Own Every Note Joan Sutherland Recorded For Decca Studios

To commemorate the one year anniversary of Dame Joan Sutherland's death, the label she spent her entire career recording for will release a 23-CD box set complete with a 48-page booklet. Chances are that most opera fans will already own much (or all) of the material in the recitals left by the soprano known as "La Stupenda," but the many will not be able to pass up the original cover art sleeves and commentary by opera critic George Hall. Dame Joan would have turned 85 on November 7, 2011. This limited-edition box is set for release on October 3, 2011. A complete track listing is after the jump.

Sutherland devotees can opt for a slightly less extravagant package by getting The Prima Donna - Deluxe Edition. Issued on three CDs, you'll get the set as it was originally released plus a 73-minute interview CD that Dame Joan recorded in 2002. The package also comes with an 80-page booklet packed with photos. Release date is also set for October 3, 2011.



JOAN SUTHERLAND: THE COMPLETE DECCA RECITALS

CD 1: Operatic Arias

Scenes and arias from Lucia di Lammermoor, Ernani, I vespri siciliani, Linda di Chamounix

Orchestre des Concerts du Conservatoire; Nello Santi; recorded April 1959

CDs 2 & 3: The Art of the Prima Donna

Arias from Artaxerxes, Samson, Norma, I puritani, Semiramide, La sonnambula, Faust, Roméo et Juliette, Otello, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, La traviata, Hamlet, Lakmé, Les Huguenots, and Rigoletto

Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Francesco Molinari-Pradelli; recorded August 1960

CDs 4 & 5: Command Performance

Arias from Oberon, Le Cid, Dinorah, Pagliacci, I masnadieri, Luisa Miller, La cambiale di matrimonio, Beatrice di Tenda; songs - The Gypsy and the Bird, Parla!, Io non sono più, Ideale, Il bacio, La Serenata, Mattinata, Lo! here the gentle lark, The Last Rose of Summer, Scenes that are brightest may charm awhile, I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls, Home sweet home

London Symphony Orchestra; Richard Bonynge (conductor & piano); recorded October-November 1962

CDs 6 & 7: The Age of Bel Canto

6. Arias from La buona figliuola, Atalanta, Meraspe, Samson, Semele, Astarto, Artaxerxes, Rosina, Il re pastore, Die Zauberflöte, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Angéla ou L'Atelier de Jean Cousin

7. Arias from Semiramide, La Muette de Portici, Der Freischütz, Beatrice di Tenda, Don Pasquale, Lucrezia Borgia, Attila, La straniera, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Arditi: Boléro

with Marilyn Horne (mezzo), Richard Conrad (tenor), New Symphony Orchestra of London (CD 6); London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (CD 7); recorded June 1963

CD 8: Joy to the World

Joy to the World, It came upon a midnight clear, O holy night, O divine Redeemer, What Child is this?, Adeste fideles, The Twelve Days of Christmas, Good King Wenceslas, Hark! the herald angels sing, The Virgin's Slumber Song,

Ave Maria, The Holly and the Ivy, Angels we have heard on high, Deck the hall

The Ambrosian Singers, New Philharmonia Orchestra; Richard Bonynge; recorded May 1965

CD 9: Noël Coward Album

Songs from Conversation Piece, Bitter Sweet, Operette, After the Ball, Pacific 1860

Chorus and Orchestra; Richard Bonynge; recorded July 1966

CDs 10 & 11: Love Live Forever

Songs from operetta: The Student Prince, The Boys from Syracuse, The Desert Song, Music in the Air, Rose Marie, The Only Girl, Show Boat, The Maid of the Mountains, Tom Jones, La Périchole, Chérubin, Der Vogelhändler, The Dubarry, Die geschiedene frau, Die spanische Nachtigall, Die Dollarprinzessin, Madame Pompadour, Der liebe Augustin, Eva, Ein Walzertraum, Der Opernball, Casanova, The Merry Widow, The King Steps Out, The Chocolate Soldier, Balalaika, Paganini

Ambrosian Light Opera Chorus, New Philharmonia Orchestra; Richard Bonynge; recorded March & July 1966

CD 12 & 13: Romantic French Arias

Arias from Robinson Crusoé, Dinorah, Louise, La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein, Manon Lescaut, Fra Diavolo, Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Cendrillon, Mireille, L'Étoile du Nord, Le Tribut de Zamora, Robert le Diable, Le Coeur et la Main, Les Noces de Jeannette, Faust, Vasco de Gama

L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande; Richard Bonynge; recorded September 1969

CD 14: Songs my Mother taught me

Songs by Dvorák, Mendelssohn, Del Riego, Massenet, Gounod, Nelson, Delibes, LaForge, Juncker, Hahn, Abt, Grieg, Liszt, Delibes

New Philharmonia Orchestra; Richard Bonynge; recorded August 1972

CD 15: Operatic Duets

Duets from La traviata, La Sonnambula, Linda di Chamounix, Otello, Aida

Luciano Pavarotti (tenor); National Philharmonic Orchestra; Richard Bonynge; recorded September 1976

CDs 16 & 17: Serate musicali

Songs by Rossini, Leoncavallo, Donizetti, Respighi, Bellini, Verdi, Cimara, Ponchielli, Mascagni, Gounod, Godard, Massenet, Lalo, Thomas, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Bizet, Meyerbeer, Chaminade, Delibes, Hahn, Adam

Richard Bonynge (piano), recorded June 1978

CD 18: Wagner recital

Arias from Rienzi, Der fliegende Holländer, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Die Walküre, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Tristan und Isolde

National Philaharmonic Orchestra; Richard Bonynge

CD 19: Mozart recital

Arias from Il re pastore, Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte; Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio, K418; Chi'io mi scordi di te... Non temer, amato bene, K505

National Philharmonic Orchestra; Richard Bonynge; recorded November 1978

CD 20: Bel canto arias

Arias from Il castello di Kenilworth, Attila, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Betly, La Favorite, L'Africaine, Guillaume Tell, Il barbiere di Siviglia

Orchestra of Welsh National Opera; Richard Bonynge; recorded September 1985

CD 21: Talking Pictures

A tribute to films and Hollywood musicals

English Chamber Orchestra; Richard Bonynge; recorded April 1986

CD 22: Romantic Trios

Songs for soprano, horn and piano

Songs by Denza, Panseron, Kreutzer, Nicolai, Proch, Skroup, Donizetti, Lachner, Kücken, Massenet, Berlioz

Barry Tuckwell (horn), Richard Bonynge (piano), recorded October 1987

CD 23: Rarities and first recordings

Arias by Bononcini, Paisiello, Piccinni, Arne, and Handel (Acis and Galatea, Alcina)

Philomusica of London; Granville Jones, Adrian Boult, Anthony Lewis; recorded 1958 and May/June 1959

Russian songs by Stravinsky, Cui & Gretchaninov

Gliere: Concerto for Coloratura soprano

London Symphony Orchestra; Richard Bonynge; recorded May 1968

Donizetti: La Fille du régiment: Par le rang... Salut à la France

Chorus and Orchestra of ther Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Richard Bonynge; recorded July 1967

Sylvia Sass Complete Recitals Released on Decca Eloquence

As part of the Decca Eloquence series of recent vocal releases comes the latest addition which includes the complete Decca recitals of soprano Sylvia Sass from the late 1970s. Previously only available on CD from Japan (Decca did release "Presenting Sylvia Sass Opera's Sensational New Star" as part of its Classic Recital line in 2005) these recordings are welcome treasures to any collection. Note: The series also features a first-time CD release of Tchaikovsky songs with soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, details can be found here and don't forget to check out the other three discs coming out featuring Peter Pears, Kiri Te Kanawa and Kenneth McKellar by clicking here. Purchase the Sylvia Sass disc by clicking here.

The original LP covers for the recitals on Decca:
Recitals previously only available on Japanese releases:

More information and complete track list after the jump.

Sylvia Sass was born near Budapest, Hungary, in 1951 to a very musical family. Her mother was a coloratura soprano and her father a high school music teacher. She made her stage debut at age 14 in Adam's operetta Die Nurnberger Puppe and then commenced study at the celebrated Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, completing a five-year program in two. Her professional debut was as Frasquita in Carmen in 1971. Several awards followed - 1st prize at the Kodaly Voice Competition in Budapest, 1972; winner at the International Opera Competition for Young Singers, of the Grand Prix as Violetta in La traviata, 1973, the Silver Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, 1974. She was also made an Honoured Artist of Hungary in 1977. While still in Budapest, she performed such dramatic roles as Freia in Das Rheingold, Violetta in La traviata and Mimi in La boheme. International stardom came with a composer with whom she is most associated and in a role represented on her Decca recitals - Giselda in Verdi's I Lombardi at Covent Garden in London, 1976. The next year she made both, her Italian debut in Turin as Lady Macbeth, and her Metropolitan Opera debut as Tosca alongside Jose Carreras. La Scala followed the year after, in 1978, where she sang Puccini's tragic heroine Manon Lescaut alongside Placido Domingo. Soon, Sass was being heralded as 'the new Callas', and she did meet Callas in person, thanks to a meeting set up by Leonard Bernstein. True, the voice had a similar dramatic colour, but Sass quickly rebuffed the comparison, saying, 'Callas was so great and so unique. I just don't think it's fair to compare somebody with such a great artist.' Her three recital records for Decca include two discs of operatic arias, including all her most celebrated roles, both conducted by Lamberto Gardelli, and a disc of songs by Liszt and Bartok with her compatriot, pianist Andras Schiff. All of these are issued collectively as a 2CD set for the first time. In recent years, Sass has settled in France, where she keeps busy painting and giving masterclasses.

"you could say that Sylvia Sass had taken the best from Callas's and Sutherland's Norma ... 'Sempre libera', which sounds appropriately hectic, is fearlessly done (with a tender, ardent incursion from Ian Caley as Alfredo) ... her vibrant 'Suicidio' is undeniably exciting ... The Decca recording is faultless." - Gramophone.

"The very first phrases of the opening aria (Turandot's 'In questa reggia', no less) command attention and let you know that something rather special has arrived on the scene. And as the Puccini arias follow one another it becomes quite clear that here is an exceptional singer, distinctive in timbre, distinguished in artistry. The voice glitters rather than soothes, shines rather than warms. It is powerful, has a wide range, and is firmly placed. The tone can be brilliantly luminous (as in the Turandot aria), or may acquire a deeper kind of radiance (as in the 'Vissi d'arte' that follows it)." - Gramophone.

"Entering into every nuance of the songs' moods, and employing a dynamic range from the merest whisper to a full-blooded climax, Sylvia Sass makes the utmost of their not very rewarding vocal line; but the success of this performance is assured by the subtle playing of Andras Schiff, who conjures up beautiful sounds from the swirling figurations [Bartok] ... 'Die Loreley' is an evocative scena, sung imaginatively (and with much flexibility of pace) by Sass, bringing into play a vocal quality as seductive as that of the siren herself; and her gentle singing of the serenade 'Kling leise, mein Lied' would melt the most obdurate heart. ... all the performances here are unusually illuminating and satisfying; and the recording is excellent." - (Liszt, Bartok) Gramophone.

A Decca Eloquence CD set.

Artists: Sylvia Sass (soprano), Andras Schiff (piano), Ambroisian Singers.
Composers: Bartok, Bellini, Liszt, Ponchielli, Puccini, Verdi.
Conductors: Lamberto Gardelli.
Orchestras: London Symphony Orchestra, National Philharmonic Orchestra.
Tracks: CD 1

PUCCINI
1: Turandot: In questa reggia
2: Tosca: Vissi d'arte
Manon Lescaut:
3: In quelle trine morbide
4: Sola, perduta, abbandonata
5: Madama Butterfly: Un bel di vedremo

VERDI
6: Aida: Ritorna vincitor!
7: Macbeth: Una macchia e qui tutt'ora
8: I Lombardi: Oh madre, dal cielo ... Se vano, se vano e il pregare

Sylvia Sass (soprano)
London Symphony Orchestra
Lamberto Gardelli

9: La traviata: E strano ... Ah, fors'e lui ... Sempre libera
with Ian Caley, tenor
10: Il trovatore:Vanne, lasciami ... D'amor sull'ali rosee
11; Macbeth: Vieni t'affreta! ; La luce langue

CD 2

BELLINI
1: Norma: Sediziose voci ... Casta Diva ... Ah! bello a me
with the Ambrosian Singers (John McCarthy, chorus master)

PONCHIELLI
2: La Gioconda: Suicidio!

Sylvia Sass (soprano)
National Philharmonic Orchestra
Lamberto Gardelli

LISZT
3: Die Loreley, S.273 Heine
4: Ne brany menya, moy drug (original version)
5: Enfant, si j'etais roi, S.283 Hugo
6: Es muss ein Wunderbares sein, S.314 Redwitz-Schmolz
7; Vergiftet sind meine Lieder, S.289 Heine
8: Kling leise, mein Lied, S.301 No.1 Rumpelmeyer
9: Es war ein Konig in Thule, S.278 Goethe
10: Die drei Zigeuner, S.320 Lenau

BARTOK
11-15: Five Songs, Op. 16

Sylvia Sass (soprano)
Andras Schiff (piano)
Medium: CD
No. of Discs: 2
SKU #: 15670
Label: Decca
Catalog #: 480 2093

[Source]

Decca Launches Microsites: Kurzak, de Niese and Calleja

Click on photos to launch a microsite promoting an artist's new release on Decca:

Diva Débutantes Spice Up New Releases on Decca, DG & Sony

Among the sopranos making their debut recordings in the coming months, there are sprinklings of returning favorites like Diana Damrau and Danielle de Niese. Click on the images to enlarge. Enjoy!

Beethoven "Fidelio" With Kaufmann, Stemme, Abbado on Decca

Germany release date: July 15, 2011