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Mario del Monaco

Decca Recitals 1952-69

  • Georges Bizet:
  • Agnus Dei 2
  • Carmen: La fleur que tu m'avais jetée "Flower song" 5
  • Gaetano Donizetti:
  • Lucia di Lammermoor:
  • Tombe degl'avi miei…Fra poco a me ricovero 5
  • Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali 5
  • Franz Lehár:
  • Paganini: Aria 3
  • Zigeunerliebe: Aria
  • Giacomo Puccini:
  • Gianni Schicchi: Firenze è come un albero fiorito 7
  • Il Tabarro: Hai ben ragione 10
  • La Bohème: Che gelida manina 10
  • La Fanciulla del West:
  • Ch'ella mi creda libero e lontano 6
  • Una parola sola 10
  • Madama Butterfly: Addio, fiorito asil 5
  • Manon Lescaut: No! pazzo son! 6
  • Tosca: "E lucevan le stelle" & "Recondita armonia" 6
  • Turandot:
  • Nessun dorma! 10
  • Non piangere, Liù 6
  • Giuseppe Verdi:
  • Alzira: Irne lungi ancor dovrei 4
  • Aroldo: Sotto il sol di Siria ardente 4
  • Ernani: Mercè, diletti amici…Come rugiada al cospite 5
  • I due Foscari: Dal più remoto esiglio 4
  • I lombardi: La mia letizia infondere 4
  • I masnadieri: "Di ladroni attornïato" & "O mio castel paterno" 4
  • La forza del destino: La vita è inferno all'infelice 6
  • La traviata:
  • De' miei bollenti spiriti 4
  • De' miei bollenti spiriti 6
  • Luisa Miller:
  • Oh! Fede negar potessi 4
  • Oh! Fede negar potessi 6
  • Macbeth:
  • Ah, la paterna mano 4
  • O figli, o figli miel! 6
  • Requiem Mass: Ingemisco 2
  • Rigoletto:
  • La donna è mobile 8
  • Questa o quella 6
  • Un ballo in maschera:
  • Di' tu se fedele 4
  • Forse la soglia attinse 5
  • La rivedrà nell' estasi 4
  • Richard Wagner:
  • Die Walküre:
  • Ein Schwert verhiess mir der Vater, Siegmund heiss' ich 7
  • Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond 7
  • Lohengrin:
  • In fernem Land 6
  • In fernem Land 7
  • Ruggero Leoncavallo:
  • I Pagliacci: Sì può? [Prologue] 6
  • La Bohème: Testa adorata 7
  • Mattinata 9
  • Umberto Giordano:
  • Andrea Chénier: Colpito qui m'avete…Un dì 10
  • Fedora: Amor ti vieta 5
  • Alfredo Catalani:
  • La Wally:
  • Quando à Sölden 5
  • Wally! Wally…M'hai salvato 5
  • Loreley – "Nel verde Maggio" 10
  • Ernesto De Curtis:
  • Autunno 9
  • Ti voglio tanto bene 3
  • Torna a Surriento
  • Tu ca nun chiagne
  • Lorenzo Perosi:
  • Messa da Requiem: Hostias et preces tibi 2
  • Messa Te Deum laudamus: Benedictus 2
  • Riccardo Zandonai:
  • Francesca da Rimini: No, Smaragdi!…Inghirkandata di violette 1,7
  • Giulietta e Romeo: Giulietta! son io 5
  • Salvatore Cardillo:
  • Core 'ngrato 3
  • Core 'ngrato 9
  • Stanislas Gastaldon:
  • Musica proibita, Op. 5 3
  • Musica proibita, Op. 5 9
  • Vincenzo Cinque:
  • Mattinata Veneziana 9
  • Trobadorica
  • Gioachino Rossini: Petite Messe solennelle: Crucifixus & Domine Deus 2
  • Giacomo Meyerbeer: L'Africaine: O paradis sorti de l'onde 5
  • George Frideric Handel: Serse, HWV 40: Ombra mai fù "Largo" 2
  • Jules Massenet: Le Cid: Ah! tout est bien fini 5
  • Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story: Tonight 3
  • Vincenzo Bellini: Norma: Svanir le voci! 8
  • Wolfgang Mozart: Ave verum corpus in D Major, K 618: Excerpt(s) 2
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: In questa tomba oscura, WoO 133 2
  • Amilcare Ponchielli: La Gioconda: Cielo e mar 6
  • César Franck: Panis angelicus 2
  • Francesco Cilèa: L'Arlesiana: È la solita storia…Anch'io vorrei "Lamento" 7
  • Pietro Mascagni: Isabeau: "Ah! Tu ch' odi lo mio grido" & "O popolo di vili" 7
  • Ernesto Tagliaferri: Piscatore 'e Pusilleco 9
  • Vincenzo D'Annibale: 'O paese d' 'o sole 9
  • Tulio Trapani: Cara mia 3
  • Giuseppe Cioffi: Na sera 'e maggio
  • Jacques Halévy: La juive: Rachel, quand du Seigneur 6
  • Rodolfo Falvo: Dicitencello vuie 9
  • Sigmund Romberg: Student Prince: Serenade 3
  • Furio Rendine: Vurria 9
  • Agustín Lara: Granada
  • Alessandro Stradella: Pietà, Signore 2
  • Arturo Buzzi-Peccia: Lolita "Spanish Serenade" 3
  • Fondo Carocci: 'Na lettera cucente 9
  • Cesare Andrea Bixio: Parlami d'amore, Mariù 3
  • Teodoro Contrau: Addio a Napoli 9
  • Domenico Modugno: Ciao ciao bambina
  • Eduardo Di Capua: 'O sole mio
  • Enrico Mainardi: Varca d' 'o primo amore
  • Nicholas Brodszky: The Toast of New Orleans: Be My Love 3
  • Riccardo Drigo: Harlequin's Millions: Notturno d'amore "Serenade" 9
Mario del Monaco, tenor
1 Lucilla Cipriano, soprano
2 Brian Runnett, organ
3 Mantovani Orchestra/Annuncio Paolo Mantovani
4 Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra/Nicola Rescigno
5 New Symphony Orchestra of London/Alberto Erede
6 Santa Cecilia Academy Rome Orchestra/Alberto Erede
7 Santa Cecilia Academy Rome Orchestra/Carlo Franci
8 Studio Orchestra/Alberto Erede
9 Studio Orchestra/Ernesto Nicelli
10 Studio Orchestra/Franco Ghione
Decca Original Masters 4757269 5CDs
Find it at AmazonFind it at Amazon UKFind it at Amazon GermanyFind it at Amazon CanadaFind it at Amazon FranceFind it at Amazon Japan

This fine collection of recordings was released some time ago but in its tribute to one of Decca's giants of singing, it remains a great tribute. Mario del Monaco may have his detractors across the board but he is also widely lionized for that powerhouse of a voice that thrilled capacity audiences and millions of record listeners for almost three decades.

It would be rather ponderous to enter into detail when faced with almost a hundred numbers but it may suffice to say that every one of the five CDs on offer gives us a particular brand of enjoyment. Be it the famous arias from Verdi's operas, or the wonderful silky sound in 'E lucevan le stelle' from Puccini's Tosca to the more homely 'Musica Proibita' by Gastaldon and other classic Neapolitan songs, the voice is there to savour and treasure at all points.

Del Monaco's versatility is also apparent in various works which we do not normally associate him with such as Catalani's 'Loreley', Puccini's 'Il Tabarro', some Wagner (Lohengrin) and even a smattering of French opera from Bizet and Meyerbeer amongst others. The collection includes a large number of Italian songs and under the masterful direction of Ernesto Nicelli and Mantovani, the voice is coaxed to reach sublime heights of inspiration.

The recordings vary in quality spanning the last years of the mono era to the late 60's where Decca's technique was almost perfect, it's hard to hear such fine opera recordings even today. Lovers of opera and great voices alike should definitely acquire this fine memorial to one of the greatest tenors of the post War era, Mario del Monaco.

Copyright © 2007, Gerald Fenech

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