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Georges Bizet : Carmen (1964) - Callas Remastered

Maria Callas

Opera - Released September 19, 2014 | Warner Classics

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Bizet: Carmen

Thomas Beecham

Classical - Released January 1, 1960 | Warner Classics

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Bizet: Carmen

Ileana Cotrubas

Classical - Released January 1, 1978 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

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This 1977 recording of Carmen was based on a production from the Edinburgh Festival and includes most of the cast from that production with the exception of Ileana Cotrubas as Micaëla and Sherrill Milnes as Escamillo. Claudio Abbado conducts the London Symphony Orchestra, which plays with crisp precision and vitality. The evaluation of any performance of Carmen is complicated by the variety of editions available, the primary ones being the traditional version that uses recitatives set to music by Ernst Guiraud after the composer's death and the 1964 Fritz Oeser edition that uses the original spoken recitatives, but that reintroduces music Bizet discarded before the premiere. Most conductors using the spoken dialogue omit some or all of the discarded music, but Abbado includes it, and the result feels choppy and uneven, particularly in the first act. That effect is exacerbated by Abbado's performance. His tempos are frequently eccentrically slow or fast, without any apparent rationale, and he doesn't convey a convincing dramatic through-line or the sense of inevitable musical momentum that drives the opera. There are many effective moments, some lovely and some thrilling, but they don't add up to a convincing whole. That being said, the performances of the principals are often exceptional. Teresa Berganza's sultry, believably natural Carmen is beautifully nuanced, dramatically riveting, and musically ravishing. Plácido Domingo is a troubled, powerful Don José (pronounced here the Spanish rather than the French way) and his singing is lyrically intense. Cotrubas gives Micaëla exceptional warmth, even sensuality, and makes her a more interesting character than is usual. As Escamillo, Milnes is the least effective of the principals, sounding somewhat boomy and stiff. The sound alternates between the cavernous and the distant sides of an ideal ambience, and there is sometimes intentional but distracting crowd chatter under the spoken dialogue. In spite of the album's drawbacks, Berganza's vivid performance makes this a recording that should interest fans of the opera.© TiVo
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Gounod: Faust Ballet Music; Bizet: Carmen Suite

Alexander Gibson

Classical - Released February 24, 1960 | Decca Music Group Ltd.

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Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Suite & Bizet/Shchedrin: Carmen Suite

Rachmaninoff International Orchestra

Classical - Released March 15, 2024 | EuroArts Music International

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Bizet: Carmen & L'arlésienne Suites

Pablo Gonzalez

Classical - Released October 13, 2017 | Naxos

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The two suites adapted from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen and the two derived from his incidental music for Alphonse Daudet's play L'Arlésienne are concert staples, and they owe their enduring popularity to their unforgettable melodies and appealing orchestration. This 2017 Naxos CD presents Bizet's own L'Arlésienne Suite No. 1, which he assembled after the play failed, and it became one of his earliest successes; the remaining suites were arranged by Bizet's friend Ernest Guiraud, who composed the recitatives for Carmen and was instrumental in promoting Bizet's music after his death in 1875. Pablo González leads the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra in these engaging performances, and the liveliness of the playing and the vividness of the recorded sound make the CD a delight to hear. Sample track eight to hear the infectious Habanera, one of the most famous tunes from Carmen, and try track 20 for the Farandole, perhaps the best-known excerpt from L'Arlésienne.© TiVo
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Carmen

Marcin

Classical - Released June 9, 2023 | Masterworks

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Bizet: Carmen, WD 31

Herbert von Karajan

Classical - Released January 1, 1964 | Sony Classical

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Bizet: Carmen, WD 31

Adriana Maliponte

Classical - Released April 1, 1973 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

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Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 1 & Symphony No. 1 - Gounod: Petite Symphonie

François Leleux

Classical - Released March 13, 2020 | Linn Records

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Bizet: Carmen, WD 31 (Live)

Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra

Opera - Released October 12, 2018 | Orfeo

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Ravel: Boléro, M. 81 - Borodin: Music from "Kismet" - Bizet: Suites from "Carmen"

Erich Kunzel

Classical - Released April 22, 2008 | Telarc

With more than 80 albums produced on the Telarc label, the commitment of Erich Kunzel -- the so-called Prince of Pops -- and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra to the proliferation of classical music is abundantly clear. Not only does the orchestra reach record numbers of live audience members each year, but the superbly produced and recorded Telarc CDs introduce classical music the world over. The recordings of the Cincinnati Pops completely sidestep the throngs of other pop classical recordings out there that employ inferior orchestras led by mediocre conductors performing randomly programmed pieces. This album opens with Ravel's Boléro, which in its own time was completely scandalous. Cincinnati's grand crescendo is a bit quicker than most, a wise decision considering the target audience. The middle work on the program is the one most likely to be unknown to modern audiences. Arranged by Kunzel himself, listeners are taken back to the 1950s with music from the extremely popular musical Kismet by Robert Wright and George Forrest. Excerpts are drawn from the music of Alexander Borodin; even casual listeners are likely to recognize many of the melodies even if the Broadway show itself is unfamiliar. After these two already great performances, the orchestra really shows its panache in two suites from Bizet's Carmen. Every aspect of these performances is timed to make listening to the music alone just as captivating and exciting as they would have been with their original live-action components. Telarc's sound -- both in standard stereo and SACD surround -- is crystal clear and enveloping.© TiVo
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Bizet: Carmen Suites Nos. 1 & 2 - Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 & 2

Leonard Bernstein

Classical - Released December 22, 2017 | Sony Classical

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Horowitz: Variations on a Theme from Bizet's "Carmen"

Yuja Wang

Classical - Released October 18, 2019 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

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Bizet: Carmen (1964 - Prêtre) - Callas Remastered

Maria Callas

Opera - Released January 1, 1964 | Warner Classics

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Maria Callas never sang Carmen on-stage, but the role seems custom-made for her strengths -- fiery, volatile, infuriating, seductive -- and Callas is such a superb singing actress that she conveys the character's complexity with rare effectiveness. The critical acclaim and public affection for Callas' Carmen put it very high on lists of preferred versions. She has a terrific supporting cast, including Nicolai Gedda, who is in excellent voice and makes a believable, tragic Don José; it's a performance that has been deemed among the finest of his career. Andréa Guiot is a sweet Micaëla, and the rest of the cast is strong. Georges Prêtre leads l'Orchestre du Théâtre Nationale de l'Opéra and the Choeurs René Duclos in an exciting, idiomatic reading of the opera. EMI's sound is clean and present.© TiVo
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Carmen - L'Arlésienne

Marc Minkowski

Classical - Released March 17, 2008 | naïve classique

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Œuvres pour piano (Intégrale)

Julia Severus

Classical - Released January 28, 2011 | Naxos

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Trumpet Spectacular

Doc Severinsen

Classical - Released March 1, 1990 | Telarc

Though listed as an Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops album, the focal point of attention is jazzman Doc Severinsen trying his hand at some classical repertoire. Severinsen's virtuosity and musicality frequently were overlooked when he was still riding high as leader of the Tonight Show Orchestra, so this was a potent reminder of his versatility. Here Severinsen proves to be a disciplined classical player, able to scale even such technical minefields as "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" (if just barely!) with assurance, and he keeps his showmanlike instincts under wraps most of the time. But there are passages in pieces like "Napoli," the lengthy "Carmen Fantasy," and, perhaps inappropriately, J.S. Bach's "Chaconne" where he cuts just a bit loose and listeners sense the flamboyant Severinsen of TV fame. As is often the case when a trumpeter meets the symphony, all but two of the works heard here are arrangements or transcriptions of pieces for other instruments -- including well-known operatic excerpts by Rossini, Bizet, and Puccini. One of the two trumpet/orchestra pieces, Jeremiah Clarke's famous "The Prince of Denmark March" (or "Trumpet Voluntary"), is heard in a big orchestra/organ arrangement, leaving Leroy Anderson's lovable, durable "A Trumpeter's Lullaby" as the only completely original work for trumpet and orchestra on the disc. Kunzel himself contributes the functionary charts to Rossini's "Largo Al Factotum" and "La Danza," Schumann's "Traumerei," and Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." The music here might be difficult for the trumpeter, but not for the "pops" audience, who should easily lap up the pretty tunes and occasional bravura.© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo
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Bizet: Carmen

Roberto Alagna

Opera - Released February 15, 2003 | Warner Classics