An all-star cast and conductor, with an equally stellar set of recording engineers working at the dawn of the digital era, have produced a Marriage of Figaro that is probably the one to pick if you can stand living with only one. Georg Solti, a conductor sometimes noted for violence, has mellowed considerably for Mozart; the conducting is vigorous, the tempos often sharply contrasted, but ...
Twenty years after Maria Callas' death in 1977, EMI honoured one of its most faithful recording stars by re-releasing her entire output. Voice of the Century figureheads the anniversary edition, and if ever there was a highlights album to be bought, this must be it. The first disc concentrates on Italian opera, and already on the opening track Callas' direct, unaffected Norma demonstrates ...