Opera

As an example of luscious late-Romantic orchestral writing, Die Seejungfrau could scarcely be bettered: a fine performance of a gorgeous orchestral score (MusicWeb) "Steinbacher's technique on the other hand is immaculate; how gracefully those swirls and...

Armide represents the culmination of the long and fruitful career of Jean-Baptiste Lully, the most powerful musician at the court of Louis XIV and the first important composer of French opera. Though not his final composition, Armide was his last...

Antonietta Meneghel, better known by her stage name Toti Dal Monte, was a celebrated-Italian opera soprano with a sweet lyric voice. Her voice, "naturally shaped to the lirico-leggero repertoire," made her a favorite of Arturo Toscanini and fans around...

Ann Drummond-Grant, contralto / Darrell Fancourt, bass-baritone / Radley Flynn, bass / Martyn Green, baritone / Ella Halman, mezzo-soprano / Margaret Mitchell, soprano / Leonard Osborne, tenor / Deirdre Thurlow, soprano / Richard Watson, bass D'Oyly...

Andrew Parrott and the Taverner Consort & Players celebrate their 40th anniversary with a magnificent recording of the world's first operatic masterpiece. Parrott has been at the center of the early and baroque music scenes for over four decades, and his...

Andre Ernest-Modeste Gretry was the greatest French composer of opera-comique in the eighteenth century. His librettist for Le Magnifique Jean-Michel Sedaine took a tale by La Fontaine and fashioned it into a compelling libretto. Gretry responded with an...

An eclectic collection of works composed by the Pulitzer Prize nominated Fredrick Kaufman that through the choral pieces and orchestral works displays the themes of his influences namely the exploration of the unknown, the natural order, and universal...

An atmospheric Decca Phase 4 stereo recording of a much-loved Savoy opera. The work of the Australian musician James Walker can be found on many Eloquence releases, but he appears here in an unfamiliar guise. He trained as a pianist both in his native...

An artist's claim to fame is legitimized by the performer placing his or her personal stamp on what they do. This collection of some of my live-recordings from 1978 to 2007 represents retrospective view of the true beginnings of my career and it is with...

Although La muette de Portici celebrated is 500th performance in 1880, today it is almost entirely forgotten and infrequently presented. The work premiered in the original French at the Anhalt Theater in Dessau under the general music director Anthony...

Alfred Deller's only complete recording of a Handel opera. First staged at the King's Theatre in London in February 1732 and revived two years later, Sosarme was not heard again in full (if not entirely complete) until a BBC broadcast in January 1955,...

Alfie Boe was the best kept secret within the classical world for several years. In 2006 that secret was finally shared with the nation. His debut album, entitled 'Alfie Boe', was released last September and entered the Classical Chart at No.2, inspiring...