Posts tagged as "james-levine"

Wagner: Orchestral Music

June 18, 2019

Epic interpretations of orchestral music from Wagner’s music dramas, conducted by James Levine. In 1991 and 1995, James Levine recorded two albums for Deutsche Grammophon which have become known as ‘bleeding chunks’, in Ernest Newman’s phrase, from Wagner’s operas. Collected together for the first time on this Eloquence reissue, they form a comprehensive survey of […]

Donizetti: L’elisir d’amore (highlights)

May 10, 2016

James Levine assembled a cast of stars for his 1989 recording of Donizetti’s opera of potions and passions. Luciano Pavarotti (on loan from Decca) reprised the role he had recorded in July 1970 alongside Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge and his voice was noted to be ‘just as pure and steady’ as it was nearly […]

Kiri Te Kanawa sings Mozart

April 19, 2016

While Kiri Te Kanawa was still preparing for that career-defining debut as the Countess, she made a first Mozart disc under Colin Davis: a collection of sacred music, including the Solemn Vespers, KV 339, with its serene setting of ‘Laudate Dominum’, and Exsultate, jubilate. The Countess became the singer’s calling-card, and she repeated the role […]

Wagner Choruses

March 22, 2016

Bayreuth is the holy grail for Wagner lovers and this outstanding disc captures great choral moments from Wagner’s operas over a period of nearly 30 years with key ‘big’ moments from seven operas, from the Sawallisch ‘Tannhäuser’ (1962) to Peter Schneider’s ‘Lohengrin’ (1990). The choruses are among the glories of Wagner’s stage works. They are central, not […]