Just for the Record: The Golden Voice

Read About This Recording

Few singers have dominated the American opera scene with the longevity and consistency of the great mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, and this 2-CD collection clearly demonstrates why this diva is beloved by audiences and colleagues alike.

Every number in this extensive collection of 32 arias and songs shows Ms. Horne at her absolute best. The variety of styles, textures and sounds represented here is simply astounding.

The first disc opens with an absolute hit: the Habanera from Bizet's Carmen. Few singers I have ever heard imbue this aria with the nuanced passion and heat that Ms. Horne brings to it. The first disc touches on many of her signature roles and includes music by Saint-Saens, Rossini, Handel, Gluck, Meyerbeer and Thomas. These are roles Ms. Horne owned and every aria is a treasure.

The second disc includes many lesser-known arias by the likes of Lampugnani, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi and Ponchielli. These arias demonstrate the amazing flexibility and awesome power of this truly legendary voice. Of equal import, however, are the songs by Schubert, Wagner, Copland and Bernstein. But my absolute favorite is Ms. Horne's tender interpretation of Stephen Foster's Jeannie with the light brown hair. It is simply amazing, as is this great American artist.

-Jacob Anthony

Quotes

May be the most influential singer in American history. -Opera News

Contents

Bizet's Carmen: L'amour est un oiseau rebelle (Habanera); Saint-Saens' Samson et Dalila: Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix; Rossini's Semiramide: Eccomi al fine in Babilonia; L'italiana in Alegeri: Cruda sorte!; La donna del lago: Mura felici; Tanti affetti; Handel's Semele: Hence, Iris, hence away; Rodelinda: Dove sei, amato bene?; Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice: Che disse! che ascoltai!; Addio, addio o miei sospiri; Meyerbeer's Le prophete: O Pretres de Baal...O toi, qui m'abandonne; Thomas' Mignon: Elle est la! Pres de lui!; Giovanni Lampugnani's Meraspe: Superbo di me stesso; Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia: Il segreto per esser felici; Bellini's Norma: Mi chiami, o Norma!; Deh! con te, con te li prendi; Mira, o Norma; Si, fino all'ore estreme; Verdi's Il Trovatore: Soli or siamo ... Condotta ell'era in ceppi; Non son tuo figlio?; Mal reggendo; Ponchielli's La Gioconda: E un anatema!; Schubert: Nacht und Traume, D827; R. Schumann: Abendlied; Richard Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder: Traume; Joaquin Nin: Jesus de Nazareth; Traditional: Shenandoah; Aaron Copland's Old American Songs Set 1 - Voice and Small Orchestra (1954): I bought me a cat; At the River; Albert Hay Malotte: The Lord's Prayer; Bernstein's West Side Story: Somewhere; S. Foster: Jeannie with the light brown hair.

Marilyn Horne, Mezzo-Soprano; Joan Sutherland, Renata Tebaldi, Sopranos; Luciano Pavarotti, Wynford Evans, Tenors; Martin Katz, Piano; Osian Ellis, Harp; The Manhattan Opera Chorus; Ambrosian Opera Chorus; London Symphony Chorus; Metropolitan Opera House Orch. & Chorus; Orchestra & Chorus of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Roma; Vienna Opera Orchestra; Royal Opera House Orchestra; The New Symphony Orchestra of London; Vienna Cantata Orchestra; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; The London Symphony Orchestra; National Philharmonic Orchestra; English Chamber Orchestra; Leonard Bernstein Orchestra; John Mauceri, John McCarthy, Chorusmasters; Leonard Bernstein, Henry Lewis, Richard Bonynge, Sir Georg Solti, Lamberto Gardelli, Carl Davis, Conductors.