# Opera recordings that hold a special place in your heart....



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Maybe it was your first opera purchase
maybe it was a special time in your life
Whatever the reason, what opera recording/recordings
are special to you?
:tiphat:


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Verdi Rigoletto / Solti with Moffo, Krauss and Merrill

First opera recording I bought in mono as no stereo system.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

The 1960 Callas *Norma*. It was the first complete opera set I ever owned - a Christmas present from my brother, and I'd have been about 17. I was deliriously excited, and played it non stop for months; and so started my journey into opera. I adored Callas, late Callas at that, and for the next few years I collected all her recordings. Not easy to do in those ways, as most of them had been deleted to make way for stereo alternatives. I would spend hours scouring second hand stores and specialist retail outlets, slowly building up my collection. Then, in 1973, EMI finally started reissuing her back catalogue. She's been the backbone of their Italian opera catalogue ever since.

The other important purchase was the Karajan *Der Rosenkavalier*, which I bought after seeing a superb production by Scottish Opera at the Opera House in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1974. It starred Helga Dernesch as a _non pareil _of a Marschallin, Anne Howells as Octavian and Teresa Cahill as Sophie. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the music for sopranos and consequently bought the Karajan recording, as I loved Schwarzkopf's _Vier lerzte Lieder_ so much. Schwarzkopf became my guide for the operas of Mozart and Strauss.

Though I now prefer Callas's live accout of Norma from La Scala in 1955, I still retain a strong affection for the 1960 studio release, and the Karajan *Der Rosenkavlier* remains my top choice for the opera.


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## lextune (Nov 25, 2016)

For me there is one immediate answer. The Wagner/Solti studio Ring.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

The "Seraphim Guide to the RING":









My introduction to Wagner 50 or so years ago.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

My all time favorite opera and one of the few cases where I can pick an absolute favorite recording from among the many recordings available, which is rather surprising since I have 25 recordings of this opera.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

In my teens I used to ask for LPs of the Wagner operas every Christmas. There weren't many available then, but, lucky for me, Santa had them all in stock. I ordered the 1962 Knappertsbusch _Parsifal_ after reading Conrad Osborne's fine review in High Fidelity Magazine, and that recording remains at the center of my collection and my affection. I took the Furtwangler _Tristan_ out of the library, was duly overwhelmed, and acquired the Solti _Ring_ except for the _Walkure,_ for which I had the Leinsdorf, then magnificently packaged in red and gold as part of the RCA Soria Series (they don't make 'em like that any more). Beyond Wagner, my high school algebra teacher gave me a disc of excerpts from the first EMI (Angel Records, in America) Callas _Norma, _and her uncanny phrasing of "Casta Diva" was probably the most powerful singing lesson I ever had.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Woodduck said:


> I ordered the 1962 Knappertsbusch _Parsifal_ after reading Conrad Osborne's fine review in High Fidelity Magazine,


I couldn't decide between the 1951 and 1962 Knappertsbusch recordings - so I bought them both, on the same day, while on a summer lifeguard's salary. I must have been nuts, but those are still my two favorite recordings of the opera.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

wkasimer said:


> I couldn't decide between the 1951 and 1962 Knappertsbusch recordings - so I bought them both, on the same day, while on a summer lifeguard's salary. I must have been nuts, but those are still my two favorite recordings of the opera.


If you're nuts, so am I, except that I didn't have to buy the 1951, since my small-town library (amazingly) had it. It was also my first experience of the complete opera, via a Philadelphia radio broadcast, and it was possibly the most transfixing experience of my entire life. I can remember wandering about in a daze for some time thereafter. Maybe I'm still wandering about in a daze.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

I don't have any good autobiographical stories about getting into opera--it happened gradually and in fits and starts. I only started listening to classical music in my 20s, and then I mostly listened to instrumental or choral music until my 30s. So instead, these are just recordings I really cherish and I've listened to most compulsively over the past couple of decades.

1) Bohm Ring--the recording that got me into Wagner. Before I got it, I already had the Solti, and it didn't click for me at all. Before I got the Bohm, I would have been in the Wagner-detractor crowd, "great minutes but tedious half-hours" etc etc. In fact, I think the Bohm Ring really is what demonstrated to me how important it is for a conductor to understand the connective tissue of the Ring. The big excerpt-able highlights are done as well or better on other recordings, so listeners sampling bits and pieces doing side by side comparisons might easily prefer the Solti. But if I want to sit and listen to the full operas in one sitting, the Bohm is the one I'd pick.

2) Except recently, maybe, with Pristine's remastering of the 1950 Furtwangler Ring. The only Ring that I think is conducted fluidly and dramatically in a way that competes with the Bohm, and the Pristine remaster made what had been barely listenable into a pleasure to listen to. I do still prefer the sound and the singing on the Bohm, but the Furtwangler instrumentally is perhaps even more compelling.

3) Solti's 1975 Don Giovanni at the Paris Opera, with Roger Soyer, Margaret Price, Kiri Te Kanawa, Jose Van Dam, Jane Berbie, and Stuart Burrows. It's available on OperaDepot and OperaPassion. I picked this up last year and haven't been able to stop listening to it. I wouldn't have said I'm a fan of Don Giovanni before this recording--I always liked parts of the opera (mostly the serious, dramatic parts--the murder of the Commendatore, the end of Act 1, the Don being dragged to hell), but would rarely listen to it. This performance is very slow and very dramatic, even more so than Solti's studio recording--an example of the heavy German approach similar to Furtwangler or Klemperer, with easily the most seductive and compelling performance of the title role I've heard and spectacular performances of Anna and Elvira courtesy of Price and Te Kanawa.

4 & 5) Kubelik's Meistersinger and Parsifal. My favorite recordings of my favorite operas. I listen to these over and over again.

6) Kleiber's 1980 Otello with Domingo, Margaret Price, Silvano Carroli. My favorite performance of my favorite Verdi, intensely dramatic and urgent. I have this on Golden Melodram but it's also available on OperaDepot.

7) Abbado's 1972 Aida with Arroyo, Domingo, Cossotto, Cappuccilli in Munich (not the one from Milan!). A performance so good, it makes me forget that I had been 100% sick of this opera, and reminded me why this is one of the top Verdi works--maybe even the best. I have this on Opera d'Oro but I believe this is also available on OperaDepot.


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

The De Sabata/Callas/Di Stefano/Gobbi Tosca. It was my first recording and it's iconic for a reason. I listened to it so many times I'm amazed it didn't fall to pieces.

Also: the Giulini Don Carlo. Apart from Raimondi, it's a fantastic cast, and I had a serious crush on Milnes' Posa.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)




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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I guess for me there are three recordings that set me on my way.
After buying a set of Rossini overtures I went out and bought
The Barber of Seville, the Gui recording with Bruscantini, De Los Angeles and Luigi Alva.
I still think it's the best

Then a series of comic operas by Rossini and Donizetti.
Rigoletto came next, then Lucia and I Puritani, but I wondered where to go next.

Then I purchased the Kempe Lohengrin after reading about it in an opera book.
After listening to the first act I was actually trembling,
I was totally blown away by it.
I must have worn the recording out.
Then I saved up and bought the Karajan Ring. I loved it, but wondered where the big Wagnerian voices I read about were.
Then I bought the Solti and voila, that was it!!
Then I bought the Bohm and off I went. A Wagnerian from then on.

So to me it's the Gui Barbiere, the stereo Callas Lucia and the Kempe Lohengrin.
Barber started my opera journey, the Callas Lucia got me from comedies to serious opera, and the Kempe blew my mind.

So, those are my three.


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

A simple question in a sense and I thought I knew the answer. Then I started thinking more about it and realized it wasn't that easy. My first thought was the De Sabata, Callas, Di Stefano, and Gobbi Tosca. It is only one of Callas’ recordings that I knew I had to get on vinyl. Then I thought about Rigoletto with the trio as well, but that wasn't it either. After that I remembered the two three cd collections of Callas that I bought. But it was really not any of these.

After some thinking I finally figured that the recording I hold most dear is one that I actually don't even listen to anymore. It is a bit pretentiously named The Best Classical Album in the World.. Ever! by EMI released in 1995. In that two cd collection is one track that started it all for me. Habanera from Carmen sang by certain Maria Callas. The collection had other opera singers too, but Te Kanawa, Carreras or Domingo didn't catch my attention. Callas did immediately I heard her voice. The cd collections where bought soon after that and the rest it history as they say. 

One other artist that was also in that collection that had immediate effect was Jacqueline Du Pré. Her playing of Elgar's cello concerto really got me.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Diminuendo said:


> One other artist that was also in that collection that had immediate effect was Jacqueline Du Pré. Her playing of Elgar's cello concerto really got me.


That LP, which coupled the Cello Concerto with Janet Baker's wonderful performance of the _Sea Pictures_, and its original cover always bring a wave of nostalgia over me. I remember the Cello Concerto being used for the theme tune for an excellent TV adaptation of John Mortimer's _Paradise Postponed_,and the cover even made a few appearances in the programme. When I worked in a record shop in the 1980s it was consistently one of our best sellers, and was on permanent order every week.










Sorry to go slightly off topic, everyone.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

^^^Great performances that should be in every collection!


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

*Adriana Lecouvreur* with Olivero/Corelli/Bastianini/Simionato.
What a perfect cast.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

1. A perfect opera in every way: _Adriana Lecouvreur_ with Olivero/Corelli/Bastianini/Simionato. (It doesn't get any better than that.)
2. _Mefistofele_ with Olivero/Campora/Hines
3. _The Consul_ with Patricia Neway/MacNeil/Powers


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Bellini - Norma: Callas Covent Garden 1952
Bellini - Norma: Callas La Scala 1955
Bellini - La Sonnambula: Callas Cologne 1957
Cherubini Medea: Callas/Bernstein La Scala 1953
Donizetti - Lucia di Lammermoor: Callas EMI 1953
Donizetti - Lucia di Lammermoor: Callas Berlin 1955
Donizetti - Anna Bolena: Callas La Scala 1957
Händel - Julius Caesar: Masterson/Mackerras San Francisco 1982
Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana: Callas EMI 1953
Mozart - Don Giovanni: Giulini EMI 1959
Mozart - Die Zauberflöte: Klemperer 1964
Ponchielli - La Gioconda: Callas Cetra 1952
Ponchielli - La Gioconda: Callas EMI 1959
Rossini - Semiramide: Studer/Marin DGG 1994
Verdi - Macbeth: Callas La Scala 1952
Verdi - Nabucco: Callas Naples 1949
Verdi - Requiem: Serafin Rome 1939
Verdi - Requiem: Karajan La Scala 1967 (DVD transferred to CD)
Verdi - La Traviata: Callas Covent Garden 1958
Verdi - Il Trovatore: Callas La Scala 1953
Verdi - Il Trovatore: Callas/Karajan EMI 1956
Verdi - Un Ballo In Maschera: Callas La Scala 1956
Verdi - Un Ballo In Maschera: Callas EMI 1956


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## alan davis (Oct 16, 2013)

Karl Bohm's Bayreuth "Tristan and Isolde". That initiated my love for Wagner. Many, many recordings of his works have been added to my collection since but the Bohm remains special.


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