Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Performer: Freddie Jones, Jeremy Siepmann
Number of Discs: 4
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Catalogue: 8558111-4
Release: 2002
Size: 873 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
CD 01
01. Aida:Grand March and Triumphal Chorus
02. La Traviata : Brindisi ‘ Libiam ne’ lieti calici”
03. Early manhood, civil strife, and the start of a career
04. Overture to ‘Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio’
05. Tragedy, creation, and the birth of a true professional
06. Overture to ‘Un giorno di regno’
07. Failure, despair, and rescue : the genesis o Nabucco
08. Nabucco: Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves ‘Va, pensiero, sull’ali dorate’
09. A sensation reported and recalled
10. Overture to ‘Nabucco’
11. Into the galleys: fame. frustration, and A Major surprise
12. Macbeth : Chorus of the Scottish Exiles ‘Patria oppressa!”
13. The revolution of Macbeth and a return to safer ground
14. Overture to ‘I masnadieri’
15. Paris and a love affair
16. The revolutions of 1848
17. Overture to ‘La battaglia di Legnano’
CD 02
01. Composition and censorship: the strife-torn birth of Rigoletto
02. Rigoletto : ‘La donna e mobile’
03. Verdi the unsurpassed psychologist
04. Rigoletto: ‘Bella figlia dell’amore’
05. Strepponi, Busseto, and the rift with Barezzi
06. Escape : Verdi and Strepponi at Sant’ Agata
07. Il Trovatore : Soldiers’ Chorus ‘Or co’dadi, ma fra poco’
08. ‘The Bear of Busseto’ emerges : the darker side of Verdi
09. Il Trovatore : ‘Di tale amor che dirsi’
10. Verdi’s divorce’ from his parents;his mother’s death, and a theatrical fiasco
11. La Traviata: ‘Dite alla giovine’
12. Verdi and Women: Strepponi and the ‘Dark Lady’
13. ‘La Travailata’: Verdi’s trials at the Paris Opera
14. I vespri siciliani : ‘ Quando al mio sen per te parlava’
15. Verdi in rehearsal – and a review from Berlioz
16. Overture to ‘I vespri siciliani’
CD 03
01. Yet more trouble with the censors
02. Un ballo in maschera: ‘Ma se m’e forza perderti’
03. A passionate patriot, a reluctant politician
04. A semi-official retirement, nursed by disenchantment
05. Verdi welcomes war
06. He travels to Paris for Don Carols
07. Don Carols: ‘Tu che la vanita’
08. Stupendous triumph
09. Verdi shaken by deaths of his father, Barezzi, and Rossini
10. He meets Manzoni
11. An unusual opera
12. La forza del destino:’Solenne in quest’ora’
13. Enter Teresa Stolz, exit Mariani
14. La forza del destino: ‘Pace, pace’
15. Strepponi struggles with jealousy as Verdi writes Aida
16. Aida: Act III, Nile Scene
CD 04
01. Verdi bemoans the corruption of the operatic world
02. Manzoni’s death begets a masterpiece
03. Requiem: ‘Rex tremendae’
04. The return to Shakespeare
05. Otello: ‘Canzone del salce – Ave Maria’
06. Verdi the Wagner of Italy
07. Otello: ‘Desdemona rea, si, per ciel’
08. A Shakespearian swansong
09. Falstaff : Finale ‘Ogni sorta di gente; Facciamo il parentado’
10. Old age and the death of Strepponi
11. Verdi the widower
12. Stolz and the aged Verdi; a visit from Toscanini
13. Te Deum
14. The old man dies and the world pays homage
15. Requiem, Part VII: Dies irae; Requiem aeternam; Libera me