"Some of today's greatest singers got their start in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, including Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Samuel Ramey, Deborah Voigt and Frederica von Stade. See who will be next! Discover some exceptional young talents and find out who will take home the Grand Winner awards of $15,000 each."
[ General
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16 March, 2007 17:25
Metropolitan Opera National Council Finals
[ General
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15 March, 2007 02:20
La Traviata, a good place to start
If you want to get into opera, get into the most popular ones first, and take it from there. Giuseppe Verdi is a very prolific composer and this is an excellent version of La Traviata (The Lost One). My dad always said Joan Sutherland was great, but I had no idea just how. The DECCA recording of La Traviata with Sutherland, Pavarotti, Manuguerra and the National Philarmonic Orchestra with Richard Bonynge is just superb. Get the full version, on 2 CDs. It's sublime from the prelude to the end. Conveniently also on iTunes.
Buy other versions, or just the arias, and compare different tenors. I still think Pavarotti is unmatched.
