Pearl Fishers and Other Famous Operatic Duets. Naxos 8.555797.
- Composer(s): Bizet, Georges; Delibes, Leo; Donizetti, Gaetano; Puccini, Giacomo; Rossini, Gioachino; Verdi, Giuseppe
- Conductor: Will Humburg, Alexander Rahbari, Johannes Wildner
- Orchestra(s): Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra, Budapest Failoni Chamber Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
- Choir(s): Hungarian Radio Chorus, Slovak Philharmonic Chorus
- Artist(s): Aragall, Giacomo; Gauci, Miriam; Kaludov, Kaludi; Kohutkova, Adriana; Krause, Monika; Lamberti, Giorgio; Lotric, Janez; Miricioiu, Nelly; Morozov, Igor; Orgonasova, Luba; Previati, Fabio; Ramiro, Yordy; Servile, Roberto; Slepkovska, Denisa; Tumagian, Eduard; Vargas, Ramon; Welch, Jonathan
This recording brings together some of the best-loved and most popular duets in the French and Italian operatic repertoire. The selection takes in music by some of the great Italian masters of opera, including Verdi, Puccini and Donizetti, as well as Georges Bizet, whose 1863 opera Les pêcheurs de perles gives the collection its title. Also included here is Léo Delibes’ Flower Duet from the opera Lakmé, a work that has become instantly recognisable through its use in TV commercials and Hollywood blockbusters such as True Romance and Someone To Watch Over Me.
Review
"A generous, well selected collection of operatic highlights capably sung and excellently recorded … A collection such as this is an impressive showcase of the Naxos operatic catalogue…these are all from recent Naxos recordings and all are at least very good. The music is well known, and this collection would be a good opera recording for a person with slight interest in opera, or just beginning a collection and wanting a good run through the highlights to serve until the complete operas could be obtained one by one. Throughout, the recording quality, orchestras, and conducting are first rate and often the equal of the finest orchestras in the world.
The real star of the collection is the opening number, the Pearl Fishers' duet. Not only one of the most substantial musically, it's very well sung and played, and is not heard nearly often enough.
Another high point for me is the Mimi of Luba Orgonasova, one of the great voices and great dramatic actresses of our time!Xalthough with a work played so often as Boheme, everyone will have a favourite recorded version chosen from among so many available. Miriam Gauci in the Manon Lescaut excerpt is also outstanding." MusicWeb International