Search - Giuseppe Verdi :: Best Verdi 100

This 6-CD set contains 100 tracks from the most familiar and best-loved works by the Italian operatic composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), performed by many of the world's leading singers, choruses, orchestras and conductors. The operas of Verdi today form the mainstay of the repertoire of opera houses all over the world. Some of his music has become absorbed into popular culture from being used in TV adverts and film soundtracks, as well as being performed by the most famous classical singers of the day in concerts and on records. * CD 1 brings together many of Verdi's great arias for tenor and baritone, from the swaggering bravado of `La donna è mobile' from Rigoletto to the heartbreaking poignancy of `Niun mi tema', the death scene from Otello, Verdi's inspired setting of Shakespeare's tragedy. CD 2 presents a veritable galaxy of great sopranos and mezzos who provide a program of the greatest Verdi arias for the female voice from operas like La traviata, Rigoletto, Un ballo in maschera and Aida. In CD 3, the singers come together in pairs for a program of some of Verdi's finest duets, the first of which is the irresistible brindisi: `Libiamo' from La traviata sung by Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna. CD 4 is a collection of great ensembles including some of the most powerful passages from Otello, Don Carlo and Aida. The next CD contains many of Verdi's best choruses, from the lively Anvil Chorus from Il trovatore to the deeply moving Chorus of Hebrew Slaves: `Va, pensiero' from Nabucco. The final CD brings together some of Verdi's powerful overtures to operas like La forza del destino and Luisa Miller, the deeply moving preludes from La traviata and Aida and some colorful ballet music from Macbeth that Verdi added for its French production.