James McCracken (1926–1988) recorded the arias on the first half of this disc in 1969, four years after the duets he recordeed with his wife, mezzo-soprano Sandra Warfield (1921-2009). Both singers were in their prime leon during those years and in the decade following. These performances of distinction offer some of the sappiest and most […]

This is a classic recording from 1968, of Leoncavallo’s one-act, grisly tale of ‘live’ murder during a village stage production. This is ‘verismo’ at its finest and most potent and the star-studded cast gives a thrilling, edge-of-the-seat performance.

Besides Verdi, Puccini was the other great nineteenth-century Italian opera composer. This anthology brings together favourite arias and ensemble pieces from his operas. All the most famous are represented – ‘Bohème, Butterfly, Tosca, Gianni Schicchi…’ And of course the performers are the greatest operatic stars you can think of having all on a single CD!

This is a 50-year retrospective (1950–2000) of great Wagner singing on Decca and Deutsche Grammophon featuring twelve extracts from eight operas (including all four operas of the ‘Ring’ cycle) with nine great singers. Wagner’s knowledge of heroes derived from two sources: the myths of ancient Greece and the sagas and poetry of northern Europe. In both […]