Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier / Schwarzkopf, Karajan

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig, Teresa Stich-Randall, Otto Edelmann, Eberhard Wachter / Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan

R.Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier

EMI Classics – The Home of Opera offers mid-price treasures from the world’s greatest opera catalogue. This collection presents some of the most important and admired recordings of complete operas produced by EMI Classics and its sister label Virgin Classics over the last 60 years. Many of these recordings are the greatest opera recordings in the classical catalogue. With an unrivalled catalogue of over 450 complete opera recordings produced over the last 60 years – and an illustrious succession of artists that today includes such names as Angela Gheorghiu, Natalie Dessay, Joyce DiDonato, Roberto Alagna, Antonio Pappano and Alan Curtis – EMI Classics, with its sister label Virgin Classics, can rightly claim to be the Home of Opera. Among the 21 releases launching this new mid-price series of complete operas are some of the ‘crown jewels’ of the catalogue – interpretations which have continued to reign supreme over the decades. These include: the legendary Callas/de Sabata Tosca, Klemperer’s landmark Fidelio with Christa Ludwig and John Vickers, Karajan’s sumptuous version of Der Rosenkavalier with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and two magnificently cast and conducted Dons -- Don Giovanni and Don Carlo – both under Carlo Maria Giulini. If these sets have long been recognised as essential, three important recordings from the last 10 years now move to mid-price for the first time: Tristan und Isolde, conducted by Antonio Pappano, with Plácido Domingo making his long-awaited debut as Tristan opposite the passionate Isolde of Nina Stemme; Lucie de Lammermoor (the version of Lucia that Donizetti made for Paris) starring Natalie Dessay and Roberto Alagna, and Dido and Aeneas, with Susan Graham and Ian Bostridge in an authentic-instrument performance under Emmanuelle Haïm. All 21 releases are showcased on iTunes. Anyone who buys one of these operas on the site can choose to download the full programme notes and libretto in PDF format; this will ensure that purchasers of an audio file, benefiting from the same levels of information as buyers of a CD, will get the most out of these exceptional opera recordings.

Price: $47.98