The Most Famous Opera Duets

Eberhard Wächter (Performer), Georges Bizet (Composer), Leo Delibes (Composer), Gaetano Donizetti (Composer), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Giacomo Puccini (Composer), Richard Strauss (Composer), Giuseppe Verdi (Composer), Richard Wagner (Composer), Alain Lombard (Conductor), Bernard Haitink (Conductor), Carlo Maria Giulini (Conductor), Daniel Barenboim (Conductor), Francesco Molinari Pradelli (Conductor), Francesco Molinari-Pradelli (Conductor), Herbert von Karajan (Conductor), John Barbirolli (Conductor), Nicola Rescigno (Conductor), Pierre Dervaux (Conductor), Thomas Beecham (Conductor)

Product Details

• Performer: Eberhard Wächter
• Conductor: Alain Lombard, Bernard Haitink, Carlo Maria Giulini, Daniel Barenboim, Francesco Molinari Pradelli, et al.
• Composer: Georges Bizet, Leo Delibes, Gaetano Donizetti, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giacomo Puccini, et al.
• Audio CD (April 12, 1994)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B000002SCA
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,312 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Music > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Scotto, Renata
  #1 in	Music > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Ludwig, Christa
  #2 in	Music > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Price, Leontyne

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
This is a misnomer--not all of these duets are all that famous--but it's a fine compilation nonetheless. You'll hear selections from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers (Nicolai Gedda and Ernest Blanc at their most elegant French), Madama Butterfly (Carlo Bergonzi and Renata Scotto--an impassioned pair), Lucia di Lammermoor (a classy Alfredo Kraus and Edita Gruberova), the lovely Lakme duet, The Presentation of the Silver Rose from Der Rosenkavalier (with the earnest Christa Ludwig and the other-worldly Teresa Stich-Randall), and a fine Trovatore "Miserere" (with Leontyne Price and Franco Bonisolli singing up a storm). There are many others, too--a veritable cornucopia of couplings--and a treat for the opera lover. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You can't go wrong with this CD, April 17, 2003

By	Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

I got this very reasonably priced cd just to have my favorite duets such as "Au Fond du Temple Saint" and "The Flower Duet. If you have friends who are just starting to like classical opera, this is a terrific little gift. Almost everyone melts at the sound of these duets. And it's convenient to have so many on one CD. A real winner.

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Selection at a Great Price, June 12, 2003

By	Dominic (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

When it comes to opera artists, my motto is "The more Gedda, the bettah." You get a substantial amount of him at his best on this CD, which has a lot of great duets from a variety of operas. You have one of the most beautiful duets ever in my opinion as the first track on the CD(Bizet's aria about two friends in love with the same woman, "Au Fond du Temple Saint" from Les Pecheurs des Perles); this recording with Nicolai Gedda singing the tenor part of Nadir is the best one could ask for.

The rest of the best include "Bei Mannern, welche Liebe" from Mozart's Die Zauberflote(a beautiful ode to the connection between men and women), and (not surprisingly), "O mimi, tu piu non torni" with Gedda and Sereni from La Boheme.

Other notable arias include a nice recording of the famous "Sull'aria," from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and an above par recording with Victoria de los Angeles and Carlo de Monte of "Un di, felici, eterea" from Verdi's La Traviata.

This would be a great CD to start an opera collection. Enjoy.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful introduction, August 19, 2001

By A Customer

I bought this CD because wanted the "Lakme" duet that I heard in a movie. Little did I know the rest of the music would blow me away. This is an excellent intro to opera for people like myself that have never really been "into" opera. The selections are short, just a taste, and the price is unbelievable. I highly recommend this selection to anyone who wants to get their feet wet.