Various Artists - 1903 Grand Opera Series - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The Great Classics series from Naxos is the perfect introduction to myriad genres of classical music. Comprising both complete and compiled selections from the greatest works in the repertoire, the boxes are bursting with wonderful pieces of music, both recognizable and unfamiliar. The boxes take the listener on a thrilling tour of some of the world's most dramatic musical media, encompassing music from six centuries and featuring sensational performers. All boxes come with a fascinating booklet with detailed information on the genre itself, chronological placement of each work, and a comprehensive study of the music. A fitting celebration of 25 years of superb music from Naxos, the world's favourite classical tag.

On the dark side of fame awaits the slide into obscurity. That's certainly true for a number of operas that, while popular and highly lucrative during their composers' lifetime, soon followed their creators into the shadowy realm of oblivion. Operas, for example, that only ever get mentioned in connection with some much more famous sibling. Giuseppe Gazzaniga's Don Giovanni - premiered half a year before Mozart's masterpiece - is such an example, as is Ruggero Leoncavallo's La Boheme and George Bizet's Djamileh, widely considered the predecessor of Carmen. Other operas just do not stand out among other works by a composer - Jules Massenet's operas for example are hardly a footnote of music history, his opera Therese, a thoroughly forgotten work, however, is. Two examples for works that are scarcely performed or even known outside of what is now the Czech Republic are also included in this collection of Opera Rarities on ORFEO Dvorak's last opera Armida and Zdenek Fibich's sarka.

Three decades since the of the 12-album boxset of the complete Emmy Destinn recordings, Supraphon is now presenting a similarly precious landmark, made up of 3 albums featuring Karel Burian (1870-1924), a celebrated Czech tenor, a Metropolitan Opera star, who also dazzled audiences in London, Paris, Zurich, Munich, Bayreuth, Dresden, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest and elsewhere. His champions included Gustav Mahler and Arturo Toscanini, who invited him to perform in their Met productions. When asked why he did not appear in German operas, Enrico Caruso answered InchI can sing something, whereas Burian can sing everything.InchBurian was feted as an exemplary interpreter of Wagner roles (Tristan, Parsifal, Siegfried, Stolzing), yet he also performed to great acclaim in Italian, French and Russian operas. He portrayed Smetana's Jeník and Dalibor in Czech and German alike. As an artist, Karel Burian enjoyed global renown, as a person, he lived a turbulent life, plagued by ill-fated love and spite.