Warner Classics Capitalizes On Natalie Dessay Discography

As Natalie Dessay makes the decision to exit the opera stage forever, her record label searches the archives to release a compilation pulled from her career over the last 15 years of singing Bach, Händel, Rameau, and Monteverdi with Emmanuelle Haïm and William Christie. The 2-CD set also comes with a DVD featuring Ms. Dessay in Händel's Alcina. The release is set for November 6. You can pre-order your copy by clicking here. See the complete track list after the jump.

Sabine Devieilhe Follows The Love Mozart Had For Weber Sisters

Mozart was in love with three sisters of the Weber family: Josepha, Aloysia and Konstanze. He wrote music for all of the muses (and their high tessituras) during the last 14 years of his life. This new recording, Sabine Devieilhe's second solo disc for Erato, features conductor Raphaël Pichon and Pygmalion creating a journey of Mozart's amorous awaking for these women as told through music that is bold, dangerous, naive and tormented. Some of the featured tracks include: "Der Hölle Rache" from Die Zauberflöte; "Non so d'onde viene" K.294; "Io non chiedo, eterni Dei" K.316; "Nehmt meinen Dank" KV 483; "Ah, vous dirais-je maman"; and more. Due out November 6, you can pre-order this limited edition disc by clicking here. Watch a video of the recording session after the jump.

Warner Classics Marks 100th Birthday Of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

In honor of the late German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf's 100th birthday this year, Warner Music is releasing a deluxe edition box set of her complete recitals recorded between 1954-1974 with original cover art: "Die große Elisabeth Schwarzkopf schrieb nicht nur fast vier Jahrzehnte Gesangs- und Schallplattengeschichte. Sie war auch eine der ersten Sängerinnen überhaupt, die die Platte als eigenständiges künstlerisches Medium nutzten. Zusammen mit ihrem Ehe-mann, dem legendären EMI-Produzenten Walter Legge, konzipierte sie das Repertoire ihrer Schallplatten so akribisch wie Konzertprogramme. Zum 100. Geburtstag der Jahrhundert-Sängerin erscheinen diese Recitals nun erstmals in ursprünglicher Programmgestaltung und originalem LP-Artwork als Deluxe-Edition - remastert anhand der Originalbänder unter Leitung des Tonmeisters der Callas-Edition. Generationen von Musikliebhabern kennen Elisabeth Schwarzkopfs berühmte Aufnahmen, die sie bei ihrem Stammlabel EMI produzierte. Doch fast niemals waren die Originalprogramme der LP-Recitals auf CD erhältlich, da meist durch Füller erweitert. Bis jetzt! Zwischen 1952 und 1974 nahm die 2006 verstorbene Künstlerin eine Fülle von akribisch konzipierten Programmen auf – jedes einzelne ein diskografischer Meilenstein: Vertreten sind ihre berühmten Strauss-Orchesterlieder, Klavierlieder von Schubert, Schumann, Wolf und Strauss, dramaturgisch aufgebaute Programme großer Opernarien von Gluck über Mozart bis Wagner, einige wie die Brahms-Volkslieder oder Wolfs Italie-nisches Liederbuch interpretiert an der Seite des großen Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Besonderer Höhepunkt dieses Vermächtnisses, das mit einem Schubert-Album aus dem Jahre 1952 beginnt, ist der Live-Mitschnitt des legendären Konzerts zu Ehren von Gerald Moore in der Royal Festival Hall 1967 – mit Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau und Victoria de Los Angeles." [Source] See more about the Maria Callas box set released by Warner Classics last year by clicking here. Learn more about Elisabeth Schwarzkopf by clicking here and to pre-order the new box (set due for international release on November 13, 2015) click here. If you can't wait for the box set, perhaps this tasty morsel will whet your appetite. See details of the Warner Classics box set contents after the jump.

Anna Moffo Box Set Is Best Thanksgiving Gift For Opera Fans

Fall Surprise: The late Anna Moffo will be celebrated
with new box set of RCA recordings

Special thanks to the blog oleconquistador for pointing out the newest box set release from Sony Classical: Anna Moffo - The Complete RCA Recital Recordings. Scheduled for an international release date of November 13, 2015, this 12-CD original jacket collection is welcome news for fans of the soprano. As oleconquistador outlines the tracklisting for each disc, there are some glaring omissions from her discography by the label. Most obvious is the complete Thais. Although controversial at the time, as many felt the soprano was past her prime, it is still a recording that should have been included here. Another rarity that has escaped inclusion is a disc featuring highlights of Halévy's La Juive featuring colleagues Richard Tucker and Martina Arroyo. Also missing from the collection are all of the Eurodisc recordings which fell under the Ariola label in Europe, which was an outlet of Bertelsmann. Ariola would go on to acquire RCA in 1983, and now all are owned by Sony. These included Die Schöne Galathée (composed by Suppé), Italian and French Opera Arias (conducted by Kurt Eichhorn), Toujours l'Amour (album of arias from famous operettas); Lucia di Lammermoor (her second recording of the work with conductor

Glamorous Beauty: Moffo on La Rondine LP cover

Carlo Felice Cillario); Die Csárdásfürstin (Kálmán); and Lieder Recital (featuring works of Shcubert, Schumann, and Brahms). Many of these were released on CD by the Japanese market in 2006 and 2007. Two LPs were recorded with the tenor Rudolph Schock: True Love (famous melodies of Porter, Kern, Rogers, Bernstein, and more) and Bist du's, lachendes Glück (duets from German operettas). Neither have made their way to CD, nor are included in the new box set. Although RCA/Eurodisc has in the past released the complete operas Hänsel und Gretel (Humperdinck), Carmen (Bizet), Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck), L'amore dei tre re (Montemezzi), Il Filosofo Di Campagna (Galuppi), Madama Butterfly (Puccini), La Rondine (Puccini),  Iphigenie in Aulis (Gluck),  La Bohème (Puccini), and La Traviata (Verdi), a remastering of the original tapes would have been welcome in this release. It should be noted her Luisa Miller, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Rigoletto recordings are remastered and will be available individually this fall.

Flirty Fun: Anna Moffo was known for her
smoky vocal and vivacious form 

The other missing studio items from the Sony collection include: Neapolitan Songs (with Radio-Orchester Stuttgart under conductor Bert Grund); Songs of her own composition (lyrics by Mario Lafranchi) with Billy Smith and his orchestra; La Serva Pedrona (opera by Pergolesi); Meine Stimme für Venedig (songs of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, with Giorgio Favaretto at the piano); Sakura (the soprano sings two Japanese songs - "Karatachi no hana" and "Sakura" - recorded for RCA and printed exclusively in limited edition for Japan); and some miscellaneous Christmas items have been scattered among several labels ("Joy to the World"; "Ave Maria"; "Silent Night"; and "O Bambino"). A disc titled A Song For You was released by the record label Bridge and featured works recorded in studio (Tracks: "Vilja" from The Merry Widow; "The Song Of Long Ago" from The Merry Widow; "Oh, For The Life Of An Actress" from Die Fledermaus; "Mein Herr Marquis" from Die Fliedermaus; "Baskets Of Treasure" from A Night In Venice; "Wishing On A Waltz" from A Night In Venice; "Romance" from The Desert Song; "The Sabre Song" from The Desert Song; "Indian Love Call" from Rose marie (duet with Richard Fredricks; "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" from

Opera Seductress: Playing the part of Massenet's Thais

Roberta; "Let's Begin" from Roberta (duet with Stanley Grover); "Bill" from Show Boat; "Italian Street Song" from Naughty Marietta; "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess) that seems as though the contents could have been licensed for this occasion. One last rarity that is from an Ariola recording titled Peter Alexander präsentiert Walt Disney Welt that includes guest appearances by Anna Moffo alongside Mireille Mathieu, Wencke Myhre and Freddy Quinn. Perhaps a supplemental box set will be produced with all the missing content. Until then, the world can enjoy several newly mastered versions of classic recordings to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the legendary soprano's passing. Pre-order your copy of the box set by clicking here. Read a description of the limited edition box set, and see covers of the missing recordings, after the jump.

Watch Anja Harteros Record "O Patria Mia" For Warner Classics

"This magnificent recording of Aida, made in Rome, rises to all the musical and dramatic challenges presented by Verdi’s richly-coloured Egyptian epic. Antonio Pappano, once again proving his mastery of Italian opera, moves between sumptuous grandeur and touching intimacy. The responses of the Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia are both immediate and vibrant, while the singers – Anja Harteros, Jonas Kaufmann, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Ludovic Tézier and Erwin Schrott – do justice to every facet of their roles." [Source] Watch Anja Harteros sing "O Patria Mia" from Aida, as well as more excerpts from the recording session along with interviews with the artists, after the jump.

Natalie Dessay Rejoins Philippe Cassard For "Fiançailles pour rire"

The Happy Couple: Natalie Dessay and Philippe Cassard
make a musical "marriage" made in heaven for Erato. 
Pre-order the disc by clicking here.

"For their second Warner Classics album of French song - a follow-up to the Debussy CD they released in 2011 - soprano Natalie Dessay and pianist Philippe Cassard have adopted the title of Francis Poulenc's song cycle Fiançailles pour rire (A betrothal for fun). Poulenc's compact, charming and touching cycle, composed in 1939 to poems by Louise de Vilmorin, is programmed with some of the best-loved mélodies in the repertoire, such as Fauré's 'Après un rêve', 'Mandoline', and 'En sourdine', Duparc's 'Invitation au voyage' and 'Au pays où se fait la guerre', and Chausson's 'Le temps des lilas' and 'Chanson perpetuelle'. In 2013, Natalie Dessay announced that she was leaving the opera stage, but since then her inimitable vocal and dramatic talents have been showcased in the music of Michel Legrand - in concerts of his songs (and the Warner Classics CD 'Entre elle et lui') and in a semi-staged version of Les parapluies de Cherbourg (available on a Warner Classics DVD) - and in further live recitals with Philippe Cassard....On this new disc she can also enjoy the company of some old friends: in Chausson's 'Chanson perpetuelle' she is joined by the Quatuor Ebène (who welcomed her as a guest artist on their best-selling Fiction album back in 2010) and by the bass-baritone Laurent Naouri - who is, as it happens, her husband. Naouri also duets with her on the final track of the album, Poulenc's haunting 'Colloque', a setting of words by Paul Valéry. 'There can be no doubt as to Natalie Dessay's intelligence as an interpreter and her finesse as a musician,' wrote the French magazine Diapason when the Debussy album was released, also praising Philippe Cassard for playing that was 'warm and eloquent, and not prone to the

Single Lady: Dessay last month in a monologue of Howard Barker
 directed by Jacques Vincey with sets by Mathieu Lorry-Dupuy.
 She will reprise the character at the Festival Paris Quartier
d'été starting July 21, 2015.

mistiness of would-be Impressionism or to outbursts of sentiment.' 'Dessay has a real relationship with Cassard,' wrote the American magazine Opera News, 'He is the rare pianist, in Debussy's songs or in his piano music, who understands that Debussy wrote genuine contrapuntal lines that are not meant to be negated by washes of pedal.' The magic of the Dessay-Cassard partnership was captured by The Telegraph after they gave a recital at Wigmore Hall in London in 2012: 'The second half began with Chabrier's hesitantly beautiful 'Chanson pour Jeanne' [also on the new CD] and Chausson's rapturous 'Le temps de lilas'. But the highlight was Dessay's veiled and shimmering account of Duparc's masterpiece 'L'Invitation au voyage', in which her vision of Baudelaire's 'luxe, calme et volupté' dissolved into the deep velvet cushioning of Philippe Cassard's wonderfully soft-textured pianism ... Like Shakespeare's Cleopatra, Dessay makes hungry where most she satisfies. Her singing never moves straight forward; it avoids the obvious, the clear-cut, it treats words as if they were paint. And in her throat, these mélodies remain a mystery, a realm in which shadow counts for more than light.'" [Source, Source] The complete track list is after the jump.

Dorothea Röschmann Delivers Mozart Arias For Sony Classical

"20 years after her critically acclaimed début at the Salzburg Festival as Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro, Dorothea Röschmann releases her first solo Mozart CD including, among others, famous arias from Don Giovanni and Le Nozze Di Figaro. Dorothea Röschmann is in the prime of her voice and referred to 'as one of the leading Mozart Sopranos today' (Der Tagesspiegel). The CD track list reflects her at her best and is also a dream come true for Dorothea: 'Mozart is the reason I wanted to do opera,' she says. 'To be able to embody Mozart figures on stage, that was my dream. His characters are real human beings, with sadness and joy and wit. It’s the whole picture that you get. It sounds strange, but singing Mozart really is a dream come true.' (Dorothea Röschmann interview with the Guardian). The album is recorded with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Harding." [Source] Click here to pre-order Mozart Arias. Release dates for the album: Germany & France (September 11, 2015); UK (November 6, 2015). Track list is after the jump.

Adrianne Pieczonka Brings Strauss And Wagner Lieder To Delos

Voice & Piano: Pieczonka departs from recording
arias with orchestra to lay down lieder tracks
 with Juilliard's Brian Zeger. (Photo: Bo Huang)

"Praised for her 'impeccably pure and iridescent voice' (Financial Times), soprano Adrianne Pieczonka is primarily known for her vocally opulent and interpretively intense performances in operas by Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner - though her vocal and stylistic versatility enables her to be at home in dramatic roles by Verdi, Puccini and others. In this - her first release with Delos - she blesses us with a captivating and varied program of songs by Strauss and Wagner. Particularly fond of the art song genre (and of the soprano voice), Strauss created 158 of them throughout his long life, and many of his dozen songs heard here are among his true masterpieces. The opera specialist Wagner, on the other hand, wrote far fewer songs than Strauss. Best-known among them are the five songs of the ecstatically romantic Wesendonck-Lieder, also considered a masterpiece among Lieder cycles. Adrianne delivers this varied and sumptuous fare with conspicuous emotional depth and luxuriant vocal tone. Collaborating with technical finesse and interpretive sensitivity is pianist Brian Zeger, one of the great piano collaborators of our time." [Source] Click here to listen to Adrianne Pieczonka perform the track "Du meines Herzen Krönelein, Op. 21, No. 2" by Richard Strauss. The album will be released in the United States on July 10. Order your copy by clicking here. Cover art and track list are after the jump.

Melodiya Releases "Tosca" Recording With Milashkina and Atlantov

Finalmente: Milashkina & Atlantov onstage in Tosca.

"One of the most popular operas of the world repertoire, Tosca was finished in the last year of the 19th century. It was based on the French playwright Victorien Sardou’s drama written for Sarah Bernhardt. The premiere of the opera that took place in 1900 in Rome was not accepted with much enthusiasm, and only the performance at La Scala under Arturo Toscanini became a true triumph. The story of singer Floria Tosca and her beloved painter Mario Cavaradossi who fell victim to bloody despot Baron Scarpia on the background of the revolutionary events in Italy of the early 19th century is still able to move to the innermost of one’s heart as the heat of dramatic fervour is masterfully captured in the music. Numerous audio and video recordings of the opera featuring the world’s best singers and conductors were made in the previous century. This recording was realized by the USSR Bolshoi Theatre in 1974. The celebrated internationally recognized soloists of the opera company of the 1970s Tamara Milashkina, Vladimir Atlantov, Yuri Mazurok and others perform the opera in the original language under the prominent conductor Mark Ermler." [Source] International release date is July 15, 2015. Pre-order your copy by clicking here. More photos, and some excerpts from the recording, after the jump.

Elisabeth Söderström Singing Sibelius Made Available For Third Time

The latest release of a famous recording. Pre-order here.

Recorded at Kingsway Hall in London between December 1978 and November 1981, this set of complete songs from Jean Sibelius features baritone Tom Krause and soprano Elisabeth Söderström accompanied by pianists Irwin Gage and Vladimir Ashkenazy as well as guitarist Carlos Bonell. It won the Gramophone Award for "Solo Vocal Award" in 1985. Originally released on LP, this 4-CD set was available previously only by Universal Japan and then as part of a special limited-edition Gramophone Awards Collection series on Decca. For connoisseurs, this edition sets the standard quite high in the artistry department. Born in the Swedish-speaking region of Finland, Sibelius didn't begin to learn Finnish until age 11. His songs were made popular worldwide by opera singers Birgit Nilsson and Jussi Björling through their recitals, concerts, and recordings. Scandinavian music in general continued to be under-represented on disc until Elisabeth Söderström recorded a 1957 program of works that ranged from Erik Gustav Geijer to Ture Rangström. Since the initial release of Decca's Sibelius songs, the industry has produced a plethora of recordings featuring the composer's vocal gems interpreted by artists such as Karita Mattila, Anne Sofie von Otter, Monica Groop, Katarina Karnéus, Soile Isokoski, and Barbara Bonney.  Listen to excerpts from Sibelius: The Complete Songs by clicking here. Read a 2004 review of the Gramophone re-issue, and see the complete list of songs, after the jump. [Source, Source]

Olga Peretyatko Joins Forces With Alberto Zedda For Sony Rossini Disc

The young soprano is channeling Graziella Sciutti and Sophia Loren on the cover of Rossini!

For her third album on the label Sony Classical, Olga Peretyatko returns to her first love: Rossini. Her collaborator on the disc is conductor Alberto Zedda with whom she began a working relationship at Pesaro in 2006. The new CD will feature arias from Il viaggio a Reims, Matilde di Shabran, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Tancredi, Il turco in Italia, and Semiramide. More details of the forthcoming disc can be found after the jump. [Source]

Rolex Sponsors New DG "Abduction" With Yannick Nezét-Séguin

"Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail features a star cast full of critically-acclaimed artists – including Rolando Villazón, Diana Damrau, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Anna Prohaska and Thomas Quasthoff. It is the third of DG’s series of seven Mozart operas conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and initiated by Rolando Villazón, in collaboration with Festspielhaus Baden Baden, U-Live, and sponsored by ROLEX." [Source] International release date is July 3, 2015. Purchase the recording by clicking here. Watch a video of the recording session featuring all of the artists, and the album cover art, after the jump. You can find the previous Mozart operas with Maestro Nézet-Séguin on DG by clicking here and here. 

The Marcella Sembrich Museum Houses Her Personal Victrola Player

A Portrait of Madame Sembrich

"In our series the Adirondack Attic, North Country Public Radio collaborates with Andy Flynn and his sources at the Adirondack Museum and other historical associations and museums in the region to bring local history stories to air. Andy recently spoke with Beth Barton Navitsky, Executive Director at The Sembrich opera museum in Bolton Landing, N.Y., about a record player once owned by opera star Marcella Sembrich. 'We’re looking at a 107-year-old Victor Victrola that was made in 1908,' Navitsky said. 'It is a standing model that stands about 4 feet high and 2 feet wide. It also has a Circassian walnut veneer on the cabinet. The Circassian walnut is an English walnut that has a pattern of swirls on the outside as well as the inside. To play the Victrola, you have to lift the lid. You have to put the needle down on the record disc. And then you need to open up the cabinet below so the built-in speakers can be sending out the sound.'....'This was given to Marcella Sembrich, and she was an internationally renowned Polish opera singer whose career spanned

Put a Needle on the Record: The very player that the soprano would listen to her own Victrola recordings.

over 40 years,' Navitsky said. 'When she retired, Madame Sembrich opened up her studio and she taught students from Juilliard and the Curtis Institute of Music, and she used the Victrola for her students to listen to other opera singers as well as her own singing. She recorded quite a few recordings also in records. And she, of course, used it for enjoyment.'...'Was this made specifically for her, or did she just go out and purchase it?' Flynn asked. 'Actually it was made specifically for her,' Navitsky said. 'It was one of the first 10 made, which was why the Victrola Repair company in Vermont has said that they feel it was of the best made because it was made for Madame Sembrich and she was well-known as a very popular opera singer of that time.' [Source] Hear samples of the soprano's Victrola recordings, after the jump.

The Opera Museum is located in the former teaching studio of the Metropolitan Opera Diva Marcella Sembrich - pianist, violinist, teacher, Polish patriot and benefactor - on the shores of Lake George in Bolton Landing, New York. Click here for more information.

Laura Claycomb Tries To Forget Sutherland And Callas "Lucia"

Creative Coloratura: Laura Claycomb wrote her
Lucia cadenzas with conductor Patrick Summers
(Photo: Sergio Valente)

"Laura Claycomb dies in the New Orleans Opera production of Lucia di Lammermoor. It happens every time a soprano sings the title role -- and most of the world's great sopranos have done it since Donizetti penned this hyper-romantic, bel canto masterpiece in 1835. So how does Claycomb plan to match Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland and other legends who dwell only in memory or the scratchy recordings prized by opera nuts? 'I had to clean the slate to sing Lucia,' Claycomb said. 'So my first job was trying to forget Callas and Sutherland -- all the great stars on old recordings whose singing has gotten stuck in everyone's ears. People sometimes think that's the only approach, but it's really just the style of the 1950s, the style that emerged more than a century after Donizetti wrote the piece.'... 'If you look at the early performance history of bel canto operas, you can see that the originators chose roles very differently, and that audiences expected lighter, more flexible voices -- my kind of voice -- not the big, inflexible Mack Truck singers that sometimes rumble through this repertoire today,' Claycomb said. Claycomb is thrilled with the New Orleans cast, which includes New Orleanian Casey Candebat, Michael Chioldi and William Burden, among others. She also had praise for stage director E. Loren Meeker, who has helped to set the New Orleans production in the era of Downton Abbey." [Source]

"Aida" With Kaufmann And Harteros Gets 8-Month Lead Time Hype

Australian magazine Limelight discusses the most recent recording of Verdi's Aida for Warner Classics, featuring Jonas Kaufmann, Anja Harteros, Ekaterina Semenchuk, and Erwin Schrott under the baton of Antonio Pappano, due in October 2015. Those lucky enough to be in Rome can attend a concert on February 27 of the opera with the cast. Tickets available here. "Over the past two decades the number of studio recordings produced by the world’s biggest record labels of grand operas has dwindled. However a new studio recording of Verdi’s epic masterpiece Aida being produced by Warner Classics and featuring an all star cast proves that the tradition of recording large scale operatic works in the studio is still alive. What’s more, the new recording, due for release in October this year, will boast an authentically Italian provenance with conductor Sir Antonio Pappano at the helm. Pappano, who since 2005 has been Music Director of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, featured on this new recording, is a seasoned hand with Verdi repertoire. This will be the conductor’s second studio recording of a Verdi opera, after his 2002 release of Il Trovatore. His Warner Classics catalogue also contains an award-winning Santa Cecilia version of Verdi’s monumental Requiem. Pappano has assembled an extraordinary cast of similarly experienced Verdi performers, although two notable leads will be making their Aida debuts. In the title role, German soprano and former Cardiff Singer of the World champion

Anja Harteros has firmly established her Verdi credentials having appeared in productions of La traviata, Il trovatore, Simon Boccanegra, La forza del destino, Don Carlo and Otello. This will however be her first time performing the role of the Ethopian princess. Starring opposite Harteros will be superstar tenor Jonas Kaufmann, who is no stranger to Verdi’s heroic leads himself, although this too will be the tenor’s Aida debut in the role of the Egyptian warrior Radamès." [Source] Read the full article here. See an interview with Maestro Pappano, and a video of the recording session, after the jump.

Diana Damrau On Her Mad Journey With "Lucia di Lammermoor"

A Vision of Delirium: Diana Damrau
(Photo: Rebecca Fay)

"So when did this particular journey begin? 'I saw my first Lucia performance in Vienna standing in the famous Stehplätze [standing places] for a few euros,' she tells me. 'I was a student and I went to Vienna and I got to see Edita Gruberová in Lucia. But I think I already heard the Sutherland recording and also Callas.' And the Damrau version? She’s probably more ‘Callas’ than ‘Sutherland’. But where have her ideas about the part come from? 'Lucia di Lammermoor is the most veristic of the bel canto roles,' she explains. 'The madness of Lucia makes it a real role for acting and singing. Lucia’s madness is an illness. It’s not just a vehicle for a soprano to show her skills and her technique. I talked to doctors about that. She is bipolar and you can hear that very clearly in the first aria.' The particularly modern concept of a bipolar bel canto heroine is intriguing and Damrau has clearly thought it through. 'She gets very, very happy and almost frenetic when she talks about her visions. And ill people can have visions – she’s not just the standard ‘romantic’ figure of the time. Because she is bipolar she really gets very dark and very frightened. Everything seems to be real and very dramatic to her.

Click here to purchase the recording.

She’s under great, great pressure because her mother has died and she’s in a really bad situation. This comes to its peak when she finds out her brother betrayed her – that he forced her into a political marriage and everyone around her has actually manipulated her. When Edgardo comes back and curses her and says, 'you betrayed love and you betrayed God', that’s more tension than she can take. Then the illness comes. The madness breaks out and she kills someone.'" [Source] Read Diana Damrau's tribute to Maria Callas by clicking here. You can sample Erato's new recording of Lucia di Lammermoor featuring Diana Damrau. A video of the mad scene from the recording is after the jump.

Angel Blue Latest Soprano Recital Added To Opus Arte Series

Joy to the World: Soprano Angel Blue displays
vocal elegance in her debut recording
titled Joy Alone

"A protégé of Plácido Domingo, Angel Blue has enjoyed recent opera house triumphs in Valencia and at English National Opera. Followingher acclaimed Wigmore Hall recital last year, this new Rosenblatt Recital studio recording features songs by Strauss, Rachmaninov, a selection of zarzuelas, and Gershwin’s classic 'Summertime.' She is accompanied by the noted pianist Iain Burnside." [Source] "The young American soprano Angel Blue - hailed by Plácido Domingo as 'the next Leontyne Price' - displays exceptional artistic versatility on this, her first solo album. George Gershwin's 'Summertime,' which 'soars sweetly to angelic heights' (Financial Times), sets the scene for a wide-ranging rectial in which her luminous and pure tone comes to the fore, from Liszt, Rachmaninov and Strauss to rousing spirituals, songs by acclaimed American contemporaries Heggie and Adolphe, and intoxicating Spanish zarzuelas." [Source] Listen to excerpts from the recording after the jump.

Uncovering Elena Obraztsova Treasures As 75 Years Is Celebrated

Operatic Tsaritsa: The legendary
 Elena Obraztsova

For over 50 years, Elena Obraztsova has been a fixture on the operatic scene. Her debut was at the Bolshoi Theater in a production of Boris Godunov in 1963 and as of last week the performer was still singing with plenty of full voice during a gala celebrating her 75th birthday with stars like Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Maria Guleghina, José Cura, Julia Lezhneva, Hibla Gerzmava and Olga Peretyatko. In her native Mother Russia, Ms. Obraztsova recorded a trove of music for the label Melodiya over the years. The label was later acquired by EMI and many of the recordings never made it to the CD format barring the arias disc with Giuseppe Patanè that first appeared in Japan and eventually on Russian import. Thanks to the scrupulous work of Melodiya digitizing much of the mezzo-soprano's back catalog, these albums are now available in MP3 format and reveal a surprising depth for the song repertoire by this monumental artist. The majority of her recorded legacy features the works of Soviet neo-romantic composer Georgy Sviridov. Music recorded between 1977-1983, with the composer at the piano, shows how the opera singer placed her esteem of his work alongside Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff whose works she also laid down for posterity. Whether arias,

One of the prized solo recordings to 
make a commercial release worldwide.

romances, or folk songs, it is clear that Ms. Obraztsova was first and foremost a nationalist. The most surprising treat in the discography is a disc of Schumann lieder featuring the complete Frauenliebe und leben alongside excerpts from Liederkreis, 12 Gedichte, Myrthen, and 6 Gedichte von N. Lenau und Requiem. Her rendition of "Mondnacht" rivals that of German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Next to the contributions of fellow Russian stars Irina Arkhipova and Galina Vishnevskaya, the collection of music put forth by Elena Obraztsova is admirable. There are still albums of hers not available to the public, including a disc of Bach & Händel arias, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, Vivaldi's Gloria, Cavalleria Rusticana with tenor Zurab Sotkilava, Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, Brahm's Rhapsody for Alto, and a collection of Viennese operetta with conductor Algis Ziuraitis, but there are others still in print on various labels including Deutsche Grammophon (Un Ballo in Maschera, Aida, Alexander Nevsky, Werther, Samson et Dalila, Rigoletto), Sony (Adriana Lecouvreur), Decca (Cavalleria Rusticana, Andrea Chénier), EMI (Nabucco), as well as a slew of recordings on private labels and live performance documents. After the jump: Learn more about Elena Obraztsova, see all of the recordings currently available digitally, and watch the 75th birthday concert in its entirety.

Elena Obraztsova stands center stage as international opera stars pay hommage last week.

Sandrine Piau Offers Insight To Her New Mozart Recording

(Photo: Sandrine Expilly)

"When Naïve offered me the chance to record a Mozart recital in 2001, it was something I hadn't even dared to dream of, because he seemed to me to be the composer most emblematic of every kind of perfection. I made the disc with a feeling almost of transgression and a tremendous fear of not being worthy of him. Now, thirteen years later, I come back to Mozart with the experience of the roles I've tackled on stage in the meantime. Donna Anna is probably the character I most wanted to include, not only because I've sung her in the theatre but also because the part is traditionally given to heavier voices than mine. Like any so-called Baroque singer, I'm suspicious of traditions, and I like the idea that behind her cries of suffering she has still retained a redemptive gentleness, which one can sense in 'Non mi

dir.' The arias I've chosen are often tormented. I suppose this is a disc of maturity, which both reflects my trajectory over these past few years and catches me at a specific moment in my life, like a snapshot." - Sandrine Piau [Source] The recording features arias from Lucio Silla, Don Giovanni, La Finta Giardiniera, Le Nozze di Figaro, Idomeneo, Mitridate, and Il Re Pastore. Purchase the new album, Desperate Heroines, by clicking here and read an inspiring review of the disc here. You can listen to audio clips of each track by clicking here. 

Mariana Nicolesco Conquers Vocal Demands Of Rare Meyerbeer Piece

"In his own time, Giacomo Meyerbeer was considered one of the all time great composers of music, along with Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. His music was incredibly popular, and other composers admired and emulated him. Today he is mostly known for the grand operas that he composed for the French stage from 1826 until his death in 1864. Among his lesser-known works are his melodies for voice and piano, his Lieder and other songs, and the monodrama Gli Amori di Teolinda. Written in 1816 when he had first journeyed to Italy, it shows how enamored Meyerbeer was with everything Italian, and in particular with Italian music. It was composed in Verona when Meyerbeer was in the company of two of his childhood friends from Germany; the clarinetist Heinrich Baermann and the soprano Helene Harlas, both virtuosos. The scoring is for soprano, clarinet, chorus and orchestra, and features virtuosic clarinet writing as well as Italianate coloratura for soprano voice. In the directions to the score there are indications that choral