1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A chance to enjoy opera., August 12, 2001
This review is from: Peoples Guide to Opera I (Audio CD)
Mozart, Wagner, Rossini . . . need I say more? Regardless of whether or not you are an avid listener of opera, this cd is a must have. Even if you never had the valuable opportunity to attend an opera, there is no reason why you should not add this cd to your music collection. Not only are some of the world's most beloved operas included (such as the Barber of Seville and Carmen), but thanks to technology, this cd provides a great sound that pretty soon you'll believe that you are in an actually opera house. The professional orchestras that play in this cd help to bring forth much emotion. Don't miss out on this opportunity to own a collection of opera pieces at a reasonable price.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Appears to deliver what it offers--but it is not opera!, February 11, 2007
This review is from: Peoples Guide to Opera I (Audio CD)
I stumbled on this set in the Amazon listings quite by accident. I feel obliged to make it clear that I do not own the set, nor have I heard anything from this particular publication. I certainly am familiar with many of the performances included in the set, and I am willing (based on the previous review) to assume that they have been recorded on the eight disks of the set with an acceptable--if not necessarily leading edge--level of competence.
Judging from the contents listed on this review site, this is the underlying structure of the "People's Guide."
--Tracks 1-15 (presumably one disk): arias from the Big-Five Mozart operas.
--Tracks 16-34: arias from bel canto operas.
--Tracks 35-46: arias from middle-period Verdi operas.
--Tracks 47-64: arias and one chorus from Puccini.
--Tracks 65-87: miscellaneous loose ends. (I absolutely guarantee you that Number 71, "Parigi, o cara," is not, repeat not from "La battaglia di Legnano" but from an obscure little piece by Verdi called "La Traviata.")
--Tracks 76-88: arias [sort of] and choruses from Wagner operas (but not from "The Ring.")
--Tracks 89-99: well-known overtures and preludes to operas.
Right off, it can be seen that "The People's Guide 1" begins at the end of the 18th Century and ends early in the 20th. It entirely ignores the better part of two centuries of operatic development before Mozart and composers of the stature of Monteverdi, Handel and Gluck, not to mention Salieri. A couple of French operas sneak in the back door in Italian versions and only Carmen appears in the correct language. German operas are ignored except those written by Mozart and Wagner. Russian operas are entirely shut out. The 20th Century appears only in the works of Puccini, so the likes of Richard Strauss, Berg and Britten are cast into the outer darkness.
On the whole, though, the selection isn't bad. If you really want about nine hours of bleeding hunks from what most people define as the standard operatic repertory, you could do worse than this set. The performances seem to range from the early 1950s to the early 1970s. There are many famous names among the singers and conductors.
But it is not opera. Operas are not just a string of songs and choruses that follow along after an overture. An opera is--or should be--a dramatic whole. Opera was consciously invented at about the beginning of the 17th Century to combine drama, music, dance, costume and set design into a unified whole and display them on stage. Often the best parts of operas are utilitarian but brilliant passages that will never make their way into highlights disks such as these.
This set is hardly expensive at the prices being quoted as I write this. Nevertheless, I advise you to look through the offerings of complete performances. Many of the older ones offer unbelievably good singers in superb performances at low price. That's a better deal than you'll get here.
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