With 40 tracks, and over 21 hours of operatic arias and duets, this double album features the best and most popular names in opera, ranging from the newest arrivals on the operatic scene as well as many present day superstars to iconic legends. This is a collection of the best in opera and will have a wide appeal. Present day superstars include Sarah Brightman, Natalie Dessay, Angela Gheorghiu, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Barbara Hendricks, Teresa Berganza, Lesley Garrett, Dame Felicity Lott, Deborah Voigt, Placido Domingo, Rolando Villaz¢n, Roberto Alagna, Jos‚ Carreras, Ian Bostridge and Bryn Terfel Rising new artists are represented by Joyce DiDonato, Diana Damrau, Kate Royal, Elina GaranŠa, Vivica Genaux, V‚ronique Gens, Patrizia Ciofi, Violetta Urmana, Liping Zhang, David Daniels, Philippe Jaroussky, Laurent Naouri and Jonathan Lemalu. The programme also contains tracks by some of the world's greatest singers of the past such as Maria Callas, Birgit Nilsson, Montserrat Caball‚, Luciano Pavarotti, Franco Corelli and Hans Hotter. All the most popular operatic composers are represented, from the Baroque masters such as Vivaldi and Handel through Gluck and Mozart to Donizetti,Verdi and Puccini as well as French favourites Berlioz, Gounod, Massenet and Offenbach, and of course Germany's great Richard Wagner. More recent composers include Cilea, Korngold, Stravinsky and Gershwin. EMI. 2009.
Disc: 1
01 Puccini: Un bel dì vedremo (Angela Gheorghiu)
02 Mascagni: Attesa (Sarah Brightman)
03 Gershwin: Bess, you is my woman now (Bryn Terfel, Lesley Garrett)
04 Verdi: Lunge da lei . . . De'miei bollenti spiriti . . . O mio rimorso (Rolando Villazón)
05 Bellini: Compagne . . . Come per me sereno (Natalie Dessay)
06 Mascagni: Tutto ho tentato (Luciano Pavarotti)
07 Handel: Vanne, sorella ingrata (Joyce DiDonato)
08 Mozart: Un'aura amorosa (Plácido Domingo)
09 Mozart: O zittre nicht (Diana Damrau)
10 Verdi: Io l'ho perduta . . . Io la vidi (José Carreras)
11 Gounod: Ah! Je veux vivre dans ce rêve (Maria Callas)
12 Mozart: Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja (Jonathan Lemalu)
13 Wagner: Dich, teure Halle (Deborah Voigt)
14 Handel: Precipitoso nel mar che freme (Laurent Naouri)
15 Offenbach: Amours divins (Felicity Lott)
16 Vivaldi: Se in ogni guardo (Philippe Jaroussky)
17 Ponchielli: Suicidio! (Violetta Urmana)
18 Massenet: En ferment les yeux (Roberto Alagna)
19 Verdi: Mercè, dilette amiche (Liping Zhang)
20 Puccini: Nessun dorma (Franco Corelli)
Disc: 2
01 Donizetti: Pour ce contrat fatal . . . Ah ! salut à la France (Natalie Dessay)
02 Massenet: Traduire . . . Pourquoi me réveiller (Roberto Alagna)
03 Handel: Caro amico amplesso! (Patrizia Ciofi, Joyce DiDonato)
04 Mozart: Vedrommi intorno l'ombra dolente (Ian Bostridge)
05 Donizetti: Il segreto per esser felici (Brindisi) (Vivica Genaux)
06 Verdi: Su, profetessa . . . Di'tu se fedele (Plácido Domingo)
07 Mozart: Non so più cosa son (Véronique Gens)
08 Berlioz: Mais, qu'ai-je donc ? (Joyce DiDonato)
09 Handel: Qui ti sfido, o mostro infame! (Philippe Jaroussky)
10 Verdi: O terra addio (Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna)
11 Puccini: Chi il bel sogno di Doretta (Montserrat Caballé)
12 Donizetti: Una furtiva lagrima (Rolando Villazón)
13 Mozart: Va pure ad altri (Elina Garana)
14 Gluck: Che farò senza Euridice? (David Daniels)
15 Korngold: Glück, das mir verblieb (Kiri Te Kanawa, w/Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson)
16 Cilea: Ecco: respiro appena. Io son l'umile ancella (Barbara Hendricks)
17 Stravinsky: My father! Can I desert him . . . I go, I go to him (Kate Royal)
18 Wagner: Wohl kenn' ich Weibes (Birgit Nilsson, Hans Hotter)
19 Verdi: O don fatale (Maria Callas)
