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Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901) The very best of Verdi La forza del destino: Overture Hungarian State Opera Orchestra/Pier Giorgio Morandi Pace, pace, mio dio Miriam Gauci, soprano, Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra/Alexander Rahbari Solenne in quest’ora Giacomo Aragall, tenor, Eduard Tumagian, baritone, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Alexander Rahbari Nabucco: Va, pensiero Slovak Philharmonic Chorus, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Oliver Dohnanyi Ernani: Surte e la notte … Ernani, involami Marina Mescheriakova, soprano, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Michael Halasz Macbeth: Patria oppressa! Slovak Philharmonic Chorus, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Oliver Dohnanyi Luisa Miller:  Quando le sere al placido Marcello Giordani, tenor, Catania Teatro Massimo Bellini Orchestra/Steven Mercurio Rigoletto: Questa o quella;La donna e mobile; Pari siamo!; Cortigiani, vil razza dannata; Gualtier Malde … Caro nome Yordi Ramiro, tenor, Eduard Tumagian, baritone, Alida Ferrarini, soprano, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Alexander Rahbari Il trovatore: Vedi, le fosche notturne; Il balen; Ah! Si, ben mio; Di quella pira; D’amor sull’ali rosee vane; Roberto Servile, baritone, Maurizio Frusoni, tenor, Daniela Longhi, soprano, Budapest Festival Chorus, Hungarian State Opera Orchestra/Will Humburg Un ballo in maschera: Di tu se fedele Thomas Harper, tenor, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Michael Halasz Messa da Requiem: Dies irae; Tuba mirum; Ingemisco Elena Filipova, soprano, Gloria Scalchi, mezzo-soprano, Cesar Hernandez, tenor, Carlo Colombara, bass, Hungarian State Opera Chorus, Hungarian State Opera Orchestra/Pier Giorgio Morandi La traviata: Libiamo, ne’lieti calici; Sempre libera; Lunge da lei per me; Di Provenza il mar Monika Krause, soprano, Yordi Ramiro, tenor, Georg Tichy, baritone, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Alexander Rahbari Don Carlo: E lui! Desso l’Infante! … Dio, che nell’alma infondere Giacomo Aragall, tenor, Eduard Tumagian, baritone, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Alexander Rahbari Aida: Se quell guerrier io fossi! … Celeste Aida; Ritorna vincitor … I sacri nomi di padre; Gloria all’Egitto; Grand March; Ballet Music Maria Dragoni, soprano, Kristjan Johannson, tenor, Ireland National Symphony Orchestra/Rico Saccani Otello: Fuoco di gioia Slovak Philharmonic Chorus, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Oliver Dohnanyi Mia madre aveva una povera ancella … Piangea cantando … Ave Maria Miriam Gauci, soprano, Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra/Alexander Rahbari Falstaff: Ehi paggio! … L’onore! Ladri Domenico Trimarchi, baritone, Hungarian State Opera Orchestra/Will Humburg No recording dates and venues given but all the items were published 1990 – 2004. NAXOS 8.552121-22 [77:44 + 76:40]

Some ten years ago, maybe more, Naxos released a series entitled “The best of …” on one CD per composer. Now here comes “The very best of …” on two extremely well-filled discs. A bit inconsistent perhaps, but never mind. For “The very best of Verdi” the producers have unsurprisingly picked the arias, choruses and a few other scenes that everybody knows and presented them in roughly chronological order.   CD1 opens with the overture and two other numbers from La forza del destino and since it is logical to open with an overture – very well played by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra – they changed the chronology. Since Morandi recorded all Verdi’s overtures on two CDs it would have been nice to have the one from Oberto, but then it is not really the very best of Verdi. There are a couple of other discrepancies too but in the main it is possible to follow Verdi’s development.   Some operas are more fully represented than others, depending on what was available in the Naxos catalogue, the excerpts from Rigoletto, Il trovatore, La traviata, Aida, Falstaff and the Requiem are from complete recordings, the rest from a number of recitals. The quality of the performances varies, as they always do on compilations of this kind; some numbers are acceptable, no more, while there are some that are very good indeed. The sound varies also, since there are so many different venues and technicians involved, which means that one sometimes has to turn the volume up or down but in general there is little to complain about.   Where a question mark has to be inserted is concerning the documentation. The meagre booklet has a couple of lines about each opera and each individual number but there is no information whatsoever about the performers, so I had to visit the Naxos internet site to cull the information given in the heading. Maybe some people who buy this collection only want well-known pieces and don’t bother about who is singing, but since there are some important artists here it is only fair to list them.   I am not going to make an in-depth analysis of each aria. Let me just mention some of the jewels. I have known most of these recordings since they were new and have only sampled a few to refresh my memory or, in a few cases, to hear the ones I hadn’t heard before.   Among the sopranos two stand out: Miriam Gauci (La forza del destino, CD1 tr. 2, and Otello, CD2 tr. 16) and Alida Ferrarini, whose Gilda in Rigoletto (CD1 tr. 10-11) is among the best anywhere. Daniela Longhi’s Leonora in Il trovatore (CD1 tr. 18) is also sung with feeling. In the tenor department Marcello Giordani is an impassioned Rodolpho in Luisa Miller (CD1 tr. 7) and Yordi Ramiro’s attractive lyric voice is an asset in both Rigoletto and La traviata. Eduard Tumagian has a firm Verdian baritone and is a deeply involved Rigoletto. He sings excellently in the duets from La forza del destino and Don Carlos where he is partnered by Giacomo Aragall who is admirably steady but unimaginative and sings at a constant forte. Roberto Servile sings a good Il balen from Il trovatore (CD! Tr.15), while few singing actors have as deep insight in the character of Falstaff as Domenico Trimarchi. Alas, he was recorded too late in his career, his voice taking on an unpleasant wobble whenever he sings anything above mezzo-forte. Impressive, steady and sonorous is, on the other hand, Carlo Colombara, whose Tuba mirum from Requiem (CD2 tr.2) almost recalls Ezio Pinza. Maybe the greatest surprise is Georg Tichy who is a glorious and impassioned Germont in La traviata (CD2 tr. 8). Seldom has Di Provenza il mar been sung with such melting glow. Even a stuffed shirt would have followed this father to Provence!   As I hinted earlier in the review, not everything is on this exalted level but there are enough good things to make this a suitable starting point for recent converts, which I think is the category of listener this series is aimed at. The price is right.   Göran Forsling   BUY NOW  AmazonUK   AmazonUS   Gerard Hoffnung CDs Advertising on Musicweb Donate and get a free CD New Releases   Musicweb sells the following labels Acte Préalable Arcodiva British Music Soc. CDAccord Hallé Hortus Lyrita Nimbus Northern Flowers Redcliffe Sheva Talent Toccata Classics Follow us on Twitter Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter

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