This live La Forza del Destino by Giuseppe Verdi from Firenze, Italy in June 1956 stars a young and dynamic tenor Giuseppe di Stefano near the beginning of a brilliant, decades-long stage career and Renata Tebaldi, a lyric soprano blessed with one of the most gorgeous and forthright voices in 20th century opera, and in all likelihood in operatic history. The mezzo-soprano Fedora Barbieri is always a welcome presence in Italian opera recordings of this period. Gabriele Santini conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Comunale di Firenze.

Donizetti: Il Pigmalione (Recorded Live 1960)

UN BALLO IN MASCHERA: MIALNOV-

Glinka: Zhizn' za tsarya (A Life for the Tsar) (1954)

Lanza, Yeend & Ormandy at Hollywood Bowl (Recorded Live 1947

Massenet: Don Quichotte (1957)

Wilhelm Furtwängler & the RAI Orchestra (Live)

Puccini: Gianni Schicchi (Recorded Live 1958)

Verdi: Rigoletto (Recorded 1952) [Live]

WEBER, LUDWIG SINGT WAGNER: HO

Maria Callas in Stuttgart (Live)

Despite a plethora of recordings of Verdi’s Ernani currently in active catalog status from Myto starring the very great Italian tenor Mario del Monaco, after listening to the tapes of this 1961 Rome Ernani they determined one additional Ernani must nevertheless be added to the burgeoning pile. Cornell MacNeil is in excellent voice, as is soprano Floriana Cavalli as Elvira, the determining factor in bringing this release to market as she was not often recorded. It’s a thrilling performance, and the first release in any format. Includes interviews of the singers during pauses in the action!

Wagner: The Flying Dutchman, WWV 63

The Vienna Debut (Live)

One of the best known of Marchner’s operas, Der Templer und die Jüdin is based on Walter Scott’s tale “Ivanhoe”. Recorded in 1951, and with a strong cast led by Kurt Equiluz and Leone Synak, with the Grosses Orchester der RAVAG today known as Radio Sinfonieorchester Wien (Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna) under the baton of Kurt Tenner. Marchner’s impact and influence far outstripped the number of operas he composed and Wagner counted him as one of his primary influences.