Florence Foster Jenkins
The incomparable Florence Foster Jenkins is a treat to hear.
Free Music May: Gluck Operas
I originally posted about this recording in 2009, but since the links have changed and I wanted to add it to Free Music May, here it is again… There is a free Creative Commons MP3 version ofGluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice from 1951. I did find reference to an excerpts LP on DG [pictured above] from the period, but I cannot say for certain this recording was a DG release or not.This is may be a studio or live performance, possibly…
Mozart Opera Classics
Here is another ‘Really, it is only 2 bucks?!’ release. Mozart’s 4 famous operas: The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, Cosi fan Tutti and Don Giovanni, all for under 3 dollars at Amazon MP3. And these are great performances, mono of course, from Fricsay, Kleiber, Krips and Bohm, featuring the RAIS SO and the Vienna Phil, so we are talking some classic performances and not some run of the mill recordings. Of course no librettos but those can be…
Victrola Book of the Opera
Sometimes I am amazed at the history you can find online. If you are a fan of opera, especially old recordings from the masters early in the 20th Century, you need to check out the Victrola Book of the Opera. This catalog was put out by the Victor [RCA] company in the 1970s, but it started at the turn of the century, when recordings first became common. There is a 1917 edition of the book at Google Books, and you…