Search - Vincenzo Bellini, Francesco Cilea, Gaetano Donizetti :: Legendary Performances of Caballé [Box Set]

LA DIVA AT HER BEST & ALMOST FREE

Bartolome Mesa Gil | Malaga, SPAIN | 04/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is truly a bargain for anyone wanting to explore the great art of Montserrat Caballé. Made in China by the American company Allegro, the package looks as cheap as the price. But what is inside is what really counts and that is absolutely magnificent. Seven complete operas captured live in variable but mainly very good sound, from the Lucrezia Borgia of 1965 at Carnegie Hall, that made her an overnight superstar (a truly amazing performance, pure bel canto) to the Naples Gemma di Vergy of 1975. A very good survey of her best decade, when the Caballé sound had no rival in the world, it saves for posterity some of her best roles, including her legendary Norma of Orange (1974), apart from her Arabella (Rome, 1973), Salome (Rome, 1971), Adriana Lecouvreur (Paris, 1975) and Butterfly (Madrid, 1968). Many collectors may have some of these performances (they have been released previously by several labels at fullprice) and I had all of them. But for the price this is a neat way of having a great sample of Caballé's art in a very small space (14 CDs on clear sleeves and a thin but cute booklet). Tho you still have to look elsewhere for the Parisina of Canegie Hall (1974), an amazing performance, pure magic, that have to be heard to be beleived. Unfortunately in the Norma of Orange her breathtaking "Dormono entrambi" scene is missing, as it is in all previous pirate issues, a mistake of the original release that all the following ones have copied! Fortunately, there is a recording on film of this Orange performance (regarded by Caballé herself as the best of her entire career and available on DVD) which is absolutely complete. In any case, a must for anyone interested in great singing. And at this price you have to be mad to let it pass."

7000 stars for for the operas. 2 stars for the booklet

Claudia N. Davidsen | Ruskin, FL | 08/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an update of an earlier review. I continue to love all the performances in this 7-opera box set, and find myself returning to it frequently--sometimes to cherry pick, but sometimes to listen to an entire work. Caballe fans will love this for the early performances, ranging from 1965 - 1975. The Lucrezia Borgia is the 1965 Carnegie Hall performance. The audience went berserk and for good cause. If you are a real sentimental romanticist, you will appreciate the Butterfly with Bernabe Marti. The Norma is the historic 1974 Orange performance. Adriana Lecouvreur: Adriana's Maurizio is Placido Domingo. The booklet, however, is a POC! The "...rare historic photos...": there are precisely none. There are few photos, and nothing special. The more I look at that booklet, the less I like it.



Regarding Lucrezia: Played it this morning. Bless her heart, Madame's stage scream at the end is so real that my husband ran in to see which finger I had cut off. Yeah. He thought it was me.



I still like this set for driving music. You can cover a lot of road with this one set."

Caballe's Lucrezia 'full of such sweet poison'

Gerard Fagan | Dublin Ireland | 06/04/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Monserrat Caballe in her performance of Donizetti's 'Lucrezia Borgia' intimates very quickly what all the fuss was about.She is instantly cast as queen of bel canto in Donizetti's fiendishly difficult role and is well flanked by Alain Vanzo as her fly-blow Gennaro. One is left at the end lamenting that she has too much german repertoire to sing. Leave german to the germans is what I say and let Caballe concentrate on what she does best. Viva L'Ítalia!"