Lilting melodies and exhilarating dance rhythms; gentle pathos, brooding drama and robust high spirits; the spirit of rural Bohemia and the sophistication of Prague, Vienna, New York and London in the late 19th century: Antonin Dvořák’s music is unfailingly distinctive and captivating. In all his works – from the epic ‘New World’ Symphony and Cello Concerto to the irresistible Slavonic Dances, haunting ‘American’ String Quartet, quirky violin Humoresque and yearning Song to the Moon – he is a composer whose heart is open and generous, and whose love for his homeland always shines through. This box provides an illuminating and enriching survey of his works, including his complete symphonies. A number of the celebrated performers have Slavonic roots themselves; all their interpretations draw on a deep affinity with Dvořák’s inspiration and humanity.

The amazing soprano Lucia Popp largely owes her success to her unforgettable roles in the grand German Romantic repertoire by Richard Strauus & Richard Wagner. She was also known to be a brilliant performer of lighter lyrical works, with which such composers as Franz Lehár, Johann Strauss or Carl Zeller triumphed at the Theater an der Wien or the Wiener Staatsoper, ultimately entertaining the Austrian high society to a great degree. This exquisite collection of Viennese bonbons is accompanied by Sir Neville Marriner, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, with the Ambrosian Opera Chorus featured in choral excerpts from The Merry Widow, Giuditta or Casanova.

It is usually the big nineteenth-century opera sets that are bought for their singers; but with a line-up of principals such as we have here Handel too is swept into the golden net. Lucia Popp, two years into her career after her Vienna debut, Christa Ludwig, Fritz Wunderlich, Walter Berry: that is a quartet which in its time may have seemed no more than standard stuff, but at this date looks starry indeed. […] The Orfeo, for one thing, is sung in German instead of Italian; it has cuts, though many fewer than the Mackerras recording in English with Dame Janet Baker; it has the solo voices recorded very close indeed (those that are supposedly off-stage are just about where many modern recordings would have them except when off-stage); and the orchestra sounds, to our re-trained ears, big and thick, with the heavy bass-line that used to seem as proper to Handel as gravy from the roast was to Yorkshire pudding.

Mozarts beliebte Oper "Die Zauberflöte" unter der Leitung von Wolfgang Sawallisch - jetzt erstmals auf DVD erhältlich! 1983 live aufgenommen, zeigt diese Produktion aus der Bayerischen Staatsoper eine der bekanntesten Opern überhaupt - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts "Die Zauberflöte" in der Inszenierung von August Everding. Edita Gruberova als begehrteste Königin der Nacht der Welt, Francisco Ariza als einer der berühmtesten Taminos unserer Zeit, machen neben anderen Weltstars der Oper (Kurt Moll, Lucia Popp, Wolfgang Brendel, u.a.) diese Produktion zu einem Fest für Augen und Ohren. Eingerahmt und kongenial geleitet wird dieses Ensemble von Wolfgang Sawallisch. "Zeigt das Ernsthafte - vergesst aber den Humor nicht" - mit dieser Einstellung beweist Everding in dieser einzigartigen Inszenierung sein Genie auf dem Gebiet der Opernregie. Diese Zauberflöte ist ein absolutes Muss für alle Opernfans.

“A performance simply crackling with excitement from the Wiener Staatsoper in 1978, conducted by Leonard Bernstein and featuring sublime performances from Gundula Janowitz as Leonore, René Kollo as Florestan, and Lucia Popp as Marzelline. The celebrated quartet, Mir ist so wunderbar, is nothing short of exquisite.” (James Longstaffe, Presto Classical)

Bernstein opera sets come few and far between, but those that do emerge are treated as isolated landmarks. Such was his recording of Richard Strauss` ''Der Rosenkavalier'' of 1971 (CBS M3K 42564, three CDs), recorded three years after he virtually swept the Viennese off their collective feet with it at the Staatsoper.

It is usually the big nineteenth-century opera sets that are bought for their singers; but with a line-up of principals such as we have here Handel too is swept into the golden net. Lucia Popp, two years into her career after her Vienna debut, Christa Ludwig, Fritz Wunderlich, Walter Berry: that is a quartet which in its time may have seemed no more than standard stuff, but at this date looks starry indeed. […] The Orfeo, for one thing, is sung in German instead of Italian; it has cuts, though many fewer than the Mackerras recording in English with Dame Janet Baker; it has the solo voices recorded very close indeed (those that are supposedly off-stage are just about where many modern recordings would have them except when off-stage); and the orchestra sounds, to our re-trained ears, big and thick, with the heavy bass-line that used to seem as proper to Handel as gravy from the roast was to Yorkshire pudding. The roles of Caesar and Sextus, moreover, are taken by men, and there is not a countertenor in sight.

This Bartered Bride ’s acting and singing is generally of a high level. Lucia Popp was caught at a perfect time for this role. She’d gradually been developing her voice into a larger, more dramatic instrument, and here displays a lyric’s warmth with the power of a spinto. She clearly enjoys the challenge of the only serious aria in the entire work (in act III; performed in German as “Wie fremd und tot”), providing many fine interpretative points and a great deal of tonal variety. The audience goes wild, as well they might.

This Sony-made 30CD classical music collection covers almost all classical music, from the early Baroque period represented by Bach to the schools of classical music by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms represent romantic, national and even modern musical schools led by Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, etc. representative, everything wonderful and vivid.

Haydn’s Creation, the culmination of his life’s work, in a legendary 1986 performance conducted by Leonard Bernstein in the exquisite Baroque splendor of the Benedictine Abbey of Ottobeuren, Bavaria, now available on DVD for the first time. This spectacular performance also includes Bernstein’s spoken introduction to the performance —always an invaluable addition to any concert.

If not at the beginning of the opera, then surely with the well-known prisoner chorus “O welche Wonne!” everybody will recognise the outstanding quality of this Fidelio. Leonore’s “Töt erst sein Weib!”, sung by the soprano Anja Silja, is only one out of many deep emotional moments of this studio production of the Hamburg State Opera, recorded in 1968 under the artistic direction by Rolf Liebermann. This very natural set and unostentatious production goes without any wrong pathos and lives through its simple beauty, strong emotions and great musical moments. A reunion with great opera stars: Anja Silja as Leonore, Lucia Popp as Marzelline, Richard Cassilly as Florestan, Hans Sotin as Don Fernando und Theo Adam as Don Pizarro.

The casting of the radiant Helen Donath as Gretel, the theatrical Christa Ludwig as the witch, the vibrant Anna Moffo as Hansel, and the noble but lovable Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as the father would have been sufficient to secure this recording's fame as the best version of "Hansel and Gretel" ever committed to disc. However, to cast Lucia Popp as the Dew Fairy and Arleen Auger as the Sandman was a master stroke. And, the excellent Charlotte Berthold is an added bonus as the mother. Leading this array of vocal riches, Kurt Eichhorn produces a reading that accentuates the detail and color of the score more than any other, drawing out the richness of the orchestration with astonishing success.

What better legacy could an opera-house director leave behind him than a string of excellent theatrical productions! Rolf Liebermann (1910-1999), who was actually a composer, certainly succeeded in doing this – particularly during the 14 years from 1959 to 1973 that he spent in charge of Hamburg State Opera. During the Liebermann era the company in this northern German city embarked on a new artistic and administrative course that had - and still has - an impact on the entire operatic scene in central and Western Europe. It is significant in terms of Rolf Liebermann’s artistic credo that he selected Joachim Hess’ 1969 production of Zar und Zimmermann to be included amongst the august ranks of his 13 opera films.

The Staatskapelle Dresden plays spotlessly for Marek Janowski … An excellent 'Ring' experience." Das Rheingold is dominated by Siegfried Nimsgern's vibrant, articulate Alberich, Peter Schreier's wonderfully vital, strikingly intelligent and articulate Loge and Theo Adam's experienced Wotan. But Fricka, the Giants and Rhinemaidens are all well cast, and the whole performance grips one's attention from start to finish.

Filmed in 1979, this delightful staging by Otto Schenk features outstanding singer-actresses Gwyneth Jones, Brigitte Fassbaender and Lucia Popp. Der Rosenkavalier is Richard Strauss’s most popular opera and the greatest comic opera since Mozart. Premiered just three years before the start of the First World War, the opera traces the artistic heritage of the Austrian-Hungarian empire in the days of Mozart, where the story is set, to the morbid distraction of the Viennese Art Nouveau.