Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Caro mio ben, for voice & piano (or orchestra)
2. Amarilli mia bella, for voice & continuo (from 'Le Nuove musiche')
3. Ragion sempre addita
4. Sen corre l'agnelletta
5. Orontea, opera in a prologue & 3 acts: Intorno all'idol mio
6. Pur dicesti, o bocco bella, song
7. Work(s): Spesso vibra per suo gioco
8. Come raggio del sol, for voice & keyboard (or orchestra)
9. L'honestà negli amori, opera: Già il sole dal Gange
10. Deh più a me non v'ascondete
11. Danza, Danza, Fanciulla Gentile for voice & piano (or orchestra)
12. Sento nel core certo dolore, chamber cantata for soprano or alto & continuo ('S'allontana per non innamorarsi;' 'La lontananza')
13. Sebben crudele me fai languir's
14. Selve amiche
15. Lo frate 'nnamorato, musical comedy in 3 acts: Act 1. Ogni pena più spietata
16. Plaisir d'amour, for voice & piano (or orchestra)
17. Le faux Lord: O notte, o dea del mistero
18. La Molinara, opera: Nel cor più non mi sento
19. La Calisto, opera: Ardo, sospiro e piango
20. La Calisto, opera: Ascender qui ved'io

Disc 2:

1. La Lucrezia (O Numi Eterni), cantata for soprano & continuo, HWV 145: O numi eterni!
2. La Lucrezia (O Numi Eterni), cantata for soprano & continuo, HWV 145: Già superbo del mio affanno
3. La Lucrezia (O Numi Eterni), cantata for soprano & continuo, HWV 145: Ma voi forse nel cielo
4. La Lucrezia (O Numi Eterni), cantata for soprano & continuo, HWV 145: Il suol che preme
5. La Lucrezia (O Numi Eterni), cantata for soprano & continuo, HWV 145: Ah! Che ancor nell'abisso
6. La Lucrezia (O Numi Eterni), cantata for soprano & continuo, HWV 145: Questi la disperata anima mia
7. La Lucrezia (O Numi Eterni), cantata for soprano & continuo, HWV 145: A voi, a voi, padre, consorte
8. La Lucrezia (O Numi Eterni), cantata for soprano & continuo, HWV 145: Già nel seno comincia
9. La Lucrezia (O Numi Eterni), cantata for soprano & continuo, HWV 145: Sento ch'il cor
10. Rodelinda, regina de' Langobardi, opera, HWV 19: Pompe vane di morte!...Dove sei, amato bene?
11. Serse (Xerxes), opera, HWV 40: Frondi tenere e belle...Ombra mai fu
12. Hercules, oratorio, HWV 60: Where shall I fly!
13. Atalanta, opera, HWV 35: Care selve
14. Joshua, oratorio, HWV 64: Oh! had I Jubal's lyre
15. Ariodante, opera, HWV 33: Oh! Felice mio core!...Con l'ali di constanza
16. Ariodante, opera, HWV 33: E vivo ancora?...Scherza infida in grembo al drudo
17. Ariodante, opera, HWV 33: Dopo notte
18. Cantata No. 170, 'Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust,' BWV 170 (BC A106): Aria. Vergnügte Ruh', beliebte Seelenlust
19. Dido and Aeneas, opera, Z. 626: But death, alas!...When I am laid in earth...With drooping wings

Disc 3:

1. Arianna a Naxos ('Teseo mio ben'), cantata for soprano & keyboard, H. 26b/2
2. Bernice che fai, cantata, H. 24a/10: Scena di Berenice
3. La Clemenza di Tito, opera, K. 621: Deh se piacer mi vuoi...Chi ciecamente crede
4. La Clemenza di Tito, opera, K. 621: Non più di fiori...Infelice! qual orrore!
5. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Ah, scostati!...Smanie implacabili
6. Ständchen ('Zögernd, leise'), for alto, chorus & piano ('Notturno'), D. 920 (Op. posth. 135)
7. Lazarus, cantata for soloists, chorus & orchestra (Die Feier der Auferstehung) (fragment), D. 689: Aria. So schlummert auf Rosen
8. Ah! perfido! . . . Per pieta, non dirmi addio, scena and aria for soprano & orchestra, Op. 65

Disc 4:

1. Hippolyte et Aricie, tragédie lyrique: Cruelle mère des amours
2. Hippolyte et Aricie, tragédie lyrique: Quelle plainte en ces lieux m'appelle?
3. Orfeo ed Euridice (Italian version), opera in 3 acts, Wq. 30: Che farò senza Euridice?
4. Orfeo ed Euridice (Italian version), opera in 3 acts, Wq. 30: Che puro ciel, che chiaro sol
5. Alceste (Italian version), opera in 3 acts, Wq. 37: Divinités du Styx
6. La Mort de Cléopâtre, for soprano & orchestra, H.36: C'en est donc fait!
7. La Mort de Cléopâtre, for soprano & orchestra, H.36: Ah! qu'ils sont loin
8. La Mort de Cléopâtre, for soprano & orchestra, H.36: Méditation: Grands Pharaons
9. La Mort de Cléopâtre, for soprano & orchestra, H.36: Non!...non, de vos demeures funèbres -
10. La Mort de Cléopâtre, for soprano & orchestra, H.36: Dieux du Nil
11. Herminie, cantata ('scène lyrique') for soprano & orchestra, H. 29: Récit. Quel trouble te poursuit
12. Herminie, cantata ('scène lyrique') for soprano & orchestra, H. 29: Air. Ah! Si de la tendresse
13. Herminie, cantata ('scène lyrique') for soprano & orchestra, H. 29: Récit. Que dis-je?
14. Herminie, cantata ('scène lyrique') for soprano & orchestra, H. 29: Air. Arrêtte! Arrête! Cher Tancrède -
15. Herminie, cantata ('scène lyrique') for soprano & orchestra, H. 29: Récit. Que Clorinde est heureuse!
16. Herminie, cantata ('scène lyrique') for soprano & orchestra, H. 29: Air. Venez, venez, terribles armes!
17. Herminie, cantata ('scène lyrique') for soprano & orchestra, H. 29: Prière. Dieu des chrétiens! -
18. Herminie, cantata ('scène lyrique') for soprano & orchestra, H. 29: Venez, venez, terribles armes!
19. Béatrice et Bénédict, opera, H. 138: Non! Que viens-je d'entendre?...Il m'en souvient...Je l'aime donc?

Disc 5:

1. Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé, song cycle for voice & ensemble (or piano): Soupir
2. Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé, song cycle for voice & ensemble (or piano): Placet futile
3. Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé, song cycle for voice & ensemble (or piano): Surgi de la croupe et du bond
4. Chansons madécasses, song cycle for soprano, flute, cello & piano: Nahandove
5. Chansons madécasses, song cycle for soprano, flute, cello & piano: Aoua!
6. Chansons madécasses, song cycle for soprano, flute, cello & piano: Il est doux de se coucher, durant la chaleur
7. Chanson perpétuelle, for soprano & orchestra (or piano quintet), Op. 37
8. Quatre poèmes hindous (Four Hindu Poems), for soprano & ensemble: Madras: Une Belle
9. Quatre poèmes hindous (Four Hindu Poems), for soprano & ensemble: Lahore: Un sapin isolé
10. Quatre poèmes hindous (Four Hindu Poems), for soprano & ensemble: Bénarès: Naissance de Bouddha
11. Quatre poèmes hindous (Four Hindu Poems), for soprano & ensemble: Jeypur: Si vous pensez à elle
12. The Rape of Lucretia, chamber opera, Op. 37: Lucretia! Lucretia!...
13. The Rape of Lucretia, chamber opera, Op. 37: Last night Tarquinus ravished me
14. Owen Wingrave, opera, Op. 85: Ah, Owen, what shall I do?
15. Phaedra, dramatic cantata for mezzo-soprano, string orchestra, percussion & harpsichord, Op. 93: In May, in brilliant Athens
16. Phaedra, dramatic cantata for mezzo-soprano, string orchestra, percussion & harpsichord, Op. 93: Oh Gods of wrath
17. Phaedra, dramatic cantata for mezzo-soprano, string orchestra, percussion & harpsichord, Op. 93: My time's too short, your highness

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #101355 in Music
• Brand: Philips
• Released on: 2003-11-25
• Number of discs: 5
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .36 pounds

Customer Reviews

Essential Performances from a Great & Beloved Singer
For those of us who grew up on Janet Baker's recordings (and were lucky enough to hear her "live" as well), the sound of her voice and her singular artstic personality - British restraint coupled with fierce emotional and spiritual commitment - are indelibly imprinted in our minds and hearts. The closest current equivalent is Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, another superb artist who has charted her own course, and not surprisingly there is some overlap of repertoire, in the music of J.S. Bach, of course, but also Berlioz's Didon and Beatrice, Handel's Ariodante and Britten's Phaedra (composed for Baker).
This wonderful compilation is complementary to EMI's 2-CD "The Very Best of Janet Baker" -- no overlap of repertoire whatsoever. Unlike that set, which focused on concert repertoire (with orchestra or piano) there's a generous sampling here of Baker's operatic roles including Handel, Mozart, Purcell, Rameau, Gluck, and Britten. Also welcome is "Phaedra," one of Britten's strongest late works. And it's good to have the Berlioz: "Cleopatre" and "Herminie" complete, the big aria from "Beatrice et Benedict." (Why EMI included nothing from her recording of the last 2 scenes of "Les Troyens" is unfathomable.) The wide time-span allows us to hear Baker's voice in all its youthful, "sappy" warmth, as well as in its artistic maturity (though truth to tell she was pretty much a complete artist from the start). There are a few signs of wear in later items, nothing serious, in fact rather less than I remembered. I could have done with fewer of the "Arie Amorose" in favor of more cuts from her Gluck LP, which I believe has never been issued complete on CD, but that's just personal preference. The focus here is entirely on orchestrally accompanied works (or, in the case of the marvelous early disc of Ravel, Chausson & Delage songs, with chamber ensemble) so for Baker the supreme interpreter of English, German and French song you'll need to go elsewhere (the EMI has a fair sampling, especially of her Schubert). But everything here is indispensible.

Superb.
Simply superb.

Janet Baker's voice is magnificent. But in addition to a wonderful voice Janet Baker is a wonderful opera performer in the sense that she is in absolute harmony with the pieces she performs. Simply put, Janet Baker just gets the works she performs in their entirety. This collection of disks is a good example of that.

The recording quality is very good as well. It is just done right.

Highly recommended.

P.S. A minor negative point about the edition at hand is that its disks come in paper envelopes that are not very convenient. But I cannot dare take a star off for such a small thing. :-)