Marilyn Horne - Just for the Record: The Golden Voice (2003)

If you're looking for one album documenting the career of Marilyn Horne, this is the one to buy. Composed mostly of operatic excerpts from the 1960s and '70s, but also including some art song and concert selections from the 1980s, Decca's Just for the Record: The Golden Voice captures the sound and fury of Horne in her prime. Most everything Horne was known for is here: Handel, Rossini, Bellini, some Verdi, and Bizet's Carmen. The combination of style, agility, and sheer amplitude that she brought to this music is irresistible, even if Horne's distinctive, somewhat snarly timbre isn't your cup of tea. The opening "Habanera" has a rhythmic restraint and style that, while less earthy than some Carmens, takes on a smiling dramatic tension, even as an excerpt. The Rossini and Handel selections have all the kinetic energy and pathos they could want, and the excerpts from Norma and Il Trovatore document her exciting partnerships with Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti. Of the art song and concert excerpts on the second disc, Nin's "Jesús de Nazareth," with pianist Martin Katz, and Aaron Copland's "I bought me a cat" are the highlights (no one could ask for a better quacking duck than Horne's!).

Track List:

CD 1:
1. L'amour est un oiseau rebelle (Habanera) / Bizet - ''Carmen''
The Manhattan Opera Chorus
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra / Leonard Bernstein
2. Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix / Saint-Saens - ''Samson et Dalila''
Wiener Opernorchester / Henry Lewis
3. Eccomi al fine in Babilonia / Rossini - ''Semiramide''
4. Cruda sorte! / Rossini - ''L'italiana in Algeri''
Tracks 3-4: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Henry Lewis
5. Hence, Iris, hence away / Handel - ''Semele''
The New Symphony Orchestra of London / Richard Bonynge
6. Dove sei, amato bene? / Handel - ''Rodelinda''
Vienna Cantata Orchestra / Henry Lewis
7. Che disse! che ascoltai! / Gluck - ''Orfeo ed Euridice''
8. Addio, addio o miei sospiri / Gluck - ''Orfeo ed Euridice''
Tracks 7-8: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Sir Georg Solti
9. O Pretres de Baal - O toi, qui m'abandonne / Meyerbeer - ''Le Prophete''
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Henry Lewis
10. Elle est la! Pres de lui! / Thomas - ''Mignon''
Wiener Opernorchestrer / Henry Lewis
11. Mura felici / Rossini - ''La donna del lago''
12. Tanti affetti / Rossini - ''La donna del lago''
Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Tracks 11-12: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Henry Lewis


CD 2:
1. Superbo di me stesso / Lampugnani - ''Meraspe''
New Symphony Orchestra of London / Richard Bonynge
2. Il segreto per esser felici / Donizetti - ''Lucrezia Borgia''
London Symphony Chorus
London Symphony Orchestra / Richard Bonynge
3. Mi chiami, o Norma! / Bellini - ''Norma'' (with Joan Sutherland)
4. Deh! con te, con te li prendi / Bellini - ''Norma'' (with Joan Sutherland)
5. Mira, o Norma / Bellini - ''Norma'' (with Joan Sutherland)
6. Si, fino all'ore estreme / Bellini - ''Norma'' (with Joan Sutherland)
Tracks 3-6: London Symphony Orchestra / Richard Bonynge
7. Soli or siamo - Condotta ell'era in ceppi / Verdi - ''Il trovatore'' (with Luciano Pavarotti)
8. Non son tuo figlio? / Verdi - ''Il trovatore'' (with Luciano Pavarotti)
9. Mal reggendo / Verdi - ''Il trovatore'' (with Luciano Pavarotti, Wynford Evans)
Tracks 7-9: National Philharmonic Orchestra / Richard Bonynge
10. E un anatema! / Ponchielli - ''La Gioconda'' (with Renata Tebaldi)
Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Roma / Lamberto Gardelli
11. Nacht und Traume / Schubert, D827
12. Abendlied / Schumann
Tracks 11-12: Martin Katz, piano
13. Traume / Wagner - ''Wesendonck Lieder''
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Henry Lewis
14. Jesus de Nazareth / Nin
Martin Katz, piano
15. Shenandoah / Traditional (arr. Carl Davis)
16. I bought me a cat / Copland - ''Old American Songs''
17. The Lord's Prayer / Malotte (arr. Carl Davis)
Tracks 15-17: English Chamber Orchestra / Carl Davis
18. Somewhere / Bernstein - ''West Side Story''
Leonard Bernstein Orchestra / Leonard Bernstein
19. At the River (Lowry) / Copland - ''Old American Songs''
20. Jeannie with the light brown hair / Foster (arr. David Matthews)
Osian Ellis, harp
Tracks 19-20: English Chamber Orchestra / Carl Davis