# Your Favourite Opera Recordings



## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

So...

Imagine a fate worse than Donald Trump becoming president, and having to pick only 5 opera recordings to be able to listen to for the rest of your life 

What would they be?

*My Favourite Opera Recordings*










*1.* Verdi - La Traviata - Maria Callas










*2.* Verdi - Il Trovatore - Maria Callas










*3.* Wagner - Tristan und Isolde - Birgit Nilsson










*4.* Verdi - Otello - Placido Domingo










*5.* Bellini - Norma - Maria Callas

yes lots of Callas... I know xD


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## Dawood (Oct 11, 2015)

In no order


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

This is mine . I really want to give the fifth one to a *Boris Godunov* performance, but I think I have not listened enough to cast a vote


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

1.









2.









3. 


4. 


5.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

The five I would miss most after reducing my collection to five:

1.


2.


3. 


4. 


5.


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## Jeffrey Smith (Jan 2, 2016)

Turandot: Mehta with Sutherland and Pavarotti
Meistersinger: Knappertsbusch or Solti I
Parsifal: Knappertsbusch Bayreuth or Solti
Falstaff: Abbado with Terfel
L'Orfeo: the Concerto Italiano recording.

Wait...no Mozart... Well, delete your choice of Meistersinger and Parsifal, and insert
Ingmar Bergman's film of the Magic Flute

Wait...no Strauss... Delete L'Orfeo and insert the DVD of Rosenkavalier with Fleming, Damrau and Koch.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I think I drown myself, the thought to have a idiot as that for president is enough to make one's skill crawl 
O.T









​


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Pugg said:


> I think I drown myself, the thought to have a idiot as that for president is enough to make one's skill crawl
> O.T


"I love opera. Some of my best friends write operas. But other countries bring in their operas whether we want them or not. I'll build a wall, a big wall, to keep those operas out! And believe me, I'll make operas great again!"


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

KenOC said:


> "I love opera. Some of my best friends write operas. But other countries bring in their operas whether we want them or not. I'll build a wall, a big wall, to keep those operas out! And believe me, I'll make operas great again!"


Is this too make me feel better or worse


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I'll just take one.










Or is that cheating? :angel:


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

*


GregMitchell said:



I'll just take one.










Or is that cheating? :angel:

Click to expand...

*You crossed the Ruby Con with 'that' treasure chest. _;D_


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

1) 55 Keilberth Wagner Ring - greatest singers of 1950s Bayreuth in best voice with best sound (stereo)










2) 55 Norma Callas (live) - signature role, Pristine XR best sound (cover photo wrong)










3) 53 Callas Lucia - Stephano & Gobbi, Pristine XR best sound










4) 52 Callas MacBeth (live) - best Lady M ever now in good sound










5) to lighten things up, what a stellar cast

These are fun threads, I will also have to make a "callas free" top 5 list and I think a top 5 video list would be great


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

1.









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4.









5.


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

Five recordings with Callas in no particular order. The 1953 studio Tosca, 1955 Berlin Lucia, 1955 La Scala Norma. Then one of the La Traviatas (perhaps the 1955 La Scala with Di Stefano) and the last one is pretty difficult to pick. Perhaps the studio Rigoletto since it has Gobbi and Di Stefano. Gobbi is so amazing Rigoletto and Pippo is well Pippo. It's so hard to pick when you enjoy everything she did, but perhaps these are today's choices. Well at least you don't have to pick five arias. That would be pure agony.


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Diminuendo said:


> *Five recordings with Callas in no particular order*. The 1953 studio Tosca, 1955 Berlin Lucia, 1955 La Scala Norma. Then one of the La Traviatas (perhaps the 1955 La Scala with Di Stefano) and the last one is pretty difficult to pick. Perhaps the studio Rigoletto since it has Gobbi and Di Stefano. Gobbi is so amazing Rigoletto and Pippo is well Pippo. It's so hard to pick when you enjoy everything she did, but perhaps these are today's choices. Well at least you don't have to pick five arias. That would be pure agony.


Pippo and Callas forever linked together in our hearts starting in early Mexico days and then the immortal EMI studio recordings, unforgettable opera couple.......are you sure those are your favs? :lol:


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Sir John in Love - Donald Maxwell, Mark Padmore, Sarah Connolly / Northern Sinfonia/Richard Hickox
View attachment 82819


La Cenerentola - Elina Garanca, Lawrence Brownlee, Alessandro Corbelli / Met/Maurizio Benini
View attachment 82818


Le Nozze di Figaro - Herman Prey, Mirella Freni, Kiri Te Kanawa, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau / VPO/Karl Bohm
View attachment 82817


Les Troyens - Gregory Kunde, Susan Graham, Anna Catarina Antonacci / ORR/John Eliot Gardiner
View attachment 82816


Die Meistersinger - Norman Bailey, Rene Kollo, Hannelore Bode / VPO/Georg Solti
View attachment 82815


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Difficult to choose just five, but here goes, for today at least:

1. My favourite ever complete recording: Roméo et Juliette with Affre, Gall, Journet and Albers:










2. Carmen with Affre, Albers and Merentié:










3. The one and only recording of Fervaal, with an amazing performance from singers who weren't really huge stars:










4. Samson et Dalila with Luccioni, Bouvier and Cabanel:










5. Faust with Beyle, Noté and Gresse:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Puccini, Tosca-Callas, Gobbi.

Britten, Peter Grimes-Pears, Britten.

Verdi, Rigoletto-Berger, Warren.

Wagner, Die Meistersinger-Kollo, Adam, Donath, Karajan.

Handel, Giulio Cesare-Larmore, Schlick, Fink, Jacobs.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

silentio said:


> This is mine . I really want to give the fifth one to a *Boris Godunov* performance, but I think I have not listened enough to cast a vote


Neither have I, but I can certainly recommend this Boris, with the caveats that it's the only one I can remember hearing and it's not very authentically Russian:










André Pernet was certainly a singing actor of genius, and his Father in Louise must be the most powerful filmed operatic performance I've ever seen:


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

1. Furtwangler 1950 Ring at La Scala in the Pristine remaster:









2. the Kubelik Parsifal









3. the Kubelik Meistersinger









4. the Bohm Tristan









5. the Kubelik Lohengrin


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

Figleaf said:


> Neither have I, but I can certainly recommend this Boris, with the caveats that it's the only one I can remember hearing and it's not very authentically Russian:


Thanks Figleaf. I would definitely try this! I am a big fan of Ansermet, and so far I enjoy his Russian incidental works (Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff) a lot.

Actually I don't mind a French Boris at all. Excerpts from Boris sung in French by Vanni-Marcoux are always among my favorites, up there with Chaliapin's and Kipnis'. His Boris doesn't have the declamation of a Chaliapin, but has an interesting tenderness and sentiment.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Limiting it to CDs:









































Wow, choosing those was _hard_! Seriously, who would want to be limited to five opera recordings forever and ever?!


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

^^^ No bellini in that top five list.....?????? Are you no longer a lover


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

DarkAngel said:


> ^^^ No bellini in that top five list.....?????? Are you no longer a lover


Well, as much as I love the PURITANI with Sutherland and Pavarotti, I love the LUCIA even more. I did almost put the NORMA with Sutherland and Horne on the list, but IMO its supporting cast of Alexander and Cross is very good but not as outstanding as the supporting casts in the recordings I listed. So, no Bellini this time...

However, if possible I'd sneak Sutherland's "Art of the Prima Donna," with its several peerless Bellini renditions, onto the island!


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Ring........Solti
Meistersinger...Solti 2
Faust....Cluytens EMI stereo
Tales of Hoffman....Cluytens EMI stereo
William Tell......Gardelli EMI


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Today I would say in no particular order:

1. Ring-Keilberth
2. Meistersinger-Kubelik
3. Don Giovanni-Giulini
4. Il Trovatore-Karajan Salzburg live recording
5. Elektra-Boehm

Tomorrow I could easily say something else depending on which side of the bed I woke up


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

jflatter said:


> Today I would say in no particular order:
> 
> 1. Ring-Keilberth
> 2. Meistersinger-Kubelik
> ...


I am sure we all know that feeling


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Today. These:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

New number one!!


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## SenaJurinac (Nov 29, 2017)

*La Traviata I fell in love with*

Only recently I found used CD in eBay with this lovely 1960 recording of La Traviata, with Rome Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Fernando Previtalli conducting. The cast included Anna Moffo, Richard Tucker and Robert Merill. After listening I simply fell in love with it.:kiss:


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## peeknocker (Feb 14, 2012)

Off the top of my head, here are five that I never tire of. Actually, my absolute favorites include bootleg recordings that circulate privately among collectors and, thus, can't be included here.

Adolphe Adam - Si J'etais Roi (1960) - Although marred by sizable cuts, particularly to Act III, this recording is graced by one of the most beautiful tenor voices I have ever heard, the late André Mallabrera (who died earlier this year).






Camille Saint-Saëns - Samson et Dalila (Paris, 1946)
Was there ever a more seductive voice than that of Hélène Bouvier?





Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - The Queen of Spades (Moscow, 1966) - Full-throated Russian singing by native Russian speakers.





Otto Nicolai - Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (1963) - Classic Electrola recording of a wonderful opera undeservedly cast in the shadows by Verdi's much more innovative but arguably far less enjoyable adaptation of the same material.





Arrigo Boito - Mefistofele (1958) 
Renata Tebaldi and Mario del Monaco made quite a team on record. Here is one of the best.


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

If for nothing else than Callas's _"Tralalalala, coupe-moi, brûle-moi, je ne te dirai rien"_









The greatest recording of the greatest of Handel's operas?









Joan's a bit past her prime, and not the best icy princess, but still ...









Sublime does not describe it.









Something to get the blood pumping.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I could live with these five:


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