Classical > Chamber Classical > Chabrier, (Alexis-)Emmanuel > Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

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

Advantages: Two perfect leads terrific sound and a beautiful orchestra
Disadvantages: none

This recording relights a passion for Puccini, and Italian opera in general, that I have not felt since I was much younger and heard the Callas/de Sabata Tosca for the first time. Like that recording, this recording is the definitive benchmark recording for this opera. Tebaldi and Del Monaco are in their element - one of the great 20th Century couples in full flight; Tebaldi's tone is rounder and more brilliant than any other Minnie while creating ...
...This is Del Monaco's finest studio recording even better than his Otello, his voice sounds less nasal than many of his recordings in the 1960s whilst not so heavy and unsmiling as some of his earlier records which altough showing off a remarkable voice have only two apparent dynamics - loud and louder. The sound here is very good - I would rate this, beside Culshaw's Aida with Karajan, as one of the best sounding opera recordings in terms of conveying ... Read review