Verdi reviews
Don Carlos: the best recordings of Giuseppe Verdi's greatest opera
Under the all-seeing eye of the Spanish Inquisition, Michael Tanner names the best recordings of Verdi’s intensely powerful tale of politics and love in 16th-century Spain
Beethoven • Verdi • Wagner (Lise Davidsen)
Lise Davidsen (soprano); London Philharmonic Orchestra/Mark Elder (Decca)
Verdi (Ludovic Tézier)
Ludovic Tézier (baritone); Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna/Frédéric Chaslin (Sony Classical)
Italian Opera Arias (Linda Richardson)
Linda Richardson (soprano); Sinfonia of London/John Wilson (Chandos)
Credo (Marina Rebeka)
Marina Rebeka (soprano); Latvian Radio Choir; Sinfonietta Riga/Modestas Pitrėnas (Prima Classic)
Anima Rara
Ermonela Jaho (soprano), et al (Opera Rara)
Amour éternel
Ekaterina Siurina (soprano), et al; Kaunas Symphony/Constantine Orbelian (Delos)
Desire
Aleksandra Kurzak (soprano); Morphing Chamber Orchestra/Frédéric Chaslin (Sony Classical)
Verdi: Otello
Jonas Kaufmann, et al; Orchestra e Coro dell'Academia Nationale di Santa Cecilia/Antonio Pappano (Sony Classical)
Verdi: Giovanna d’Arco
Anna Netrebko, Francesco Meli, Carlos Álvarez; La Scala Chorus & Orchestra/Riccardo Chailly; dir. Moshe Leiser & Patrice Caurier (
Decca; DVD)
Verdi: Un Giorno di Regno
Gocha Abuladze, Davide Fersini, Valda Wilson, Elisabeth Jansson, Giuseppe Talamo; Cappella Aquileia; Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno/Marcus Bosch (Coviello Classics)
Verdi: Otello
Jonas Kaufmann, Marco Vratogna, Maria Agresta; Royal Opera Chorus & Orchestra/Antonio Pappano; dir. Keith Warner (
Sony; DVD & Blu-ray)
The Verdi Album: Arias from Il Trovatore, Luisa Miller, Attila, et al
Sonya Yoncheva; Munich Radio Orchestra/Massimo Zanetti (BR Klassik)
Arias by Arakishvili, Bizet, Verdi, Saint-Saëns, Massenet, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mascagni & Gounod
Anita Rachvelishvili; Barbara Massaro; Piacenza Municipal Theatre Chorus; RAI National Symphony Orchestra/Giacomo Sagripanti (Sony)
Verdi: Arias from Aida, Il Trovatore, La forza del destino, Don Carlo and Otello
Joseph Calleja; Angela Gheorghiu, Vittorio Vitelli; Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana/Ramón Tebar (Decca)
Verdi: Nabucco (Parma/Ciampa)
Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Ivan Magri, et al; Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma/Francesco Ivan Ciampa (Dynamic / DVD)
Verdi: Ernani
Sung Kyu Park, Pavel Kudinov, Leah Gordon et al; Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno; Cappella Aquielia/Marcus Bosch (Coviello Classics)
I Vespri Verdiani: Verdi Arias
Olga Mykytenko (soprano); Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Kirill Karabits (Chandos)
Verdi: Stiffelio
Luciano Ganci, Maria Katzarava, Francesco Landolfi; Bologna Theatre Chorus/Guillermo García Calvo; dir. Graham Vick (Naxos, DVD)
Verdi: I Lombardi Alla Prima Crociata
Francesco Meli, Angela Meade, Giuseppe Gipali, Alex Esposito; Teatro Regio Torino Chorus & Orchestra/Michele Mariotti (Dynamic)
Italian Masterworks
Riccardo Zanellato, Chicago Children’s Choir; Chicago Symphony Chorus & Orchestra/Riccardo Muti (CSO)
Verdi: Requiem
Dinara Alieva, Olesya Petrova, Francesco Meli, Dmitry Belosselskiy; Bolshoi Theatre Chorus; St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra/Yuri Temirkanov (Delos, DVD)
Verdi et al: Messa Per Rossini
María José Siri, Veronica Simeoni, Giorgio Berrugi, Simone Piazzola; Coro e Orchestra del Teatro all Scala/Riccardo Chailly (Decca)
Duets by Bizet, Boito, Donizetti, Verdi, Gounod, Lara and F. Hermann
This is boys having fun. And the CD is at its best when the composer is having fun too. So Rolando Villazón and Ildar Abdrazakov make the most of Donizetti’s Act I duet from L’eslisir d’amore, with Villazón a plaintive love-sick Nemorino and Abdrazakov a snake-like Dulcamara.