Alfred Brendel's Island Has Daniels, Jurinac & Fischer-Dieskau

Alfred Brendel chooses his top 8 "Desert Island Discs" for the BBC. Among them are David Daniels interpreting "Al lampo dell'armi quest'alma" from Handel's Giulio Cesare, Sena Jurinac singing "Zeffiretti lusinghieri" from Mozart's Idomeneo, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau performing "Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht" from Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen by Mahler. His love of vocal music may have developed from his childhood on the little Croatian Island of Kirk where his nanny taught him a number of folksongs. He also operated the phonograph of the hotel, that his parents ran, on which he played operetta records whilst he sang along. Listen to the legendary pianist discuss his choices on the radio broadcast by clicking here.

Remembering Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (May 28, 1925 - May 18, 2012)

Click on the above photo for a wonderful profile by The New York Times.

Limelight Magazine Picks Their Top 10 Opera Film Selections

Catherine Zeta-Jones look-alike
Sylvia Sass doing Bartók.

Paulo Montoya chooses from a plethora of operatic depictions on celluloid and narrows the best down to the top 10. Directors include such luminaries as Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Robert Dornhelm, Miklós Szinetár, Gianfranco de Bosio and Götz Friedrich, while some of the greatest opera singers in the last 60 years featured include Mirella Freni, Teresa Stratas, Plácido Domingo, Leonie Rysanek and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. The most recent film on the list is Puccini's La Bohème featuring Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón from 2009. Chances are many of the titles are available on demand through Netflix. Sounds like a good chance to stay inside from the summer heat and see some cinematic excellence. View the full list.

Universal's Eloquence Releases Rare Archived Recordings

Complete track listings and album notes for each release
can be found after the jump.