The best soprano I've ever listened to
924016
I'm so glad of having this fabulous recording
Since I listened to Luba Orgonasova singing by the first time, it seemed to me so beatuful, so charming, so perfect...
since then I've become a fan of hers and I try to get as much as possible of all her recordings and discographie...
in few words, SHE'S THE BEST SOPRANO I'VE EVER LISTENED TO.
1460831
The Polish-born Mezzo-soprano is truly magnificent on this CD. Her voice is amazing and one-of-a-kind: it is full, rich and strong with an unbelievable range and a nice coloratura. She maintains full strength throughout her range and her voice never wavers and is never weak or shrill. If you like the beautiful melodies of Rossini and the sound of a great Mezzo-soprano, you'll like this CD.
244946
I have little doubt that people who just read the title of this review immediately said "wait, what about Anna Netrebko?" Well, having loved Netrebko's voice and acting for years, I think there's enough certain sameness to some of her performances to not bestow the "alluring" title on her.  The first thing that jumps out when listening to Machaidze is how many vocal colours her voice possesses.  It has a very interesting - and, again, alluring - quality that I seldom hear, as if there are acoustic bronze strings hidden in there. This is a highly unusual sound, but as much as I love "creamy" or angelic soprano voices (Caballe, Fleming) I must admit that this unique voice eventually won me over.  It also helped that I saw her perform two of the operas featured on this CD - Thais and La Traviata, one - in May, one - last Saturday, both at LA Opera, and both - opposite the great Placido Domingo.  What a treat it was. She was the embodiment of both tragic heroines, very different yet irresistible.

It's impossible to confuse Machaidze's voice with anyone else's.  But again, it's hard not to admire the myriad of vocal colours, from unusually dark to ringing bright, all the while retaining that unusual "strings" quality that also cuts through the orchestra like hot knife through butter - an added benefit.  Kudos to Sony engineers for perfectly capturing it on audio, it sounds just like this in live settings.

In addition to the roles I just heard Machaidze perform live - and they're amazing - the recital has obligatory pieces from Puccini - "Quando me'n v" and "O Mio Babbino Caro" ( I'm hard-pressed to name another aria similarly over-recorded) that she executes with panache and youthful aplomb.  Butw hat really stands out is the inclusion of some absolutely delightful material not often heard, namely the French opera scenes from Hamlet " vos jeux", Les Pcheurs de Perles "Me voil seule dans la nuit", and Saint-Sulpice scene from Manon.  Machaidze doesn't have a typical "French" nasal sound, but her enunciation is very clear and she fully commits to each role.  The Hamlet mad scene is among the very best I've heard, listen to how the voice changes and takes on new dimensions as it progresses.  I hope this relatively rare opera is staged sometime soon; it would be a treat indeed to see Machaidze perform Ophelia's role on stage.  I cannot overemphasize what an excellent actress she is.  Not only visually stunning (that's a given), but also completely "there", so to speak, not a single misstep.  It's impossible to take eyes away from her.
I look forward to many years of marveling at this wonderful young artist's career.
698763
Since the first time I hear her voice I was in love.  Clear, strong, without the shouting or screaming.  Her voice is pure, clear, and enticing.  Very happy to have this album in my collection.
3782780
When I first listened to her voice I fell under her spell.  Misia will become a first voice in the history of music.  Her performances are completely unique, as well as herself. Danca De Magoas and Estatua Falsa are maybe my favourite songs, but each one of the recordings are solid gold. You will not be dissapointed if you are the type of person who really enjoys emtional music.
4384277
This live recording is not a 'first listen' ear catcher. However, the more you listen the more strengths of this performance would you discover!
Anja Harteros' lirico spinto voice hardly links itself up with roles like Violetta, but here she is, giving a vocal protrayal so convincing and with such aplomb that really puts other contemporary interpretors to shame.
Her Greek timbre has a sort of innate pathos, and her instrument is at the same time plush and creamy.  Listening to her Violetta, is like listening to an endless tale of love and conflict, of flesh and spirit so keen and alive that it moves the listener more and more with added listenings.
Not even the greatest interpretors of Violetta since the days of the celebrated Callas, Sutherland, de Los Angeles, Moffo...just to name a few...managed to do this throughout all three Acts.
Her Violetta is a woman of the world, not an impetuous girl like Anna Netrebko, nor a tragic narcisist like Angela Gheorghiu. This woman is wilful, strong, yet vulnerable. This characterisation fits in much better with Verdi's Violetta.  I haven't seen her in this role on stage, but the vocal portrayal tells it all in this live recording.
Piotr Beczala is very capable as Alfredo.  He is in full grips with the right directions for this character's vocal portrayal, too, even if in this live recording he was not in the best vocal form.
The most easily passed portrayal is Paolo Gavanelli's Germont. He is not a vocally grandiose bass baritone but a character baritone, and again, his Germont is so much in character that you need only to listen twice, and you would immediately see the subtlties in his portrayal.
Mehta used Verdi's instruments in this performance, and to good dramatic effect.
Do not let this wonderful recording pass you by lightly.
2971889
There are so many reasons to buy this superb Preiser issue. First, it combines the sole, legendary Decca recital of 1957 but in combination with excerpts from her only complete studio recording of "La gioconda" and from live performances of Cerquetti's most celebrated roles. Secondly, it enshrines the extraordinary voice of what was the clearly the greatest post-war lirico-dramatic soprano singing mostly Verdi but quite able to encompass the delicacy of Norma, the thrust and heft required for verismo, yet also the agility for Rossini.

All of this was accomplished in a career of barely eight years, abandoned in late 1960 before she was barely thirty (or at least only in her early thirties - there is some uncertainty regarding whether her true date of birth was 1927 or 1931). It matters little that Cerquetti never sang another note in public given the quality of what we can hear on this disc, but one cannot help wistfully speculating what she might have gone on to do had she sung for another twenty years. Or perhaps, like Callas, Sass, Souliotis and others whose stars burned brightly but comparatively briefly in the operatic firmament it was all too much too soon and she would in any case have burned out too soon working at such a profligate level of commitment.

I can pay her no higher compliment than to remark how frequently her voice, despite being very individual in its flame-like intensity, reminds me of Rosa Ponselle. It is clearly absolutely huge, rock-steady, capable of the most extraordinary refinement and pathos. There are fleeting moments of shrillness on the highest notes and every so often she hits a temporarily "flat" patch (in tonal production, not pitch) but otherwise her technical security and dramatic scope are beyond reproach. The warmth and fullness of the lower reaches of her range indicate a properly registered voice and it expands as a great voice should as she ascends the scale. Her breath control is exemplary and she inhabits each role convincingly. She listened carefully to Serafin's advice not to sing "Gioconda" too often or in an open arena, turned down unsuitable offers from the Met, never sang Puccini on stage as she didn't feel it sat comfortably in her voice (this despite the excellent "Vissi d'arte" on the Decca recital) and concentrated on the big, scenery-chewing Verdi roles while retaining the flexibility to sing as fine a Norma as anyone of her generation or since has given us.

The sound quality of the live arias here is fine (although the Rossini tape is a bit wobbly) and she had the benefit of singing under some of the best Italian conductors of the 50's: Gavazzeni, Gui and Mario Rossi.

Find out what the fuss was about and buy this to experience what great Verdi singing used to sound like.
4344953
I certainly value this recording. Ben Heppners Calaf has a slightly different hue to it but all the more stunning, in my view. As said by a previous reviewer, he is a heldentenor. He therefore doesnt have that more familiar Italianate bravado that Pavarotti and Domingo had in their great interpretations. Heppner certainly has the range and sings beautifully- what I find more endearing however is a certain sincerity in his particular style of singing. The next delight for me is Roberto Abbados sensitive conducting! The orchestra sounds simply ravishing and doesnt compete with the singers. Then there is Dame Margaret Prices Li&uacute;- glowing. She is here a bit later in her career and so her burnished tones have taken on a darker hue but there is that unmistakable crystalline purity. She does not exhibit perhaps as much pathos as some interpreters of the role but this does not detract from her amazing talent. Jan-Hendrik Rooterings Timur is perhaps my favourite interpretation- very warm and sensitive, and he has a beautiful baritone. Then there is Eva Marton- I regret having to add to another scathing criticism but for me she was a most unappealing Turandot. I really wonder at how she produced so many recordings with this style of singing. While the role is vocally demanding and requires a large voice, I do not think that she did it justice. Even Dame Joan Sutherland struggled- only Birgit Nilsson and Ghena Dimitrova sang it comfortably to my knowledge but Ms. Marton gave the impression of breathlessly heaving her way through it, with her usual wobbling. Yet for all this, I recommend this recording because very few have everything right. The rest of the cast, including a great Ping-Pang-Pong trio, put on a stellar performance that you really deserve to hear!
1845369
What a wonder this performance is!  Of the dozens of live Dame Joan recordings I've heard, this one is my favorite, followed by her&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/first-Lucia/dp/B0050048K8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">first Lucia</a>.

Performed on the night Sutherland learned of the death of her mother (Feb 21, 1961), her first Beatrice has more tragic overtones than any other of her performances.  Bellini's penultimate opera, Beatrice di Tenda may not have the compelling plot of Norma or sheer scale of I Puritani, but its music is of the highest quality, and is one of the earliest examples of a highly participatory chorus.

This performance is also notable in that it is Sutherland's first perofmrance with American mezzo Marilyn Horne, with whom she would sing so many otherworldly duets.

Filippo Maria Visconti ... Enzo Sordello (not always sensitive, but a bass-baritone with resplendent top Gs)
Beatrice di Tenda ... Joan Sutherland (vocally perfect, even edgy when required)
Agnese del Maino ... Marilyn Horne (already an individualistic singer, she makes something of the role of the annoying Agnese)
Orombello ... Richard Cassilly (a Wagnerian tenor doing Bellini works far better than one might expect)

Nicola Rescigno keeps the performance taut.  No qualms about his lovely music-making.

I cannot overstate the magic of Sutherland's performance this night.  Another reviewer nailed it when he said this recording shows how her voice blooms at the top.  The sound is distant, but the resulting realism is more than worth it.

The last 15 minutes give the perfect tension between Beatrice's despair at dying and defiance of her husband's betrayal.  This is what opera should sound like folks.

My only qualm is that the sound isn't better.  Other than that, it's perfect.  (As a bonus, BellaVoce tacks on the finale from a Beatrice di Tenda performance at La Scala later that year.  Let's just say one misses Horne and Rescigno.)
437782
Just finished listening to the new Bartoli NORMA. Being a 67 year old opera fan who has lived with  the Callas recordings my whole life and certainly never expecting their primacy on the scale of operatic greatness to be challenged in my lifetime (and maybe never), I am, as always, drawn in by the sheer beauty of Cecilia Bartoli's voice and her quite different, internalized interpretation ofthe Druid priestess. Sumi Jo as Adalgisa is radiant bringing a youthful sound to the role that is seldom there when it is sung by a mezzo whom you feel just got through with singing Sarastro in MAGIC FLUTE. When we get to the two men, they are just inadequate for the challenge. John Osborn has a pleasant enough voice that has even a caressing sound which, at the right moments, especially in his pleading with both women, appeals, but he simply lacks the heft for the more dramatic moments, something which could also be said for Miss Bartoli at times, but her professionalism redeems her as a singer and actress. Michele Pertusi has NONE of the needed power for Oroveso. The orchestra produces a quite different sound and at times,races on like we are in a great haste to finish. All in all, I rate the recording so highly because of Bartoli and Jo, but I will return more and more to the 1955 Callas recording with Del Monoco and even her 1960 one with Corelli with all of its wear on the great Callas voice. Nevertheless I am happy to own the new Bartoli recording and will find it a relaxing alternative from time to time.
797207
Magda Olivero was Cilea's favourite soprano for the title role of this opera, and this recording is probably the best extant proof of his choice.  Although her singning technique was not exceptional (in fact, she has been  surpassed by Caball), the colour of her voice and the distinction of her  interpretation are unique and it is difficult to appreciate other sopranos  as Adriana after you have listened to Olivero.  It seems hard to believe  today that a live recording could include such an exceptional cast.  Franco  Corelli possessed one of the most beautiful tenor voices of the 50s and  60s, and although many critics object his singing technique, he composes an  excellent Maurizio.  By the time of this recording (1959)he was at his  best.  Giulietta Simonatto was not only an outstanding singer, but her  interpretation of the jealous and revengeful princess of Bouillon is a  reference.  So is Bastianini's Michonnet.  The quality of the sound is  really good for a live recording.  If you want a recording of Adriana  Lecouvreur, this one is highly recommended as a fist choice.
3904741
A much superior offering to her Heroines of French Romantic Opera offering, I feel.  Her voice rings beautifully.  You won't find yourself listening only to her as Carmen.  She'll pull you in with the rest of the arias also.
1166878
We first saw Christine and the Queens perform Titled on the Graham Norton show. My fiancee and I were instantly hooked  and I wanted to find out if the rest of her music was as catchy. I spent the next few days searching the internet for more about her. The more I learned about her as a person and a performer, the more I loved her and her music. We just got the CD and listened to it all the way through. Every song is good. That's rare. I usually end up with some I like and some I don't and skip through the ones I don't. I listened and enjoyed every single track. She writes and composes all of her own music and I really respect that. She's the whole package: talented, new, and socially responsible about contemporary society. Her music reflects her inner life and her poetry is accessible yet profound with layers of meaning. Her music is well crafted and will stick with you long after you've heard it. Give her a try, I honestly don't know why she isn't a bigger deal in America yet.
2622287
to buy this CD.  her voice is pure power and brass, with the grace to use it perfectly.  Her blend of brass and throttle on the first few numbers is scary good.  then she's subtle and restrained in her delivery of the slower numbers, especially "When Autumn Comes", which will have anyone dreaming of the Big Apple.  her version of "Rainbow" should be in the Smithsonian under the heading "Treasures, National".  Yea, she's that good.
4091966
Massenet's operas have been particularly lucky on disc lately, but none other is luckier than his Manon.  Massenet's heroines usually require sopranos of the highest calibre, and his parts usually defy typification.  You can have a dramatic coloratura or a lyric soprano, or you can have what this recording boasts: a soprano dramatico coloratura assoluta who has the goods to sing all the role's intricacies and more.  Some of the more renowned singers who have assumed the title role are Fanny Heldy, Bidu Sayao, Victoria de los Angeles, and Beverly Sills.  In the recent years, Anna Netrebko and Angela Gheorghiu have had things to say about the role, but no other soprano I believe touches the totality of Manon's character while providing the same degree of technical accuracy and bravura that Rene Fleming has in spades in this recording.  Her voice is said by others to be too ripe for the part, but I disagree.  Indeed, Miss Fleming has the beautiful voice to give the role the pathos and the sultriness that it needs to make Manon credible, but she adds more to the character to complete a portrayal that is essentially the embodiment of the character.  Not a single trick is missed by Ms. Fleming...you get Manon's coloratura with all the high notes intact and secure while basking in the beauty of her voice.  True, her first act may not have the girlish charm that lighter voiced soprani have as part of their natural physiology, but her "Adieu, notre petite table" is as glorious as it can be. The second act is even more compelling, and the scenes that follow, especially the St. Sulpice scene, is never bettered by any soprano, before or after.  The voluptuous quality of Ms. Fleming's voice is an asset like no other, and she knows how to play it well in this recording.  Her last act, when she goes through her gradual decline into her death, is devastating. This is truly the work of a great artist.  If Rene Fleming is not considered one of the greatest Manon's in history, I don't know who else would be.

The other asset in this recording is Marcelo lvarez's definite Lescaut.  Not even Nicolai Gedda, Alfredo Kraus, or Roberto Alagna have sung the role so compellingly, and lvarez gives the role a certain magic touch that makes the chevalier such a great tenor role.  His assumption of the part is complete, boyish in the first two acts, dreadfully aware and resentful in the second, wild and tragic in the last.  His voice is perfect for it too, and all the dynamic shadings are covered by his excellent technique.

The remainder of the French cast is idiomatically correct and just right.  Jean-Luc Chaignaud fits the part of Lescaut like a foil, while Alain Vernhes is dignified as the Comte de Grieux.  Jesus Lopez-Cobos may not have the abundance of imagination to say something about the score the way that a Barbirolli or a Beecham could, but everything here is paced wonderfully to give singers the upper hand in this greatest of all French operas.
4052037
I'm a big Fan of Placido Domingo I think he is the best Dramatic Tenor of our time. He is not only a great singer but also a great actor and that you will prove when you get to see him in this caracter. I am also a great fan of Kiri Te Kanawa and in my personal opinion I think if she is not the best lyric soprano of our time she is defenetly one of the best that we can get to hear. Her vocal technic is just perfect and for those who may think that she can only sing Mozart, Straus and Puccini you will have to think again when you get to see her as Desdemona, is the best I have seen. And I personal love this production because at the end you can get to see Princess Diane clapping and charing specially when the Diva Kiri's comes out to salute the public of the Covent Garden. Emails please send them to babbino_caro@yahoo.com
284411
It seems ANYTHING this phenomenon sings is a joy to listen to.  An opera lover for 70 years, she is the best I have ever heard, and even more spectacular to watch.  Even minor-key, slow sad Russian songs sound good when performed by Anna Netrebko.  I grab anything I find with her.  Too bad there isn't more available in this country.