Sempre Libera - arias sung by Anna Netrebko
Opera: Greatest Hits - a variety of amazing artists on this CD, but I admit I mostly bought it because cause it has the singer - Inva Mula-Tchako - who did the Lucia Di Lammermoor in the movie "5th Element -
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas with the mezzo - Janet Baker. She's amaaaaaaazing! Eru - I think you would like her - she's most well known for singing Mahler
and I got The Essential Angela Gheorghiu
because she is amazing. Reviews say she is the next Callas. I don't know about that, but I intend to find out - the DVD I got has Gheorghiu performing Verdi's La Traviata with Richard Eyre, Solti, Lopardo, Nucci, at the ROH Covent Garden.
I'm very excited about all this, and Steve is ready to kill me cause he hates opera about as much as I hate his disco
My only regret is that the cd I really wanted was not in stock Mysterium ~ Sacred Arias with Angela Gheorghiu. She sings the most beautiful Pie Jesu from Faure's Requiem that I have ever had the pleasure of hearing, and her rendition of J.S. Bachs Quia respexit from his Magnificat in D major had my jaw on the floor for about three days.
A couple questions for you guys:
Have any of you heard Leontyne Price? If you have, what do you think of her?
Do any of you know of really good counter-tenors. I love their tone and smoothness, but I can't, for the life of me, find a CD where counter-tenors are featured. I know they aren't used much in opera, but I thought that I would ask about it since I'm asking questions anyway.
If anyone has any singers, conductors or recordings that they particularily love and think others should listen to, I'll edit them into this first post.
Conductors
- Robert Shaw
John Rutter
Sir David Willcocks
Sir Thomas Beecham
Georg Solti
Andreas Delfs
Recordings
- Cathedral Classics - Dale Warland Singers
- Includes the most beautiful recording of Gregorio Allegri's Miserere Mei, Deus I have ever heard!
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis in D major, Op. 123; Mozart: Mass in C minor, K. 427 "The Great" - Robert Shaw & the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
- Probably my most favorite piece of all time - the Beethoven that is - and this recording of it is fantastic.
African Sanctus - David Fanshawe
- Stunning and unique!
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor - Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra with Maria Callas.
- Jude says "Maria Callas's voice was at its peak at the time - rock-solid, haunting, almost spooky"
Soprano's
- Natalie Dessay
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson
Angela Gheorghiu (I've heard of her references as both, but put her in this category based on what I've heard myself - she definitely has the richness of a mezzo however)
Joan Sutherland
Kiri Te Kanawa
Emma Kirkby
Barbara Frittoli
Anna Netrebko (She's young, but definitely on her way - keep an eye on her)
Victoria de Los Angeles!!
Leontyne Price
Maria Callas
Rosa Ponselle
Mady Mesplé
Kathleen Battle
Sylvia McNair She has a glorious coloratura
Renee Flemming
Mezzo's
- Frederica von Stade
Jessye Norman
Cecillia Bartoli
Magdalena Kozena
Olga Borodina
Dolora Zajick (a dramatic, blood and guts mezzo - can be too much for casual opera fans)
Janet Baker
Milena Kitic
Sumi Jo (Technical perfection - absolutely gorgeous!)
Vesselina Kasarova
Alto's
- Kathleen Ferrier
Ewa Podles (I honestly don't know where to put her - her range is enormous, but I love her lower range the best, so I stuck her here )
Counter-Tenors
- Andreas Scholl
Alfred Deller
James Bowman
Tenors
- Marcello Giordani (My favorite)
Jose Cura
Salvatore Licitra
Frizt Wunderlich (Jude's favorite)
Marcelo Alvarez
Juan Diego Florez
Ben Heppner
Joseph Calleja
Franco Corelli
Ramón Vargas
Mario del Monaco
Rolando Villazon
Bass / Baritones
- Idlebrando D'Arcangelo
Bryn Terfel
Thomas Hampson
Samuel Ramey
John Charles Thomas
Lawrence Tibbett
Leonard Warren
Robert Merrill
Choral Groups
- Dale Warland Singers
Altlanta Symphony Chorus