100 Best Opera Classics

• Booklet languages: English
• Time: 470:48
• Release Date: 2004

Review

100 Best Opera Classics, a six-CD set, includes nearly eight hours of some of the most popular music from opera's golden age, from the late eighteenth century through the early 20th century. The selections are drawn from the archives of EMI, and although these might not necessarily be THE definitive interpretations of these pieces, it can be assumed that most all of the performances here meet a high artistic standard. The sound can vary, because the recording dates range from 1955 to 2003, with the majority from the 1960s, but it is often very good, and always at least respectable. The pieces come largely from the standard Italian, German, and French repertoire, with Mozart, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, Massenet, and Puccini being the best represented composers. The rarities come almost entirely from neglected French repertoire, with selections from obscure operas by Berlioz, Auber, Adam, Bizet, Massenet, and Lalo. While there are some performances by singers of small reputation, the majority are by stars that anyone with a glancing familiarity with opera would recognize -- Callas, Caballé, Nilsson, Scotto, Schwarzkopf, Sills, Crespin, Ludwig, Corelli, Gedda, Pavarotti, Domingo, Fischer-Dieskau, Christoff -- to name just a few. The conductors, too, are generally top-notch, and include Beecham, Klemperer, von Karajan, Schippers, Haitink, Norrington, and Levine. The variety of repertoire, the quality of performances, and EMI's budget price make this a set that should interest listeners looking for a broad assortment of operatic classics. ~ Stephen Eddins, Rovi

Performances

Composer	Title	Time
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), opera, K. 492 (Voi che sapete)	2:49
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), opera, K. 492 (Porgi amor)	4:15
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Don Giovanni, opera, K. 527 (Deh, vieni alla finestra)	2:02
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Don Giovanni, opera, K. 527 (Batti, batti, o bel Masetto)	3:52
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620 (Der Hölle Rache)	2:56
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620 (O Isis und Osiris)	3:12
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588 (Temerari...Come scoglio)	5:52
Gioachino Rossini	Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), opera (La calunnia è un venticello)	4:54
Giuseppe Verdi	Don Carlo, opera (Nei giardin del bello)	4:56
Vincenzo Bellini	Norma, opera (Casta Diva)	5:33
Giuseppe Verdi	Aida, opera (Se quel guerrier...Celeste Aida)	4:41
Giuseppe Verdi	La Traviata, opera (Tenesta la promessa...Addio del passato)	5:43
Giuseppe Verdi	Otello, opera (Niun mi tema)	6:01
Giacomo Puccini	Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly), opera (Un bel di vedremo)	4:38
Giacomo Puccini	Tosca, opera (E lucevan le stelle)	2:53
Giacomo Puccini	La bohème, opera (Si, mi chiamano Mimi)	4:53
Giacomo Puccini	Manon Lescaut, opera (In quelle trine morbide)	2:16
Giacomo Puccini	Turandot, opera (Signore, ascolta)	2:37
Ruggero Leoncavallo	Pagliacci, opera (Recitar...Vesti la giubba)	3:44
Umberto Giordano	Fedora, opera (Amor ti vieta di non amar)	1:45
Charles Gounod	Faust, opera (Le veau d'or est toujours debout)	2:03
Léo Delibes	Lakmé, opera (Où va la jeune hindoue?)	6:30
Charles Gounod	Roméo et Juliette, opera (L'amour, l'amour...Ah! Lève-toi, soleil)	4:19
Jules Massenet	Manon, opera in 5 acts (Allons! Il le faut...Adieu notre petite table)	3:51
Jules Massenet	Werther, lyric drama in 4 acts (Toute mon âme est là...Pourquoi me réveiller)	2:36
Georges Bizet	La Jolie Fille de Perth, opera in 4 acts (Quand la flamme de l'amour)	4:57
Georges Bizet	Carmen, opera (L'amour est un oiseau rebelle)	4:35
Georges Bizet	Les Pêcheurs de perles, opera in 3 acts (À cette voix...Je crois entendre encore)	4:32
Hector Berlioz	La Damnation de Faust, for mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, bass, chorus and orchestra, ("légende dramatique") H. 111 (Op. 24) (Une puce gentille)	1:25
Hector Berlioz	Les Troyens, opera, H. 133a (Je vais mourir...Adieu, fière cité)	6:01
Camille Saint-Saëns	Samson et Dalila, opera in 3 acts, Op. 47 (Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix)	5:17
Richard Wagner	Tannhäuser, opera, WWV 70 (Wie Todesahnung...O du mein holder Abendstern)	4:16
Richard Wagner	Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman), opera, WWV 63 (Johohoe! Traft ihr das Schiff im Meere an?)	8:13
Richard Wagner	Lohengrin, opera, WWV 75 (In fernem Land)	4:43
Richard Wagner	Siegfried, opera, WWV 86c (Heil dir, Sonnet)	5:17
Richard Wagner	Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90 (Mild und leise)	7:19
Christoph Willibald Gluck	Orfeo ed Euridice (Italian version), opera in 3 acts, Wq. 30 (Che farò senza Euridice?)	5:27
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620 (Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja)	2:36
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Don Giovanni, opera, K. 527 (Finch'han dal vino)	1:27
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), opera, K. 492 (E Susanna non vien!...Dove sono)	6:27
Ludwig van Beethoven	Fidelio, opera, Op. 72 (Abscheulicher!)	8:18
Gioachino Rossini	Guillaume Tell (William Tell), opera (Ne m'abandonne pas, espoir de la vengeance...Asile héréditaire)	6:59
Gioachino Rossini	Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), opera (Largo al factotum)	4:43
Giuseppe Verdi	Don Carlo, opera (Ella giammai m'amò)	7:32
Giuseppe Verdi	Rigoletto, opera (La donna è mobile)	2:15
Giuseppe Verdi	Il Trovatore, opera (Di quella pira)	2:02
Giuseppe Verdi	Otello, opera (Esultate!)	2:25
Giuseppe Verdi	Otello, opera (Dio! mi potevi scagliar)	4:40
Giacomo Puccini	Tosca, opera (Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore)	3:01
Giacomo Puccini	Turandot, opera (In questa reggia)	5:58
Giacomo Puccini	Turandot, opera (Tanto amore)	2:22
Giacomo Puccini	Gianni Schicchi, opera (O mio babbino caro)	2:41
Pietro Mascagni	L'amico Fritz, opera (commedia lyrica) in 3 acts (Ed anche Beppe amo)	3:17
Francesco Cilèa	Adriana Lecouvreur, opera (Poveri fiori)	3:12
Umberto Giordano	Andrea Chénier, opera (Come un bel di di maggio)	3:03
Charles Gounod	Faust, opera (Les grands seigneurs...Ah! Je ris de me voir si belle)	5:51
Jules Massenet	Le jongleur de Notre-Dame, opera in 3 acts (Marie, avec l'enfant Jésus)	5:31
Charles Gounod	Mireille, opera (Heureux petit berger)	2:06
Ambroise Thomas	Mignon, opera in 3 acts (Connais-tu le pays)	5:40
Ambroise Thomas	Mignon, opera in 3 acts (Elle ne croyait pas dans sa candeur)	3:32
Georges Bizet	Carmen, opera (Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre...Toréador)	4:56
Jacques Offenbach	Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts (Les oiseaux dans la charmille)	5:48
Hector Berlioz	La Damnation de Faust, for mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, bass, chorus and orchestra, ("légende dramatique") H. 111 (Op. 24) (Maintenant, chantons...Devant la maison de celui qui t'adore)	2:17
Gustave Charpentier	Louise, opera (Depuis le jour)	5:34
Richard Strauss	Der Rosenkavalier, opera, Op. 59 (TrV 227) (Da geht er hin)	5:23
Richard Wagner	Lohengrin, opera, WWV 75 (Einsam in trüben Tagen)	6:02
Richard Wagner	Tannhäuser, opera, WWV 70 (Dich, teure Halle)	4:45
Richard Wagner	Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b (Leb wohl, du kühnes, herrliches Kind)	15:42
Richard Wagner	Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b (Hojotoho! Hojotoho!)	5:55
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), opera, K. 492 (Non più andrai)	3:41
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Don Giovanni, opera, K. 527 (Là ci darem la mano)	3:15
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620 (Duo: Pa-pa-pa)	2:23
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588 (Soave sia il vento)	3:04
Vincenzo Bellini	Norma, opera (Mira, o Norma)	7:29
Gaetano Donizetti	Lucia di Lammermoor, opera (Il dolce suono)	16:44
Gaetano Donizetti	Don Pasquale, opera (Com'è gentil)	3:51
Gioachino Rossini	Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), opera (Una voce poco fa)	6:19
Giuseppe Verdi	La Traviata, opera (Libiamo n' lieti calici)	2:52
Giuseppe Verdi	Rigoletto, opera (Gualtier Maldè!...Caro nome)	6:42
Giuseppe Verdi	Aida, opera (Ritorna vincitor)	6:25
Giuseppe Verdi	Otello, opera (Ave Maria)	5:13
Giacomo Puccini	Turandot, opera (Nessun dorma)	2:50
Giacomo Puccini	La bohème, opera (Che gelida manina)	4:28
Alfredo Catalani	La Wally, opera (dramma musicale) in 4 acts (Ebben? Ne andrò lontana)	4:20
Adolphe Adam	Le Postillon de Lonjumeau, opera (Mes amis, écoutez l'histoire)	3:46
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber	La Muette de Portici, opera (Mieux vaut mourir...Amour sacré de la partrie)	5:46
Charles Gounod	Roméo et Juliette, opera (Ah! Je veux vivre dans ce rêve)	3:51
Edouard Lalo	Le Roi d'Ys, opera in 3 acts (Puisqu'on me peut fléchir...Vainement, ma bien-aimée)	3:28
Jules Massenet	Manon, opera in 5 acts (Suis-je gentille ainsi?...Je marche sur tous les chemins)	3:04
Jacques Offenbach	Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts (Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour)	4:20
Georges Bizet	Carmen, opera (La fleur que tu m'avais jetée)	4:27
Georges Bizet	Les Pêcheurs de perles, opera in 3 acts (C'est toi!...Au fond du temple saint)	7:28
Jules Massenet	Werther, lyric drama in 4 acts (Werther, Werther, qui m'aurait dit..Ces lettres!)	7:28
Léo Delibes	Lakmé, opera (Viens, Mallika)	5:53
Jules Massenet	Thaïs, opera in 3 acts (Ah! Je suis seule enfin...Dis-moi que je suis belle)	6:42
Charles Gounod	Faust, opera (Alerte, alerte!...Anges purs, anges radieux)	2:31
Modest Mussorgsky	Boris Godunov, opera (Boris's Farewell)	5:59
Carl Maria von Weber	Oberon, opera, J. 306 (Schreckensschwurt)	2:12
Richard Wagner	Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, opera, WWV 96 (Die "Selige Morgentraum-Deutweise"...Selig, wie die Sonne)	5:32
Richard Wagner	Siegfried, opera, WWV 86c (Was am besten er kann...Nothung! Nothung!)	5:52

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