The Ultimate Puccini Collection

Giacomo Puccini (Artist), Herbert von Karajan (Artist), Riccardo Chailly (Artist), Stephen Barlow (Artist), Tullio Serafin (Artist), Lorin Maazel (Artist), Sir Edward Downes (Artist), Giuseppe Patane (Artist), Zubin Mehta (Artist), Alberto Erede (Artist), John Mauceri (Artist), Plácido Domingo (Artist), José Carreras (Artist), Kiri Te Kanawa (Artist), John Alldis Choir (Artist), Luciano Pavarotti (Artist), London Philharmonic Orchestra (Artist), Bologna Community Theater Orchestra (Artist), Ettore Bastianini (Artist), Carlo Bergonzi (Artist), Renato Cesari (Artist), Fernando Corena (Artist), Cesare Siepi (Artist), Renata Tebaldi (Artist), Gianna D'Angelo (Artist), Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra (Artist), Franco Corelli (Artist), Alfredo Mariotti (Artist), Regine Crespin (Artist), Royal Opera House Orchestra Covent Garden (Artist), London Symphony Orchestra (Artist), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra (Artist), Rome Opera House Orchestra (Artist), Pilar Lorengar (Artist), Berlin Philharmonic Brass Ensemble (Artist), Mirella Freni (Artist), Rolando Panerai (Artist), Jussi Bjorling (Artist), Leontyne Price (Artist), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Artist), Giuseppe di Stefano (Artist), Birgit Nilsson (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 9, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B000007OU1
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,885 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #1 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Crespin, Regine
  • #5 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Gheorghiu, Angela
  • #5 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Nilsson, Birgit

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Performance but Average Recording Quality, February 17, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ultimate Puccini Collection (Audio CD)

I love opera! I love Puccini! Not only is the vocalism important to me, but the quality of the recording as well. I enjoy my hi-tech sound system. I like to feel as if I am sitting in the front row of the first balcony when I listen to opera. This CD is excellent! The vocalists were well chosen. The technical performances are eloquent and emotional, as Puccini should be. However, the quality of the recording is not very good. No matter how you adjust your sound system, the recording is a bit tinny and as a result, the emotional high points of the arias are not as vibrant as they could be if the recording were of better quality. I would recommend this CD to anyone who loves Puccini and who is not as finicky as I!

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is gold!, December 1, 2001

By 

D Dog (Baltimore, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Puccini Collection (Audio CD)

I like how whoever chose the artists to sing these lovely songs didn't pick your huge opera popular star that everyone expects to hear (the ones who made these roles famous). Here we have Pavarotti, Te Kanawa, Carreras, Tebaldi, Domingo, Price, Nilsson, Caballe, Sutherland, and some others who are very good and I'm glad to hear them again and add them to my collection. And I'm pleased to see listed on here some old faces like the great Bjorling, Lorengar, and di Stefano: some of which I wasn't planning to see on here but here they are they are fabulous! And what surprised me was that mixed in here are some of the lesser known singers like our favorites Corelli, Mariotti, Crespin, and Panerai. What a versatile selection!

Lorengar sings "Il Sogno di Doretta" like it's no one's business. This is the best recording of this song that I personally think is available. She hits these high notes like they're just "another note." Bjorling's voice and versatility we will never see again. Gheorghiu never ceases to amaze me with her freshness, beauty of voice, and her use of her high soprano like in "Donde lieta usci." I LOVE NILSSON'S HIGH NOTES!!! If she and Sutherland could have ever paired up, "OH GOD hold me back!!" I guess for someone who can really appreciate Joan in "In questa reggia" this is powerful, but I don't think that this selection represents her well at all. I'm not really familiar with Sutherland's Puccini repertoire, but this certainly doesn't show off her POWER and perfectly high intonation or her masterfully controlled vibrato. Perhaps Puccini isn't one of Joan's strong composers for her specific instrument. Price is one of my favorite Tosca's and I'm so delighted that she was included. I love her dramatism and wide range.

This CD is gold! Don't let this one slip through your fingers. Puccini would be so tickled to know of this collection that does his work justice!

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Ultimate" only if you like your opera "al fresco"!, June 13, 2002

By 

J. J. Conti "jackson" (Alexandria VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ultimate Puccini Collection (Audio CD)

The music is without question, among the most beautiful ever written. But the quality of the fidelity tells me that many of the selections were recorded live in concert in outdoor venues. I wish that was clear to me before I bought the disc. So, is the music the ultimate? YES! Is the recording the ultimate? NO!