Best Opera Album In The World ... Ever!

Thomas Hampson (Performer), Ernest Blanc (Performer), Thomas Allen (Performer), Robert Massard (Performer), Walter Berry (Performer), Giuseppe Verdi (Composer), Gioachino Rossini (Composer), Giacomo Puccini (Composer), Pietro Mascagni (Composer), Leo Delibes (Composer), Francesco Cilea (Composer), Georges Bizet (Composer), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Friedrich von Flotow (Composer), Richard [Classical] Wagner (Composer), Camille Saint-Saens (Composer), Jacques Offenbach (Composer), Umberto Giordano (Composer), Ruggero Leoncavallo (Composer), Antonin Dvorak (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Thomas Hampson, Ernest Blanc, Thomas Allen, Robert Massard, Walter Berry
• Composer: Giuseppe Verdi, Gioachino Rossini, Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni, Leo Delibes, et al.
• Audio CD (July 27, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Angel Records
• ASIN: B0000084JD
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,117 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Liviamo ne'lieti calici [la Traviata]

2. Largo al factotum [Il Barbiere Di Siviglia]

3. Che gelida manina [La Bohème]

4. Mi chiamanó Mimi [La Bohème]

5. Suzel, bon dí [L'Amico Fritz]

6. Va, pensiero [Nabucco]

7. La donna é mobile [Rigoletto]

8. Viens, Mallika [Lakmé]

9. O mio bambino caro [Gianni Schicchi]

10. Recondita armonia [Tosca]

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Se quel guerrier io fossi!... [Aida]

2. Vedi! le fosche notturne [Il Trovatore]

3. Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix

4. L'amour est un oiseau rebelle [From Carmen]

5. Votre toast [From Carmen]

6. La fleur que tu m'avais jetée [From Carmen]

7. Barcarolle [Les Contes d'Hoffmann]

8. A mamma morta [From "Andrea Chénier"]

9. Vesti la giubba [Pagliacci]

10. Un bel di vedremo [Madama Butterfly]

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

122 of 123 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it, it lives up to its title!, December 2, 1999

By 

Thomas Sheerin "tomsheerin" (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best Opera Album In The World ... Ever! (Audio CD)

In addition to the great male tenors, Maria Callas, Victoria de los Angeles, Renata Scotto, Helga Dernesch, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Mirella Freni, Madi Mespli, and others sing the great arias. This double CD will make you cry, it is so beautiful, and this from someone who never paid much attention to opera. I listen to it only about once a week, so I won't get tired of it, and after several months it still grabs my by the throat and makes tears run down my face. In 40 years of listening to rock and pop, I have never experienced this before. Buy it!

61 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, this is a great opera album, but it could be better!, July 17, 2001

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Best Opera Album In The World ... Ever! (Audio CD)

This may well indeed be "The Best Opera Album in the World...Ever!" I certainly have yet to find one that is better, but I do want to point out that there is room for improvement. This double-CD set offers up 38 tracks and yet nothing by Donzetti or Bellini. How you can leave out the Sextet from "Lucia di Lammamoor" is beyond me. There are ten tracks by Puccini along with six by Moazart five by Verdi, but only one by Wagner. This makes sense when you are covering the works of Rossini, Offenbach and Leoncavallo, for whom "Largo al factotum," the "Barcarolle" and "Vesti la guibba" are far and away their best known pieces, but where is "The Ride of the Valkyrie"? Okay, enough of the albums shortcomings. Let us now talk about why the album total is not exactly hyperbole.

Most of the arias included here are instantly recognizable, such as "La donne e mobile" "The Anvil Chorus" and "Der Holle Rache," but even the lesser known works such as Dvorak's "Song to the Moon" or Mascagni's "Suzei, bon di." When the album includes multiple tracks from the same opera, such as "La Boheme" or "Le Nozze di Figaro," they are grouped together. Featured singers include Montserat Caballe, Maria Callas, Renata Scotto, Kiri Te Kanawa, Roberto Algna, Helga Dernesch, Thomas Allen and all three of the 3 Tenors; Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. This album certainly makes ever effort to connect with those who have only recently come to enjoy opera. The linear notes point out that Maria Callas' "La Mamma Morta" aria from Giordano's "Andrea Chenier" was featured in "Philadelphia," and note the appearance of other noted arias in films such as "The Untouchables," "Fatal Attraction," "A Room With A View," "Moonstruck" and even the Marx Brother's "A Night at the Opera." The final cut offers "Nessun dorma," Pavarotti's famous encore piece, performed by Carreras with the full chorus, which you never really get to hear. A nice touch upon which to end the album. "The Best Opera Album in the World" will not be the only Opera Hits CD you own, but it is a good place to start.

76 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It lives up to its title!, November 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Best Opera Album In The World ... Ever! (Audio CD)

In describing this album, which is a compilation of nearly every famous aria you've ever heard, I could easily run out of superlatives.

This album runs the gamut from Bizet's "Au fond du temple saint" (Nicolai Gedda and Ernest Blanc) to a chillingly beautiful rendition of "Nessun dorma" (Jose' Carreras). Also included on this 2-disc album are such standards as "The Flower Duet" from Lakme and "Brindisi" from La Traviata.

Opera fans who lack either the space or the funds to collect all of the works represented here should seriously consider this album.