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Giuseppe Verdi was born in obscurity in a tiny Italian village in 1813. When he died in 1901, hundreds of thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the man whom many people consider as the best opera composer of all time. His career spanned more than half a century and included such successes as Rigoletto, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Otello, Falstaff, and Aida—the most often-performed work at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Yet when he applied at a famous music school in Milan, he was turned down because he was "lacking in musical talent." He not only proved the school wrong but became an important figure in Italian politics during the turbulent era when the scattered provinces came together to form a nation. Along the way, he overcame obstacles such as the death of his first wife and two small children and the humiliation of being booed during the premiere of one of his early operas. ... Read more

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Examines Verdi's life and musical achievements in the context of his historical period. ... Read more

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The greatest operas of the world and their libretti in an unique collection. Listen to your favourite opera and enjoy reading the original texts on your Kindle reader. Full libretto of this opera in Italian and English.

... Read more

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VERDI: Un ballo in maschera (complete opera) Newly translated libretto, program notes, and synopsis. Link to audio tracks.

Featured Artists
José Carreras, Montserrat Caballé, Renato Bruson: vocal soloists
Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli: conductor

Spain’s famous opera stars Carreras and Caballé, who are professional colleagues and friends in real life, are an irresistible pairing at the head of a wonderful cast in this La Scala production, recorded live in Milan in 1975. Renato Bruson, considered by many to be the best Italian baritone of recent years, is another major bonus for this set. Includes complete Italian-English libretto and historical notes. Opera d’Oro presents Grand Tier, a deluxe edition of the most beloved Opera d’Oro performances, with original artwork by Rafal Olbinski and Opera d’Oro’s best remastered sound! Including a 64-page booklet with historic photos, a complete Italian libretto and new original English translation, and an essay on the performance by Ira Siff, this unforgettable, passionate performance captures its three principals at exactly the right moment in their vocal development.

“Francesco Molinari-Pradelli leads a searing performance with the Scala forces responding beautifully to his exciting shaping of the score. Carreras recalled later that these performances were the greatest of his career to that point. We can only be grateful for their documentation and continue to yearn for a Verdi renaissance that gives us this kind of unbridled passion, first-rate singing and innate understanding of style in the opera house again. In the meanwhile, we have this amazing Ballo.” — Ira Siff

Ilustration © Rafal Olbinski,
Courtesy of Patinae Inc. ... Read more

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VERDI: Macbeth (complete opera) Newly translated libretto, program notes, and synopsis. Link to audio tracks.

Sherrill Milnes, Christa Ludwig, Carlo Cossutta, Karl Ridderbusch, et al., vocal soloists/Karl Böhm, conductor

Another long-neglected masterpiece, Macbeth is today one of Verdi’s most popular operas following successful revivals in recent years like this dramatic 1970 performance.With a cast like this, and Böhm conducting, it couldn’t lose. Sherrill Milnes, the great American baritone of his era, is in glorious voice here and turns in a magnificent portrayal of the tormented hero. Soprano Christa Ludwig, known better for Lieder and German opera, is perhaps the biggest surprise here, in one of the most thrilling and dramatic portrayals of Lady Macbeth since Maria Callas. The conducting of Karl Böhm also comes in for special praise, as one of the tightest and most dramatic readings ever caught on record. Macbeth was Verdi’s favorite of all his early operas, as evidenced by the great care he took with it even many years after its premiere. The first performance took place on March 14, 1847 and was warmly applauded. Years later, however, Verdi heavily revised and even partly recomposed Macbeth, and this version, first given in Paris at the Théâtre Lyrique on April 19, 1865, is the one always heard today.

“Macbeth has been well presented on discs, but this performance…should be held in the greatest esteem and surpasses the others in overall intensity and theatricality…Böhm’s orchestra catches the opera’s brooding dark tone ideally. Christa Ludwig is in radiant voice, singing with such charisma that she is practically visible…[Sherril Milnes’s] warm resonant voice, with its remarkable, secure upper extension is simply glorious, and he truly gets under the skin of this complex character…” — ROBERT LEVINE

Ilustration © Rafal Olbinski,
Courtesy of Patinae Inc. ... Read more

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English version by Walter Ducloux ... Read more

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VERDI: La traviata (complete opera) Newly translated libretto, program notes, and synopsis. Links to audio tracks.

Renata Scotto, José Carreras, Sesto Bruscantini, et al., vocal soloists/ Nino Verchi, conductor

Live performance,Tokyo, September 18, 1973. La traviata is among the most popular operas ever written. Today it is probably the most frequently performed of all 28 operas by Verdi.

Based on one of the greatest love stories — La Dame aux Camélias, by Alexander Dumas, Jr., usually called in English simply Camille.

Digitally remastered and beautifully packaged with full, newly translated libretto.

Renata Scotto, one of the great dramatic sopranos of the past generation, made her debut in this very role at age 18. This performance showcases both the beauty of her voice and her intense identification with the character.

José Carreras is heard here at his youthful best, when many considered his to be the most beautiful tenor voice in the world.

Baritone Sesto Bruscantini was called by the New Grove Dictionary of Opera “one of the finest Italian singers of the second half of [the 20th] century.” His repertoire encompassed over 130 roles and the elder Germont in Traviata was among his very best.

“This is an epic performance.” — Robert Levine

Ilustration © Rafal Olbinski,
Courtesy of Patinae Inc. ... Read more

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The libretto for Giuseppe Verdi's 'Rigoletto' was adapted by Francesco Maria Piave from Victor Hugo's play Le roi s'amuse which was so controversial it had been banned in Paris after one performance. It is still recognised as one of Verdi's finest scores. The opening of the final act contains two of the most famous pieces in all opera: the Duke's "La donna e mobile" (which needs no introduction), and the famous quartet, "Bella figlia dell'amore," in which each character is expressing a different emotion. This edition is in Italian with an English version by Ruth and Thomas Martin. ... Read more

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VERDI: Aida (complete opera) Newly translated libretto, program notes, and synopsis. Links to audio tracks.

Placido Domingo, Martina Arroyo, Fiorenza Cossotto, Piero Cappuccilli, et al., vocal soloists/Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan/Claudio Abbado, conductor

Many opera lovers have pronounced this 1972 recording "the best Aida in the catalog." It is truly a great and exciting performance, brilliantly sung and conducted, in brilliant sound. There is no Aida in existence with a libretto at this price, let alone a cast and conductor of this quality. This is simply the best bargain for Aida that exists. One of Verdi's most popular operas in a version that everyone can afford, and will never stop playing.

Includes a 48-page deluxe booklet!

Ilustration © Rafal Olbinski,
Courtesy of Patinae Inc. ... Read more

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VERDI: Otello (complete opera) Newly translated libretto, program notes, and synopsis. Link to audio tracks.

Placido Domingo, Mirella Freni, Piero Cappucilli, et al., vocal soloists/Orchestra & Chorus of Teatro alla Scala/ Carlos Kleiber, conductor

Look again, you are not dreaming. This DREAM CAST in a 1976 recording of Otello is now available for the first time in digital remastering at mid-price with complete libretto and attractive packaging, with a special essay on the performance by Andrew Farach-Colton.

This is one of the finest Otello recordings at any price! Every recording conducted by Carlos Kleiber is an event. This brilliant and reclusive conductor has made only a few recordings, all considered excellent, and some sublime: his readings of Beethoven's 5th and 7th symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic are widely considered the best ever made in the history of the gramophone.

The three principals in this recording—Domingo (tenor), Freni (soprano) and Cappuccilli (baritone)—are all superstars, and were at the top of their form when this thrilling recording was made.

Live performance, Milan, December 7, 1976.

"Not even Toscanini managed to inspire and sustain music-making of such blistering intensity." - Andrew Farach-Colton

Ilustration © Rafal Olbinski,
Courtesy of Patinae Inc. ... Read more

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VERDI: Il trovatore (complete opera) Newly translated libretto, program notes, and synopsis. Link to audio tracks.

Carlo Bergonzi, Gabriella Tucci, Piero Cappuccilli, Giulietta Simionato: vocal soloists
Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan
Gianandrea Gavazzeni: conductor

This recording, which has been a best-seller in the standard Opera d’Oro budget catalogue, represents a live performance by the world-famous La Scala opera company of Milan when they were on tour in the Soviet Union in 1964, and determined to prove their mettle to the exacting Russian audience. Soprano Gabriella Tucci was an outstanding Verdi soprano of her day, singing with purity of line, intelligence, and involvement. Tenor Carlo Bergonzi, famous for his exquisite sense of Italian style, was at his youthful peak when this recording was made.

Giulietta Simionato was another long-lived singer, here at the end of her public career, after being widely acknowledged as the world’s greatest operatic mezzo. Pierro Cappucilli, who would later become one of the most valued Italian baritones, is heard here at the very beginning of his illustrious career. Conductor Gianandrea Gavazzeni was one of the most reliable Italian operatic conductors for many years, and here gives one of his most exciting readings, inspired by the enthusiasm of his Slavic audience.

Ilustration © Rafal Olbinski,
Courtesy of Patinae Inc.

“This Trovatore must go near the top of the list.” — Robert Levine, Classics Today ... Read more

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VERDI: Falstaff (complete opera) Newly translated libretto, program notes, and synopsis. Link to audio tracks.

Mariano Stabile, Renata Tebaldi, Cesare Valletti, et al.: vocal soloists
La Scala Orchestra & Chorus
Victor de Sabata: conductor

Verdi’s last opera, written when he was approaching eighty, was only the second comedy of his long career, following the ill-fated Un giorno di regno of fifty years before. His friend and collaborator Arrigo Boito, who had with some difficulty talked him into composing Otello several years earlier, now had an easier time convincing him to crown his glory with one more tribute to his beloved Shakespeare. The three principals are all famous portrayers of their roles, aided by an outstanding supporting cast. Mariano Stabile was a veteran Italian basso buffo who had the role of Falstaff in his belly, if not his bones. Renata Tebaldi was the most famous Italian lyric soprano of her era and she remains, along with Maria Callas, the most loved soprano of recent years. Cesare Valletti was a tenore di grazia, a tenor with a light, flexible head voice of exquisite beauty. Live performance, Milan, May 26, 1951.

Ilustration © Rafal Olbinski,
Courtesy of Patinae Inc.

“One of the most remarkable performances of anything by Verdi ever captured on a disc. Mariano Stabile’s Falstaff was a legendary achievement, dramatically and vocally, and this recording is worth every penny just for his authentic, genuinely buffo take on the role. Paolo Silveri is excellent as Ford, and the youthful Renata Tebaldi makes a glorious noise as his wife. But these undoubted stars are eclipsed by de Sabata, who creates a performance of electric immediacy with an extraordinary attention to the score’s detail and architecture.” — Rough Guide to Opera ... Read more

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The greatest operas of the world and their libretti in an unique collection. Listen to your favourite opera and enjoy reading the original texts on your Kindle reader. Full libretto of this opera in Italian and German.

... Read more

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Aria from Aida, G. Verdi. From Act III, for soprano. 7 pages, with piano accompaniment. ... Read more