Sony Classical: Jonas Kaufmann — Nessun Dorma: The Puccini Album — Pappano (Audio CD)

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Product Details:

• Product Type: Audio CD
• Brand / Label: Sony Classical
• Artist: Jonas Kaufmann (tenor)
• Composer: Giacomo Puccini
• Orchestra & Choir: Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
• Conductor: Antonio Pappano
• Guests: Kristīne Opolais (soprano), Massimo Simeoli (baritone), Antonio Pirozzi (bass)
• Catalogue Number: 88875092492
• UPC / EAN: 888750924926
• Release Year: 2015
• Genre: Classical / Opera

Product Features

• Format: CD
• Discs: 1
• Made in: EU
• Language sung: Italian

Overview

The title track is the one everybody knows — "Nessun dorma," the aria that turned into an anthem. But the point of this album is everything around it. Jonas Kaufmann set out to record not just the Puccini hits but the whole tenor journey across Puccini's operas, from the rarely-heard early works to the last, unfinished Turandot.

That means the famous numbers are here — "Recondita armonia" from Tosca, "Che gelida manina"'s companion "O soave fanciulla" from La Bohème, "Donna non vidi mai" from Manon Lescaut — but so are scenes from Le Villi, Edgar, La Rondine and Il Tabarro that most recital discs skip. It's a tenor making the case that Puccini wrote far more great music for the voice than the greatest-hits albums admit.

Kaufmann has the rare combination the music wants: a dark, baritonal weight up top and the stamina for Puccini's long lines. Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra of Santa Cecilia — a great Italian opera band on home turf — give him the full Romantic sweep. Soprano Kristīne Opolais joins for several duets. Recorded in Rome, released by Sony Classical in 2015.

Interesting Facts

• "Nessun dorma," from Turandot, became a global anthem after Luciano Pavarotti's 1990 World Cup performance; Kaufmann places it as the album's final track, the close of a career-spanning Puccini arc.
• The album deliberately includes arias from Puccini's rarely-staged early operas Le Villi and Edgar, which are seldom recorded.
• Soprano Kristīne Opolais — a celebrated Puccini interpreter and Kaufmann's frequent stage partner — sings on four tracks, including the La Bohème love duet.
• Antonio Pappano appears on the recording by kind permission of Warner Classics, his longtime label.
• Turandot was left unfinished at Puccini's death in 1924; "Nessun dorma" comes from the portion he completed, making it one of the last great tenor arias he wrote.

Track Listing

1. Manon Lescaut: Donna non vidi mai
2. Manon Lescaut: Oh, sarò la più bella! … Tu, tu, amore? Tu?
3. Manon Lescaut: Ah! Manon, mi tradisce
4. Manon Lescaut: Presto! In fila! … Ah! Non v'avvicinate!
5. Le Villi: Ei giunge! … Torna ai felici dì
6. Edgar: Orgia, chimera dall'occhio vitreo
7. La Bohème: O soave fanciulla
8. Tosca: Recondita armonia
9. Madama Butterfly: Addio, fiorito asil
10. La Fanciulla del West: Una parola sola! … Or son sei mesi
11. La Fanciulla del West: Risparmiate lo scherno … Ch'ella mi creda libero
12. La Rondine: Parigi! È la città dei desideri
13. Il Tabarro: Hai ben ragione
14. Gianni Schicchi: Avete torto! … Firenze è come un albero fiorito
15. Turandot: Non piangere, Liù!
16. Turandot: Nessun dorma

Publishers

Released by Sony Classical in 2015, distributed by Sony Music Entertainment. Recorded with the Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Made in the EU.

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