commercial discography 3
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Manon
Artists - Nicolai Gedda, Gerard Souzay, Gabriel Bacquier, Nico Castel, Michel Trempont, Patricia Kern, Michele Raynaud, Helia T'Hevan, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, New Philharmonia. Conductor - Julius Rudel Date & Location - July 15-29, 1970; All Saints Church, Tooting, London Label & Catalog numbers CD CMS 769831 2 - EMI CD 289 474 950-2 - Deutsche Grammophon LP ATS 20007 - ABC LP AVC-34010 - Angel Records |
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Reviews -
There are other very good recordings of Manon on the market..but this one is a desert-island set. Sills is girlish and demure at first, later alluring and sure of herself, then cajoling and outright lusty in the St. Sulpice Scene, and truly tragic at the end. Her coloratura is glittering, her "Adieu" heartrending. Nicolai Gedda is a very extroverted Des Grieux, singing with big, forward tone, but also (as usual) with great sensitivity and attention to dynamics. Gerard Souzay sounds a bit long-in-the-tooth for Lescaut, but he's a very classy singer and he does get the character's smarminess across. Gabriel Bacquier is a fine, authoritative Count, and the rest of the cast is superb.... Read More -Robert Levine, Classics Today Manon depends more on the soprano than anyone else, and much as I admire her rivals, Sills remains my first choice. She sings the role better than her rivals. The music demands a lyric soprano who is also a full-fledged coloratura, and no one tosses off the trills, runs, and high notes better than Sills or integrates them more naturally into the line. Her voice sounds gorgeous here: soft, warm, floaty, and persuasively girlish. As an actress, she surpasses De los Angeles and Cotrubas because she's not afraid to sound sexy, to put real sensuousness and honest emotion into her voice. Manon is a flighty, selfish character; De los Angeles, Cotrubas, and even Gheorghiu are prim, genteel ladies. I savor the many delicate touches they bring to the music, but I get no whiff of the femme fatale who makes the story believable rather than ridiculous. Sills's Manon is the most vivid and plausibly sincere. She lives fully and unmaliciously in the moment, and she is lovable despite her fickleness. Read More - Ralph V. Lucano, American Recording Guide |
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Thaïs
Artists - Sherrill Milnes, Nicolai Gedda, Richard Van Allan, Ann-Marie Connors, Ann Murray, Norma Burrowes, Patricia Kern, Brian Ethridge, John Alldis Choir, New Philharmonia. Conductor - Lorin Maazel Date & Location - June 18-30, 1976; EMI Studios, London Label & Catalog numbers CD 5654792 - EMI LP SCLX 3832 - Angel Records |
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Moore, Douglas (1893 - 1969) |
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The Ballad of Baby Doe
Artists - Walter Cassel, Frances Bible, Grant Williams, Chorus and Orchestra of New York City Opera. Conductor - Emerson Buckley Date & Location - June, 1959; Manhattan Center, New York City Label & Catalog numbers CD 289 465 148-2 - Deutsche Grammophon LP 2709 061 - Deutsche Grammophon LP S3-GC-1 - MGM LP HS 25035-5 - Helidor |
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Reviews -
This recording (reported to have been made in one take) has the raw energy of a stage performance; the orchestral sound is bright and clear, and all the singers - chorus as well as principals - project every word of the text. Sills, Bible, and Cassel sing American English unaffectedly while remaining always in character - no assumed regional accents and no operatic vocalizing, either. Sills, her voice lovely and fresh and steady despite its fast vibrato, manages to make every word of her Willow Song understandable, even in the stratospheric reaches. (She goes up to high D)... Read More - Emerson Buckley, American Record Guide |
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Offenbach, Jacques (1819 - 1880) |
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Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Artists - Stuart Burrows, Norman Treigle, Susanne Marsee, Nico Castel, Robert Lloyd, Patricia Kern, Raimund Herincx, Bernard Dickerson, John Noble, John Alldis Choir, London Symphony. Conductor - Julius Rudel Date & Location - July-August, 1972; EMI Studios, London Label & Catalog numbers CD 289 471 247-2 - Westminster LP ATS 20014 - ABC records LP AVC-34011 - Angel Records |
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Reviews -
We who love Beverly Sills have been waiting for this on CD, hanging on to the LPs. She sings all the heroines beautifully. The tenor is Stuart Burrows, and he is very good. The villains are Norman Treigle, and he is superb. Julius Rudel's conducting is inferior to no one's....There is only one set that can compete with this, and it's from the same year (1971): Sutherland with Domingo, Bonynge conducting...if you really like Beverly Sills, as I do, the rest of the cast, the conducting, and the playing are all excellent-so why wouldn't you buy this? She had something Sutherland did not-something that made everything more real, more than just beautiful singing (though it is beautiful singing)... Read More - Donald R. Vroon, American Record Guide |
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Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Artists - Andre Turp, Norman Treigle, Edith Evans, Michael Devlin, John West, Luigi Velluccci, New Orleans Opera Orchestra & Chorus Conductor - Knud Andersson Date & Location - Februrary 27, 1964, New Orleans, LA Label & Catalog numbers CD VAIA 1121- Video Artists International (VAI) |
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Note -
VAI has official license to distribute this live performance |
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Rossini, Gioacchino (1792 - 1868) |
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Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Artists - Sherrill Milnes, Nicolai Gedda, Renato Capecchi, Ruggero Raimondi, Fedora Barbieri, Joseph Galiano, John Alldis Choir, London Symphony.
Conductor - James Levine Date & Location - August 1974 & May 1975; All Saints Church, Tooting, London Label & Catalog numbers CD 7243 5 85523 2 4 - EMI Classics Gemini (issued Feb. 2004) CD 7243 5 66040 2 5 - EMI Classics (issued in 1996) LP SCLX-3671 - Angel Records | |||||
Note -
When EMI transferred the original LP recording to CD, they didn't want to go to 3 discs, so they cut "A se e ver," an aria from Rosini's "Sigismondo" that Sills had interpolated at the end of the Bartlolo/Rosina scene before the Storm in Act II. The aria has not been re-issued on CD in any form, thus it is only available on the original LP recording. |
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L'Assedio di Corinto
Artists - Shirley Verrett, Justino Diaz, Harry Theyard, Gwynne Howell, Robert Lloyd, Delia Wallis, Gaetano Scano, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra.
Conductor - Thomas Schippers Date & Location - July & August, 1974; All Saints Church, Tooting, London Label & Catalog numbers CD 7 64335 2 - EMI Classics LP SCLX-3819 - Angel Records | |||||
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La Traviata
Artists - Nicolai Gedda, Rolando Panerai, Delia Wallis, Mirella Fiorentini, Keith Erwen, Terence Sharpe, Richard Van Allan, Robert Lloyd, Mario Carlin, William Elvin, John Alldis Choir, Royal Philharmonic.
Conductor - Aldo Ceccato Date & Location - July 6-9 & 15-16, 1971; All Saints Church, Tooting, London Label & Catalog numbers CD 7 69827-2 - EMI LP SCLX 3780 - Angel Records | |||||
Reviews -
Miss Sills is very fine in this latest of her opera releases.. Miss Sills has the facility for the "Sempre libera" that ends Act I, more than do most of the outstanding Violettas of the past or present. She also has the right voice for the last act..many phrases are sensitively sung. What is most interesting in Miss Sills's performance is the natural pathos she brings to the final act..the soprano is more likely to underplay the emotion and sing with a simple, sincere lyricism that is quite beautiful. It is much more touching than the heavy outbursts frequently encountered. - "Recordings" by Raymond Ericson. New York Times, March 19, 1972, p. 25. |
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Rigoletto
Artists - Sherill Milnes, Alfredo Kraus, Samuel Ramey, Mignon Dunn, Ann Murrary, John Rawnsley, Dennis O'Neilll, Malcolm King, Sally Burgess, Alan Watt, Jennifer Smith, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Philharmonia.
Conductor - Julius Rudel Date & Location - August 12-15, 1978, EMI Studios, London Label & Catalog numbers CD 5 66037 2 - EMI Classics LP SCZX-3872 - Angel |
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