Track Listing

1. Rigoletto, opera: Caro nome
2. Rigoletto, opera: La donna é mobile
3. Gianni Schicchi, opera: O mio babbino caro
4. Carmen, opera: Habanera: La voila... L'amour est oiseau rebelle
5. Orfeo ed Euridice (Italian version), opera in 3 acts, Wq. 30: Che faro senza Euridice
6. Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly), opera: Un bel di, vedremo
7. Roméo et Juliette, opera: Ah! je veux vivre
8. Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), opera, K. 492: Voi che sapete che cosa è amor
9. Samson et Dalila, opera in 3 acts, Op. 47: Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix
10. Tosca, opera: Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore
11. Aida, opera: Celeste Aida
12. Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), opera: Una voce poco fà
13. Lakmé, opera: Ou va la jeune indoue?
14. La Wally, opera (dramma musicale) in 4 acts: Ebben? Ne andrò lontano
15. La bohème, opera: Che gelida manina
16. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Die Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8483 in Music
• Brand: Opera
• Released on: 1994-07-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Customer Reviews

An excellent introduction
This CD is offered at a very attractive price, and features an excellent selection of opera arias. Most of the great composers are represented (such as Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, and Bizet) as well as some lesser-known but worthwhile names (such as Gluck, Gounod, and Saint-Saens).

There is only one superstar singer on this album (Placido Domingo singing "Celeste Aida"), but don't let that deter you: the singing is uniformly rich, skillful, and warm. As another reviewer has pointed out, of the total of 16 tracks, 3 are performed by tenors and 13 by sopranos, but I feel nonetheless that the selection of arias found here is both broad and representative.

The orchestras that are featured are lesser-known ensembles from Western and Central Europe, but they play with conviction and precision, and the CD's sound-recording quality (all the tracks are either "ADD" or "DDD") is first-rate.

All in all, this is a great product brought to you from the vaults of the prestigious EMI Classical label. This is the perfect CD to add to your Amazon.com order if you need to get your grand total above $25 to qualify for free shipping

excellent sampler CD
For the money, this is surely of the greatest bargains you'll ever see. Of course, some performers are featured 3-4 times, mezzos in particular, and there are NO baritones or bassos represented here (not even Toreador's song, which has got to be one of the "most famous"). Dimitrova really stands out as a larger-than-life dramatic soprano, but casting her as Butterfly was a glaring mistake. Her Tosca is magnificent, however. Overall the disc has 72 minutes of great singing and the sound is ADD with a couple of early DDD's thrown in. A serious fan will have all of the selections here, but it may be a good start for the beginning opera listeners. I hope that after hearing Placido Domingo's "Celeste Aida" they'll be tempted to purchase a complete recording.

Great intro into opera
The main reason in my mind to buy this cd are the 2 tracks from Les Contes d'Hoffmann and Lakme sung by the wonderful Edita Gruberova. The 1st track is playful, funny, the 2nd breathtaking for her high notes and heartbreaking. A lesser reason is for Anna Moffo's Caro Nome from Rigoletto, the cadenza at the end is like nothing you've ever heard! Even if you don't know much about opera, this is an enjoyable cd. Cheap, too!