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 sounds like a reincarnation of Enrico Caruso and Antonio Scotti 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 out which opera recordings to go for in the future.
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