Customer Reviews

Opera Arias

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD is a wonderful introduction to Mozart's most well-known operas as well as lesser knowns such as "Il re pastore" and "Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail." There are three good things about this CD, and are as follows:

1st -- Most importantly for the beginner, it is DIRT CHEAP. Especially when considering that there are two CD's. WOW.

2nd -- The variety is great, and the CD chooses the most popular arias and duets from each of the operas.

3rd -- The singers aren't complete unknowns as in other Seraphim CD's. So you have some pretty good singers singing good songs like Hermann Prey singing a favorite of mine "Ein Madchen oder Weibchen," or Teresa Berganza singing "Voi, che sapete." So you are getting some quality for your small investment.

I love the fact that this CD includes those three attributes. It's a fantastic way for beginners to be introduced into the world of opera without too much risk if they end up not liking it at all... But I'm sure they'll love Mozart since most people do.

I must warn people though, do try and stay away from compilations of music that attest that they have everything that you could want from a composer. There are lesser known works that are absolutely fantastic and should be recognized and heard. I only recommend this compilation to beginners, and anyone who is truly interested in opera should be buying complete opera CD's, and even better, be going to hear operas live, as they should be heard.

It is hard to imagine a bunch of executives deciding to put these excerpts together. It is just too imaginative, an anthology designed in Record Collectors Heaven. There will not be universal agreement that every single selection is the best ever--even the best recording ever issued by Angel/EMI. But who will not be thrilled to hear the bits from the 1950s and very early 1960s by Wunderlich, Gedda, Schwarzkopf, the young Joan Sutherland, Moffo, etc. Yet those of us who still love the Angel Mozart recordings of that time need to hear more recent interpretations as well, and each one of these is really fine. Because so many of the complete recordings are either unavailable or not competitive in today's market, this seems like a self-congratulatory but not self-serving anthology. Where else would we get to hear, again and again, the Spanish soprano Pilar Lorengar sing Pamina's aria from the "Magic Flute"? It is lovely. 99% of the other selections are too. With a huge quantity of music on these two discs, you can't go wrong.

This CD is wonderful if you are unfamiliar with the different operas that Mozart wrote. This album offers a sampling of well known arias from Mozarts most famous operas. The singing and orchastrations were wonderful. A CD that is worth owning. (when I purchased this album I recieved the correct CDs)

If you have heard of Mozart, but you don't know some or most of his most famous operatic music, this album would be a great start for you. This is a great price for a set of 2 CDs full of operatic arias such as Voi Che Sapete(with great mezzo soprano voices by the way), Batti Batti, and a duet piece(Papagena, Papageno) from The Magic Flute. This is certainly one of the very well and richly combined album of Mozart's famous opera works. And, this indeed will be a great econonically smart gift idea for anyone who likes Mozart's music.

There is Opera and then there is Mozart. As a lover of Mozart Operatic works, I am amazed at how unmoved I am by other Opera composers. There is just something about Mozart's Music, though, that makes me stop dead in my tracks. It actually does make me feel smarter -- and I know that is a loony thing to say, but I have to say it because it is true.
Anyways, these CD's present a vast quantity of quality recordings culled from Mozart's famous Operas making it a great introduction to those works. I especially love the second CD and find the tracks from The Magic Flute to be unbelievably beautiful -- including a very nice rendition of Pa-pap-gena! Pa-pa-geno.
My favorite track, though, remains 'Soave sia il vento' from Cosi Fan Tutte. For this sublime track alone, I am glad I bought this CD.