Author: James Sohre

The “2” in this disc’s title indicates that this is the second Chandos recital for Sir Thomas Allen.

EMI owns this recording, so if pride dictates they repackage it in the “Great Recordings of the Century” series, a dissenter shouldn’t moralize.

Both these performances come from mid-2005. Teatro Regio di Parma presented the Ernani in May of that year; August saw I Capuletti e I Montecchi on stage at the Festival della Valle d’Itria di Martina Franca.

Countless must be the number of true opera fans who have heard well-meaning acquaintances say, “Oh I just love opera! Especially Phantom of the Opera.”

A few years ago EMI released a recording of Wagner duets with Placido Domingo and Deborah Voigt.

While the tributes and retrospectives continue to appear for the late Luciano Pavarotti, his sometime-colleague (if not rival) Pl·cido Domingo maintains a top-rank career, even including a contract with Deutsche Grammophon for new studio work.

Gala may be a budget label, but more opera sets of vintage live performances deserve a booklet essay as concise yet comprehensive, critically honest and yet fair, as Andrew Palmer’s for this set, which preserves a 1980 performance of Richard Strauss and Joseph Grigor’s Die Liebe der Danae.

Last year saw Cecilia Bartoli’s recording dedicated to the memory, and repertoire, of the early 19th century singer Maria Malibran, “Maria.”

There may be no name more famous in the world of film music than that of Bernard Herrmann. William Perry, however, is a name unlikely to set off many bells.