The Most Famous Opera Duets | Eberhard Wächter, Georges Bizet, ...

The Most Famous Opera Duets | Eberhard Wächter, Georges Bizet, ... | Love this compilation.

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A Hard Day's Night Roberto burle Danielpour: An Ame... Lisa Walter The Most Famous Op...

	The Most Famous Opera Duets Eberhard Wächter, Georges Bizet, ... EMI Classics, 1994 average customer review:based on 35 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

This is a misnomer--not all of these duets are all that famous--but it's a fine compilation nonetheless. You'll hear selections from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers (Nicolai Gedda and Ernest Blanc at their most elegant French), Madama Butterfly (Carlo Bergonzi and Renata Scotto--an impassioned pair), Lucia di Lammermoor (a classy Alfredo Kraus and Edita Gruberova), the lovely Lakme duet, The Presentation of the Silver Rose from Der Rosenkavalier (with the earnest Christa Ludwig and the other-worldly Teresa Stich-Randall), and a fine Trovatore "Miserere" (with Leontyne Price and Franco Bonisolli singing up a storm). There are many others, too--a veritable cornucopia of couplings--and a treat for the opera lover. --Robert Levine

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Don't let the low price fool you!

This CD is magnificent, especially for people just getting into opera. I've never really been interested in opera before, but I've recently started listening to it and wanted a CD of my own to listen to. When I bought this, I was a little wary of the low price, and I wondered what the quality would be (mostly quality of the content). Let me tell you, it is magnificent! There are so many beautiful opera duets in here that just take my breath away. None of the songs are boring or just "too opera"...they are beautiful combinations of men and women opera singers. Listen to the samples and buy!

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Love this compilation.

Really good cd, not a bad piece or lackluster artist in it. Well worth it. I'll be listening to this for years.

Superb Opera selections

The varied selection of this opera CD will delight any opera lover. Some of the operas I was not familiar with when I first listened to the CD but I found that I wanted to hear more of the operas from which they come. The sound quality is very good. I highly recommend The Most Famous Opera Duets.

Absolutely wonderful!

What a treasure to have the beautiful duets all on one CD! I am thoroughly enjoying!

A fine portfolio of operatic duets!

Maybe these don't represent absolutely the greatest duets in all opera. But they represent some awfully good ones! The CD begins with a duet from "Les Pecheurs des Perles" (Puccini) and ends with the gloomy Miserere (from "Il Trovatore," by Verdi). In between are many more operas, from Donizetti and Mozart to Strauss and Wagner. Some of the finer singers of the past half century appear in various of these duets.

A bit more detail on a handful of these to illustrate.

"Sull'aria" from Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro." Heather Harper and Judith Blegen sing the parts here. This is a sweet duet from the opera. The singer's voices meld well together and this represents a poignantly sung piece.

"Ah! Verrana a tell sull'aure," from Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor." Alfredo Kraus and Edita Gruberova sing this lively duet, playing the roles of Edgardo and Lucia. Gruberova's voice is fresh here, as is Kraus', although there are a few rough moments in his singing. Still and all, though, he sings well.

"Viens Mallika" from Delibes' "Lakme." Whenever I hear this beautiful duet, I can't get the Catherine Deneuve movie, "The Hunger," out of my mind (it was a theme throughout that movie!). Mady Mesple plays Lakme and Danielle Millet sings the part of Mallika. This duet, to me, has a hypnotic sound to it that I find irresistible. It's a theme that one cannot get out of one's mind!

In "La ci darem la mano," we see Don Giovanni (sung by the redoubtable Eberhard Wachter) put his moves on the young woman Zerlina (sung by Graziella Sciutti). This is a luscious duet. In the end, Don Giovanni's lecherous efforts go singularly unrewarded. There is a wonderful intertwining of voices in this duet.

Finally, from Puccini's "La Boheme," the poignant 4th Act duet between Rodolfo (sung by the wonderful tenor Nicolai Gedda) and Marcello (sung by Mario Sereni). They are bemoaning the fact that each has seen his love leave, and the loss is central to their duet. Well performed by both. As I recall, this cut is from the highlights version of "La Boheme" that I bought (in vinyl, of course) 40 years ago when I was an undergraduate at Bradley University. So, a personal favorite. Gedda remains one of my favorite Rodolfos.

So, if you like opera and enjoy duets, this CD will give you a most pleasant evening, listening to some nice works.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Tracks
Les Pêcheurs de perles, opera in 3 acts: Act I: Au Fond Du Temple Saint | Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly), opera: Act I: Vogliatemi Bene, Un Bene Piccolino | Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), opera, K. 492: Act 3: Sull'aria | La Traviata, opera: Act I: Un Di, Felice, Eterea | Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90: Act II: O Sink Hernieder, Nacht Der Lieb | Carmen, opera: Act I: Parle-Moi De Ma Mère | Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act I: Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen | Lakmé, opera: Act 1: Viens, Mallika...Sous Dome Epais (flower duet) | Rigoletto, opera: Act I: É Il Sol Dell'Anima | Der Rosenkavalier, opera, Op. 59 (TrV 227): Act II: Mir Ist Die Ehre Widerfahren | Don Giovanni, opera, K. 527: Act 1: Là Ci Darem La Mano | La bohème, opera: Act 4: O Mimi, Tu Più Non Torni | Lucia di Lammermoor, opera: Act I: Ah! Verranna A Te Sull'Aure | Il Trovatore, opera: Act IV: Miserere...Quel Suon, Quelle Preci

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