Georges Bizet Alfredo Catalani Leo Delibes - The Most Famous Opera Arias (16 tracks) +Album Reviews +Used CD available for Swap

Excellent sampler CD

Rosomax | Boulder, CO United States | 02/14/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For the money, this is surely of the greatest bargains you'll ever see. Of course, some performers are featured 3-4 times, mezzos in particular, and there are NO baritones or bassos represented here (not even Toreador's song, which has got to be one of the "most famous"). Dimitrova really stands out as a larger-than-life dramatic soprano, but casting her as Butterfly was a glaring mistake. Her Tosca is magnificent, however. Overall the disc has 72 minutes of great singing and the sound is ADD with a couple of early DDD's thrown in. A serious fan will have all of the selections here, but it may be a good start for the beginning opera listeners. I hope that after hearing Placido Domingo's "Celeste Aida" they'll be tempted to purchase a complete recording."

An excellent introduction

Judge Knott | Upper West Side, NY, NY | 11/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is offered at a very attractive price, and features an excellent selection of opera arias. Most of the great composers are represented (such as Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, and Bizet) as well as some lesser-known but worthwhile names (such as Gluck, Gounod, and Saint-Saens).There is only one superstar singer on this album (Placido Domingo singing "Celeste Aida"), but don't let that deter you: the singing is uniformly rich, skillful, and warm. As another reviewer has pointed out, of the total of 16 tracks, 3 are performed by tenors and 13 by sopranos, but I feel nonetheless that the selection of arias found here is both broad and representative.The orchestras that are featured are lesser-known ensembles from Western and Central Europe, but they play with conviction and precision, and the CD's sound-recording quality (all the tracks are either "ADD" or "DDD") is first-rate. All in all, this is a great product brought to you from the vaults of the prestigious EMI Classical label. This is the perfect CD to add to your Amazon.com order if you need to get your grand total above $25 to qualify for free shipping"

"ORIGNAL EMI CLASSICS QUALITY RECORDING" - Terrible

sstadler | 05/24/2002

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The items chosen for this CD are great. The quality of the CD is very bad. Be careful to note the bottom of the CD cover "ORIGNAL EMI CLASSICS QUALITY RECORDING" (I thought I had a bum CD)...
Amazon.com sample playback for these items doesn't contain the static I'm getting so I feel I was tricked.
I can hardly make out what I am supposed to hear. Very disappointing."

Great intro into opera

sstadler | Rome, Italy | 01/01/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The main reason in my mind to buy this cd are the 2 tracks from Les Contes d'Hoffmann and Lakme sung by the wonderful Edita Gruberova. The 1st track is playful, funny, the 2nd breathtaking for her high notes and heartbreaking. A lesser reason is for Anna Moffo's Caro Nome from Rigoletto, the cadenza at the end is like nothing you've ever heard! Even if you don't know much about opera, this is an enjoyable cd. Cheap, too!"

A Great Place To Start

Dominic | New York, NY | 11/19/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As some other reviews have mentioned, no, this doesn't cover the full scale of the opera repertory, but it's geared to beginners, and I can't think of a better place to start than this that's out on the market right now. So don't listen to them.While this collection is some small, it still has a collection of some famous arias, all sung at levels of very good and up. Anna Moffo's "Caro Nome" as the first track is mind-blowing--the cadence she pulls at the end is absolutely celestial; I've skipped back many a time just to hear her. The following aria from Rigoletto isn't done quite as well (Kraus doesn't even go for the high C), but is sufficient. Other notable tracks on this album include Edita Gruberova's cavatina from Romeo and Juliette "Je Veux Vivre," Yelena Obraztsova "Mon Coeur" from Samson and Delilah (absolutely beautiful), Domingo's "Celesta Aida," (definitely one of the best recordings of this aria out there), another Moffo gem with "Una Voce Poco Fa" from Il Barbiere, an excellent "Che Gelida Manina" by an underrated tenor, Nicolai Gedda, who holds the high C in "speranza" for the longest I've ever heard any tenor hold it, and possibly the best aria on the whole CD, Gruberova's rendition of "Der Halle Rocke." For some reason, a previous reviewer said this was a horrible recording of it---I beg to differ, drastically; I'd even venture to turn some people away from listening to this track, since it's possibly the best recording of this aria ever made. I've covered my ears at many sopranos her shriek through the colorature, but she sings it like an angel. Overall, this is a great CD to start with. There are a few problems, like another reviewer mentioned, there are few male arias and no baritone/bass arias whatsoever, but the sound and clarity is good. I must say, though, that I did have a problem with scratching on the CD---a friend of mine owns the same CD and also it appeared to scratch fairly easily, so watch out.Want to have some real fun? Blast Gruberova's "Der Halle Rocke" while you're driving down the street with the windows open. See how many funny looks you get.Enjoy."

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