy, with Riccardo Chailly conducting an exceptional cast of opera stars. Anna Netrebko (Leonora), confirms her absolute dominance of the Verdian repertoire, showcasing 'beautiful floating high notes and enviable fiato' (OperaWire). Brian Jagde (Don Alvaro) and Ludovic Tezier (Don Carlo), give impeccable performances of great emotional depth and timbral richness. Joining forces, Stage Director Leo Muscato and Set Designer Federica Parolini deliver a reinterpretation of Verdi's classic in a modern key. On a set that impresses for both beauty and functionality, the scenes are set across different eras, reminding us that war is always part of humans' fate. 'The undisputed star of the evening is Anna Netrebko. She elevates Donna Leonora with her distinctive, dark, velvety timbre, impeccable high notes, and acting presence.' (Orpheus Magazine)

Turandot / Tosca / Love Duets - Sonya Yoncheva & Vittorio Grigolo Turandot: 'Netrebko does not merely sing it: she interprets it. What emerges is a character much more human and ultimately truer than usual' (La Stampa) Tosca: 'spectacle of monumental opulence' (Online Merker). 'A Tosca to relish!' (Artesnews. It) "standing ovation Tosca at the Arena di Verona" (Operalife). Love Duets - Sonya Yoncheva & Vittorio Grigolo: 'A concert evening about love, lust and passion. Sonya Yoncheva has the full and vibrant timbre of a true lyrical soprano' (L'Arena) 'Vittorio Grigolo is undoubtedly a charismatic artist and always attentive to the interpretation of the characters' (operclick)

Of Georg Solti's two recordings of the Verdi Requiem, I slightly prefer this later one, though I realize that this isn't received wisdom. The Decca recording, after all, features Sutherland, Horne, Pavarotti, and Talvela as soloists, and while Sutherland arguably is not the right voice for the part, everyone else is very good indeed. On the other hand, Leontyne Price, even toward the end of her career, certainly does have the right voice, as does Veriano Luchetti, while Baker and Van Dam are very intelligent singers by any measure, and they do a good job here. Besides, it's hard not to raise an eyebrow at the generic complaint that "singer X lacks a true Italianate timbre" when the words being sung are in Latin and the drama (such as it is) occurs entirely within a devotional framework. The music certainly can take many different approaches, particularly when there's so little actual agreement on what a "true Italianate timbre" is.


Also compared to the Decca recording, Solti here has the finer chorus, a better orchestra (for this work at least), and strangely enough, better (meaning less gimmicky) sound, particularly in this admirable new remastering that minimizes the claustrophobic closeness of the original and allows some air to circulate around the performers. Solti's interpretation remains consistent, exciting, and direct, with a particularly thrilling account of the brief Sanctus and a Dies Irae chorus that is as violent as anyone could want without ever turning merely brutal or hysterical. A work as rich as this one always excites a wide range of opinions, and personal preferences tend to vary substantially. My personal favorite, all things considered, is the first Muti on EMI, with Scotto, Baltsa, Luchetti, Nesterenko, and the Philharmonia Orchestra; but on any given day I also might go for one of Giulini's (his best is his mono live recording on BBC Legends), Fricsay (DG), Shaw, Toscanini, and yes, either of Solti's. He's definitely among the select few.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
This is a DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recording

This complete performance of Rigoletto from 1964 includes not only the Duke's second-act cabaletta, but more gloriously, the cadenza that Verdi composed (and not an abbreviation or ad libitum) for the Duke and Gilda before the "Addio" duet, a lovely moment that sounds like the joyous intertwining of a flute and an oboe. Georg Solti's leadership is very in-your-face, with the brass blaring and tempos generally fast, and while this attitude tends to underplay the opera's pathos, it does make for great excitement. Robert Merrill's Rigoletto is pretty much by-the-numbers with no deep insights, but it's well sung, with exactly the type of Italianate sound Verdi wanted. Alfredo Kraus was in peak form in 1964 and his Duke is by turns elegant, amorous, and biting. He caps "Possente amor" with a brain-splitting high-D. Anna Moffo has some bad habits--she scoops her way into notes in a manner that's supposed to be girlish, but is in fact irritating--but she sings with great warmth and attention to the text when Solti's tempos allow. And in the end, she's very touching. Despite Solti's somewhat brutal approach and Merrill's generic rendering of the title role, this is recommended.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

Of Georg Solti’s two recordings of the Verdi Requiem, I slightly prefer this later one, though I realize that this isn’t received wisdom. The Decca recording, after all, features Sutherland, Horne, Pavarotti, and Talvela as soloists, and while Sutherland arguably is not the right voice for the part, everyone else is very good indeed. On the other hand, Leontyne Price, even toward the end of her career, certainly does have the right voice, as does Veriano Luchetti, while Baker and Van Dam are very intelligent singers by any measure, and they do a good job here. Besides, it’s hard not to raise an eyebrow at the generic complaint that “singer X lacks a true Italianate timbre” when the words being sung are in Latin and the drama (such as it is) occurs entirely within a devotional framework. The music certainly can take many different approaches, particularly when there’s so little actual agreement on what a “true Italianate timbre” is.

Also compared to the Decca recording, Solti here has the finer chorus, a better orchestra (for this work at least), and strangely enough, better (meaning less gimmicky) sound. Solti’s interpretation remains consistent, exciting, and direct, with a particularly thrilling account of the brief Sanctus and a Dies Irae chorus that is as violent as anyone could want without ever turning merely brutal or hysterical. A work as rich as this one always excites a wide range of opinions, and personal preferences tend to vary substantially. My personal favorite, all things considered, is the first Muti on EMI, with Scotto, Baltsa, Luchetti, Nesterenko, and the Philharmonia Orchestra; but either of Solti’s recordings are definitely among the select few. [12/17/2004]

– Classics Today (David Hurwitz)