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Luciano Pavarotti: The best recordings

We name the greatest examples of the legendary tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, on disc and DVD

Luciano Pavarotti best recordings

Freya Parr

Published: October 12, 2019 at 6:14 am

Donizetti La fille du régiment Joan Sutherland etc; Royal Opera House/Richard Bonynge Decca 414 5202

Pavarotti plays the ebullient young peasant to perfection.

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Read our reviews of the latest Donizetti recordings here

Bellini I Puritani Joan Sutherland; Royal Opera House/Richard Bonynge Decca 417 5882

Pavarotti subdues his extrovert energy to style and elegance, alongside a strong cast.

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Read our reviews of the latest Bellini recordings here

Verdi Rigoletto (DVD) Edita Gruberova, Ingvar Wixell etc; Vienna Staatsoper/Riccardo Chailly DG 073 4166

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s heavily stylized, ornate but often impressive cinematic account is dominated by Pavarotti with surprising sexual charge.

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Read our reviews of the latest Verdi recordings here

Puccini La bohème Mirella Freni etc; Deutsche Oper Berlin/Herbert von Karajan Decca 421 0492

Freni and Pavarotti make meltingly believable young lovers.

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Read our reviews of the latest Puccini recordings here

Puccini Turandot Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballé etc; John Alldis Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra/Zubin Mehta Decca 414 2742

Pavarotti’s passionately perceptive, unforced Calaf matches Sutherland’s unlikely Ice Princess.

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Mozart Idomeneo (DVD) Frederica von Stade, Ileana Cotrubas etc; Metropolitan Opera/Levine

James Levine’s reading is traditional but not crushingly heavyweight, there is a high-powered cast, and Pavarotti is charismatic as the embattled king.

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Read our reviews of the latest Mozart recordings here

Freya Parr

Digital Editor and Staff Writer, BBC Music Magazine

Freya Parr is BBC Music Magazine's digital editor and staff writer, editing and writing on all styles of music across both the website and print magazine. She has also written for titles including the Guardian, Circus Journal, Frankie and Suitcase Magazine, and runs The Noiseletter, a fortnightly arts and culture publication. Freya's main areas of interest and research lie in 20th-century and contemporary music. She's a regular sea shanty singer, folk obsessive and occasional flautist, pianist, organist and musical theatre director.
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