Les Pécheurs des perles Act 1 - Au fond du temple saint
Madama Butterfly Act 1- Vogliatemi bene, un bene piccolino
Le Nozze di Figaro Act III - Sull'aria - Le Nozze di Figaro
La Traviata Act I - Un di, felice, eterea
Lucia Di Lammermoor Act I - Ah! Verranna a te sull'aure
Tristan und Isolde Act II - O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe
Carmen Act I - Parle-moi de mère
Die Zauberflöte Act I - Bei Männern, welche Liebe Fühlen
Lakmé Act I - Viens, Mallika
Rigoletto Act I - É il sol dell'anima
Der Rosenkavalier Act II - Mir ist die Ehre wilderfahren
Don Giovanni Act I - Là ci darem la mano
La Bohéme Act IV - O Mimi, tu più non torni
Il Trovatore Act IV - Miserere...Quel suon, quelle preci
This is a misnomer--not all of these duets are all that famous--but it's a fine compilation nonetheless. You'll hear selections from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers (Nicolai Gedda and Ernest Blanc at their most elegant French), ... more »Madama Butterfly (Carlo Bergonzi and Renata Scotto--an impassioned pair), Lucia di Lammermoor (a classy Alfredo Kraus and Edita Gruberova), the lovely Lakme duet, The Presentation of the Silver Rose from Der Rosenkavalier (with the earnest Christa Ludwig and the other-worldly Teresa Stich-Randall), and a fine Trovatore "Miserere" (with Leontyne Price and Franco Bonisolli singing up a storm). There are many others, too--a veritable cornucopia of couplings--and a treat for the opera lover. --Robert Levine« less
This is a misnomer--not all of these duets are all that famous--but it's a fine compilation nonetheless. You'll hear selections from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers (Nicolai Gedda and Ernest Blanc at their most elegant French), Madama Butterfly (Carlo Bergonzi and Renata Scotto--an impassioned pair), Lucia di Lammermoor (a classy Alfredo Kraus and Edita Gruberova), the lovely Lakme duet, The Presentation of the Silver Rose from Der Rosenkavalier (with the earnest Christa Ludwig and the other-worldly Teresa Stich-Randall), and a fine Trovatore "Miserere" (with Leontyne Price and Franco Bonisolli singing up a storm). There are many others, too--a veritable cornucopia of couplings--and a treat for the opera lover. --Robert Levine
"When it comes to opera artists, my motto is "The more Gedda, the bettah." You get a substantial amount of him at his best on this CD, which has a lot of great duets from a variety of operas. You have one of the most beautiful duets ever in my opinion as the first track on the CD(Bizet's aria about two friends in love with the same woman, "Au Fond du Temple Saint" from Les Pecheurs des Perles); this recording with Nicolai Gedda singing the tenor part of Nadir is the best one could ask for. The rest of the best include "Bei Mannern, welche Liebe" from Mozart's Die Zauberflote(a beautiful ode to the connection between men and women), and (not surprisingly), "O mimi, tu piu non torni" with Gedda and Sereni from La Boheme.Other notable arias include a nice recording of the famous "Sull'aria," from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and an above par recording with Victoria de los Angeles and Carlo de Monte of "Un di, felici, eterea" from Verdi's La Traviata.This would be a great CD to start an opera collection. Enjoy."
You can't go wrong with this CD
Joanna Daneman | Middletown, DE USA | 04/17/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I got this very reasonably priced cd just to have my favorite duets such as "Au Fond du Temple Saint" and "The Flower Duet. If you have friends who are just starting to like classical opera, this is a terrific little gift. Almost everyone melts at the sound of these duets. And it's convenient to have so many on one CD. A real winner."
A wonderful introduction
Dominic | 08/20/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I bought this CD because wanted the "Lakme" duet that I heard in a movie. Little did I know the rest of the music would blow me away. This is an excellent intro to opera for people like myself that have never really been "into" opera. The selections are short, just a taste, and the price is unbelievable. I highly recommend this selection to anyone who wants to get their feet wet."
Excellent Selection of Opera Duets
A student | 03/15/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This CD contains some well known, and some not so well known duets from varios operas. Ernest Blanc and Nicolai Gedda perform the Temple Duet from The Pearl Fishers beautifully, since they have perfect voices for the French opera repertoire. Carlo Bergonzi and Renata Scotto sound like impassioned lovers in Vogliatemi Bene, Un Bene Piccolino, from Madama Butterfly. Sull'aria is sung beautifully by Judith Blegen and Heather Harper, since they both have the light voices required for Le Nozze di Figaro. Other great couples include Carlo del Monte and Victoria de los Angeles, Leontyne Price and Franco Bonisolli, Nicolai Gedda and Mario Sereni, Graziella Sciutti and Eberhard Wachter, Christa Ludwig and Teresa Stich-Randall, Nicolai Gedda (yet again) and Reri Girst, Mady Mesple and Danielle Millet, Wolfgang Brendel and Lucia Popp, Nicolai Gedda and Janine Micheau, Helga Dernesch and Jon Vickers, and Alfredo Kraus and Edita Gruberova. All the singers on this CD are first-class performers.