Puccini: The Complete Operas

What a collection! If you know an opera lover (or are one yourself), you just have to have this set of CD’s, exclusively from Amazon.com.

In anticipation of the 150th anniversary (December 12, 2008) of the birth of opera’s most beloved composer – Giacomo Puccini – Sony BMG Masterworks has created the most definitive available collection of his operas in the exclusive, 20-disc PUCCINI: THE COMPLETE OPERAS.

All twelve of his operas are presented in acclaimed complete recordings – La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, Le Villi, Edgar, Manon Lescaut, La Fanciulla del West, La Rondine and Il Trittico (including Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi), featuring performances by such vocal legends as Plácido Domingo, Montserrat Caballé, Leontyne Price, Barbara Frittoli, Renata Scotto, Tito Gobbi, Carlo Bergonzi, Sherrill Milnes, Anna Moffo, Marilyn Horne and Ileana Cotrubas, in classic interpretations conducted by Sir Georg Solti, Lorin Maazel and Zubin Mehta.

WOW! Here’s what you get, according to Amazon customer “Tramper Al”:

Tosca
Stereo 1972
Leontyne Price, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Paul Plishka
New Philharmonia Orchestra, Zubin Mehta

La Bohème
Stereo 1973
Plácido Domingo, Montserrat Caballé, Sherrill Milnes, Judith Blegen, Ruggero Raimondi
London Philharmonic Orchestra, George Solti

Madama Butterfly
Stereo 1978
Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, Ingvar Wixell, Gillian Knight
Philharmonia Orchestra, Lorin Maazel

Turandot
Stereo 1998 (Live)
Giovanna Casolla, Sergej Larin, Barbara Frittoli, Aldo Bottion
Coro e Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Zubin Mehta

Le Villi
Stereo 1979
Plácido Domingo, Renata Scotto, Leo Nucci, Tito Gobbi
National Philharmonic Orchestra, Lorin Maazel

Edgar
Stereo 1977
Carlo Bergonzi, Renata Scotto, Gwendolyn Killebrew
New York City Opera Orchestra, Eve Queler

Manon Lescaut
Stereo 1992
Nina Rautio, Peter Dvorsky, Gino Quilico, Luigi Roni, Aldo Bramante
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Lorin Maazel

La fanciulla del West
Stereo 1991 (Live)
Mara Zampieri, Plácido Domingo, Juan Pons, Sergio Bertocchi, Luigi Roni
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Lorin Maazel

La Rondine
Stereo 1966
Anna Moffo, Daniele Barioni, Mario Sereni, Graziella Sciutti, Piero de Palma
RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli

Gianni Schicchi
Stereo 1977
Tito Gobbi, Ileana Cotrubas, Plácido Domingo
London Symphony Orchestra, Lorin Maazel

Suor Angelica
Stereo 1977
Renata Scotto, Marilyn Horne, Ileana Cotrubas
New Philharmonia Orchestra, Lorin Maazel

Il tabarro
Stereo 1977
Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, Ingvar Wixell
New Philharmonia Orchestra, Lorin Maazel

Simply put: Puccini: The Complete Operas – a must have for any opera lover!