The Age of Bel Canto (2CD)

A groundbreaking Decca album celebrating the glory of both bel canto and the voice of Sutherland in her prime, long unavailable on its own, reissued complete with a booklet introduction from Richard Bonynge.

MORE INFORMATION

"What is bel canto?" Sutherland rhetorically asked the readers of High Fidelity in a 1961 article. "I believe that it is the essence of opera." She and her husband, the conductor Richard Bonynge, had some years previously determined to explore and revive the repertoire of an operatic tradition stretching from Handel to Bellini which had in the previous century become almost forgotten. With their performances and Decca recordings, they placed themselves in the vanguard of this revival. "I am sure that today we are on the verge of a wonderful new era of singing, and that the opera audience wants more than ever to hear great singing."

TRACK LIST

CD 1
NICCOLÒ PICCINNI (1728–1800)
Furia di donna irata (La buona figliuola)
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685–1759)
Care selve (Atalanta)
GIOVANNI BATTISTA LAMPUGNANI (1706–1786)
Superbo di me stesso (Meraspe)
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685–1759)
With plaintive note (Samson)
Hence, Iris, hence away (Semele)
GIOVANNI BONONCINI (1670–1747)
Mio caro ben (Astarto)
THOMAS ARNE (1710–1778)
Oh! too lovely (Artaxerxes)
WILLIAM SHIELD (1748–1829)
Light as thistledown (Rosina)
When William at eve (Rosina)
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791)
Voi che fausti ognor donate (Il re pastore)
O zittre nicht, mein Lieber Sohn! … Zum Leiden bin ich auserkoren (Die Zauberflöte)
Ich baue ganz auf deine Stärke (Die Entführung aus dem Serail)
FRANÇOIS-ADRIEN BOIELDIEU (1775–1834)
Ma Fanchette est charmante (Angéla)

CD 2
GIOACHINO ROSSINI (1792–1868)
Serbami ognor sì fido (Semiramide)
DANIEL-FRANÇOIS-ESPRIT AUBER (1782–1871)
Ferme tes yeux (La Muette de Portici)
CARL MARIA VON WEBER (1786–1826)
Und ob die Wolke sie verhülle (Der Freischütz)
VINCENZO BELLINI (1801–1835)
Angiol di pace (Beatrice di Tenda)
GAETANO DONIZETTI (1797–1848)
Tornami a dir che m’ami (Don Pasquale)
GAETANO DONIZETTI (1797–1848)
Il segreto per esser felici (Lucrezia Borgia)
GIUSEPPE VERDI (1813–1901)
Santo di patria … Allor che i forti corrono … Da te questo or m’è concesso (Attila)
VINCENZO BELLINI (1801–1835)
Un ritratto? … Sventurato il cor che fida (La straniera)
GIOACHINO ROSSINI (1792–1868)
Cavatina: Ecco, ridente in cielo (Il barbiere di Siviglia)
LUIGI ARDITI (1822–1903)
Bolero

Joan Sutherland, soprano
Marilyn Horne, mezzo-soprano
Richard Conrad, tenor
New Symphony Orchestra of London (CD 1)
London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra (CD 2)
Richard Bonynge