Mattia Battistini: Il re dei baritoni [Box set]

Vincenzo Bellini (Composer), Gaetano Donizetti (Composer), Richard [Classical] Wagner (Composer), Giuseppe Verdi (Composer), Charles Gounod (Composer), Ambroise Thomas (Composer), Jules Massenet (Composer), Ruggero Leoncavallo (Composer), Giacomo Puccini (Composer), Gioachino Rossini (Composer), Giacomo Meyerbeer (Composer), Jean Nougues (Composer), Anton Rubinstein (Composer), Franz [Vienna] Schubert (Composer), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Paolo Tosti (Composer), Luigi Denza (Composer), Francesco Quaranta (Composer), Augusto Rotoli (Composer), Carlo Sabajno (Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Conductor: Carlo Sabajno
• Composer: Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti, Richard [Classical] Wagner, Giuseppe Verdi, Charles Gounod, et al.
• Audio CD (March 18, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• 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: Preiser Records
• ASIN: B0000023QE
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #652,910 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. I Puritani: Ah! Per Sempre Io Ti Perdei

2. I Puritani: Bel Sogno Beato

3. Maria Di Rohan: Bella E Di Sol Vestita

4. Tannhauser: Allor Che Tu Coll'estro

5. Tannhauser: Nel Rimirar Quest'adunanza Eletta

6. Tannhauser: Forier Di Morte...O Tu Bell'astro

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Guglielmo Tell: Resta Immobile

2. Linda Di Chamounix: Ambo Nati In Questa Valle

3. Linda Di Chamounix: Un Buon Servo Del Visconte - Mattia Battistini/Maria Moscisca

4. Lucia Di Lammormoor: Cruda Funesta Smania

5. Rigoletto: O Mia Gilda - Mattia Battistini/Maria Moscisca

6. La Traviata: Madamigella Valery? - Mattia Battistini/Maria Moscisca

See all 17 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Don Giovanni: Deh! Vieni Alla Finestra

2. La Favorita: Vien, Leonora...Dei Nemici Tuoi

3. Ernani: Vedi Come Il Buon Vegliardo - Mattia Battistini/Elvira Barbieri/Giuseppe Tommasini/Vincenzo Bettoni

4. Il Trovatore: Mira D'acerbe Lagrime - Mattia Battistini/Elvira Barbieri

5. Un Ballo In Maschera: Ve', Se Di Notte Qui Colla Sposa - Mattia Battistini/Elvira Barbieri/Vincenzo Bettoni

6. Don Carlo: Per Me Giunto E Il Di Supremo

See all 17 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Preiser's Three CD Battistini Set, October 12, 2007

By 

Doug - Haydn Fan (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mattia Battistini: Il re dei baritoni (Audio CD)

Important and Useful Note For All Amazon Reviews: When Amazon sorts reviews into each reviewer's file Amazon sometimes does not update the item under review. Sometimes a review may say the item is unavailable at the reviewers file, but if you go back to the item on the current listing you may find it IS available. Thus if you are reading through anyone's reviews on Amazon at their review site and come across an item that sounds great, but is listed as no longer available, try clicking the item and going to it's current Amazon listing. Often it will be available again, usually used. In the case of the Preiser Battistini set I review below, it is listed as "currently unavailable" if you read about it while perusing my reviews at my review site, but it IS available, used, at the regular Amazon site. An oddity of the system, but kind of important to know.

At the turn of the last century, before Caruso was a household name, there was only one King, and his name was Mattia Battistini, King of the Baritones. In an age when the opera stage boasted more talent than it has ever seen before or since, Battistini's art was held in universal awe.

Listening through this fulsome Preiser collection shows why. With a dignity only equaled by a few of the most aristocrat of the French singers, Battistini lavishes on everthing he attempts a superb voice, steady and unflappable, supple yet firm - like a grand Burgundy, the iron fist in the velvet glove. Lingering around his tonal edge curls a snarl, a trait common among Italian baritones singing at the turn of the twentieth century. Whether you try Battistini in a moment from Tosca, a song by Tosti; or the grandest of Golden Age aria he delivers magnificence with imperturable grace.

If you love opera this is an album to save and treasure.

For a fine book on singing which includes the best essay on Battistini consider John Steane's Voices Singers and Critics. I hope to soon write a short review.