After collections celebrating the label’s 40th year that focused on sacred, orchestral, and chamber/soloist music, respectively, Capriccio’s fourth and last Anniversary Box now features the singing stars in the label’s history. There’s that pioneer of ‘counter-tenorism’, Jochen Kowalski, for example. We hear unexpected works from icons like Peter Schreier (with lute accompaniment) and Hermann Prey (singing Operetta music), Italian fare from Alfredo Kraus and Ramón Vargas, and Cecilia Bartoli – discovered and first recorded by Capriccio – in her first (and presumably only) Wagner role! Also opera rarities the kind with which Capriccio made a name for itself – with a cast that would have turned heads even at the finest opera houses.

Joan Sutherland is known for her great recordings made during the sixties of Donizetti and Bellini alongside powerhouse Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti. Sutherland, however, had other remarkable stage partners. Among them was Alfedo Kraus. This live recording was made in San Francisco in 1966. The partnership of Alfredo Kraus and Joan Sutherland in this opera is a matchless experience, and makes listeners realize the formidable performing needs of the Italian Romantic Opera.