The Most Famous Opera Duets Reviews

• Fantastic Selection at a Great Price

  
  By ABZL888CCRL2A on 2003-06-12
  When it comes to opera artists, my motto is "The more Gedda, the bettah." You get a substantial amount of him at his best on this CD, which has a lot of great duets from a variety of operas. You have one of the most beautiful duets ever in my opinion as the first track on the CD(Bizet's aria about two friends in love with the same woman, "Au Fond du Temple Saint" from Les Pecheurs des Perles); this recording with Nicolai Gedda singing the tenor part of Nadir is the best one could ask for.

  The rest of the best include "Bei Mannern, welche Liebe" from Mozart's Die Zauberflote(a beautiful ode to the connection between men and women), and (not surprisingly), "O mimi, tu piu non torni" with Gedda and Sereni from La Boheme.

  Other notable arias include a nice recording of the famous "Sull'aria," from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and an above par recording with Victoria de los Angeles and Carlo de Monte of "Un di, felici, eterea" from Verdi's La Traviata.

  This would be a great CD to start an opera collection. Enjoy.
  
  

• You can't go wrong with this CD

  
  By A1IU7S4HCK1XK0 on 2003-04-17
  I got this very reasonably priced cd just to have my favorite duets such as "Au Fond du Temple Saint" and "The Flower Duet. If you have friends who are just starting to like classical opera, this is a terrific little gift. Almost everyone melts at the sound of these duets. And it's convenient to have so many on one CD. A real winner.
  
  

• A wonderful introduction

  
  By on 2001-08-20
  I bought this CD because wanted the "Lakme" duet that I heard in a movie. Little did I know the rest of the music would blow me away. This is an excellent intro to opera for people like myself that have never really been "into" opera. The selections are short, just a taste, and the price is unbelievable. I highly recommend this selection to anyone who wants to get their feet wet.
  
  

• A Must Have!

  
  By A1MHXXQCO56IJO on 2000-05-17
  This is one of the best Opera Duet CDs you'll ever find. If you find it, get it quickly. The price is amazing. Whoever compiled it should have had tons of bonuses.
  
  

• Excellent Selection of Opera Duets

  
  By A2WS0EKOZGXW5A on 2005-03-15
  This CD contains some well known, and some not so well known duets from varios operas. Ernest Blanc and Nicolai Gedda perform the Temple Duet from The Pearl Fishers beautifully, since they have perfect voices for the French opera repertoire. Carlo Bergonzi and Renata Scotto sound like impassioned lovers in Vogliatemi Bene, Un Bene Piccolino, from Madama Butterfly. Sull'aria is sung beautifully by Judith Blegen and Heather Harper, since they both have the light voices required for Le Nozze di Figaro. Other great couples include Carlo del Monte and Victoria de los Angeles, Leontyne Price and Franco Bonisolli, Nicolai Gedda and Mario Sereni, Graziella Sciutti and Eberhard Wachter, Christa Ludwig and Teresa Stich-Randall, Nicolai Gedda (yet again) and Reri Girst, Mady Mesple and Danielle Millet, Wolfgang Brendel and Lucia Popp, Nicolai Gedda and Janine Micheau, Helga Dernesch and Jon Vickers, and Alfredo Kraus and Edita Gruberova. All the singers on this CD are first-class performers.
  
  
  
• Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!
  By A26SPAD93IGOB8 on 2004-09-24
  I loved this recording! All the arias - very well known even to the most unsophisticated opera lover (like me) - are beautifully performed, and you certainly cannot beat the price. Please, if you want my advice, do not hesitate to purchase this CD and its companion of Duets to add to your collection. The very first selection is the duet from "The Pearl Fishers" - breathtakingly wonderful!
  
  
• Very good album
  By on 2000-03-30
  At this bargain price, I found this CD surpringly good. The selections are from many first-rated albums from EMI. Most of them such as duets from "Le Nozze di Figaro", "Der Rosenkavalier" and "Madama Butterfly" are very good indeed. However, Gedda is the real star of this album. His duets from "The Pearl Fisher" and "Carmen" are among the best on recordings. The only complaint here is a duet from "Lucia di Lammemoor". The tempo is so funereal. Alfredo Krause sounds very aged and tired. Gruberova is not at her best. It could have been better with Callas and di Stefano.
  
  
• A Blissful Collection of Arias
  By A3CSZ9WKGG31OL on 2004-04-13
  As an avid opera fan, I was thrilled to find this CD. The duets are beautifully arranged and the sound is superb. I love to listen to this CD on a lazy afternoon, while laying in my bed. This music simply takes me away into my own little dreamworld. I also love the idea that there are 14 songs on this CD, which is great for the price. So sit back. Have a nice cup of tea and enjoy the opera.
  
  
• Fantastic value for the money for opera beginners.
  By AIOERTNI4JWWI on 1998-10-06
  very beautiful opera duets at a price that cannot be beat. first three tracks set the tone, very stirring music. silly looking cover.
  
  
• Great Value!
  By A7S1SOBLGQU9Z on 2002-01-10
  I actually bought this CD for one track (one of the duets from The Marriage of Figaro), but I was impressed by the other offerings. Opera fans will probably enjoy this disc.
  
  
• first class
  By A23UM9GB9J5HEQ on 2004-08-04
  The selections are all first class, and the price is unbelievable. I highly recommend this selection to anyone who wants to get their feet wet with Opera as well as to anyone else. Barenboim is solid, musical, and the singers are all outstanding. The recording quality is also first class. Hard to understand how they managed to create such a good disc for such a low price. It only shows that one does not nneed to pay a high price for quality on CDs after all.
  
  
• This disc is a JOY to hear
  By A27Y0TQ3GIT4HC on 2005-08-26
  I have grown to love this CD. The mix of duets is superb. The singers are so well matched and give effortless performances. Some are well known and others not but the results together are incredibly beautiful. I can't imagine hearing a Tristan and Isolde any better than Jon Vickers and Helga Dernesch. I listen to that track alone over and over. If you want to relax with great opera and no shrieking this is the disc you want. I would pay a lot more than retail price to have this wonderful CD in my collection.
  
  
• A fine portfolio of operatic duets!
  By AQQLWCMRNDFGI on 2008-06-07
  Maybe these don't represent absolutely the greatest duets in all opera. But they represent some awfully good ones! The CD begins with a duet from "Les Pecheurs des Perles" (Puccini) and ends with the gloomy Miserere (from "Il Trovatore," by Verdi). In between are many more operas, from Donizetti and Mozart to Strauss and Wagner. Some of the finer singers of the past half century appear in various of these duets.
  
  A bit more detail on a handful of these to illustrate.
  
  "Sull'aria" from Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro." Heather Harper and Judith Blegen sing the parts here. This is a sweet duet from the opera. The singer's voices meld well together and this represents a poignantly sung piece.
  
  "Ah! Verrana a tell sull'aure," from Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor." Alfredo Kraus and Edita Gruberova sing this lively duet, playing the roles of Edgardo and Lucia. Gruberova's voice is fresh here, as is Kraus', although there are a few rough moments in his singing. Still and all, though, he sings well.
  
  "Viens Mallika" from Delibes' "Lakme." Whenever I hear this beautiful duet, I can't get the Catherine Deneuve movie, "The Hunger," out of my mind (it was a theme throughout that movie!). Mady Mesple plays Lakme and Danielle Millet sings the part of Mallika. This duet, to me, has a hypnotic sound to it that I find irresistible. It's a theme that one cannot get out of one's mind!
  
  In "La ci darem la mano," we see Don Giovanni (sung by the redoubtable Eberhard Wachter) put his moves on the young woman Zerlina (sung by Graziella Sciutti). This is a luscious duet. In the end, Don Giovanni's lecherous efforts go singularly unrewarded. There is a wonderful intertwining of voices in this duet.
  
  Finally, from Puccini's "La Boheme," the poignant 4th Act duet between Rodolfo (sung by the wonderful tenor Nicolai Gedda) and Marcello (sung by Mario Sereni). They are bemoaning the fact that each has seen his love leave, and the loss is central to their duet. Well performed by both. As I recall, this cut is from the highlights version of "La Boheme" that I bought (in vinyl, of course) 40 years ago when I was an undergraduate at Bradley University. So, a personal favorite. Gedda remains one of my favorite Rodolfos.
  
  So, if you like opera and enjoy duets, this CD will give you a most pleasant evening, listening to some nice works.
  
  
  
• I love this cd
  By A18LSGBLKTCRJG on 1998-11-29
  I bought tis album because it looked like a bargain and it exceeded all my expectations. I was a complete novice in listening to opera at the time but I have bought the same Der Rosenkavalier from which this cd has a cut.
  
  
• A wonderful Collection
  By on 2003-12-05
  This is a wonderful collection of duets. It has been said that not all of them are that famous, well, that is simply not so. They are all famous since the operas featured are all extremely well known and part of the standard repetoire of all opera houses, and perenial favorites in small opera companies because they draw the crowds. So, don't be deceived by the official Amazon review that gives the impression there are duets that are new and relatively unknown. You won't be getting anything you have not heard before, or that you are not familiar with.

  The recordings are all wonderful, and of course, are exerpts from complete recordings. If you find that you enjoyed these renditions (not all of them are the best representation of the opera from which they come, but they are all exceptional in quality) and are not familiar with the operas, go out and listen to them, you may be surprised with the quality of the music you expose yourself to. For those of us who have been listening to opera for a long time, make sure you don't have all this in our collection. If you buy it just reading the title, you may be frustrated discovering it is once again everything you already have, and in probably more than one rendition.
  
  

• A great introduction to great music
  By A1MCJDSTUSFZ36 on 2005-08-03
  Everytime I play this CD, people ask me where I got it. I purchased copies for my daughter's preschool and her elementary school teachers for use in their classes. It doesn't matter if you are a novice or seasoned opera veteran, everyone loves this collection. Regardless of who your favorite composer is, you will find strong representation of their work. Personally, I think there are better duets to represent Wagner than "O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe", such as "Im Valhall" (Die Walkure) but that is the only my opion. It truly has some great music and for this price how can you possibly go wrong?
  
  
• Great value for the money
  By A1PP5S26HRWYZT on 2006-04-02
  This is literally the CD that sparked my love for opera. The duet from "The Pearl Fishers" is just stunning. I'm buying another copy of this because my husband accidentally tossed the old one along with our old (nonfunctional) CD player. Can't do without this CD!
  
  
• The closest thing
  By A38CWYMS5XW6NS on 2006-08-06
  This is a marvelous CD, especially the Pearl Fisher's duet with Gedda and Blanc. I would rank that performance second all time, just below the
  forever unforgettable Bjoerling/Merrill version. Worth the price just for that selection, and all the rest is top rate as well.
  
  
• Good selection of opera highlights
  By A3UO203L6J5J7R on 2006-11-03
  Super performances by famous opera artists of the 20th century, most of them no longer performing and some of them deceased. I enjoy having their voices available at home.
  
  
• Most Famous???
  By A3CY2SLN895WC8 on 2007-05-14
  The title of this cd is misleading and I found myself wondering whose list did they use. That is not to say that there aren't some real treasures included here. The duet from Lakme is lovely in every way, Mady Mesple in particular, very beautful and very french, and far superior to Sutherlands hooty approach. Scotto and Bergonzi are superb, the Tristan and Isolde of Vickers and Dernesch truly other worldly, and the presentation of the rose duet with the young Ludwig and the astonishing Teresa Stich- Randell had me playing it over and over and I still can't believe it, but the most famous??? This cd is definitly worth buying, and I hated giving it only 3 stars but if you're talking most famous you could fill a couple of cd's with Puccini, not to mention Verdi, Mozart, etc. before Bizet's Les Pecheurs des perles, beautiful as it is, made the most famous list.
  
  
• Great music
  By A15JAF3B8KEP3M on 2005-09-08
  The sound quality is very good. The selection of duets is
  very enjoyable.
  
  
• Buy This Recording
  By A2TE0D1K28Z695 on 2005-12-14
  Great artists, performing at the top of their game. This recording is a prize.
  
  
• Decent collection
  By AXTU049BNNK5F on 2008-01-17
  I bought this for a friend who didn't have an opera collection, and it fulfilled that purpose, and was an unusual set of duets, very different in style from one another. The price was certainly right. That said, potential buyers should be aware that most of these recordings are of the "historic" variety, and therefore perhaps not as refined in terms of sound quality as one might want. Since listeners who enjoy historic recordings would likely already have the original, complete operas in question, I'm not sure what benefit would be gained in owning mere excerpts. Several of the selections, especially the "Tristan" duet, were so soft the volume had to be really cranked up to hear. But many others are sure to please, especially the "Pearl Fishers" and "Don Giovanni", which are fine. So, bottom line is: if you really care about your opera, get the full recordings, but if your goal is "highlights", this is probably as good as many others.
  
  
• Great Music at a Great Price!
  By A2S5OO4OMFBCVM on 2001-04-21
  I've been very happy with the selections and overall quality of this disk.
  
  
• Opera Duets
  By AXGL9VLN1W798 on 2006-01-12
  This is a wonderful compilation CD of some of opera's most beautiful duets. I particularly enjoyed the duet from Der Rosenkavalier with Christa Ludwig and Teresa Stich-Randall and the Wagner Duet with Jon Vickers and Helga Dernesch. This is a great CD to just plug in the stereo and listen to while you're working.
  
  
• The Most Famous Opera Duets
  By A21JMME9CJCU01 on 2007-01-05
  This seller truly makes a purchaser confident in the product as well the time in which is promised.
  
  Thanks again!!!!!
  
  
• Beautiful duets...
  By AXUIF0S50CXLS on 2008-02-18
  This CD is really awesome. I'm new to opera, but love the music on this CD. I use opera music in my CD clock radio (Timex from Amazon) to fall asleep to. What a way to fade into dreamland.
  
  
• A delight!
  By A191U44PTU82NK on 2006-01-31
  A wonderful intro to opera for the novice. Stunningly beautiful duets. However, there is a problem with the sound quality on a couple of tracks. But for the price, one can not complain
  
  
• The Most Famous Opera Duets
  By A693C969Z7BVW on 2006-06-26
  The quality of the recording is good. The variety of artists used is good
  
  
• Only one song knew well
  By A38YEVH6F6YGGX on 2007-05-14
  I should have done more research. The last song is the only one I could easily recognize. Live and learn.
  
  

• The Most Famous Opera Arias
• The Best of Italian Opera
• The #1 Opera Album
• Nessun Dorma ~ 20 Great Tenor Arias / Pavarotti, Carreras, Domingo, Bergonzi, Aragall, Björling, Di Stefano, Kollo, Corelli, Del Monaco...
• Rapture: Opera's Most Heavenly Moments