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William Grant Still
Highway One
St. Olaf Orchestra/Brunelle
CD / Albany (2005)
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Even with the recent increased interest in the music of African-American composer William Grant Still, his operas are still rarely performed. This disc, the first recording of Still's Highway 1, U.S.A., is a welcome exception. |
 
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Renee Fleming
I Want Magic! American Opera Arias
CD / Polygram 160567 (1998)
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Fleming, one of the highest profile and most passionate proponents of American opera, takes on a wide swath of pieces from American operas from the past fifty years or so, including some welcome rarities. |
 
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Dawn Upshaw
The World So Wide
CD / Nonesuch 79458 (1998)
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Upshaw is one of the foremost interpreters of contemporary opera. Here she chooses a mix of pieces from American works old and new. Her rendition of "What a movie" from Trouble in Tahiti alone is worth the price of this essential recording, which also includes selections from.... |
 
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John Adams
Nixon in China
St. Luke's/de Waart
3 CD / Elektra Nonesuch 9 79177-2 (1990)
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A stunning recording of the premiere production of Adams' first opera, and possibly still his best. Nixon is approachable on first hearing but also rewards repeated listening. |
 
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Dominick Argento
Postcard from Morocco (recording of premiere production; reissue of LP Desto DC 7137/38)
Minnesota Opera/Brunelle
2 CD / CRI CD 614 (1972)
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By turns absurd, witty and touching, Dominick Argento's Postcard from Morocco paints a surreal portrait of the interactions of a group of strangers (or are they?) in a waiting room. |
 
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Virgil Thomson
Lord Byron
Monadonck Music/Bolle
2 CD / Koch International Classics 3-7124-2Y6x2 (1992)
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Less well known than Thomson's other operas, Lord Byron, here in its first recording, shocked audiences at its premiere with its frank look at Byron's personal life. |
 
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Gian Carlo Menotti
The Consul
Berkshire Opera Company/Revzen
2 CD / Newport Classics (1998)
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One of the great operas of the twentieth century, here led by Beverly O'Regan Thiele as Magda. A wonderful and inexplicably rare studio recording of this landmark work. |
 
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Carlisle Floyd
Of Mice and Men (Premiere recording)
Houston Grand Opera/Summers
2 CD / Albany (2004)
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Of Mice and Men is not as well known as Carlisle Floyd's Susannah. But as this live recording from Houston Grand Opera shows, it is a work that should be heard more often. Gordon Hawkins is George, Anthony Dean Griffey is Lenny, and the rest of the cast includes Elizabeth Futral and James Maddalena. |
 
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Carlisle Floyd
Susannah
Studer/Ramey/Hadley
CD / Virgin 45039 (1994)
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Susannah is one of the most perennially popular American operas. And few American works have received as impressive a studio recording. Kent Nagano conducts, with great performances from Cheryl Studer, Jerry Hadley, and especially Samuel Ramey as the preacher, Olin Blitch. |
 
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New York Chamber Ensemble/Radcliffe
Happy Endings: Comic Chamber Operas
CD / Albany 173 (1995)
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Douglas Moore's Gallantry is a minor masterpiece; a one-act "soap opera" set in a hospital, complete with commercial interruptions and a cliffhanger ending. Menotti's The Telephone and a short piece by Hindemith round out the disc. |
