Covent Garden Gala Concert
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Giacomo Puccini, Johann Strauss II, Giuseppe Verdi, Federico Moreno Torroba, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Reveriano Soutullo
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 9/1989
Media Format: Vinyl
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: EL749811-1
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (L')Africaine, '(The) African Maid', Movement: ~ |
Giacomo Meyerbeer, Composer
Giacomo Meyerbeer, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (La) Bohème, 'Bohemian Life', Movement: ~ |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
Giacomo Puccini, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden Thomas Allen, Baritone |
| (La) Fanciulla del West, '(The) Girl of the Golden, Movement: Ch'ella mi creda libero |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
Giacomo Puccini, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| Macbeth, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| Aida, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Eva Randová, Mezzo soprano Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| Otello, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Cheryl Studer, Soprano Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| Otello, Movement: Niun mi tema. |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (La) traviata, Movement: Libiamo, ne' lieti calici (Brindisi) |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Cheryl Studer, Soprano Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (Die) Fledermaus, '(The) Bat', Movement: Klänge der Heimat (Czardas) |
Johann Strauss II, Composer
Cheryl Studer, Soprano Johann Strauss II, Composer John Barker, Conductor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (La) Chulapona |
Federico Moreno Torroba, Composer
Federico Moreno Torroba, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (El) Último romántico, Movement: Noche de amor |
Reveriano Soutullo, Composer
John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Reveriano Soutullo, Composer Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
Composer or Director: Giacomo Puccini, Johann Strauss II, Giuseppe Verdi, Federico Moreno Torroba, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Reveriano Soutullo
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 9/1989
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 56
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 749811-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (L')Africaine, '(The) African Maid', Movement: ~ |
Giacomo Meyerbeer, Composer
Giacomo Meyerbeer, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (La) Bohème, 'Bohemian Life', Movement: ~ |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
Giacomo Puccini, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden Thomas Allen, Baritone |
| (La) Fanciulla del West, '(The) Girl of the Golden, Movement: Ch'ella mi creda libero |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
Giacomo Puccini, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| Macbeth, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| Aida, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Eva Randová, Mezzo soprano Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| Otello, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Cheryl Studer, Soprano Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| Otello, Movement: Niun mi tema. |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (La) traviata, Movement: Libiamo, ne' lieti calici (Brindisi) |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Cheryl Studer, Soprano Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (Die) Fledermaus, '(The) Bat', Movement: Klänge der Heimat (Czardas) |
Johann Strauss II, Composer
Cheryl Studer, Soprano Johann Strauss II, Composer John Barker, Conductor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (La) Chulapona |
Federico Moreno Torroba, Composer
Federico Moreno Torroba, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (El) Último romántico, Movement: Noche de amor |
Reveriano Soutullo, Composer
John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Reveriano Soutullo, Composer Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
Composer or Director: Giacomo Puccini, Johann Strauss II, Giuseppe Verdi, Federico Moreno Torroba, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Reveriano Soutullo
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 9/1989
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: EL749811-4
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (L')Africaine, '(The) African Maid', Movement: ~ |
Giacomo Meyerbeer, Composer
Giacomo Meyerbeer, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (La) Bohème, 'Bohemian Life', Movement: ~ |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
Giacomo Puccini, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden Thomas Allen, Baritone |
| (La) Fanciulla del West, '(The) Girl of the Golden, Movement: Ch'ella mi creda libero |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
Giacomo Puccini, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| Macbeth, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| Aida, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Eva Randová, Mezzo soprano Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| Otello, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Cheryl Studer, Soprano Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| Otello, Movement: Niun mi tema. |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (La) traviata, Movement: Libiamo, ne' lieti calici (Brindisi) |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Cheryl Studer, Soprano Giuseppe Verdi, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (Die) Fledermaus, '(The) Bat', Movement: Klänge der Heimat (Czardas) |
Johann Strauss II, Composer
Cheryl Studer, Soprano Johann Strauss II, Composer John Barker, Conductor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (La) Chulapona |
Federico Moreno Torroba, Composer
Federico Moreno Torroba, Composer John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
| (El) Último romántico, Movement: Noche de amor |
Reveriano Soutullo, Composer
John Barker, Conductor Plácido Domingo, Tenor Reveriano Soutullo, Composer Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
Author:
Galas are in the bloodstream at Covent Garden; they have been giving them there, on and off, for over a century so there is a fair chance they will do it well, with some style and an enhanced feeling for the traditions of the place. What the Shah of Persia would have thought of today's singing if he could have compared it with the gala laid on for his benefit in July 1889 (Melba, Albani, the de Reszkes on stage) is anybody's guess, but he would certainly have been impressed by the marvellous device which now, in 1989, enabled the crowd outside to see, simultaneously, what was going on in the opera house and to hear it too. The second of the concerts recorded here was shown live in the piazza, and ordinary folk could hear gratis the great tenor for whom those within had paid a sum which might also have impressed the
Domingo, very much the focal point of the events, sings in all but one of the recorded items and is in magnificent voice throughout. It is good to hear him start with the famous aria fromL'Africaine which I believe was never heard in the house between the time when it was revived, with Domingo, in 1978, and its last performance by Jean de Reszke himself in the summer of 1888. Here, with fine art, Domingo builds the aria line by line from the quiet wonder of its opening to the noble span of its climax. His Death of Otello is perhaps finer still, the hushed ''Desdemona'' and ''morta'' moving even out of context. Of his partners, Allen is fully his equal in the Boheme duet (Domingo roughening his melody a little by an instinct to give speech-values to the syllables). Randova is alternately resplendent and wobbly in the Aida, and Studer, who contributes some beautiful phrases along with some not entirely secure pianissimos to the Otello duet, is the only other singer to have a solo included in the record: an appropriately glamorous performance of the Czardas in Die Fledermaus, vastly approved of by the audience. Finally, Domingo proposes ''a symbolic toast'' to the retiring director Sir John Tooley, and suggests that the audience, being now well-rested, should join in the Traviata Brindisi to celebrate—which they do, with an almost audible sigh of happy self-consciousness.'
Domingo, very much the focal point of the events, sings in all but one of the recorded items and is in magnificent voice throughout. It is good to hear him start with the famous aria from
Covent Garden Gala Concert
Covent Garden Gala Concert
Covent Garden Gala Concert
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