Opera Rara
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Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (Original 1857 version)
RecommendedGermán Enrique Alcántara (Simon Boccanegra), Eri Nakamura (Maria/Amelia), William Thomas (Fiesco), Iván Ayón-Rivas (Gabriele Adorno), Sergio Vitale (Paolo Albiani)
The Hallé, Chorus of Opera North, RNCM Opera Chorus, Sir Mark Elder
Exceptional vocal performances from Argentinean baritone Germán Enrique Alcántara in the title role, rising bass William Thomas as his foe Jacopo Fiesco and Peruvian tenor Iván Ayón-Rivas as... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 21st March 2025
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2025, Editor's Choice
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International Opera Awards, 2025, Shortlisted - Complete Recording
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International Classical Music Awards, 2026, Nominated - Opera
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2025, Recording Debut of the Year - Germán Enrique Alcántara
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Gramophone Awards, 2025 Finalists, Opera
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The New York Times, Best Classical Music Albums of 2025
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Rossini: Semiramide
RecommendedAlbina Shagimuratova (Semiramide), Daniela Barcellona (Arsace), Mirco Palazzi (Assur), Barry Banks (Idreno), Gianluca Buratto (Oroe), Susana Gaspar (Azema), David Butt Philip (Mitrane), James Platt (L’ombra di Nino)
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment & Opera Rara Chorus, Sir Mark Elder
Semiramide has more than its share of grandness, and in the trumpet-crowned procession as the Queen of Babylon prepares to announce her choice of king you can't help but hear a pre-echo of Verdi's... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 7th September 2018
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Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2018, Recording of the Month
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Record Review, 6th October 2018, Recording of the Week
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BBC Music Magazine, December 2018, Recording of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2018
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The Times Records of the Year, 2018
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Opera, January 2019, Disc of the Month
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The Guardian Classical Albums of the Year, 2018
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2019, Finalist - Opera
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International Opera Awards, 2019, Winner - Complete Opera Recording
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2019, Winner - Opera (19th century)
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Gramophone Awards, 2019, Finalist - Opera
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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Winner - Opera
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El-Khoury is never less than stylish with precisely the vocal agility that this repertoire requires. So there’s nimble and accurate coloratura and a full complement of brightly burnished top... —
Awards:
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The Times Records of the Year, 2017
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International Opera Awards, 2018, Nominated - Solo Recital
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Opera, October 2017, Recording of the Month
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Gramophone Awards, 2018, Shortlisted - Recital
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Puccini: Le Willis
RecommendedErmonela Jaho (Anna), Arsen Soghomonyan (Roberto), Brian Mulligan (Guglielmo)
Opera Rara Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder
Even at the age of 25 [Puccini] was already a composer of considerable skill, able to come up with musical ideas of exceptional quality. As the abandoned Anna, Ermonela Jaho is right inside... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, September 2019
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BBC Music Magazine, December 2019, Opera Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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Limelight Magazine Recordings of the Year, 2019, Nominated - Opera
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020, Finalist - Opera
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Rosa Feola’s essentially lyric soprano has the right vocal weight for this repertoire, with glittering top notes and deft ornamentation adding a suitably Donizettian sparkle…Carlo Rizzi, a stalwart... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, April 2026, Vocal Choice
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Donizetti: L’Ange de Nisida
RecommendedRecorded live at Royal Opera House, London, on 18 and 21 July 2018
Joyce El-Khoury (Countess Sylvia de Linarès), David Junghoon Kim (Leone de Casaldi), Laurent Naouri (Don Gaspar), Vito Priante (Don Fernand d’Aragon), Evgeny Stavinsky (The Monk / Father Superior)
Royal Opera Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Sir Mark Elder
It’s Joyce El-Khoury as Sylvia, the King’s mistress, and David Jonghoon Kim’s Leone, the young man in love with her, who steal the singing honours. Their last act duet when all that awaits them... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 22nd March 2019
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Record Review, 4th May 2019, Record of the Week
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BBC Music Magazine, June 2019, Opera Choice
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Opera, August 2019, Disc of the Month
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Diapason d’Or, September 2019, Découverte
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Opera
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Anima Rara
RecommendedErmonela Jaho (soprano), Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, Andrea Battistoni
She has a slender tone, definitely more lyric than spinto, and is often so deeply invested in her role that it’s not always a very ‘pretty’ sound. Yet it’s exactly these qualities that are her... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 25th September 2020
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BBC Music Magazine, November 2020, Opera Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2020, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2020
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The Times Records of the Year, 2020
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Voice & Ensemble
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Audio formats guide -
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Mercadante: Il Proscritto
RecommendedRamón Vargas (Giorgio Argyll), Irene Roberts (Malvina Douglas), Elizabeth DeShong (Odoardo Douglas), Sally Matthews (Anna Ruthven), Iván Ayón-Rivas (Arturo Murray), Goderdzi Janelidze (Guglielmo Ruthven)
Britten Sinfonia, Opera Rara Chorus, Carlo Rizzi
Mercadante cocks an intelligent ear in the direction of a young Verdi. However, Mercadante is no faithful follower of fashion, as Carlo Rizzi, who rediscovered the opera in the Naples Conservatory... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, April 2023
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2023, Opera Choice
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International Opera Awards, 2023, Winner - Complete Opera Recording
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2023
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2023, Shortlisted - World Premiere Recording (Rediscovery)
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International Classical Music Awards, 2024, Nominated - Opera
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Offenbach: La princesse de Trébizonde
Anne-Catherine Gillet (Zanetta), Virginie Verrez (Le Prince Raphael), Antoinette Dennefeld (Régina), Josh Lovell (Le Prince Casimir), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Rara Chorus, Paul Daniel
a score that races and fizzes like a well-tuned steam train and telling teases about upwardly mobile social ambitions and an infantilised ruling class...the hero of this splendid set is Paul... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, November 2023, Recording of the Month
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International Classical Music Awards, 2024, Nominated - Premiere Recordings
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2024, Winner - Opera Recording of the Year
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