# What was the first opera CD you obtained?



## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

Mine was a CD of Callas singing Verdi Arias. It contained the arias from her first recording of them (which I had on an LP reissue), including the three from Macbeth. It also contained arias from her early 1960s recording of Verdi including the famous Ritorna vincitor done on the spot in response to a recording just completed by Crespin.


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## Viardots (Oct 4, 2014)

The first complete opera recording I bought: the 1959 EMI recording of Mozart's _Le nozze di Figaro_ conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini. Even though later I came to like Erich Kleiber's conducting on the 1955 Decca recording of the opera a bit more than Giulini's, the cast in the EMI set is still to me unbeatable:


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

The first opera LP I bought was Callas's Puccini recital, which, believe it or not, was the only recital available in the early 1970s, as almost all her other records had been deleted. EMI were intent on deleting their mono catalogue, but this recital and the complete recording of *La Boheme *had somehow escaped the deletions axe.










I played it over and over again until I got my first complete opera, the 1960 *Norma*, a Christmas present from my brother. I didn't know the opera at all and I rememner I had to order the libretto from our local record shop, as it didn't come with the discs.










The libretto was a smallish booklet with a picture of Callas as Norma at Covent Garden in 1957. I got to know the opera pretty quickly, as the records were hardly off my turntable.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

It's about 30 years ago, but I think it was Puccini's La Boheme (Karajan, Freni, Pavarotti):


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

My first opera was Mozart's Magic Flute conducted by Klemperer on EMI - remains my favorite.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Well, that is hard because I seldom ever bought CD's because back then Seattle was flush with cash unlike me so I got the library to buy almost everything for me. They bought most everything I requested, including Grob-Prandl ! I would say Cigna's Norma. I only listen when I drive in my car and when I got my new car that didn't have a CD player I got rid of my CD's.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Easy: La Boheme, Solti on RCA.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Even though I'm not an opera fan I did get this one (it was one of my first cd buys cos it was cheap). I gave it away many years back but I burned it before I did and its still on the HD and it still gets an outing every 5 years or so. Great cast.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Well, that is hard because I seldom ever bought CD's because back then Seattle was flush with cash unlike me so I got the library to buy almost everything for me. They bought most everything I requested, including Grob-Prandl ! I would say Cigna's Norma. I only listen when I drive in my car and when I got my new car that didn't have a CD player I got rid of my CD's.


I could never, and will never get rid of my CDs. I love physical discs and I miss record shops and libraries so much. Everything is just too available these days, with streaming and downloads. But what happens when the internet is down or when the streamng sites simply decide to clean up their databases and simply delete a favourite of yours? I know companies would regularly delete discs from their catalogues, but if you already had the disc, it was yours for life. 

Incidentally we wouldn't be having threads like this one. "What was the first opera you streamed?" doesn't really have the same ring.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

My first complete opera CD was Die Walküre with Norman and Behrens from Met. I wasn't ready for it then, despite of being fascinated by Wagner. But it has hardly waited for its time! Earlier I had a compilation of arias performed by Montserrat Caballé and a Paris recital of Callas (I suspect it was a bootleg). Then there was a compilation of Cecilia Bartoli. Soon CD era ended.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I had 3 at one time.
1.La Boheme with Richard Tucker & Bidu Sayao
2. Madama Butterfly with Richard Tucker and Eleanor Steber
3. Cavalleria Rusticana with Gigli, Lina Bruna Rasa, Simionato, Bechi
and boy was I ever hooked!


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> I had 3 LP's at one time. ( I was too old for CD's. There weren't any)
> 1.La Boheme with Richard Tucker & Bidu Sayao
> 2. Madama Butterfly with Richard Tucker and Eleanor Steber
> 3. Cavalleria Rusticana with Gigli, Lina Bruna Rasa, Simionato, Bechi
> and boy was I ever hooked!


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## SearsPoncho (Sep 23, 2020)

Merl said:


> Even though I'm not an opera fan I did get this one (it was one of my first cd buys cos it was cheap). I gave it away many years back but I burned it before I did and its still on the HD and it still gets an outing every 5 years or so. Great cast.


That's an awesome recording! I got Frederica von Stade to sign my copy (she was very nice). Great music. Great cast. Great performance. As a Mozart maniac, I encourage you to pull it out more often. One great tune after another...and I'm not really an opera fan either.


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## SearsPoncho (Sep 23, 2020)

My 1st was Cosi fan Tutte (highlights). 1974 Live performance from the Salzburg festival, conducted by Bohm. I bought it in preparation for the 1st opera I would attend - Cosi. I still listen to it. Cosi's my favorite Mozart opera.


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## lextune (Nov 25, 2016)

The first opera I bought a recording of was on LP, it was Mozart's Die Zauberflote by Karajan.

Years later I bought it again on cassette.

I can't recall the first opera I bought on CD.

It was definitely either Mozart or Wagner though.


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## Yabetz (Sep 6, 2021)

The Solti/VPO Ring cycle.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Incidentally we wouldn't be having threads like this one. "What was the first opera you streamed?" doesn't really have the same ring.


As people exclaim in old movies, "You can say _that _again!"


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I remember my first opera LPs vividly but have no idea what CDs I got first. 

This thread was obviously started by a young whippersnapper.

I'll go back to my rocking chair now.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I remember my first opera LPs vividly but have no idea what CDs I got first.
> 
> This thread was obviously started by a young whippersnapper.
> 
> I'll go back to my rocking chair now.


I didn't even notice that and launched in with my first LPs. I can't remember what my first opera CD was, but I do remember the first one I owned. I had just got my first CD player and an old friend, who had been something of a musical mentor when I was first getting into classical opera, gave me a Japanese pressing of the Boulez recording of *Pelléas et Mélisande*.


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## Yabetz (Sep 6, 2021)

... irrelevant...


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I didn't even notice that and launched in with my first LPs.


I saw what you did. I didn't want to rub it in. Maybe the youngsters are right about us.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Prince Igor on Brilliant Classics


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Would you believe that by the time I got to the CD section of my life I was a new member in the NY TImes Opera Forum and those wonderful people couldn't send me enough burned CD's -- they were so excited to help train an "opera newbie".
My first major purchases were a Bjorling which I bid on Ebay and won for $27.
But my most exciting purchase I bid on and won was a copy of the 3rd act of _Mefistofele_ in a black and white grainy live performance that someone had taped while watching, with Magda Olivero/Campora/Hines. It was astounding, and for years I kept it to myself. I then started sending copies to a few friends and from there they let the cat out of the bag and you can now find it easily on You tube. A true winner.
My other juicy acquisition was a copy send to me by a friend of Toscanini conducting the orchestra and singing Musetta's Waltz, showing them how he wants it done. It is a rarity and hilarious.


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

Woodduck said:


> I remember my first opera LPs vividly but have no idea what CDs I got first.
> 
> This thread was obviously started by a young whippersnapper.
> 
> I'll go back to my rocking chair now.


Yes, I am indeed a young whippersnapper (who can now get the senior discounts).


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## LeoPiano (Nov 1, 2020)

Yabetz said:


> The Solti/VPO Ring cycle.


Same for me! I got into classical music a couple of years ago and a friend recommended Wagner. He had shared some stuff with me on YouTube, but I wanted to have something on CD for my just-starting collection, so I got Solti’s Ring. I was really liking Mahler’s symphonies at the time so the length of the operas didn’t really bother me.

Also this one wasn’t my first purchase, but the first opera purchase I made where I actively compared recordings/remasterings to find my favorite (instead of just buying some critic’s top choice) was Beecham’s La Boheme on Naxos, which is still one of my favorite recordings to listen to from time to time.


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## Yabetz (Sep 6, 2021)

Some of this is reminding me of the days when I was a kid (a little before the Computer Age) when, if you ordered something by mail it was usually something like "4-6 weeks for delivery". Now we get mad if we don't get our stuff in 4 days.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

I didn't get into opera until I moved to NYC in 1979, but my first opera recordings were from the library, which I copied to cassettes. Most of these were in pretty bad shape as you can imagine. Then I think my first purchases were LP two-fers called One Hundred Years of Great Artists at the Met, The Gatti-Casazza Years, 1921-1935 and The Johnson Years, 1935-1950. I still have both of these.

I don't remember the first complete opera I bought but I was a huge Puccini and Verdi fan at the beginning, so it was probably something from the '80s.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Merl said:


> Even though I'm not an opera fan I did get this one (it was one of my first cd buys cos it was cheap). I gave it away many years back but I burned it before I did and its still on the HD and it still gets an outing every 5 years or so. Great cast.


That makes two of us.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)




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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)




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## Philidor (11 mo ago)

Richard Wagner, Das Rheingold, Solti:










3 CDs in a box with full libretto.

Next one was Don Giovanni with Harnoncourt, then Figaro with Marriner, then Walküre with Solti, if I remember correctly ... all these in 1989.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Did I say CD's were sent to me?? Nay, not so. It actually was before CD's -- it was cassettes I was inundated with. 
Oh yeah, I truly am old.


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## OffPitchNeb (Jun 6, 2016)

Not only an iconic recording but also rather an iconic album cover as well. The old EMI Callas covers are the best.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

OffPitchNeb said:


> View attachment 173597
> 
> 
> Not only an iconic recording but also rather an iconic album cover as well. The old EMI Callas covers are the best.


Unfortunately EMI botched the sound on most of the black box Callas Edition, though all the covers were very stylish. The first EMI transfer was better,









as is the Warner Remastered Edition


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Unfortunately, I do not remember the first CDs I purchased, but I sold all of my LPs at once - this guy came to my apartment and examined them one by one, shining a light on the surface of the vinyl. He bought them all, as I was very careful with my records. Being a Callas devotee, I imagine I got her CDs first.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

First opera set I bought I was 12 and bought a CD remaster of the 1946 Aida with Serafin








Quite a handy cross-section of voice types and interesting singers to start with: Caniglia, Gigli, Stignani, Bechi, Pasero, Tajo


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## Montarsolo (5 mo ago)

What a beautiful question! Sorry for my long story.

As a teenager I had a cassette tape with overtures by Rossini. I asked my mother: what are overtures? She replied that it belongs to an opera / singing. Sing to such music? That must be something fantastic. I had a stack of LPs. Many of those inner sleeves have fronts of other recordings on them. That's how I got to know many names of artists (Prey, Dieskau, Menuhin etc).

And now everything comes together: I discovered that I could borrow CDs from the small local library. Then I borrowed an opera. That was Rossini (because I knew him from the cassette tape) Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Hermann Prey (whom I knew from inner sleeves). That hit like a bomb! From then on I was an immediate fan of opera.










The next one I borrowed was Solti's Die Zauberflote. Chose this one because Deutekom sang in it and I had heard of her before. Then Die entfuhrung aus dem Serail with Solti. I borrowed this so often that it was always at home with me. How I loved the bass Martti Talvela.

In my sixth year of high school (when I was 16 or 17), I met a boy in the school class who also liked classical music. That gave a huge boost (now 25 years later we are still friends). I lived in the countryside but he lived in a city. He regularly visited the local classical. He gave me the CD catalogs of the well-known labels. So I was able to order my first opera at the nearest CD store: Fidelio with Klemperer.










I also remember which one I ordered next: Boris Godunov with Talvela (That opera was actually too difficult and heavy for me at the time) and Freischutz/Harnoncourt. Then I became a student and came to a big city with several CD stores. I immediately became a member of the library there that had countless CDs of classical music. There I borrowed operas and then also the score.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

On CD: THE Tosca.

That wasn't my first complete opera recording though. It was the first Sutherland Puritani on LP which my Nan gave me because she didn't like it.

The first opera I bought myself was Boheme (the Levine one) on cassette. Then Tosca (Domingo/Scotto) and Butterfly (De los Angeles/Bjorling). CDs came in soon after and I collected most of Callas' studio recordings and the EMI releases of her live performances. Gobbi, Pavarotti, De los Angeles, Schwarzkopf, Sutherland, Caballe, Studer and Meier were also draws to opera sets and I was also getting a lot of the Gergiev Philips recordings too.

N.


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## Mozart1756 (Feb 3, 2021)

Bohm’s Zauberflöte (1964)


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## jsparkyp (Apr 11, 2015)

My first opera recording was the 1981 London release of Alban Berg's Wozzeck, with Anja Silja as Marie (I can't remember off hand who played the title lead) with Christoph von Dohnányi conducting. The second was Boulez's Lulu on DGG from 1984.


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## toasino (Jan 3, 2022)

nina foresti said:


> I had 3 at one time.
> 1.La Boheme with Richard Tucker & Bidu Sayao
> 2. Madama Butterfly with Richard Tucker and Eleanor Steber
> 3. Cavalleria Rusticana wIith Gigli, Lina Bruna Rasa, Simionato, Bechi
> and boy was I ever hooked!


I can remember the first opera highlights album I brought about 65 or so years ago, but really can't remember the first CD. The highlights albums were: RCA La Traviata with Carteri, Warren, Valletti and La Boheme with Victoria de los Angeles, Jussi Bjorling, Robert Merrill, Lucine Amara. Perhaps the first CD was Traviata with Caballe, Bergonzi, Milnes.


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## toasino (Jan 3, 2022)

Woodduck said:


> I remember my first opera LPs vividly but have no idea what CDs I got first.
> 
> This thread was obviously started by a young whippersnapper.
> 
> I'll go back to my rocking chair now.


Same problem with me-LOL! The young one perhaps never owned an LP


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

toasino said:


> Same problem with me-LOL! The young one perhaps never owned an LP


LP? Now there are people who never owned a CD. I've seen it all except for wax cylinders. When I was born there were wind-up phonographs, and records could be played with cactus needles.


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## sworley (6 mo ago)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I could never, and will never get rid of my CDs. I love physical discs and I miss record shops and libraries so much. Everything is just too available these days, with streaming and downloads. But what happens when the internet is down or when the streamng sites simply decide to clean up their databases and simply delete a favourite of yours? I know companies would regularly delete discs from their catalogues, but if you already had the disc, it was yours for life.
> 
> Incidentally we wouldn't be having threads like this one. "What was the first opera you streamed?" doesn't really have the same ring.


Likewise, and a lot of obscure material can still only be had on disc.


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## sworley (6 mo ago)

The first opera I was given would have been the Karajan Boheme; the first one I bought was the Giulini Figaro. I still feel a sharp stabbing pain when I look back on the ease with which at some point I sold off my lps for next to nothing. Among the ones I miss the most was the Soria edition of the Milanov Gioconda, which remains one of the most visually appealing sets I have ever seen.


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## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

My first was Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi and Alceo Galliera's Barber of Seville. We all tend to love most the performances with which we learnt works - unless something obviously better comes along - but this remains to me almost perfection. Callas is the perfect minx, who is really running the show, and her una voce poco fa really is something.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

sworley said:


> The first opera I was given would have been the Karajan Boheme; the first one I bought was the Giulini Figaro. I still feel a sharp stabbing pain when I look back on the ease with which at some point I sold off my lps for next to nothing. Among the ones I miss the most was the Soria edition of the Milanov Gioconda, which remains one of the most visually appealing sets I have ever seen.


Yes, indeed. I miss my Soria _Walkure _too_. _I haven't owned it for nearly fifty years, but I can't separate my sense of the opera itself from the dramatic visual beauty of that set. For me the opera will always be glowing, burning red, with Brunnhilde's winged profile stamped in gold. 

So much beauty has passed from the world.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Woodduck said:


> This thread was obviously started by a young whippersnapper.


Have you noticed his avatar, btw?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

hammeredklavier said:


> Have you noticed his avatar, btw?


A bunch of CDs? Pictures on the wall?


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I dont remember which was my first cd.
My first LP was Barber of Seville. The Gui on EMI.
Still my favorite.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Yes, indeed. I miss my Soria _Walkure _too_. _I haven't owned it for nearly fifty years, but I can't separate my sense of the opera itself from the dramatic visual beauty of that set. For me the opera will always be glowing, burning red, with Brunnhilde's winged profile stamped in gold.
> 
> So much beauty has passed from the world.


I eventually sold all my LPs and got rid of my turntable. It was inevitable for reasons of space, but I still feel a twinge of sadness when I think of so many beautiful covers and the opera sets really were something. I remember the Colin Davis *Les Troyens *came in a chunky box, which contained two beautifully produced booklets (the size of the LPs back then), one of which had the libretto in, I think, three languages and a separate booklet with photos of the artists, biographies and essays about the opera. What luxury we enjoyed in those days!


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

Woodduck said:


> A bunch of CDs? Pictures on the wall?


Thr pictures are of Martha Modl and Maria Caniglia. I kept since the 1980s and still infrequently buy CDs. I can get the senior discounts


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

I’d need to look at my database to see what my first opera CD was but my first opera on vinyl was Solti’s Tannhäuser. My first opera CD was probably a replacement for something I already had on vinyl. Nowadays I download unless it’s not available as a download! My wife insists that if I buy something new something old has to vanish unless it is a download. Ah me…..such is life.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

Can't remember for sure, but I think it may have been The Flying Dutchman, Karajan et al around 1990


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## znapschatz (Feb 28, 2016)

Turandot, with Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco and Maria Callas.


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## znapschatz (Feb 28, 2016)

*Correction:* Turandot with Renata Tebaldi and Mario del Monaco, but Birgit Nilsson instead of Maria Callas. Apologies for the error.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

I'm not 100% sure - it was a long time and many, many recordings ago - but I think that it was the Beecham Magic Flute, on Turnabout LP's.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

First purchase was a pair of recital discs - A set of two - Amelita Galli-Curci - Volumes ! and II - Part of the Prima Voce line released by Nimbus Records.

First full opera recordings - Maria Callas - Remastered - The Complete Studio Recordings (1949 - 1969)


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## eljr (Aug 8, 2015)

*Release Date:* 10th Jul 2015


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## ronsoccer (Mar 22, 2020)

I purchase my first Opera cd about 2 years ago. Have never been a fan of classical music singing. Mahler's #4 got me use to the sound of classical singing. I then found a perfect used copy (with booklet and slipcase) of Verdi's Nabucco - Sinopoli conducting with Placido Domingo, for $2.99. I figured couldn't go wrong for that price. It was okay but did not spark any further interest. I recently had a chance to purchase a CBS/Sony first pressing of Puccini's La Rondine - Maazel conducting with Kiri Te Kanawa and Placido Domingo. I love this opera! The singing is so magical! The score is also very hummable! I just picked up a copy of Mozart's Don Giovanni with Herbert Van Karajan conducting. I hope I enjoy it as much as the Puccini.


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## Aerobat (Dec 31, 2018)

My parents had tonnes of Opera on LP when I was a child. I vividly remember buying my own first Opera LP - Carmen with Grace Bumbry / Vickers / Freni. I'd have been about 18, and whilst CDs were available I'd not got a CD player then. I still have the Bumbry Carmen on Vinyl, although I have used an ADC (Analogue to Digital Converter) to digitise it so that I'm not playing the now aged vinyl too often!

I genuinely can't remember which of my now huge Operatic CD collection was the first one that I bought though. I thought it may have been La Boheme with Alagna & Vaduva, but that's too late as I know I'd purchased others before that was recorded. 

I have to confess that I've now digitised most of my collection, and will also purchase 'digital only' music too.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I can't recall the first opera recording I got on CD , but somehow I remember the first one on LP which I got as a teenager back in the stone age : Don Giovanni with Fischer-Dieskau , Nilsson, Arroyo, Grist, Flagello Schreier and Talvela with Bohm conducting . I still have a lot of affection for this recording even though not everyone likes it .


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