CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

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Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana

Search: Hai
from: Belart

Release Date June 28, 1999
This has long been my favourite studio recording of "Cavalleria" although it rarely gets a mention by the critics. You could not find three more grand, passionate and italianate voices than those of Simionato, Del Monaco and Cornell MacNeil, all in their prime in 1961, under the baton of the greatest post-war Italian opera conductor, Tullio Serafin. This is as authentic a performance as you could hope to encounter. There are plenty of other excellent recordings of this opera, including Serafin's earlier version with Callas and Di Stefano, Karajan's with Cossotto and Bergonzi, and Erede's 1957 set with the dream team of Tebaldi, Bjorling and Bastianini - all feature wonderful singing with Italian orchestras and casts, but I find myself coming ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

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Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana

Search: Hai
by: Andrea Bocelli Paoletta Marrocu Stefano Antonucci Chorus of the Teatro Massimo Bellini, Catania Orchestra of the Teatro Massimo Bellini, Catania Steven Mercurio

Release Date March 19, 2007
This has long been my favourite studio recording of "Cavalleria" although it rarely gets a mention by the critics. You could not find three more grand, passionate and italianate voices than those of Simionato, Del Monaco and Cornell MacNeil, all in their prime in 1961, under the baton of the greatest post-war Italian opera conductor, Tullio Serafin. This is as authentic a performance as you could hope to encounter. There are plenty of other excellent recordings of this opera, including Serafin's earlier version with Callas and Di Stefano, Karajan's with Cossotto and Bergonzi, and Erede's 1957 set with the dream team of Tebaldi, Bjorling and Bastianini - all feature wonderful singing with Italian orchestras and casts, but I find myself coming ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

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Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro

Search: Hai
from: DG

Release Date November 18, 1999
This has long been my favourite studio recording of "Cavalleria" although it rarely gets a mention by the critics. You could not find three more grand, passionate and italianate voices than those of Simionato, Del Monaco and Cornell MacNeil, all in their prime in 1961, under the baton of the greatest post-war Italian opera conductor, Tullio Serafin. This is as authentic a performance as you could hope to encounter. There are plenty of other excellent recordings of this opera, including Serafin's earlier version with Callas and Di Stefano, Karajan's with Cossotto and Bergonzi, and Erede's 1957 set with the dream team of Tebaldi, Bjorling and Bastianini - all feature wonderful singing with Italian orchestras and casts, but I find myself coming ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

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Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro

Search: Hai
from: Archive Produktion

Release Date July 05, 1994
This has long been my favourite studio recording of "Cavalleria" although it rarely gets a mention by the critics. You could not find three more grand, passionate and italianate voices than those of Simionato, Del Monaco and Cornell MacNeil, all in their prime in 1961, under the baton of the greatest post-war Italian opera conductor, Tullio Serafin. This is as authentic a performance as you could hope to encounter. There are plenty of other excellent recordings of this opera, including Serafin's earlier version with Callas and Di Stefano, Karajan's with Cossotto and Bergonzi, and Erede's 1957 set with the dream team of Tebaldi, Bjorling and Bastianini - all feature wonderful singing with Italian orchestras and casts, but I find myself coming ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

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Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro

Search: Hai
from: The Originals

Release Date October 14, 1996
To my ears, this is the best recording of Le Nozze di Figaro.
Boehm's pacing is, as ever in Mozart, immaculate.
Prey as Figaro is ideally weighty and not too funny(why should Figaro be funny with his suspicions?), Fischer-Dieskau is as refined as one would expect but he's also scheming and villainous and the two tenors are excellent in their roles.
The Marzelline sounds just the right age - not an old matron or a young girl - and has the perfect degree of hardness in the voice. Mathis' Susanna is charming, witty and romantic and Troyanos is passionate and confused as Cherubino.
The star here, though, is definitely Janowitz as the Contessa - her voice is so beautiful (and ideal for Mozart and Richard Strauss) it defies description ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

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Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro

Search: Hai
by: Anna Netrebko Dorothea Röschmann Bo Skovhus Ildebrando d' Arcangelo Wiener Philharmoniker Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Release Date June 11, 2007
To my ears, this is the best recording of Le Nozze di Figaro.
Boehm's pacing is, as ever in Mozart, immaculate.
Prey as Figaro is ideally weighty and not too funny(why should Figaro be funny with his suspicions?), Fischer-Dieskau is as refined as one would expect but he's also scheming and villainous and the two tenors are excellent in their roles.
The Marzelline sounds just the right age - not an old matron or a young girl - and has the perfect degree of hardness in the voice. Mathis' Susanna is charming, witty and romantic and Troyanos is passionate and confused as Cherubino.
The star here, though, is definitely Janowitz as the Contessa - her voice is so beautiful (and ideal for Mozart and Richard Strauss) it defies description ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

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Mozart: Complete Edition Box 15: Late Italian Operas (11 CDs)

Search: Hai
by: Various Artists

Release Date October 17, 2005
To my ears, this is the best recording of Le Nozze di Figaro.
Boehm's pacing is, as ever in Mozart, immaculate.
Prey as Figaro is ideally weighty and not too funny(why should Figaro be funny with his suspicions?), Fischer-Dieskau is as refined as one would expect but he's also scheming and villainous and the two tenors are excellent in their roles.
The Marzelline sounds just the right age - not an old matron or a young girl - and has the perfect degree of hardness in the voice. Mathis' Susanna is charming, witty and romantic and Troyanos is passionate and confused as Cherubino.
The star here, though, is definitely Janowitz as the Contessa - her voice is so beautiful (and ideal for Mozart and Richard Strauss) it defies description ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

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Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci

Search: Hai
by: Andrea Bocelli Ana Maria Martinez Stefano Antonucci Chorus of the Teatro Massimo Bellini, Catania, Catania Orchestra of the Teatro Massimo Bellini

Release Date March 19, 2007
To my ears, this is the best recording of Le Nozze di Figaro.
Boehm's pacing is, as ever in Mozart, immaculate.
Prey as Figaro is ideally weighty and not too funny(why should Figaro be funny with his suspicions?), Fischer-Dieskau is as refined as one would expect but he's also scheming and villainous and the two tenors are excellent in their roles.
The Marzelline sounds just the right age - not an old matron or a young girl - and has the perfect degree of hardness in the voice. Mathis' Susanna is charming, witty and romantic and Troyanos is passionate and confused as Cherubino.
The star here, though, is definitely Janowitz as the Contessa - her voice is so beautiful (and ideal for Mozart and Richard Strauss) it defies description ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

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Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci

Search: Hai
from: Philips

Release Date November 02, 1999
To my ears, this is the best recording of Le Nozze di Figaro.
Boehm's pacing is, as ever in Mozart, immaculate.
Prey as Figaro is ideally weighty and not too funny(why should Figaro be funny with his suspicions?), Fischer-Dieskau is as refined as one would expect but he's also scheming and villainous and the two tenors are excellent in their roles.
The Marzelline sounds just the right age - not an old matron or a young girl - and has the perfect degree of hardness in the voice. Mathis' Susanna is charming, witty and romantic and Troyanos is passionate and confused as Cherubino.
The star here, though, is definitely Janowitz as the Contessa - her voice is so beautiful (and ideal for Mozart and Richard Strauss) it defies description ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

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Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci

Search: Hai
by: Barbara Frittoli José Cura Carlos Alvarez Netherlands Radio Chorus National Kinderkoor Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Riccardo Chailly

Release Date May 16, 2005
To my ears, this is the best recording of Le Nozze di Figaro.
Boehm's pacing is, as ever in Mozart, immaculate.
Prey as Figaro is ideally weighty and not too funny(why should Figaro be funny with his suspicions?), Fischer-Dieskau is as refined as one would expect but he's also scheming and villainous and the two tenors are excellent in their roles.
The Marzelline sounds just the right age - not an old matron or a young girl - and has the perfect degree of hardness in the voice. Mathis' Susanna is charming, witty and romantic and Troyanos is passionate and confused as Cherubino.
The star here, though, is definitely Janowitz as the Contessa - her voice is so beautiful (and ideal for Mozart and Richard Strauss) it defies description ... Read More: