A box full of Verdi

In the league table of 2013 composer anniversary CD box sets, Wagner and Britten seem to have taken an early lead, with poor old Verdi languishing below in third. There was nothing in the coveted pre-Christmas release slot, but of course now nobody's got any money left the digital tributes are coming thick and fast.

The 4kg box-busting behemoth is Verdi: The Complete Works, which Decca proudly boast is  "the first ever complete collection of Verdi’s entire compositional output." For £134 you get 75 CDs - 30 whole operas plus songs and other bits and pieces. For all Verdi's apparent ubiquity, most of this material is rarely aired. Singers are all top-notch - Domingo, Freni, Caballe and Pavarotti amongst them, while conductors include Muti, Giulini, Sinopoli and Kleiber. The per-CD price is lower than a charity shop. But would you have time to listen to it?

For the more pocket-friendly sum of £44, EMI's Verdi - The Great Operas offers his sixteen best-known works, again with first class artists. An economical way to acquire a decent instant Verdi collection should that be your desire, though not everything in there would be my first choice of recording.

A more exotic option is the £22 Flieg Gedanke (Verdi auf Deutsch). This 10 CD set includes extracts from those well-known works Ein Maskenball and Der Troubadour amongst others - yes, it's Verdi ENO-style, as performed (and recorded) in the language of its German audience way back in the 20th century.  A Don Carlos with Gedda, Fischer-Dieskau and Moll sounds perversely tempting - otherwise, for real completists only.

All release dates are January/February 2013 (depending on location). Full tracklistings of all three below.

Alternatively, for zero £££ and no waiting, you could listen to Verdi's entire output - all 90 hours of it - on Spotify.  A selective listing here.

 

Tracklisting - The Complete Works (more details, plus extracts, here)

• Oberto (Marriner)
• Un giorno di regno (Gardelli)
• Nabucco (Gardelli)
• I Lombardi (Levine)
• Ernani (Bonynge)
• I due Foscari (Gardelli)
• Giovanna d'arco (Levine)
• Alzira (Luisi)
• Attila (Gardelli)
• Macbeth (Abbado)
• I masnadieri (Bonynge)
• Jérusalem (Luisi)
• Il corsaro (Gardelli)
• La battaglia di legnano (Gardelli)
• Luisa Miller (Maag)
• Stiffelio (Gardelli)
• Rigoletto (Giulini)
• Il trovatore (Giulini)
• La traviata (Kleiber)
• I vespri siciliani (Muti)
• Simon Boccanegra (Abbado)
• Aroldo (Luisi)
• Un ballo in maschera (Solti)
• La forza del destino- 1862 St Petersburg version (Gergiev)
• La forza del destino (Sinopoli)
• Don Carlos (Abbado)
• Don Carlo (Solti)
• Aida (Karajan)
• Otello (Chung)
• Falstaff (Giulini)
• Requiem &Quattro pezzi sacri (Solti)
• Messa solenne and other sacred works (Chailly)
• Discoveries (Chailly)
• Songs (Margaret Price)
• Songs & Arias& other rarities(Scotto / Domingo / Pavarotti
• String Quartet (New Italian Quartet)
• Ballet music: Jérusalem (de Almeida) & Il trovatore (Bonynge)
• Ballet music: Otello - Don Carlos - Aida Macbeth - I vespri siciliani (Chailly)

 

Tracklisting - The Great Operas

• Nabucco – Muti. Manuguerra/Luchetti/Ghiaurov/Scotto/Obraztsova
• Ernani – Muti. Domingo/Freni/Bruson/Ghiaurov
• Giovanna d'Arco – Levine. Caballé/Domingo/Milnes
• Attila – Muti. Ramey/Shicoff/Zancanaro
• Macbeth – Muti. Milnes/Cossotto/Carreras/Raimondi
• Rigoletto – Serafin. Callas/Gobbi/Di Stefano
• Il trovatore – Pappano. Alagna/Gheorghiu/Hampson/Diadkova/D’Arcangelo
• La traviata – Muti. Scotto/Kraus/Bruson
• I vespri siciliani – Muti. Studer/Merritt/Zancanaro
• Simon Boccanegra – Santini. Gobbi/De Los Angeles/Christoff/Campora
• Un ballo in maschera – Muti. Arroyo/Domingo/Cappuccilli/Cossotto/Grist
• La forza del destino – Muti. Domingo/Freni/Zancanaro/Plishka/Bruscantini/Surian/Zajic
• Don Carlo – Giulini. Domingo/Caballé/Raimondi/Verrett/Milnes/Foiani/Estes
• Aida – Mehta. Nilsson/Corelli/Bumbry/Sereni
• Otello – Karajan. Vickers/Freni/Glossop
• Falstaff – Karajan. Gobbi/Schwarzkopf/Merriman/Panerai/Barbieri/Moffo/Alva

 

Tracklisting - Flieg Gedanke

• Rigoletto- Herzog von Mantua Rudolf Schock, Rigoletto Josef Metternich,  Gilda Erika Köth,Sparafucile Gottlob Frick, Maddalena/Giovanna Sieglinde Wagner, Berliner Symphoniker / Wilhelm Schüchter
• Der Troubadour- Graf von Luna Josef Metternich,  Leonore Melitta Muszely,  Azucena Sieglinde Wagner,  Manrico Rudolf Schock,  Ruiz Manfred Schmidt,  Berliner Symphoniker Wilhelm Schüchter, Hans Zanotelli  
• La Traviata- Violetta Valery Melitta Muszely,  Flora Bervoix Anneliese Müller, Alfred Germont Rudolf Schock, Georg Germont Josef Metternich, Gaston Manfred Schmidt, Baron Douphal Karl Christian Kohn,  Marquis von Obigny Walter Stoll, Bass Doktor Grenvil Wilhelm Lang, Bass Orchester der Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin Wilhelm Schüchter  
• Ein Maskenball- Richard, Gouverneur von Boston Rudolf Schock, René, Freund Richards Marcel Cordes, Amelia, seine Gattin Marlies Siemeling,  Ulrica, Wahrsagerin Rut Siewert,  Oscar, Page Lisa Otto,  Samuel, Verschwörer Anton Metternich, Tom, Verschwörer Peter Roth-Ehrang, Berliner Symphoniker / Horst Stein  
• Don Carlos- Philipp II, König von Spanien Kurt Moll, Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien Nicolai Gedda,  Rodrigo, Marchese von Posa Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Bariton Elisabeth von Valois Edda Moser,  Prinzessin Eboli Brigitte Fassbaender, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin Giuseppe Patané 
• Aida- (Auszüge/excerpts) Aida Leonie Rysanek, Radames Rudolf Schock,  Amonasro Josef Metternich,  Ramphis Peter Roth, Amneris Sieglinde Wagner, Berliner Symphoniker / Wilhelm Schüchter  
• Auszüge/excerpts from Rigoletto, Nabucco, Die Macht Des Schicksals, Don Carlos, Aida and various others