Alfredo Kraus was considered the "grand seigneur" among the tenors of his time, an outstanding stylist, an unrivalled knight of high C (and above) - an aristocrat of tenor bel canto - there were and are certainly more famous tenors, but hardly any have reached the class of Alfredo Kraus, the lightness, elegance and sensual charisma of his voice.

The present 20-CD-set documents Kraus' early years from 1958-1963 in live recordings. After his stage debut in 1956 in Cairo, his career took off very quickly: Traviata alongside Maria Callas in Lisbon in 1958, followed by Rigoletto, Lucia, Barbiere at the great houses of Italy.

In these early years Kraus also sang the typical tenore lirico and tenor di grazia roles documented in this box, such as Nadir in Bizet's "Les Pecheurs de Perles" (at that time in Italian) or Ernesto in Don Pasquale, the barely singable role of Arturo in Bellini's "I Puritani", whose high D he well knew how to master, or the Nadir in Cherubini's rare "Ali Baba".

Artists

Alfredo Kraus (tenor), Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo, Vincenzo Bellezza, Armando La Rosa Parodi, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (opera company), Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Coro del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Renata Scotto (soprano), Mirella Freni (soprano), Raffaele Arié, Bruno Cioni, Modena Teatro Comunale Chorus, Modena Teatro Comunale Orchestra, Nino Verchi, Bruno Rigacci, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano della RAI, Orchestra Del Teatro La Fenice Di Venezia, Franco Ghione, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Nello Santi, Alberto Erede