Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

From a 1960 live performance in Paris with the Orchestre Lyrique de l'O.R.T.F. and conducted by Pierre-Michel Le Conte, this classic tale of star crossed love features an all-French cast including arguably the most visible of French tenors in the post war era, Alain Vanzo as Romeo complemented by lyric soprano Huguette Riviere's Juliette.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Somewhat surprisingly, given the modern-day penchant for reviving Baroque-era opera obscurities, this German sung, Vienna, 1944 definitively non-historically informed performance remains the only extant recording of the Baroque Italian composer Giovanni Battista Bononcini’s (1670-1747) one-act opera, Polifemo, which is based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Its cast includes German bass Herbert Alsen (1906-78), Jetty Topitz-Feiler, Anton Dermota and Alfred Poell. Max Schönherr conducts the Grosses Orchester der RAVAG.

Classical Music

The principal champion pre-Colin Davis of Hector Berlioz's neglected 19th c. masterpiece Les Troyens was Rafael Kubel�k. This Milan 1960 recording - now back in the catalog - is a remarkable sound document. The sound is basic; there are cuts; and it's in Italian rather than the original French. But it also makes for electrifying listening. Kubel�k conducts with intensity and dignity. Featuring a cast that includes Mario Del Monaco, Giulietta Simionato and the under-represented on disc Nell Rankin, it's essential listening for anyone with an interest in Berlioz. - The Guardian, 2012.

Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, was a work the composer struggled with on and off for several years, offering up several overtures and subjecting it to much revision; indeed, even the naming of the work took on a bit of operatic drama. This 1957 live performance is a most interesting one for collectors to consider, presenting as it does a recording from Athens, Greece with Jascha Horenstein at the helm, and showcasing, at or near her vocal peak, the renowned Wagnerian and dramatic soprano Martha Mödl as Lenore in partnership with Italian spinto tenor Giuseppe Zampieri as Florestan.