Pavarotti: Greatest Hits

Giacomo Puccini (Composer), Giuseppe Verdi (Composer), Gaetano Donizetti (Composer), Friedrich von Flotow (Composer), Umberto Giordano (Composer), Ruggero Leoncavallo (Composer), Giacomo Meyerbeer (Composer), Jules Massenet (Composer), Amilcare Ponchielli (Composer), Pietro Mascagni (Composer), Eduardo di Capua (Composer), Ernesto de Curtis (Composer), Salvatore Cardillo (Composer), Luigi Denza (Composer), Manuel Garcia Morante (Composer), Adolphe Adam (Composer), Cesar Franck (Composer), Franz [Vienna] Schubert (Composer), Gioachino Rossini (Composer), Lucio Dalla (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti, Friedrich von Flotow, Umberto Giordano, et al.
• Audio CD (September 30, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B0000042HZ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,468 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #30 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Vocal Non-Opera > Songs & Lieder > General

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Turandot: Nessun dorma

2. La Boheme: Che gelida manina

3. La Traviata: Brindisi

4. Aida: Se quel guerrier io foss ... Celeste Aida

5. L'Elisir d'Amore: Una furtiva lagrima

6. Rigoletto: Questa o quella

7. Martha: M'appari

8. TOSCA: E lucevan le stelle

9. Fedora: Amor ti vieta

10. Pagliaccci: Recitar!... Vesti la guibba

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. O sole mio

2. Torna a Surriento

3. Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna: Core 'ngrato

4. Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna: Funiculi Funiculâ

5. Notte 'e piscatore

6. O Holy Night (Cantique de Noel)

7. Panis angelicus

8. Ave Marie: Ave Maria

9. Mattinata

10. La danza

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pavarotti's best CD, November 20, 2003

By 

green_bamboo (Huntsville, AL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pavarotti: Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

If you could have only one or two CDs of Luciano Pavarotti, this 2-CD set probably would be an excellent choice. The first CD contains a great selection of 21 arias (such as Nessun dorma, Brindisi, Di quella pira, M'appari, Una furtiva lagrima, Amor ti vieta, La donna e mobile, etc.) recorded over a period of three decades (from 1968 to 1997), and the second CD comprises 20 beautiful songs (mostly Italian lyric songs, such as O sole mio, Torna a Surriento, Core 'ngrato, Ave maria, Caro mio ben, Santa Lucia, etc.) recorded from 1974 to 1995. Two songs in CD #2 appear to be ill-chosen among the otherwise excellent selections: "My Way", where Pavarotti sings along with Frank Sinatra, is not the sort of song one would expect in this CD set. In "Notte 'e piscatore", where Andrea Bocelli joins Pavarotti, Bocelli's voice is rather disappointing in comparison to Pavarotti's. But overall this CD set is, in my opinion, the best of Pavarotti's CDs. If this set is too pricey for you, you may want to consider Pavarotti's "Romantic Italian Love Songs", which has a good selection of arias and Italian lyric songs (a total of 17 selections) in just one CD.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best compilation available., February 5, 2002

By 

insoc (Miami, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pavarotti: Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

Yes, the price is a little high but amongst the many official and unofficial Pavarotti compilations out there, this is the most comprensive compilation available. Disc 1 is a Pavarotti classical compilation, gathering his most notorious arias performances, Disc 2 is Pavarotti "popular" compilation, having songs like My Way and Caruso. So you get both sides of Pavarotti, classical and popular. The selection as you can see is great. Why did I give it 4 and not 5 stars? Because the quality of the sound recording is not that great (im not saying is awful but is like 6.5 out of 10) and the booklet is very omise and lack a lot of information, actually, I wouldnt call it a booklet. Anyway, you just cant get a compilation like this. Thats why I bought it. It could have been 5 stars, but it is 4.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Tenor - Poor CD Quality, October 11, 2004

By 

James A. Holland (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pavarotti: Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

I have never been a huge fan of Maestro Pavarotti but I must admit that this compilation is a masterful collection of his operatic highlights.

I particularily enjoy the first disc which contains just about all the major tenor arias. The singing is superb and listening to this CD it becomes obvious what the fuss over the pre-3 Tenors Pavarotti was all about - the man really did have one of the greatest tenor voices of all time.
His diction was flawless, his line perfect and his interpretation in keeping with the greatest of the Italian tenors of days gone by.

The second disc is interesting in that it is a bit uneven. It contains a few neapolitan standards, a x-mas song, a duet with Frank Sinatra and some other random selections.

Overall this is a 5 star CD but due to the extremely low volume, particularily on the first and most important disc I can only give it a 4 star rating.

On a final note, anyone puzzeled by the current hype over the now againg and commercially over-blown Pavarotti should purchase this CD. This is the great tenor in his prime and as such a CD well worth having...even if you're not a Pavarotti fan.
I'm still not, but I recognize greatness when I hear it.