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Barber of Seville (The) (Highlights)

Franco de Grandis

Classical - Released July 24, 1997 | Naxos

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Thalberg: Piano Works

Francesco Nicolosi

Classical - Released May 14, 2021 | Naxos

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Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia

Teresa Berganza

Opera - Released January 1, 1972 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions The Qobuz Ideal Discography
This is a Barbiere "di qualità, di qualità": in fact, of very great quality indeed, from Deutsche Grammophon. Recorded in London in the summer of 1971, it is one of the first meetings of Claudio Abbado and the London Symphony Orchestra. It is also the first of Alberto Zedda's philological editions of Rossini's works, whose scores have been covered over by inherited errors for over a century. Getting rid of the additions which have, quite wrongly, become traditional, means restoring certain interruptions and the fine instrumentation of the period; and above all, singing and playing without exaggerations, thanks to an innate sense for the theatre. It's a spot of spring cleaning which has restored the youth of the 24-year-old composer's masterpiece. Bravo, signor barbiere, ma bravo! It is a dream record, with singers who are well-versed in the repertoire. Everyone is right where they need to be, from Teresa Berganza's wiley and cheeky Rosina, to the refined and hard-working Figaro played by Hermann Prey, via Luigi Alva's frivolous Count and the utterly ridiculous Basilio played by the outrageous Paolo Montarsolo. We're amused by their antics, as we admire the well-oiled and unstoppable machine of Rossini's theatre, under the unceasingly inventive and thrilling baton of Claudio Abbado. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Haydn All-Stars (Haydn, Ravel, Fontyn, Brahms)

Trio Ernest

Chamber Music - Released January 19, 2024 | Aparté

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The new Trio Ernest attempts to make a splash here with its cheeky buried-in-the-score graphics and unconventional Haydn All-Stars title, which doesn't make more than a little bit of sense, but the program and playing can stand on their own. Trio Ernest offers some late Haydn trios, all hanging right at the point where the piano trio was emerging as an independent genre, along with works that show the lasting influence of Haydn's chamber music. The players are right that this influence is a bit overlooked, showing up in works as diverse as a Brahms song (here transcribed for piano trio) and Ravel's little Menuet sur le nom de Haydn, with its musical realization of the letters of Haydn's name. Also included is Lieber Joseph! by composer Jacqueline Fonteyn, a work composed in a modernist idiom in which Haydn's melodic shapes and motifs are nevertheless easily recognizable. Trio Ernest has committed to including a work by a female composer in each concert, and this one bodes well for their ability to find interesting material and perform it convincingly. The Haydn trios themselves are imbued with the high spirits that are essential to a successful Haydn performance. With clear sound from the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, this release announces an important new presence in the crowded piano trio scene.© James Manheim /TiVo
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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 (Live)

Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra

Opera - Released October 12, 2018 | Orfeo

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Maurice Yvain: Yes!

Les Frivolités Parisiennes

Classical - Released March 22, 2024 | Alpha Classics

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Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Hermann Prey

Classical - Released January 1, 1972 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

Distinctions The Qobuz Ideal Discography
This is a Barbiere "di qualità, di qualità": in fact, of very great quality indeed, from Deutsche Grammophon. Recorded in London in the summer of 1971, it is one of the first meetings of Claudio Abbado and the London Symphony Orchestra. It is also the first of Alberto Zedda's philological editions of Rossini's works, whose scores have been covered over by inherited errors for over a century. Getting rid of the additions which have, quite wrongly, become traditional, means restoring certain interruptions and the fine instrumentation of the period; and above all, singing and playing without exaggerations, thanks to an innate sense for the theatre. It's a spot of spring cleaning which has restored the youth of the 24-year-old composer's masterpiece. Bravo, signor barbiere, ma bravo! It is a dream record, with singers who are well-versed in the repertoire. Everyone is right where they need to be, from Teresa Berganza's wiley and cheeky Rosina, to the refined and hard-working Figaro played by Hermann Prey, via Luigi Alva's frivolous Count and the utterly ridiculous Basilio played by the outrageous Paolo Montarsolo. We're amused by their antics, as we admire the well-oiled and unstoppable machine of Rossini's theatre, under the unceasingly inventive and thrilling baton of Claudio Abbado. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Giselle : un ballet d'Adolphe Adam

Natalie Dessay

Stories and Nursery Rhymes - Released October 25, 2019 | Didier Jeunesse

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Johann & Josef Strauss : Valses célèbres - Rossini: Ouvertures - Mendelssohn : Les Hébrides (Diapason n°574)

Fritz Reiner

Classical - Released February 25, 2009 | Les Indispensables de Diapason

Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or
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Rossini: Le Nozze di Teti e di Peleo (Live)

Virtuosi Brunensis

Classical - Released July 10, 2020 | Naxos

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This modest production recorded in 2018 at the 30th Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad, Germany, deserves credit for introducing us to an allegorical cantata composed by Rossini for a royal wedding. Le Nozze di Teti e di Peleo celebrates the marriage between the goddess of water Thetis and the hero Peleus, and their union would soon produce a son, the fiery Achilles. This is a miniature opera that had all of the usual stylistic features of the era – a seductive, alluring vocal line, ornamentation and vocal virtuosity. With three sopranos, two tenors, a choir and an orchestra, The Marriage of Peleus and Thetis was premiered in a lavish production at the Teatro del Fondo in Naples on April 24th, 1816, featuring the best singers of the time and interpolated ballet scenes. The marriage of the nephew of King Louis XVIII of France with Maria Carolina of Bourbon re-established political relations between the Kingdom of Naples and France following the Napoleonic debacle. It was, as is often the case, a pre-arranged political marriage that had already been decided in high places before the spouses had even met. This piece, commissioned on the occasion for this particular event, disappeared immediately afterwards and only resurfaced in 1967 when the manuscript was discovered in the rich library of the Naples Conservatory of Music. Here, it is performed under the careful direction of Pietro Rizzo, who knows exactly how to showcase the composer’s work. The contagious good humour of the cast of young singers also further endorses the re-discovery of this musical gem. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Le fruit du silence

Mara Dobresco

Classical - Released October 21, 2022 | Scala Music

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Opera Extracts : La Wally, Tosca, La Traviata...

Maria Callas

Pop - Released January 1, 2007 | Jade

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Les classiques de la pub

L'Orchestre National du Bolchoï

Film Soundtracks - Released May 15, 2010 | Via Classic

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Rameau & Handel: Dom Bedos

Ensemble Zaïs

Classical - Released October 20, 2014 | Paraty Productions

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Karol Szymanowski: Piano Works

Krystian Zimerman

Classical - Released September 30, 2022 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or - Choc de Classica
Recordings by Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman are a rare event, and eagerly awaited by his many fans. They surely won’t be disappointed with this new opus that brings together Szymanowski, Zimerman and legendary pianist Arthur Rubinstein.Returning to his roots, Krystian Zimerman pays tribute to his compatriot Karol Szymanowski on the 140th anniversary of the composer’s birth. This selection of little-known works testifies to the importance of Szymanowski within the piano repertoire. A long twenty-eight years separate Zimerman's recording of Masques, Op. 34 (made in 1994 in Copenhagen) from the rest of the programme, which was recorded in 2022 in the exceptional acoustics of the Fukuyama Concert Hall near Hiroshima.Nevertheless, the considerable lapse of time between these recordings doesn’t detract from the album's coherence. This is thanks to Zimerman's fluid, clear and readable sound, which—as we know—leaves nothing to chance. This fascinating recording reveals various facets of Szymanowski's compositional genius and features both his mature and early works, all of which were influenced by the great Chopin.Composed during the First World War whilst staying at the family estate in Ukraine, the three parts of Masques evoke Debussy, Scriabin and Stravinsky. However, each movement is overlaid with the orientalist perspective so typical of the Polish composer. A few carefully chosen Préludes and Mazurkas stand alongside the splendid Variations on a Polish Folk Theme for piano, Op. 10, composed by a young Szymanowski still in the process of mastering his mother tongue. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Ravel : Complete Works for Solo Piano

Bertrand Chamayou

Classical - Released January 15, 2016 | Erato - Warner Classics

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason - Gramophone Editor's Choice - 4 étoiles Classica - 5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik
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Atys

Christophe Rousset

Opera - Released January 5, 2024 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Backed by the Sun King despite a lukewarm audience reception at first, Lully's Atys (1676) went on to become one of the composer's most successful operas, with revivals at French court theaters as late as 1753. In modern times, however, it is a considerably rarer item due to the massive forces and time required. Christophe Rousset was in the pit as harpsichordist when conductor William Christie gave the first modern revival of the work in the late '80s. That experience marks this 2024 release, which made classical best-seller lists at the beginning of that year. That is not common for a hefty five-act Baroque opera, but even a bit of sampling will confirm why it happened: Rousset, from the keyboard, brings tremendous energy to the opera. He pushes the tempo in the numerous dances and entrance numbers, and the musicians of Les Talens Lyriques and the singers of the Choeur du Chambre de Namur, all of whom have worked closely with Rousset in the past, keep right up. The singers in the solo roles are all fine; haut-contre Reinoud Van Mechelen in the title role and Ambroisine Bré as the goddess Cybèle, who sets the tragic plot in motion, are standouts. The sound from the increasingly engineering-expert Château de Versailles label is exceptionally clear in complex textures, and the sensuous cover art (representing, it is true, not the Roman mythological figure of Atys but Hippomène and Atalante) is a bonus. In the end, this is Rousset's Atys, and that is a very good thing.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Pancrace Royer: Surprising Royer, Orchestral Suites

Les Talens Lyriques

Symphonic Music - Released May 5, 2023 | Aparté

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Beyond the neglect of French Baroque music in general, it is a bit hard to understand why composer Pancrace Royer was almost completely unknown until Christophe Rousset came along to champion him, first in harpsichord music and now, with these suites of music drawn from operas, in orchestral music. In the 18th century, Royer was quite well known and admired among others by Rameau, whose music he helped along considerably. Royer certainly inhabited Rameau's stylistic world, but from the evidence here, his music is distinctive and merits the adjective "surprising" that Rousset has attached to it. It is colorful, given to unexpected turns of harmony, and vivid in its evocation of the exotic scenes of French opera. Sample the "Air pour les turcs" ("Air for the Turks") from Zaïde, reine de Grenade, with its crackling percussion. Royer challenged his orchestra with virtuoso ensemble writing in the likes of the "Premier et second tambourins" from Almasis, and Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques step up with precise, vigorous readings that one imagines would have made the composer overjoyed. The inclusion of two alternate versions for movements from Zaïde is also unusual and gives insight into the compositional thinking of the day. Essential for specialists and enthusiasts interested in the French Baroque, this album is a lot of fun for anyone, with only overdone church sound detracting from the overall effect. © James Manheim /TiVo