Mario

Listening to Pavarotti every day, particularly his "The Best" CD, is a MUST. Disc #2 was glorious, his interpretation of folk songs is so seamless that your swept along with his joy in performing these gorgeous pieces. Do you want to be uplifted? Buy Pavarotti's The Best.

I don't know of too many that would give fewer than five stars to Luciano Pavarotti. What an amazing voice...we are fortunate to have been part of one man's unbelievable talent!

He is indeed missed!!! What a blessing to have this CD to hear and remember one of the world's greatest tenors. Highly recommend!

The CD wasn't originally for me but my dad loves it. He plays it all the time and claims its a very complete collection of the artist.

This CD of the great Maestro, features all the best arias and songs, including my favorite, Donizetti's Ah Mes Ami, which gave Pav the title of "King of the High C's". Without question, Pav is and will always remain the greatest voice in opera. This is the CD that I always start my car with! Love it and give it the highest recommendation. Any opera lover, and all Pav lovers should own this one! Val

This is an excellent CD to introduce yourself to Segovia or to have a nice collection of many of his better works. The Guitar is well recorded given the era in which it was recorded.

Highly recommended!

The rare moments of solace I find these days are usually in the company of Segovia, but considering that so much has been said about this guy in the last sixty years, it's hard to add anything else without sounding superfluous.

Segovia is for purists. He's not a showman, but rather he's the most authentic performer of classical Spanish guitar that you will find. This CD contains a generous number of selections that provide a tour of styles and time periods. The artist's competence is apparent as he makes the difficult sound relatively simple. He never seems overwhelmed by the challenges of the music, but instead it the master. Whether you are looking for sophisticated background music (some would consider this use a sacrilege) or for a front row seat at a home concert, this CD would be a great addition to your collection. Perhaps he will inspire you to bring forth greater sounds from your old wide-necked guitar!

The 24-bit remastering of these analog recordings from the 1950s and 60s is outstanding. Both disks are chock-full at almost 80 minutes each, and there are a good many songs you don't hear every day. Forty of the 41 tracks are solos, while a short Rodrigo orchestral movement concludes the set. Good liner notes are included. There is only a slight overlap between this 2-CD set and Deutsche Grammophon's 4-CD box set, "The Segovia Collection." I own over 40 classical guitar CDs, and this is easily among my favorites.

Segovia lovers are going to like this one. A wonderful collection. A lot of pieces I never heard before. This collection is a real treasure.

The essence of Segovia is expressed here.

Maybe these don't represent absolutely the greatest duets in all opera. But they represent some awfully good ones! The CD begins with a duet from "Les Pecheurs des Perles" (Puccini) and ends with the gloomy Miserere (from "Il Trovatore," by Verdi). In between are many more operas, from Donizetti and Mozart to Strauss and Wagner. Some of the finer singers of the past half century appear in various of these duets.

A bit more detail on a handful of these to illustrate.

"Sull'aria" from Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro." Heather Harper and Judith Blegen sing the parts here. This is a sweet duet from the opera. The singer's voices meld well together and this represents a poignantly sung piece.

"Ah! Verrana a tell sull'aure," from Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor." Alfredo Kraus and Edita Gruberova sing this lively duet, playing the roles of Edgardo and Lucia. Gruberova's voice is fresh here, as is Kraus', although there are a few rough moments in his singing. Still and all, though, he sings well.

"Viens Mallika" from Delibes' "Lakme." Whenever I hear this beautiful duet, I can't get the Catherine Deneuve movie, "The Hunger," out of my mind (it was a theme throughout that movie!). Mady Mesple plays Lakme and Danielle Millet sings the part of Mallika. This duet, to me, has a hypnotic sound to it that I find irresistible. It's a theme that one cannot get out of one's mind!

In "La ci darem la mano," we see Don Giovanni (sung by the redoubtable Eberhard Wachter) put his moves on the young woman Zerlina (sung by Graziella Sciutti). This is a luscious duet. In the end, Don Giovanni's lecherous efforts go singularly unrewarded. There is a wonderful intertwining of voices in this duet.

Finally, from Puccini's "La Boheme," the poignant 4th Act duet between Rodolfo (sung by the wonderful tenor Nicolai Gedda) and Marcello (sung by Mario Sereni). They are bemoaning the fact that each has seen his love leave, and the loss is central to their duet. Well performed by both. As I recall, this cut is from the highlights version of "La Boheme" that I bought (in vinyl, of course) 40 years ago when I was an undergraduate at Bradley University. So, a personal favorite. Gedda remains one of my favorite Rodolfos.

So, if you like opera and enjoy duets, this CD will give you a most pleasant evening, listening to some nice works.

What a treasure to have the beautiful duets all on one CD! I am thoroughly enjoying!

This CD is really awesome. I'm new to opera, but love the music on this CD. I use opera music in my CD clock radio (Timex from Amazon) to fall asleep to. What a way to fade into dreamland.

I bought this for a friend who didn't have an opera collection, and it fulfilled that purpose, and was an unusual set of duets, very different in style from one another. The price was certainly right. That said, potential buyers should be aware that most of these recordings are of the "historic" variety, and therefore perhaps not as refined in terms of sound quality as one might want. Since listeners who enjoy historic recordings would likely already have the original, complete operas in question, I'm not sure what benefit would be gained in owning mere excerpts. Several of the selections, especially the "Tristan" duet, were so soft the volume had to be really cranked up to hear. But many others are sure to please, especially the "Pearl Fishers" and "Don Giovanni", which are fine. So, bottom line is: if you really care about your opera, get the full recordings, but if your goal is "highlights", this is probably as good as many others.

This is a really great CD for the price. It has many of the famous Arias on it and although the singers may not be the best out there they are certainly very good. This is cheaper than the price of a take away lunch; you can't go wrong with this CD.

While working on the PARALLEL PERSPECTIVES Archives page, I started thinking about Maria Callas & her rather bizarre, non-singing role in the equally bizarre 1970's Pier Passolini film MEDEA--and noticed this CD of Puccini's MADAMA BUTTERFLY. I must admit that I was kind of turned-off to see that the CD was remastered from the original non-sterophonic LP (there's just so much even digital technology can do in salvaging pre-stereo operatic recordings) and I really only purchased it because I was curious hear Callas in one of her less notable roles (unbelievably there were only 3 performances).

I was pleasantly surprised to find myself really enjoying the entire production.

Of course director Herbert Von Karajan is a famous talent in his own right and tenor Nicolai Gedda is outstanding as the faithless American lover, Pinkerton.

And there is Maria Callas.

Even the most ferocious detractors of Callas (and there are still many) admit that she possessed a knack for characterization that was tantamount to genius. I too will admit that strictly analyzed from a musical perspective, Callas' performances (including BUTTERFLY) may not be the best in terms of singing technique--but she did have "It"--that certain something that makes her performance unique & unforgettable.

The plot of the opera is simple: Callous American Pinkerton in Japan has fun with local girl, goes through a marriage charade, gets her pregnant, then takes off back home again. But this isn't enough. He returns to Japan with his new American wife & wants to take Butterfly's son back with them to America. Butterfly realizes she's been betrayed & dishonored, but also has to admit that giving up her son could result in great advantages to the boy. She makes the unselfish decision to give custody to Pinkerton & his wife, but she also decides to kill herself.

Puccini has been criticized for his use of "The Star Spangled Banner" as a musical thematic element in the opera. The criticism is purely artistic and not political. However, I thought it was entirely appropriate and that by using it, the composer was making a valid, early multi-cultural statement. I think it also gave the work a universality that is as relevant today as it was near the turn of the last century, the so-called "American Century."

In the final scene Butterfly finally reaches the conclusion that there is no place, no home left for her (after all, by "marrying" Pinkerton she had also renounced her religious faith, and because of that has lost her family as well.) For me, this tragic scene represented the essence of Butterfly--a beautiful, fragile creature, her delicate wings torn off by an uncaring man & blinded by the sudden intrusion of an unforgiving & absolute insight. Like a natural butterfly trapped in a room, the human Butterfly is driven to blinding distraction, unable to escape. This is true in Callas' performance, but it is greatly overshadowed by an underlying emotion of a fierce, almost defiant, rejection of what appears to be her fate--and by implication, the false love that set the self-destructive wheel in motion. This element exists in the interpretation of other singer's as well, but not to the degree of strength as projected by Callas. In a strange way it reminded me of Medea: A rage that devours love, love lost to outrage. Callas' interpretation is particularly note worthy because this striking example of the actor's art is heard, but never seen.

In fairness to Pinkerton, Butterfly's death forces him to reach a higher level of self-awareness.

The CD memorializes one of the great performing artists of "The American Century"--incidentally, Maria Callas was born in New York.

Again, I found the entire production wonderful in its' own right, even if it does lack the latest technological recording innovation.

The Very Best of Maria Callas
Maria Callas, the Voice of the Century
Puccini - Madama Butterfly / Freni, Pavarotti, Ludwig, Wiener Phil., Karajan
Puccini: Madama Butterfly

Puccini.

Up there with Mozart when it comes to tearing the heart out of your soul.

Maria Callas - what a sexy women - no wonder that rich Greek fella courted her. She is a diamond, a truly wonderful opera singer. No, she is better than that. Maria Callas interprets the music into an emotional fury that extends passion and mundanity to their horizons.

Why buy Playboy when you can get the real deal right here. Smouldering femininity with knobs on. Simply the best.

Nicolai Gedda as B.F Pinkerton is brilliant, a true showman in the role and a brilliant tenor full-stop. Callas on the other was not good at Cio-Cio San, in fact she was terrible.
It truly shows the difference between the two lead roles vocal technique and capability, in 'Vogliatemi bene', Gedda was brilliant note perfect and tone perfect, Callas was terrible she shrieked most of her way through the duet and sang a shrill top C at the end which compared with Gedda's masterful top C was a piece of dirt.
If you disagree listen the the track over and over again, see how shrill and whiney Callas's top C really is.

All over brilliant performance by Gedda, Callas was unworthy of such a great Pinkerton.

It's a SHOCK how Callas interpreted "Madama Butterfly" It's close to perfect. Must listen for opera lovers!

There are many "Butterfly" recordings out there that are excellent in their own right but this recording deserves a category of excellence all it's own. What almost looks like mis-casting on paper, Callas does an astonishing job with the title role, which she recorded months before singing a series in Chicago and never to touch the role again. This is really one of those recordings that should be considered an historical event in the history of recorded opera. The collaboration of all the principles with von Karajan shows a unique unity that hasn't been duplicated very often.

But there's Callas' Cio Cio San that is really the reason to consider this recording. Even her silences, such as when she notices Kate in the garden in the final scenes, speaks volumes. There's this incredible thread that she creates from her entrance to her death that is like nothing I've ever heard before in this role. Also her choice of tone is remarkable and characteristic of this most chameleon of artists. She transforms herself from child to woman during the love duet and really does not sing at full tilt until the heart rendering final scene. This is an amazing studio portrayal and like I said, absolutely historical.

After hearing Bocelli on the Today Show one morning I wondered why I had never purchased any of his CDs. I went out immediately and randomly purchased a CD and fell in love with his voice and songs. I listen to this in my car constantly and never tire of hearing the great passion in his singing.

I like the following songs:
1. Dell'Amore Non Si Sa
10. In-Canto

My favorite CD from Andrea is "Amore" which I liked every single song in it.

BEFORE I START, LET ME SAY, THAT I AM A DANCE CLUB GUY AND THAT, ORDINARILY, THIS IS NOT MY KIND OF MUSIC. OF COURSE, I LAUGH AS I SAY THAT, AS, APPARENTLY, A NEW DOOR HAS OPENED IN MY LIFE, THANKS TO THIS MAN.
A FEW YEARS AGO I HAD HEARD ANDREA DO, "CON TE PARTIRO," ON A PBS SPECIAL AND MY EYES FILLED WITH TEARS THAT ANY HUMAN COULD MAKE SUCH SOUNDS. I WAS ASTOUNDED; MORE ASTOUNDING, STILL, WAS TO HEAR THIS ALBUM AND FIND THAT HIS VOICE HAD ACTUALLY VASTLY IMPOVED OVER TIME. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? " CON TE..," PALES IN COMPARISON TO THE QUALITY OF THIS WORK; THE TRACKS ON THIS CD ARE PERFECT, FULL, RICH, AND MORE MOVING THAN ANYTHING I HAVE EVER HEARD. I HAVE HAD IT A WEEK, NOW, AND I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO LISTEN TO ANYTHING ELSE FOR VERY LONG, AND I PLAY IT OVER AND OVER. IT HAS BEEN MANY YEARS SINCE I HAVE BEEN AFFECTED LIKE THIS BY ANY VOCAL CD. IF HE NEVER RECORDED AGAIN HE WOULD HAVE MADE A MARK ON THE WORLD OF AUDIO NEVER TO BE ERASED OR FORGOTTEN. WHAT A VOICE! WHAT SONGS! THE CUT, "LIBERTA," ABSOLUTELY KILLS ME WITH FEELINGS OF JOY AND MARVEL. I HAVE EVEN TAKEN UP STUDYING ITALIAN BECAUSE OF IT.
TREAT YOURSELF, AND A GOOD FRIEND, TO THE SOUNDS ON THIS CD. SIT AND WATCH A SUNSET WITH IT ON... I MEAN NOW!

If you like soft music that make's you feel up beat, just order a Andrea Bocelli CD. Listening to his CD's after being at work all day, is like having an option in life to hear and be somewhere else.

One of his best. Need the lyrics translated from the Italian to the English inside the casing next time. Nonetheless, Mr. Bocelli has a beautiful voice. It made my wife and all my female co-workers swoon when they listened to it.

Muy independientemente de la pelicula, la cual no he visto (y no hace falta verla) este soundtrack es una verdadera riqueza de ritmos sudamericanos y de un sentimiento de nostalgia realmente encantador; la voz de shakira cantando boleros es incomparablemente hermosa (adoro el tema "HAY AMORES" y su segundo tema "LA DESPEDIDA" es sencillamente maravilloso); asimismo, las demas melodias instrumentales son tan inspiradoras como para pasar toda una tarde frente a una puesta de sol junto al ser amado escuchando el disco completito!! yo no suprimiria ni un solo tema, todos son merecedores de aplausos, lo unico malo es que algunas de las melodias son muy cortas y talvez merecian durar más tiempo del asignado...pero igual, son preciosas.

Este cd es para todo amante del bolero, la nostalgia y el amor a la musica sudamericana.

I love this soundtrack, the music is very Colombian traditional. The first three tracks features Shakira and the rest are melodies. It is very relaxing to listen to.

This is an amazingly wonderful soundtrack...if you love romance and the spanish influence...this is for you!

Exciting vibrany CD music, very intimate and sensual. Much better than the movie it represents.

So maybe the film adaptation of legenday Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Love In The Time Of Cholera" didn't fully live-up to the source material, but the soundtrack has. Antonio Pinto has scored a beautiful, lush work that brings the world of the film to life with atmospheric sounds and some strong original songs by Shakira. The soundtrack begins with Shakira's contributions, a set of three songs that capture the film's bittersweet love story. Shakira herself is Colombian and gives us a classic bolero "Hay Amores" which has a wonderful, classic feel. The Golden Globe nominated "Despedida" is dramatic and memorable while "Pienso En Ti" has a passive, reflective mood powered by Shakira's strong vocals. The rest of the score by Pinto is a rich set of melodies and pieces that combine the orchestal with authentic music from the Caribbean region where the story takes place. There is a haunting quality to the mix of strings and guitar in a track like "Love." "White Suit" has a cool, breezy feel while "Hildebranda" evokes the kind of indigenous, almost Afro-Caribbean sounds one finds in the coasts of South America. Antonio Pinto has composed a score of heartbreak and tears, wanting and despair, all nicely evoked in tracks like "Escolastica" and "Florentino" where the orchestra swells with great gusto. "Sex Drum" has a great tribal feel while "Los Dos" is a fun, ethnic song that again evokes the Caribbean with wonderful atmosphere. "Love In The Time Of Cholera" has that rare quality in a film score in that it stands apart from the film and in fact, elevated many of the film's weaker scenes or performances. A potent mix of film score and world music, this one is for the romantics and for the ones with sharp ears.

This is an excellent CD of singers from the past century, origonally recorded in analog and very well remastered.

This was advertised as a salute to Robert Merrill. It is not, it a collection of Opera stars and more arias are sung by Victoria de Los Angeles than anyone else which is okay because the recordings are superb. I would be a bit more specific in the future.

The sound quality of this disc is surprisingly good, very good for an ADD. All the selections captured each singer in his/her top form. It is a real treat that this disc contains many work that were not normally in certain singer's repertoire. Gedda's Aida, Moffo's Rossini-Rosina and Cherobino, for example, all were superbly sung. Even Moffo's Lucia sounds much better than I have ever heard in other places.

The artists on this CD succeed in their goal to create a CD that displays great Italian opera. Carlo del Monte and Victoria de los Angeles open the disc with the Brindisi from La Traviata. Victoria de los Angeles is not the best Violetta, but she does the job, along with her parner Carlo del Monte, an underappreciated tenor. Victoria de los Angeles also appears on the CD in "Un bel di vedremo" from Madama Butterfly, a role she was well known for. Swedish tenor Nicolai Gedda appears on the disc twice. His first appearence is a superb rendition of "La donna e mobile" from Rigoletto. His final performance on this disc is in the heroric aria "Celeste Aida", a performance in a role that was not in his voice range. Anna Moffo is the star on this CD, appearing three times in three very different roles. First is her beautiful "Una voce poco fa", normally a role that calls for a mezzo-soprano. Her second is "Voi che sapete" from Le Nozze di Figaro, another mezzo-soprano role. Her final appearence is her best, "The Mad Scene" from Lucia di Lammermoor. Underrated tenor Giuseppe Campora performs "Che gelida manina" with a great tenor voice. Soprano Reri Girst is excellent in her performance of "Caro nome" from Rigoletto. One of my favorite baritones appears on this CD. Robert Merrill is a perfect Count di Luna, and it is evident in his rendition of "Il balen del suo sorriso". Another baritone appears on this CD: mario Sereni. He is not a world famous baritone, but he should have been. Overall, this is an excellent introduction to the world of Italian opera.

The performers, the selections, the quality... almost divine!

As a lover of Italian music, I bought this CD because it was first on the Amazon.com list when I typed in Italian music, so I figured it would be spectacular. I must admit, I was somewhat disappointed overall. I realize these are old recordings, but they really do sound dated and unimaginative now. In some instances, I wonder how the original recording back in the '50s made it to the charts, it was so poorly done musically. Wish I could have heard some tracks before I spent the money for this. Just my opinion. If you can listen to it beforehand, I encourage you to do so.

Agree with the buyer who found this CD "so so." The songs are simply a compilation of some rather old versions of Italian melodies, with really dated arrangements. Nothing exciting or original here at all. Would definitely not recommend. We were disappointed, as we bought the CD for an Italian wedding, but tossed it....we found another one on Amazon that served us much better and had more original and lively music. If you want a historical compilation of old versions of Italian songs, you may like this, but it doesn't serve today's sophisticated sound tastes at all.

I recently ordered this CD and have enjoyed it. The music is a variety of artists and the songs are good.

I would recommend this CD.

italian majors would appreciate this album. lots of fun songs that i've been trying to find. some, unfortunately, are just instrumentals. they're still good listens so i'm overall satisfied.

We're planning a wedding with an Italian themed reception. This has a great selection of music. Highly recommened for that classic Italian sound.

the cd was great, also the custmer service sending the cd out right of way.

I cannot imagine Christmas without Mario Lanza music. I absolutely love his singing and this CD is one of the best I have heard. I am so glad I found it because my old cassette tape had worn out and it sounds so much better on the CD.

Old, but very, very good. I've been listening in the car since I got the CD.
Religious, not pop music for the season.

Mario Lanza infuses his characteristic beautiful vocal intensity into this collection of carols and Christmas songs.
The result is an outstanding album which will bring a lump to your throat and tears to your eye.
The recordings are old, but the Lanza magic makes this album a must-buy

I love Mario Lanza. He is in my top favs. I have wanted this album for ages and it is just as great as I knew it would be. I'll be back to buy more of Mario Lanza.

When he released 'Con te Partiro' in the U.S. in 1997, Andrea Bocelli became a household name for the soaring emotional piece that has become his best-known song. However, on 2001 album "Cieli di Toscana", the crossover artist treats listeners to 14 songs recorded with the voice that has captured the world.

Unlike many of his previous hit records, "Cieli di Toscana" is a pop album, but unlike Madonna or Britney Spears, it is filled with the soul and delicate emotion you would find in more classical music. The album opens with the rich-sounding 'Melodramma' then chills to a more relaxed feel with 'Mille Lune Mille Onde'. From this point on, the record switches from lavish orchestration to tunes that, if they weren't in Italian, could have been hits on U.S. radio.

As with his previous works, "Cieli di Toscana" shows Bocelli's progression and maturity as an artist. He sings with more confidence and emotion than before, but maintains the vulnerability that has made him so popular. This is perhaps best illustrated with 'L'Incontro', a song about the emotion a father feels upon the birth of his child. Opening with a reading of his poetry by Bono, the song is both tender and emotion-filled, yet very mature.

There are no large aria-like pieces, no 'Con te Partiro' type songs on this record, but that does not detract from the high quality of music featured here. As someone who is not an opera fan, this is the type of music that I enjoy most from Andrea Bocelli, the type of music that makes him that much more special.

I love this CD, and I love Andrea too. This opera star has such a pureness to his voice, so angelic. This particular CD would be excellant for a romantic dinner or if you want to take a nice drive alone. Reduce your stress, listen to this CD.

It's been four years since I bought this and today it is not even in my iTunes Library. Therefore it must not have been that memorable or I would have ripped this CD and added it to my collection.

I like Andrea Bocelli, though this one must not be one of his better albums judging by the fact that I haven't listened to it in three years.

It is out of this world. It lifts your spirit and takes you to a different world. I suggest it to all my friends.

Just what it says. See my other Andrea Bocelli reviews to get the idea I really like this guy.