Dame Janet Baker - Philips & Decca Recordings, 1961-1979 (Original Masters) [Box set, Limited Edition]

Janet Baker (Artist), John Shirley-Quirk (Artist), Ludwig van Beethoven / Johann S. Bach (Composer), Hector Berlioz / Giulio Caccini (Composer), Giovanni Bononcini (Composer), Benjamin Britten / Antonio Caldara (Composer), Neville Marriner / Raymond Leppard (Conductor), Colin Davis (Conductor), Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (Orchestra), Graham Sheen (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Graham Sheen
• Orchestra: Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
• Conductor: Neville Marriner / Raymond Leppard, Colin Davis
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven / Johann S. Bach, Hector Berlioz / Giulio Caccini, Giovanni Bononcini, Benjamin Britten / Antonio Caldara
• Audio CD (November 25, 2003)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 5
• Format: Box set, Limited Edition
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Philips
• ASIN: B0000B0A0Q
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,750 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #36 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Vocal Non-Opera > Chansons
  • #63 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Baroque (c.1600-1750) > Composers > Purcell, Henry

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Performances from a Great & Beloved Singer, January 9, 2004

By 

Nicholas A. Deutsch (Tarrytown, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dame Janet Baker - Philips & Decca Recordings, 1961-1979 (Original Masters) (Audio CD)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you don't know Baker's artistry, February 16, 2011

By 

James E. Anderson (Australia) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dame Janet Baker - Philips & Decca Recordings, 1961-1979 (Original Masters) (Audio CD)

I suggest you get this. And If you love Bartoli's hit album "If you love me" (AKA "Arie Antiche" in many countries) which features voice and piano only, you will obviously get an altogether different experience with CD1 of this set: many of the same songs but completely different vocal interpretations. Neville Marriner and the ASMITF are superb (as usual) and produce some lovely grooves that make the music dance in a way that the Bartoli disc can't.

I can't add anything else to the excellent first review. Mainly just wanted to give a second opinion as to how good these recordings are.