Classical > Orchestral Classical > Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich > Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra > 10 GBP to 15 GBP

Advantages: Great passion, beautiful melodies, unrestrained romanticism
Disadvantages: The finale doesn't quite convince in it's purpose

HAPPINESS, OR TRAGEDY? After the doom-laden confessional that was the Fourth Symphony, Tchaikovsky was finally getting more in peace with himself. His fame began to spread and by 1885 he was already considered a national hero. This time saw the maturation of Tchaikovsky's style from the more blatantly folk-song oriented works and the more youthfully turbulent ideas to a more mainstream and calmer drift. Following the Fourth Symphony came the Violin ...
...(composed during his bright stay at Italy) and 1812 (with the famous cannon-fire finale), the subtle String Serenade, the elegiac Piano Trio, a couple of small operas, and the large scale Manfred Symphony, amid some smaller scale works, all predominately genial in character. In 1888, after getting over his fear of conducting, he began a tour of Europe and the US with the purpose of promoting his works. To this purpose came about the need for a new ... Read review

Advantages: Domingo and Bruson are excellent
Disadvantages: Scotto is sometimes very bad indeed

***Please note there are different versions of this performance available one through Classics for Pleasure at Emi and Emi classics with this one not having a libretto and perhaps (not sure on this one) even different remastering dates - might be worth checking the website of Emi just to be sure - i always go with the one with the libretto but if it is down to the price, the Classics for pleasure is nearly always cheaper *** I am going to compare ...
...and probably appeal to the same market. This recording with Renata Scotto, Placido Domingo and Renato Bruson and another Tosca recording with [what looks like on paper] a stellar cast - the remarkable Davis set with Carreras and Caballe. Scotto proves to be a more dramatic Tosca than Caballe, but Caballe sounds somewhat fresher. Scotto would have been terrific about three or four years earlier - she started singing Bellini's opera Norma as well as ... Read review

Advantages: Caballe and Carreras are excellent
Disadvantages: Wixell not the best

I am going to compare some performances of Tosca which retail around the same price and probably appeal to the same market. The recording with Renata Scotto, Placido Domingo and Renato Bruson and another Tosca recording with [what looks like on paper] a stellar cast - the remarkable Davis set with Carreras and Caballe. Scotto proves to be a more dramatic Tosca than Caballe, but Caballe sounds somewhat fresher. Just before this recording Caballe sang ...
...in a production originally meant for Maria Callas who should have returned to the stage after 8-9 years since her last live performance as Tosca at Covent Garden. That did not work out but the performances went ahead with Caballe who was more than equal to the role as a divaesque Tosca. Arguably the comparison with Scotto or Callas is not really useful in that Caballe is a very different Tosca to Scotto and Callas. Caballe is less dramatic as Tosca ... Read review

Advantages: Domingo and Bruson are fine with lively conducting from Levine
Disadvantages: Scotto is rather shrieky and worn a lot of the time, in my opinion

Renata Scotto is not very good in this performance as it comes rather late in her career. When she sings quietly she is superb but more often than not her voice becomes hard and wobbly and this influences her performance - we can imagine what she would be like only a few years earlier. Her vissi d'arte is succesful however, thanks to the quiet shadings. Digital Tosca recordings are rather lacking in classy, strong voiced protagonists - Mirella Freni ...
...but she is rather old by the time of the sinopoli recording. Kiri te Kanwa is a beautiful singer but she is not equal to the part which is unfortunate as Giacomo Aragall is probably my favourite Cavaradossi. Talking of Cavaradossi, Domingo is very good here although the perforamance is not as strong as earlier with Mehta and because the accoustic is warmer and the conducting is more inspired he is actually in better form with the later recording ... Read review

Advantages: Golden-age singers in great sound and a good variety of performances
Disadvantages: None

I listen to this CD an awful lot and I am very happy with it. The mixture of French and Italian opera here is excellent. Some of the very best opera singers DECCA have ever had are here, Sutherland, Pavarotti (a lot of Pavarotti), Carreras (rather strained but potent beside Kiri te Kanawa in 1987), Caballe, Freni, Bergonzi all star. Particularly impressive is the duet with Mario del Monaco and Ettore Bastianini from La Forza del Destino which is ...
...but in terrific stereo sound (it is amazing that the recording, the oldest selection on this cd, is from over 50 years ago you simply couldnt tell from the sound. The quality of the stereo is good amongst all the extracts, even the only live performance, Pavarotti and Kiri Te Kanawa in Otello from 1991 with Georg Solti, is free from much background noise. A lot of good singing is brought together here and this proves a invaluable resource for finding ... Read review