James McCracken; Sandra Warfield; Various Orchestras
Release Date: 03 February 2017
Label: Australian Eloquence
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 028948202843
Description
James McCracken (1926–1988) recorded the arias on the first half of this disc in 1969, four years after the duets with his wife, mezzo-soprano Sandra Warfield (1921-2009). Both singers were in their prime during those years and in the decade following. These performances of distinction offer some of the sappiest and most exciting operatic singing on record, taped in the full, glorious, 1960s Decca Sound, with McCracken singled out for the 'forthright virility' (Gramophone) of his singing. The seven tenor arias that open this recording were originally coupled with the complete Gardelli recording of Pagliacci, and praised for their 'thrilling' sound (Gramophone); some of them are issued on Decca CD for the first time.
'The part of Amneris […] is exactly suited to Miss Warfield's qualities, and there the result is extraordinarily convincing.' Gramophone, February 1965.
Tracklisting
Josef Krips; Various Orchestras
Josef Krips
Neville Marriner; ASMF
New Vienna Octet, Vienna Wind Soloists
Wiener Oktett
John Mauceri; The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; Julie Andrews
Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt; LSO; Alfred Brendel
Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt; VPO; LSO; Sutherland; Backhaus
Thomas Sanderling, Orchester des Nationaltheaters Mannheim
Malcolm Sargent, Mary Lewis, Tudor Davies, Maggie Teyte, Clive Carey, Marie Howes, Harry Plunket Greene, James Johnstone
Maria Callas
Soloists; Eroica Berlin; Jakob Lehmann
Luigi De Donato; Collegium 1704; Vaclav Luks
Anna Moffo; Cesare Valletti; Fernando Corena; Erich Leinsdorf
Soloists; Orchestre classique de Montreal; Alain Trudel
Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi, Natalia Rubis, Pawel Konik, Krzysztof Baczyk, Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic Choir
