There are two reasons to invest in a Carmen highlights disc; the first being so that a person who loves the "hits" from Georges Bizet's rather long masterwork doesn't have to hang in to consume the whole enchilada. The second reason is so that a customer interested in purchasing a pricey complete set of Carmen can take the opera out on a test drive before making the plunge. The established gold standard for Carmen highlights discs is a rather old one, Leontyne Price's recording for RCA Victor back in 1963. Certainly by now ...
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There are two reasons to invest in a Carmen highlights disc; the first being so that a person who loves the "hits" from Georges Bizet's rather long masterwork doesn't have to hang in to consume the whole enchilada. The second reason is so that a customer interested in purchasing a pricey complete set of Carmen can take the opera out on a test drive before making the plunge. The established gold standard for Carmen highlights discs is a rather old one, Leontyne Price's recording for RCA Victor back in 1963. Certainly by now the industry has got to have something in the way of an upgrade to offer, right?This is almost it -- the sound of the disc is superlative, warm in tone without feeling "digital" in the least. Conductor Michel Plasson keeps things moving, assisted in that from a production standpoint, the collection is well edited and continuous. The chorus, "Les Éléments," is magnificent. Roberto Alagna, in the role of Don José, sounds terrific also. The only weak link is the recording's star, Angela...
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