Classic Recitals: Great Tenor Arias

Read About This Recording

Decca's Classic Recitals series sheds light on its great catalog of vocal recordings.

This disc is a well-built, impeccably crafted recital from the late 1950s. Mario del Monaco had a sturdy career and made desert-island recordings of operatic repertoire.

The element in this fine recording that today would be overlooked is the choice of repertoire. Whereas current operatic recital discs, those rare animals, are put together by focus groups, this Classic Recital disc — a painstakingly exact duplicate of LP issues — endeavors to show off the unique abilities of this artist. So less well-known arias are included with favorites and gold nuggets appear, like Del Monaco's performance of an aria from Giordano's Fedora.

This is truly a disc for the collector — and for the opera lover.

—Ronald Gregory

Contents

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Verdi: Forse la soglia attinse … Ma se m'è forza perderti (Un ballo in maschera); Mercè, diletti amici … Come rugiada al cespite (Ernani); Giordano: Amor ti vieta (Fedora); Zandonai: Giulietta, son io (Romeo & Juliet); Puccini: Addio, fiorito asil (Madama Butterfly); Massenet: Ah! tout est bien fini … O souverain! O juge! O père! (Le Cid); Bizet: La fleur que tu m'avais jetée (Carmen); Meyerbeer: Mi batte il cor … O paradiso (L'africana); Catalani: M'hai salvato … O come furon lunghi (La Wally); Quando a Sölden (La Wally); Donizetti: Tombe degli avi miei … Fra poco a me ricovero (Lucia di Lammermoor); Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali (Lucia di Lammermoor).

Mario del Monaco, Tenor; The New Symphony Orchestra of London; Alberto Erede, Conductor.