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Puccini: La Rondine / Maazel, Te Kanawa, Domingo


Release Date: 10/25/1990 
Label:  Cbs Masterworks Catalog #: 37852   Spars Code: DDD 
Composer:  Giacomo Puccini
Performer:  Lillian Watson,  Mariana Nicolesco,  Dame Kiri Te Kanawa,  Placido Domingo,   ... 
Conductor:  Lorin Maazel
Orchestra/Ensemble:  London Symphony Orchestra,  Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Number of Discs: 2 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 1 Hours 43 Mins. 

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This CD is reissued by ArkivMusic.

Notes and Editorial Reviews

"Well used as I am to the positive advantages of CD over LP equivalents, the gains here more than usual have me revelling in the extra vividness, immediacy and sense of presence. The sweetness, charm and sparkle of a piece still underestimated come over in a way that positively make me want to go on listening. The absence of background here allows the precise placing of voices to be appreciated the more—important when the opening scene and the whole of Act 2 involve potentially confusing groups of soloists — and Puccini's use of special effects, off-stage voices, voices going into the distance, spoken lines, the piano for "11 sogno di Doretta" in Act 1, all come over with extraordinary precision and realism. The subtlety of Read more Puccini's orchestration too is beautifully caught, and the voices — placed on a stage slightly in front of the orchestra — all have a bright face-to-face quality with even Mariana Nicolescu's vibrato less obtrusive than on LP. As for Dame Kiri, her voice has rarely sounded so ravishing. The casting of the second pair may not be ideal — David Rendall too young - sounding for Prunier and Nicolescu not sweet enough — but this certainly stands as one of Lorin Maazel's finest Puccini recordings."

-- Gramophone [10/1985]
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Works on This Recording

1. La Rondine by Giacomo Puccini
Performer:  Lillian Watson (Soprano), Mariana Nicolesco (Soprano), Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (Soprano),
Placido Domingo (Tenor), David Rendall (Tenor), Leo Nucci (Baritone),
Gillian Knight (Soprano)
Conductor:  Lorin Maazel
Orchestra/Ensemble:  London Symphony Orchestra,  Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1917; Italy 
 Length: 103 Minutes 17 Secs. 
Language: Italian 

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:  ( 1 Customer Review )
 Puccini's finest opera January 19, 2013 By Dr. Stephen Schoeman (Westfield, NJ) See All My Reviews "La Rondine for incomprehensible reasons is rarely performed. It is one of the least known of Puccini's operas! This is so even though he is, of course, one of the most famous and popular of opera composers. Everybody knows about La Boheme and Tosca and Madam Butterfly and Turandot and Il Tritico. La Rondine deserves better, much better. And here we have a recording which should convince any skeptic that La Rondine is a great opera. The music is altogether different from his other operas. There is a sophistication about it, a subtlety which saves us from the often too melodramatic music of these other operas which perhaps explains their enormous popularity and the neglect paid to La Rondine. The music is fascinating. There is even the feeling at times of a great Broadway musical. Wonderful melodies. A magnificent waltz scene. There is as well a touch of Viennese operetta! Here is Puccini at his most imaginative and creative. At times it is hard to tell that this is an opera by Puccini! Well worth purchasing this CD opera set!" Report Abuse
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