French Music 1

On this CD:

1. Retours-Windungen, for 12 cellos
Composed by Iannis Xenakis
Performed by Iberico Cello Octet Conjunto

2. Edenic's Events (version 1994)
Composed by Antoine Tisne
Performed by Iberico Cello Octet Conjunto, Lieuwe Visser

3. Nocturnal, for cello octet
Composed by Christophe Looten
Performed by Iberico Cello Octet Conjunto

4. Analecta 3, for cello octet
Composed by Arthur Thomassin
Performed by Iberico Cello Octet Conjunto

5. Messagesquisse, for solo cello & 6 cellos
Composed by Pierre Boulez
Performed by Iberico Cello Octet Conjunto

Tracks:

Una Voce Poco Fa - Sherrill Milnes
Dunque Io Son - Sherrill Milnes
Contro Un Cor - Sherrill Milnes
Ah, Qual Colpo Inaspetatto! - Sherrill Milnes
E Il Sol Dell'anima... Addio! Speranza Ed Anima - Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Gualtier Malde... Caro Nome - Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Tutte Le Feste Al Tempio... Compiuto Pur Quanto... Si, Vendetta - Ambrosian Opera Chorus
V'ho Ingannato... Lassu In Cielo - Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Quel Guardo Il Cavaliere... So Anch'io La Virtu Magica - Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Pronta Io Son... Vado, Corro - Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Via, Caro Sposino - Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Tornami A Dir Che M'ami - Ambrosian Opera Chorus
La Morale In Tutto Questo - Ambrosian Opera Chorus

Tracks:

Vilia - Beverly Sills
Ah! Je Suis Seule... Dis-Moi Que Je Suis Belle - Beverly Sills
Cielo! Che Diverro?... Si, ferite... Dal Soggiorno... Ah! Che Spiegar - Beverly Sills
Libiamo Ne' Lieti Calici - John Alldis Choir
Un Di Felice, Eterea - John Alldis Choir
E Strano... Ah, Fors'e Lui... Follie! Follie!... Sempre Libera - John Alldis Choir
Pura Siccome Un Angelo... Ah! Dite Alla Giovine - John Alldis Choir
Che Fai? - John Alldis Choir
Addio Del Passato - John Alldis Choir
Parigi, O Cara - John Alldis Choir

Amazon.com

Beverly Sills hardly needs an introduction. She sang on the radio as a child and on the operatic stage as a teenager; her meteoric international career was launched by appearances in several virtually unknown bel canto operas at the New York City Opera. This compilation of arias and ensembles from some of her signature roles, recorded in the 1970s, with splendid partners like Nicolai Gedda, Alfredo Kraus, and Sherrill Milnes, displays her unique vocal and dramatic artistry at its peak. Her voice, effortlessly produced over an enormous range, is bright, pure, infinitely variable in color, inflection and intensity. Her intonation is impeccable even in huge leaps, and her breath is endless. The coloratura roulades are like strings of perfect, luminous pearls, clearly articulated in seamless legato. But this stunning technique (whose only flaw is a sometimes wide, wobbly vibrato) is never used for show; every note has life and expression, serving the music and the dramatic situation. Indeed, her characters are flesh-and-blood human beings, whose thoughts, emotions and interactions, from inwardness to ecstasy, from lamentation to overflowing joy, she projects with riveting concentration. Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville is a charming, mischievous minx who succumbs to delighted tenderness; Pamira's great scene from his Siege of Corinth shows clearly why her Metropolitan Opera debut in that role was a sensation. In Verdi's Rigoletto, Gilda's hopeful innocence turns into hopeless despair: she dies, palpably, on a floating, celestial pianissimo. In his La traviata, Violetta's initial cool, hesitant restraint gradually melts as she opens herself (and her voice) to Alfredo's ardor and the bliss of love. The vocal balance in their final duet is uncanny; its tremulous tenderness in the shadow of death breaks the heart, as does her duet with Germont. Massenet's Thais is sensuous; Donizetti's Don Pasquale and Lehár's The Merry Widow provide comic relief. --Edith Eisler

Album Description

Details TBA. EMI. 2005.

Customer Reviews:

Beverly Sills - The Best.......2007-04-01

What a voice. No coloratura can compare, and she makes it seem so easy.

Beverly Sills' highs are breathtaking!.......2006-09-18

Adio del Passato is incredible! Beverly's high, floating coloratura is no less than ethereal which takes you to another world. Her voice has given me so much joy that it is hard to say one recording is better than another because I love her Mozart album equally with her Bellini/Donizetti. It is so wonderful to have these recordings captured on CD! Enjoy!

THE 2005 OPERA CD OF THE YEAR.......2006-08-19

THIS CD WAS THE BEST OPERA CD ISSUED LAST YEAR, AND HAS CAUGHT THE WORLD'S EAR IN NO TIME. I WAS BUSY WRITING IN SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL, WHILE THE STATEOWNED FM RADIOSTATION, DEDICATED TO CULTURE, WAS SOFTLY PLAYING OPERA ARIAS IN THE BACKGROUND. SUDDENLY I HEARD THE MOST FANTASTIC RENDERING OF "SEMPRE LIBERA" FROM "LA TRAVIATA". I GOT UP, SAT BY THE RADIO AND WAITED TO KNOW WHO WAS SINGING... THEN GOT BACK TO THE COMPUTER TO ORDER THIS CD FROM AMAZON! INCREDIBLE: ONLY 17 BUCKS FOR THIS, WHILE QUITE A BIT OF TRASH IS SOLD FOR 30.40 AND MORE...
A LADY FRIEND ONCE TOLD ME SHE COULD NOT LISTEN TO THE DUET IN "MADAMA BUTTERFLY" WITH MIRELLA FRENI AND LUCIANO PAVAROTTI (RECORDED IN 1974, BY VON KARAJAN) WITHOUT CRYING. WELL, YOU CANNOT LISTEN TO SILLS IN "LA TRAVIATA" DRY-EYED, NO MATTER WHO THE TENOR IS. SHE PROJECTS THE SAME DRAMATIC FEELING OF "LA DIVINA" CALLAS WITHOUT THOSE SHRIEKED HIGHNOTES; SHE OFFERS THE SAME COLORATURA VOCAL GYMNASTICS AS "LA STUPENDA" SUTHERLAND BUT WITH WARMTH... WHEN BEVERLY SANG, AS IN EVERYTHING ELSE SHE DID, SHE ALWAYS GAVE HER UTMOST. SHE WAS "LA GENEROSA" TO BE SURE.
DON'T JUST SIT THERE READING WHAT OTHERS THINK.
ORDER THIS CD NOW AND MARVEL AT HOW THIS GREAT AMERICAN LADY, IN SO MANY OTHER WAYS, ALSO COULD SING!

EMI Does It Again: Beverly Sills - A Tribute.......2005-07-22

EMI's "Very Best Of" series are perfect introductions to operatic singers of the 20th century. Once you hear these artist tribute albums (much like The Singers series) you will get hooked on the singer and seek out their full-length studio recordings. Beverly Sills was the first truly famous American opera star. One may argue that she was not, that she was merely a continued tradition of American divas such as Mary Garden and Lily Pons and which still continues today with Renee Fleming, Elizabeth Futral and Susan Graham. Beverly was raised in New York City, which is still her home, and which is the home of the New York City Opera and the Met, opera houses which rocketed her to fame. Her first success (not featured in this recording...UH WHY ?) was Cleopatra of Handel's Julius Caesar, a performance she sang opposite the illustrious baritone Norman Treigle. Those performances were legendary because coincidentally at the same time the Met was opening its new theatre and season with what became a disastrous Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra starring Leontyne Price in an overblown, big-budget, epic fiasco. The great roles that followed the 1965 Cleopatra were Manon, Queen Elizabeth I in Roberto Deveraux, Maria Stuarda and Anna Bolena in the Donizetti Tudor Queen operas, Pamira in The Siege of Corinth (which were Sill's La Scala and belated Met debut. None of the Queens are featured in this recording, though its supposedly the Very Best Of. An aria from Rossini's Siege of Corinth is featured here however. What we are treated to however are fine lyric roles- Beverly Sills shone brightly and acted convincingly as Gilda in Rigoletto (the final scene is featured here) as Violetta in La Traviata, Thais, The Merry Widow (the beautiful Vilja is featured here)and the ingenue role of Norina in Don Pasquale is also showcased here. To each of these roles, Beverly Sills delivered an authenticity and dramatic interpretation, not ot mention beautiful, sweet tone. I love her pianissimos, her high notes, her chest register. It was the voice of Beverly Sills who first hooked me into opera. For a recording that should showcase her best work, Manon is not featured nor any of her prized French heroines- Marie in The Daughter of the Regiment and the heroines in Tales of Hoffman. Also not in here is the role that was her first success- the Broadway opera Ballad of Baby Doe. Even as such, the arias here are gorgeous. The Barber of Seville is in here and as Rosina she is playful and charming. Sills was a modern singer, with a voice that was beautiful but willing to sacrifice beauty for the sake of dramatic content. When Sills was once asked what she thought of the supposed rivalry with Joan Sutherland (which was never real and only gossip from partisan fans) Beverly said something to this effect -Joan and I are apples and oranges in our take on opera, we are Picasso and Monet. She would do anything for the effect of beauty and tone, I'd sacrifice beauty for the sake of dramatic text. Even as such, I see no ugliness to any of the roles here. All of them are beautiful to hear, full of rich floating celestial tones. It would have been nice to hear the roles that did call for Sills to step up the tense drama - Norma, will her recording ever be reissued by EMI ? Also, few people know that Beverly Sills sung role most would consider dangerous for her voice (though she sang them long before her career even took off)- Aida and Carmen!!

Glad To Be The First Review- Beverly Sills Treasury Of Arias.......2005-04-29

At last EMI's "The Very Best Of" series has issued some of the finer recorded documented arias of the incomparable soprano Beverly Sills. Fans of this down-to-earth, warm patron of music and the most unique lyric-coloratura-dramatic soprano, will be in Heaven. Sure, this is only some of the arias in only a small number of the many operas Sills performed. To be truthful, this is not what I'd personally regard as the best of Beverly Sills. Other albums of hers do use greater vocal masterpieces she sang- the best being "The Singers" Series, and another EMI edition called The Art of Beverly Sills Volume 2 and then there's the rare and brilliant "Sillsiana". Nevertheless, this album has its charm and appeal. Beverly Sills sings arias from Rossini's Barber of Seville, Verdi's Rigoletto and Traviata. This recording seems to highlight mostly her mastership of the bel canto repertoire and Verdi. Gilda and Violetta were roles she sang with supreme dramatic integrity and sweetness and purity of vocal line. Yet, it is hardly "the best of". Where are scenes from the masterful interpretations of Donizetti, truly Sills strongest suit- Lucia Di Lammermoor, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereaux, where is Sills' Manon, which even she hails as her best ? And when will her recorded Norma ever see the light of day ? Sills also excelled in the French repertoire- Faust, Thais, La Fille Du Regiment, The Tales of Hoffman and she was an incredible Queen Shemakha in Korsakov's Coq D'Or. True, Sills had a light, girlish, delicate voice, bright and small, but this worked in her favor in tragic roles. Dramatically, she could get into character as passionately and convincingly as Maria Callas. When she could darken her voice and use her chest voice for dramatic effect it was often thrilling. This is the latest recording in a number of recordings that are coming out, further promoting a great singer of the past. Beverly Sills. She was the working man's soprano. She worked hard to get to the top. She was the reigning singer of the NYC Opera where she starred in such great operas as Handel's Giulio Ceare Sills as Cleopatra (also not on this recording) and Tales of Hoffman singing opposite the great but underrated bass Norman Treigle. Sills is a wonderful human being and she has a beautiful voice that I cannot get out of my mind. She will always be the greatest to me. She got me hooked into opera.

Average customer rating:

Pretty darn good
The Opera #1 Opera Album
Excellent assortment
Great Selections
Terrific !

The #1 Opera Album
Giacomo Puccini , Giuseppe Verdi , Léo Delibes , Georges Bizet , Umberto Giordano , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Richard Wagner , Gioachino Rossini , Alfredo Catalani , Jacques Offenbach , Ruggiero Leoncavallo , Charles Gounod , Gaetano Donizetti , Pietro Mascagni , Antonin Dvorak , Richard Bonynge , Herbert von Karajan , Alberto Erede , Lamberto Gardelli , Giuseppe Patane , John Mauceri , Zubin Mehta , Charles Dutoit , Gyorgy Fischer , Riccardo Chailly , Istvan Kertesz , Leone Magiera , Evelino Pido , Gianandrea Gavazzeni , Renée Fleming , Cecilia Bartoli , Luciano Pavarotti , Jussi Bjorling , and Renata Tebaldi
Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Nessun Dorma ~ 20 Great Tenor Arias / Pavarotti, Carreras, Domingo, Bergonzi, Aragall, Björling, Di Stefano, Kollo, Corelli, Del Monaco...

ASIN: B000059RXO
Release Date: 2001-02-27

Tracks:

Carmen: Act 1: Prld - LPO/Sir Georg Solti
La Traviata: Brindisi: Libiamo, Ne'lieti Calici - Luciano Pavarotti/Joan Sutherland/London Opr Chor/Terry Edwards
La Boheme: Che Gelida Manina - Luciano Pavarotti
Lakme: Flower Duet: Dome Epais Le Jasmin - Joan Sutherland/Jane Berbie
Fedora: Amor Ti Vieta - Jussi Bjorling
Carmen: Habanera: L'amour Est Un Oiseau Rebelle - Tatiana Troyanos/John Alldis Chor/John Alldis
Nabucco: Chor Of The Hebrew Slaves: Va Pensiero - Chicago Sym Chor/Margaret Hills
Le Nozze Di Figaro: Dove Sono - Kiri Te Kanawa
Rigoletto: La Donna E Mobile - Luciano Pavarotti
Lohengrin: Bridal Chor: Treulich Gefuhrt Ziehet Dahin - Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor/Walter Hagen-Groll
Gianni Schicchi: O Mio Babbino Caro - Renata Tebaldi
Il Barbiere Di Siviglia: Largo Al Factotum - Leo Nucci
La Wally: Ebben?... Ne Andro Lontana - Angela Gheorghiu
Madama Butterfly: Humming Chor - Wiener Staatsopernchor/Norbert Balatsch
Carmen: Flower Song: La Fleur Que Tu M'avais Jetee - Placido Domingo
Les Contes D'Hoffmann: Barcarolle: Belle Nuit, O Nuit D'Amour - Joan Sutherland/Huguette Tourangeau/Chor De La Radio Suisse Romande, Pro Arte De Lausanne Et Du...
Tosca: E Lucevan Le Stelle - Placido Domingo
Madama Butterfly: Un Bel Di - Mirella Freni
Les Pecheurs De Perles: C'est Toi... Au Fond Du Temple Saint - Gregory Cross/Gino Quilico

Tracks:

Die Walkure: The Ride Of The Valkyries - Wiener Phil/Solti
Le Nozze Di Figaro: Voi Che Sapete - Cecilia Bartoli
Pagliacci: Recitar!... Vesti La Giubba - Luciano Pavarotti
La Boheme: O Soave Fanciulla - Mirella Freni/Luciano Pavarotti/Roland Panerai
Il Trovatore: Anvil Chor: Vedi! Le Fosche - Chicago Sym Chor/Margaret Hillis
Manon Lescaut: Donna Non Vidi Mai - Jose Carreras
Don Giovanni: La Ci Darem La Mano - Lucia Popp/Tom Krause
Mattinata - Andrea Bocelli
Faust: Soldiers' Chor - Ambrosian Opr Chor/John McCarthy
L'elisir D'amore: Una Furtiva Lagrima - Roberto Alagna
Turandot: Signore, Ascolta! - Montserrat Caballe
Don Giovanni: Champagne Aria: Finch'han Dal Vino - Bryn Terfel
Cosi Fan Tutte: Trio: Soave Sia Il Vento - Renee Fleming/Anne Sofie Von Otter/Michele Pertusi
Il Trovatore: Di Quella Pira - Luciano Pavarotti/Joan Sutherland/London Opr Chor/Terry Edwards
Tosca: Vissi D'arte - Kiri Te Kanawa
Carmen: Toreador Song - Jose Van Dam/Tatiana Troyanos/Norma Burrowes/Jane Berbie/Thomas Allen/Pierre Thau/John Alldis...
Madama Butterfly: Love Duet: Vogliatemi Bene - Mirella Freni/Luciano Pavarotti
Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo - Nat PO/Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Rusalka: O Silver Moon - Renee Fleming
La Boheme: Si. Mi Chiamano Mimi - Angela Gheorghiu
Turandot: Nessun Dorma - Luciano Pavarotti/John Alldis Chor/John Alldis

Amazon.com

The labels that are now gathered under the Universal Classics umbrella have a pretty impressive scorecard in the area of classical compilations. We've seen The Greatest Opera Show on Earth, The Yellow Guide: Classical Music, Best of the Millennium, and now there's The No. 1 Opera Album. But that's no surprise, since Universal has some of the finest interpreters in its catalogue to draw from. This two-CD set (at the price of one), for example, brings together the likes of Cecilia Bartoli, Renée Fleming, Luciano Pavarotti, Kiri Te Kanawa, Sir Georg Solti, Herbert von Karajan, and many more. Yet the other key to a successful compilation is canny anthologizing, and here again, you have a nice selection to give you a smattering of opera's heavyweights from the Italian, German, and French repertory (there's even a step outside the standard framework with an aria from Dvorák's lovely Rusalka). Ranging from 1959 to 1997, the choices from back catalogue will doubtless be the entry ticket for many into this grandest of the arts. --Sarah Chin

Customer Reviews:

Pretty darn good.......2007-07-04

This CD set has a lot of familiar music on it, so if you're a newbie, you might want to try starting with this. There are some great pieces on the first CD. I usually don't even make it to the second.

The Opera #1 Opera Album.......2007-06-07

The music is wonderful. The production is terrible!! The sound fades in and out and is very scratchy in some places.

Excellent assortment.......2007-05-12

I'm not a big opera fan but I wanted to expose an assorted selection for my kids. This was perfect since it included several recognizable selections.

Great Selections.......2007-03-31

This Cd, has the very best of Opera
covering mainly from the classcal
to the to the romantic periods, a most
memorable selection here is Leo Nucci
in a lagendary performance of Rossini's
"Largo al Factotum" from "Il Barbiere di Seviglia"
also Andrea Bocelli in his performance of Leoncavallo's
memorable "Matinatta" here in an orchestrated version.
Indeed some of opera's most loved arias are in this recording
various conductors, orchestras, and soloists. All in their
very best. Indeed a five-star recording...

Terrific !.......2007-01-10

A diverse album to give you a sprinkle of the various types of 'opera'. Every note is pure and lovely, I listen to it all the time ! Highly recommended for anyone just getting into opera. :}

The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World...Ever!

Average customer rating:

Lives Up To The Title, Fine Variety Of Genre's.
Good for relaxing pregnant women
Too much opera
Does what it set out to do, very well
TRULY The most relaxing and beautiful music ever written.

The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World...Ever!
Johann Sebastian Bach , Léo Delibes , Gabriel Fauré , Erik Satie , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Edvard Grieg , Johann Pachelbel , Claude Debussy , Felix Mendelssohn , Camille Saint-Saens , Henryk Gorecki , Antonio Vivaldi , Edward Elgar , Jocelyn Pook , Sergey Rachmaninov , Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni , Luigi Boccherini , Jules Massenet , Ludwig van Beethoven , Jacques Offenbach , Pietro Mascagni , Antonin Dvorak , Giacomo Puccini , Ralph Vaughan Williams , Alexander Borodin , Joaquin Rodrigo , and Samuel Barber
Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000I93Z
Release Date: 1999-03-30

Tracks:

Air 'On the G String' - Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields
Morning - Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields
Canon In D - Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields
Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring - Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields
Gymnopedie No.1 - City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
II. Andante - Stephen Hough
Viens, Mallika - Mady Mesple
In Paradisum - Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Clair De Lune - Dame Moura Lympany
II. Andate - Yehudi Menuhin
The Swan - Osian Ellis
II. Lento E Largo - Tranquillissimo - Zofia Kilanowicz
II. Andantino - James Galway
II. Largo - Yehudi Menuhin
Nimrod - London Symphony Orchestra
Blow the Wind - Pie Jesu - Jocelyn Pook
Variation 18 - Cecile Ousset
Pavane Op.50 - Gareth Morris

Tracks:

Zion Hort Die Wachter Singen - South German Madrigal Choir
Adagio In G Minor - Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields
Minuet - Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields
II. Largo - Andrei Gavrilov
Meditation - Hans Kalafusz
I. Adagio Sostenuto - Dame Moura Lympany
Belle Nuit, O Nuit D'amour (Barcarolle) - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
II. Andante - Nigel North
II. Adagio - Jack Brymer
Intermezzo - Philharmonia Orchestra
I. Moderato - London Chamber Orchestra
O Mio Babbino Caro - Montserrat Caballe
Fantasia On 'Greensleeves' - Sinfonia Of London
II. Adagio Sostenuto (Opening) - Cecile Ousset
Nocturne - Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields
II. Adagio (Opening) - Julian Bream
Adagio For Strings Op.11a - The Philadelphia Orchestra
Entr'acte To Act III - Orchestre National De France

Amazon.com

You want relaxing classical music that'll soothe your soul but won't lull you into sleep? Here's a double CD for you. The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World ... Ever! does its best to cover both well-worn classical favorites (Bach's "Air on the G String," Pachelbel's "Cannon," Debussy's "Clair de Lune") and some eclectic left-field choices (an excerpt from Górecki's Symphony No. 3, Jocelyn Pook's "Blow the Wind," and Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. The performances of most of these excerpts are top-notch--artists include Sir Neville Marriner, James Galway, Jacqueline du Pré and the Philadelphia Orchestra--and there's enough variety here for everyone. --Edward Garabedian

Customer Reviews:

Lives Up To The Title, Fine Variety Of Genre's........2007-02-04

This CD is a great way to enjoy a large variety of Classical Composers & many of their best known pieces. Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," is an all time favorite. There are vocals, Piano pieces, & some fine Violins. I found the latter the most enjoyable. Here you can find Rodrigo & Pachelbell. Samuel Barber's haunting Adagio will make your skin tingle. This may not be to everyones taste, but if you wish to relax? Give this a couple of listens.

Good for relaxing pregnant women.......2007-01-17

I stumbled onto this album whilst searching bit torrent websites for classical music. I don't normally listen to classical music but thought it might be relaxing for my pregnant wife. After hearing the quality of the performances, the arrangement, and the recording I decided to buy the album from amazon. All the songs you would expect from a "best album in the world" are there and they are not boring to listen to like a lot of other classical albums. I now play this album in the car constantly and the wife requested it be played at the hospital during the birth.

Too much opera.......2007-01-10

If it wasn't for the opera this would be a great CD.

Does what it set out to do, very well.......2006-11-15

So i'm a classical music veteran, someone who prefers to collect a complete work, rather than classical compilations. I probably would not have listened to this album at all if my dad didnt buy it for me as a gift. By now, i own the complete works that over half of the excepts on this disc come from. I am a purist if ever there was one.

That said, i totally adore this set because i have learned to take it on its own terms. These discs weren't meant for expert classical listeners, so a review from that sort of mindset is useless. This set was meant for pure, easy listening, and for a basic starters kit for classical newbies. Most of all, it was just meant to do what the title says, to relax the average human being. classical expert or not.

Yes, some of these pieces have been altered or shortened, like Mozart's Flute and Harp Concerto Andantino, but they have been edited for a good enough reason: the full versions would have been too long to flow with the rest of the album. And also, the full versions contain so much development that they don't become easy listening anymore. The shortened versions work in the context of the album. Most essentially, the shortened versions on the discs still convey the main flavor the composers were going for. The melodies and themes remain unchanged.

To sum up, it is true that when i want to actually listen deeply to classical music, this album would never be a choice. I would want to hear the complete works like the composers intended. But at certain times when i simply don't mind about that stuff, when i just need to loosen up and free my mind of stress with some nice melodies, this set does the job well enough.

Last but not least: being a purist and a classical buff, i am very particular about performance quality. I was very glad to find that EMI did not get lazy about this. All the artists are world-class, and all the performances are at least exceptional. Some performances are even quite excellent, like the Clair De Lune, which is one of the best i've heard. (Credit to Dame Lympany, the pianist.)

So once again, recommended for its stated purpose, to relax. I am a purist, a classical buff, and i still enjoy this disc. That says something.

TRULY The most relaxing and beautiful music ever written........2006-11-10

This album along with Volume 2 are now the two most valued albums in my music collection. I have all of the songs contained on these two albums but they are scattered through at least a dozen different albums and several are not performed by artists such as those that recorded this album and Volume 2.
SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL !!!!!!!!!!

Average customer rating:

Most Famous???
Only one song knew well
The Most Famous Opera Duets
Good selection of opera highlights
The closest thing

The Most Famous Opera Duets

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
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Binding: Audio CD

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The #1 Opera Album
Rapture: Opera's Most Heavenly Moments
Nessun Dorma ~ 20 Great Tenor Arias / Pavarotti, Carreras, Domingo, Bergonzi, Aragall, Björling, Di Stefano, Kollo, Corelli, Del Monaco...

ASIN: B000002SCA
Release Date: 1994-04-12

Tracks:

Les Peurs des perles Act 1 - Au fond du temple saint
Madama Butterfly Act 1- Vogliatemi bene, un bene piccolino
Le Nozze di Figaro Act III - Sull'aria - Le Nozze di Figaro
La Traviata Act I - Un di, felice, eterea
Lucia Di Lammermoor Act I - Ah! Verranna a te sull'aure
Tristan und Isolde Act II - O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe
Carmen Act I - Parle-moi de m
Die ZauberflAct I - Bei Mern, welche Liebe F
Lakmct I - Viens, Mallika
Rigoletto Act I - il sol dell'anima
Der Rosenkavalier Act II - Mir ist die Ehre wilderfahren
Don Giovanni Act I - Li darem la mano
La Boh Act IV - O Mimi, tu pi torni
Il Trovatore Act IV - Miserere...Quel suon, quelle preci

Amazon.com

This is a misnomer--not all of these duets are all that famous--but it's a fine compilation nonetheless. You'll hear selections from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers (Nicolai Gedda and Ernest Blanc at their most elegant French), Madama Butterfly (Carlo Bergonzi and Renata Scotto--an impassioned pair), Lucia di Lammermoor (a classy Alfredo Kraus and Edita Gruberova), the lovely Lakme duet, The Presentation of the Silver Rose from Der Rosenkavalier (with the earnest Christa Ludwig and the other-worldly Teresa Stich-Randall), and a fine Trovatore "Miserere" (with Leontyne Price and Franco Bonisolli singing up a storm). There are many others, too--a veritable cornucopia of couplings--and a treat for the opera lover. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

Most Famous???.......2007-05-14

The title of this cd is misleading and I found myself wondering whose list did they use. That is not to say that there aren't some real treasures included here. The duet from Lakme is lovely in every way, Mady Mesple in particular, very beautful and very french, and far superior to Sutherlands hooty approach. Scotto and Bergonzi are superb, the Tristan and Isolde of Vickers and Dernesch truly other worldly, and the presentation of the rose duet with the young Ludwig and the astonishing Teresa Stich- Randell had me playing it over and over and I still can't believe it, but the most famous??? This cd is definitly worth buying, and I hated giving it only 3 stars but if you're talking most famous you could fill a couple of cd's with Puccini, not to mention Verdi, Mozart, etc. before Bizet's Les Pecheurs des perles, beautiful as it is, made the most famous list.

Only one song knew well.......2007-05-14

I should have done more research. The last song is the only one I could easily recognize. Live and learn.

The Most Famous Opera Duets.......2007-01-05

This seller truly makes a purchaser confident in the product as well the time in which is promised.

Thanks again!!!!!

Good selection of opera highlights.......2006-11-04

Super performances by famous opera artists of the 20th century, most of them no longer performing and some of them deceased. I enjoy having their voices available at home.

The closest thing.......2006-08-06

This is a marvelous CD, especially the Pearl Fisher's duet with Gedda and Blanc. I would rank that performance second all time, just below the
forever unforgettable Bjoerling/Merrill version. Worth the price just for that selection, and all the rest is top rate as well.

Average customer rating:

EXCELLENT CD to introduce kids (& adults) to classical music!
Tchaikovsky is my favorite composer, declares my [...].
Truly fun AND educational
My kids' hands-down favorite classical CD
Grandson loves!

Beethoven's Wig: Sing Along Symphonies
Beethoven's Wig
Manufacturer: Rounder / Umgd
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Beethoven's Wig, Vol. 2: More Sing-Along Symphonies
Beethoven's Wig 3: Many More Sing-Along Symphonies
Philadelphia Chickens
Beethoven Lives Upstairs
Mozart's Magnificent Voyage

ASIN: B000060OLA
Release Date: 2002-03-05

Tracks:

Beethoven's Wig (5th Symphony, Beethoven)
Franz Liszt the Famous Pianist (Hungarian Rhapsody #2, Liszt)
Please Don't Play Your Violin at Night (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Mozart)
Can You Can Can? (Can Can, Offenbach)
Just For Elise (Fur Elise, Beethoven)
Haydn's Great Surprise (Surprise Symphony, Haydn)
Kings and Queens of England (Trumpet Tune, Purcell)
Drip, Drip, Drip (Pizzicato from Sylvia, Delibes)
Harmony (The Merry Peasant, Schumann)
Hey Guitar Teacher (Bouree, Bach)
Tchaikovsky's Cannonball (1812 Overture, Tchaikovsky)

Product Description

GENERAL FEATURES: Beethoven's Wig Sing Along Symphonies are zany stick-in-your-head lyrics set to the greatest hits of classical music. Filled with fact and fancy about the world's most notable composers and their masterpieces, each Sing Along Symphony opens the door to "serious music" in a way that's fun. As a bonus, the orchestral performance of each classical piece is included without lyrics. Educational entertainment for all ages.

Amazon.com

Inspired and wildly imaginative, Beethoven's Wig is one of the best introductions to classical music you could give to your children. Featuring snippets of 11 classical music staples--Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, et al.--the disc and its creators, Richard Perlmutter and friends, pour on the silly lyrics the first time around to familiarize young ears to the old masters. Then in the last half of the record, the orchestra plays the same "serious" music pieces instrumentally. You might cheerfully recall Alan Sherman's popular spoofs of old classical works in Wig and you'll again chuckle at pieces like "Drip, Drip, Drip," which adapts Delibes's "Pizzicato from Sylvia." You'll also marvel at the expertise throughout the CD, with all the pieces well played yet thoroughly fun. Beethoven's Wig is an orchestral treasure with a sense of humor as old or as new as its listeners (and the fun questions that run throughout the CD's liner notes are almost as entertaining as the zany musical interludes). Highly recommended. --Martin Keller

Customer Reviews:

EXCELLENT CD to introduce kids (& adults) to classical music!.......2007-07-08

This CD is a must for every child. It is so important for children to appreciate the great composers. This CD is a wonderful introduction and a fun way for children to learn the facts and names to go along with the tunes. The selection of pieces for this disk are also wonderful. It is nice that the songs are also to where you can listen to them without the lyrics. My children love it and my husband loves to hear just the music (& he is more of a oldies rock n roll & country music man).

Tchaikovsky is my favorite composer, declares my [...]........2007-06-15

We originally received Beethoven's wig from a friend. My two year old and eight year old loved it so much that I had to buy #2 from www.amazon.com and got the third one used on www.ebay.com. Now I have them all on a playlist on my Ipod, and we play them non-stop in the car, and at home. (putting all three on my Ipod makes it more bearable since it is not always the same songs). Too bad www.Itunes.com hasn't caught on yet.

The best part was when my daughter told her Music Camp teacher, " Tchaikovsky is my favorite composer!" I thought she was going to faint.

Truly fun AND educational.......2007-06-01

We play this probably once a day in our home and my kids (one is almost 5, and 2 yr old twins) all enjoy it! Definitely appealing to kids, but also not offensive to the adult ear. I even find myself humming the words when I hear these classical pieces at other times of the day. I recommend for any household with small kids - it introduces classical music in a very fun, upbeat way.

My kids' hands-down favorite classical CD.......2007-05-18

My kids take piano lessons, and I was hoping that listening to classical music would help them enjoy their lessons a bit more, since many of their lesson pieces are variations of classical melodies, and, for whatever reason, they don't naturally enjoy classical music.

I had heard rave reviews about the Classical Kids series of CDs (where a story is set to a composer's music), and, while my children enjoyed them, they didn't really want to hear the stories repeatedly, so the melodies didn't stick.

We got this CD from the library, and the minute they heard the first line of this CD, they were in hysterics. They just LOVED the silly lyrics, and they've listened to the CD repeatedly. They begged me to buy our own copy and to get the 2nd and 3rd CDs in this series. They ask questions about the music and the lyrics, trying to figure out what play on words and reality the creator of the CD was thinking about. They remember the music and who composed it. And they are much more interested in playing the pieces they know on the piano!

So, for our purposes, this CD has been perfect.

And yes, I put my money where my mouth is and purchased all three CDs in this set :) This one is still our favorite.

Grandson loves!.......2007-05-12

Because I don't live close to my almost 4 year old grandson, I had this shipped to him. My son (his father) says that he asks to hear this all the time. They have to take it in the car wherever they go and listen. Even though the words are silly, I am pleased to know that as he grows older, he will recognize classical music (of course he may always sing the silly words!).

Essential Mozart: 32 Of His Greatest Masterpieces

Average customer rating:

Gorgeous music, bad quality cd.
Great music, low quality reproduction
A nice introduction
Mozart is the reference point for good classical music.
Mozart's music

Essential Mozart: 32 Of His Greatest Masterpieces

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Essential Bach
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Mozart: The Great Piano Concertos, Vol. 1
Beethoven Collection: Symphonies Nos. 1-9, Complete Recording (Box Set)

ASIN: B00005A8JZ
Release Date: 2001-03-13

Tracks:

Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K525: Allegro - Academy Of St Martin-In-The-Fields
Piano Concerto No.21 In C Major, K467: Andante - Radu Lupu
Le nozze di Figaro: Voi che sapete - Cecilia Bartoli
Clarinet Quintet In A Major, K581: Largetto - Peter Schmidl
Ave verum Corpus, K618 - James Vivian
Vesperae solennes de confessore in C major: Laudate Dominum - Emma Kirkby
Concerto For Flute And Harp In C Major: Andantino - Lisa Beznosiuk
Le nozze di Figaro: Overture - London Philharmonic Orchestra
Cosi fan tutte: Trio: Soava sia il vento - Renee Fleming
Symphony No.39 in E-flat Major, K495: Andante con moto - Chicago Symphony
Horn Concerto: Rondo - Barry Tuckwell
Don Giovanni: Serenade Deh, vieni alla finestra - Bryn Terfel
Contredanse In C Major, K609 No.1 'Non piu andrai' - Vienna Mozart Ensemble
German Dance, K605 No.3 'Sleigh Ride' - Vienna Mozart Ensemble
Piano Concerto No.23 In A Major, K488: Adagio - Vladimir Ashkenazy
A Musical Joke, K522: Presto - Vienna Mozart Ensemble

Tracks:

Symphony No.40 In G Minor, K550: Molto allegro - Vienna Philharmonic
Piano Sonata No.16 In C Major: Allegro - Andras Schiff
The Magic Flute: Queen Of The Night: Der Holle Rache - Sumi Jo
Clarinet Concerto In A Major, K622: Adagio - Franklin Cohen
Don Giovanni: La ci darem la mano - Cecilia Bartoli
Serenade in Bb Major, K361: Adagio - London Wind Soloists
Der Vogelfanger bin ich ja - Hermann Prey
Le nozze di Figaro: Dove sono - Kiri Te Kanawa
Violin Concerto No.3 in G Major, K216: Adagio - Joshua Bell
Requiem, K626: Lacrimosa - Vienna Philharmonic
Litaniae de venerabili altaris sacramento: Dulcissimum convivium - Margaret Marshall
Piano Sonata No.11 In A Major, K331: Rondo alla turca - Andras Schiff
Don Giovanni: Champagne aria: Fin ch'chan dal vino - Bryn Terfel
Divertimento No.17 in D Major, K334: Minuet & trio - Vienna Mozart Ensemble
Exsultate, jubilat, K165: Alleluja - Leontyne Price
Symphony No.41 In C Major, K551 'Jupiter': Finale: Molto allegro - Vienna Philharmonic

Customer Reviews:

Gorgeous music, bad quality cd........2007-04-13

The music is Mozart's and is fantastic. The last piece on the first disc
stutters halfway through, and seizes up my system. I don't have time to return items to Amazon. On the positive side, most of the time Amazon provides quality products and service. I gave 3 stars because I love the music.

Great music, low quality reproduction.......2007-01-30

this is a great collection of his work... the only problem i have found so far is that my copy has irritating "clicks" over the recording.

A nice introduction.......2006-02-22

This is a good well rounded collection to dip you into the classical world of Mozart.

Mozart is the reference point for good classical music........2005-10-20

A good collection of his best work and I find it helps me focus when I'm writing or contempating life.

"We exposed these animals [rats] in utero and then sixty days after birth to different types of auditory stimulation and then we ran them in a spatial maze. And sure enough, the animals that were exposed to the Mozart completed the maze faster and with fewer errors. And now what we're doing is we're removing their brains so we can slice them and see neuro-anatomically precisely what has changed as a function of this exposure. So it may be that this intense exposure to the music is a type of enrichment that has similar effects on the spatial areas of the hippocampus of the brain." --Dr. Frances Rauscher

Dr. Frances Rausher sums up what I feel happening when I expose myself to this incredible composer (Mozart).

I have yet to grow tired of any of the tracks yet, but I will invest in more of his work soon.

Mozart's music.......2005-10-17

This is a review of Mozart's music, not the cd. Mozart is praised to the skies by all and sundry, including most musicians, including my father, who no doubt has his reasons. But my feeling about Mozart has always been that there is nothing in Mozart's music that is other than music. There is no logical impressionism, there are no events that seem to be transpiring as in, for example, Beethoven. Mozart is just music. Mozart is to music as pure mathematics is to science. It hints of nothing else and has no application. I find some of his music irritatingly trivial, for example, Eine Kleine Nachtmuzic. This is mechanical music that one can imagine being piped in by a totalitarian government that insists everyone be cheerful. If Disneyland was an eighteenth century totalitarian state, Mozart would be its Muzak. The populace would be awakened, like Chinese train passengers, at 6AM by the strains of some allegro. They would arise and busy themselves with their ablutions in a state of thoughtless cheer, never for one moment leaving the surface of things. That being said, the second movement of Mozart's clarinette concerto is the music that one will hear on going into heaven.

Stars & Stripes Forever and the Greatest Marches

Average customer rating:

Album matches content hype
Fun
invigorating!
Totally awesome!

Stars & Stripes Forever and the Greatest Marches

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Sousa's Greatest Hits
The Military Band: Salute to the Services
Salute to America
40 Famous Marches
Fiedler's Favorite Marches

ASIN: B000003F5U
Release Date: 1991-09-06

Tracks:

Aida: Grand March
Babes In Toyland: March Of The Toys
Semper Fidelis
Suite No. 1, Op. 43: Marche miniature
Yankee Doodle
Up The Street
The Damnation of Faust: Rakoczy March
Caucasian Sketches: Procession Of The Sardar
Sambre et Meuse
The Ruins Of Athens: Turkish March
Colonel Bogey
Dixie
American Salute: When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Strike Up The Band
Radetzsky March
Pomp And Circumstance March No. 1
Algerian Suite: French Military March
Mlada: Procession Of The Nobles
Valdres March
National Emblem March
The Stars And Stripes Forever

Customer Reviews:

Album matches content hype.......2007-05-31

I intially bought this album for a few selections I had heard from Classical 102.1 (KDFC-FM). I was pleasantly surprised that the entire album has a very satisfying collection of the greatest marches. I am very pleased with this album, and would recommend it for anyone who likes a broad range of famous marches.

Fun.......2007-01-21

This CD would make a great gift for anyone who enjoys marches. Some of the marches are popular, others are not. All are well-performed and can be enjoyed - LOUDLY!

invigorating!.......2006-12-05

Great recordings of stirring music. I like to play it loud while my kids and I clean house. It makes it go by fast.

Totally awesome!.......2005-03-27

My father was a Marine in the ETC, he told me stories about how they went floor to floor checking for bad guys humming this music. I think it is great music to listen to, I really like track 3, it says so much in the title alone. I hope everybody like this music as much as I do!

Average customer rating:

SILLS and a Perfect MANON.....
For Sills fans, mainly.
A Great Recording of an Opera That Should Be Performed More Often
Beverly Sills Signature Role
SILLS MANON RULES! AND DG CD REISSUE SUPERB!

Massenet: Manon

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Ballad of Baby Doe
The Great Recordings

ASIN: B0001Y4JGG
Release Date: 2004-05-11

Amazon.com

This recording has been unavailable for too long. Recorded in 1970, a solid year-or-so before Beverly Sills' voice began to show the damage caused by singing Elisabetta I in Donizetti's Roberto Devereux, this is the finest all-around recording of Manon on the market. Sills, in addition to being fresh-voiced, is so thoroughly in the part that we can chart Manon's downfall step by step; her girlish singing is as right on as her sassy, showy coloratura in the thirds act, and her St Sulpice scene is truly seductive. She's the perfect Manon. And Nicolai Gedda's Des Grieux, sung, as is Sills' Manon and the rest of the cast, in impeccable French, is passionate, madly in love, and ultimately tragic. Gabriel Bacquier's Count is imperious and authoritative and Gerard Souzay's Lescaut is smooth. Julius Rudel's leadership sparkles when it should and his sense of French suavity is unfailing. The score is given more than complete - as an appendix, there's an aria for Manon that Massenet added later. This is a desert island disc. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

SILLS and a Perfect MANON............2007-07-07

Enough has been written about Beverly Sills and the role of Manon that you already know that she OWNED the role for a long time.

This recording was originally issued on EMI, and I find it unusual that it should have disappeared from that label and it now appears on DG. Although it is strange, we need not worry about that; the main thing here is that the recording is again available to us.

You only really need two copies of Manon...the Victoria De Los Angeles one under Pierre Monteaux, and this one with Sills, Gedda, Bacquier, and Souzay under Julius Rudel. All participants here are simply wonderful, and all in very good voice as it happens! Usually we get a weak link, but somehow, the god's smiled on this effort, and everything came together wonderfully.

This is one of Gedda's efforts that I heartily commend! Simply a great des Griux! Souzay's Lescaut is really a wonderfully smooth, and mellow, performance that you need to hear. Gabriel Bacquier, AS ALWAYS turns in a magnificently commanding performance as Count des Griux. This of course brings us to the role of Manon. Simply stunning would be a great way to say it! Sills is just so real-life-bubbly girlish, and so lovely, that we are swept up in the swirl of mad love, right up to tragedy that comes to her, and the heart-wrenchingly sad finale.

This recording belongs in everyone's collection, right beside the Victoria De Los Angeles one! Enjoy! ~operabruin

For Sills fans, mainly........2006-01-16

As good an ensemble as could be assembled in the more recent past, well conducted by the seasoned Rudel, this 1970 performance stands or falls by one's perception of the two principals.

Nicolaï Gedda (né Ustinov,) b. 1925, half-Swedish, half-Russian, was a fine musician with a highly developped vocal technique. His manner was rather cold, however, and at 45 his lyric voice had lost some of its original bloom. I find his des Grieux rather grim and emphatic, lacking in romantic élan. I much prefer the poetic Henri Legay in the definitive Monteux recording (TESTAMENT.)

Beverly Sills (née Silvermann,) b. 1929, American, studied with Estelle Liebling, a pupil of the legendary Mathilde Marchesi, teacher of Melba, Eames, Kurtz, Alda and many an other French stylist.

Sills new exactly how to sing this music and had the perfect voice and technique for it. Many years of repertory singing in the provinces, often in inappropriately heavy parts (Tosca!) however, had made Sills' voice thin and unsteady by the time she made this recording at age 41. Her interpretation is intense, heartfelt and full of telling dramatic detail, but often heavy-handed and unpleasant on the ear. She is also rather short on the elegance and chimeric charm that characterises the best interpreters of this part (Vallin, Heldy, Féraldy, de los Ángeles.)

The airplane hangar ambience of the recording studio (talk about overresonant!) does not help, either.

Incidentally, the rôle of Lescaut is sung (well) by Gerard SOUZAY.

Gabriel Bacquier sings comte des Grieux--very well indeed.

A Great Recording of an Opera That Should Be Performed More Often.......2005-10-08

Massanet's MANON is a work that is no stranger to the stage in New York City where it has had a glorious history at both the Met and the New York City Opera though this is not the case around the world. Its frequent New York performances may make it Massanet's most staged opera. For those familiar with the work, it is a favorite. It has all the elements that make French opera great, but it is not a work that has familiar excerpts. As a matter of fact, Massanet's bets known melodies are from lesser known works, such as the "Meditation" from THAIS and Porquoi me Revelier" from WERTHER. Yet when MANON is broadcast from the Met or if one takes out a recording, it's easy to understand why this work has been a favorite of so many for over a century and begs the question `Why isn't this work performed more often?'

Like great French opera, MANON is a work that is a bit larger than life, requires exquisite orchestral playing, and of course great singing. This set, originally released by Westminster in the 1970's and re-released by Duetsche Grammophon has it all. The vocal abilities of the three leading performers: Beverly Sills, Nicolai Gedda and Gabriel Bacquier as Manon, des Grieux, and Lescaut respectively are each in top vocal form. Sills herself states that Manon was a role she loved and one that she believed her voice was well suited for, and there can be no disputation when listening to this set. As a conductor, Julius Rudel is at his best. He has great control over the New Philharmonia Orchestra, creating lush sounds that make the recording spectacular and an added, but essential plus would be the outstanding choral performances by the Ambrosian Opera Chorus and the great performances of the smaller roles.

Just about every reviewer, from Amazon reviewers to the critics who write for OPERA NEWS have heralded the new availability of this recording. Listen to it, and you will understand why and echo the many praises of this set.

Enjoy!

Beverly Sills Signature Role.......2004-12-17

Beverly Sills once said that if she was to be remembered for anything, it should be for "Manon". This is the role that catapulted her to opera superstardom. And she made this recording in 1970, when her voice still had all its youthful freshness and vigor, and shows just why Beverly Sills had such a great reputation. It has been said that Massenet wrote for his soprano, and nowhere is that more true than in the title role of this opera. And Sills does the role complete justice, vocally demonstrating in her singing the downfall of Manon from young innocent girl to demimondaine to despair and death. Her rendition of the great aria "Adieu, notre petite table", is incredibly moving. And the rest of the cast is excellent as well. Nicolai Gedda is supremely stylish as Des Grieux, Gabriel Bacquier strong and forthright as his father, and one gets to hear the late Gerard Souzay, famous primarily as a concert artist, singing a rare opera role as Lescaut, Manon's cousin. Julius Rudel conducts cleanly, making the most of Massenet's lush orchestrations. This recording belongs on the shelf of every opera lover.

SILLS MANON RULES! AND DG CD REISSUE SUPERB!.......2004-05-31

(I wrote these words in a review of the Angel/EMI CD reissue that is now out of print) On my select list of favorite complete opera recordings sits Beverly Sills' Manon. I wore out three copies of the vinyl version and the EMI