Editor Reviews:

Amazon.com:
There is only one word for this four-CD set: glorious. Released to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Verdi's death, it presents arias from every one of his 28 operas, a comprehensive overview of his work. It is also a tribute to Placido Domingo, one of his foremost present-day interpreters. An extraordinarily versatile artist, Domingo is heard in selections from his signature roles, like Otello, Radames, and Don Carlo, taken from recordings made between the 1960s and the '90s. He's also heard in new recordings of arias from the earliest, unfamiliar operas he has not performed on stage, and alternate arias Verdi wrote for different versions of his operas. Thus, he sings I Lombardi in Italian, Jérusalem in French, and Don Carlo and I Vespri Siciliani in Italian and French.

There are also extended scenes with illustrious colleagues, including Leontyne Price, Katia Ricciarelli, Nicolai Ghiaurov, and Sergei Leiferkus, whose Iago is an exquisitely insidious villain. He is accompanied by the greatest orchestras and conductors. For the new recordings, his partners are Myung-Whun Chung and Valery Gergiev, whose Mariinsky Theater musicians contribute some beautiful string solos. The matchless beauty of Domingo's voice seems untouched by the years, and he can change and vary it to suit the musical and dramatic requirements. His top notes never lose their clarion ring, yet the final B-flat of "Celeste Aida" tapers off, as Verdi demands. Even more remarkable, he can create real characters. Even without the texts, the mood, emotion, and meaning always come through. In this incomparable treasure trove, all opera lovers will find their own favorites, and many new gems besides, all performed to utter perfection. --Edith Eisler

Rating : - Verdi singing to set the standard for all tenors
Placido Domingo's magnificent voice scarcely needs any introduction or praise or comments, as it is a splendid vehicle that speaks for itself. Not only is the voice - a strong, wood-grained, ringing tenor of a richer and darker sound than a pure lyric tenor - an amazing thing, a gift of God, but Domingo is himself a master of the technical demands of music (in addition to being a master of the technical demands of singing - not the same thing at all!) and a truly great singing artist.

That is, he is never content to sing without becoming the character, without expressing the emotions of the character.

The size, colour and drama of the voice make him an ideal Verdi exponent. Who could ever forget his magnificent performances in "Un ballo", "Don Carlos", "La Traviata", "Il Trovatore", and a host of other Verdi tenor roles? And the consistency of Domingo's vocal quality is something of a phenomenon. This man has had an enviable career - and it's his superb vocal technique that has carried him through it.

I particularly love the way that he varies the outpourings of that golden tone. At one moment it's all fire and blazing intensity, and the next it's a thing of restraint and tenderness. Is there anything at which to cavil in Domingo as a Verdi tenor? I do not think so...

The world has been fortunate to be gifted with such a tenor. If music itself adds meaning to our life and to existence itself, it finds an ideal servant of itself in this man who is certainly one of the finest tenors in the world.

This collection of Verdi arias represents not only the recordings of Domingo in the roles he's tackled during his long career (with some of the finest fellow singers you could imagine), but also some earlier Verdi that he'd not performed, and which he recorded specially for this multi-CD set. The result is a triumph. One can see the difference instantly between various characters - not an easy thing to do.

I would also like to recommend another set - "Der junge Domingo" (The Young Domingo), a 5-CD set released by BMG. I cannot find it here on Amazon, so I can only suggest those who are interested try alternative sources. It's a quite stunning collection - admittedly it contains "Svegliatevi nel cor" which I think is a mistake, but then it was recorded before the Handel revival and was thus less historically informed than one might wish. But really... it doesn't matter. The great beauty and intelligence of Domingo's singing shines through even that, and it's followed by a lovely "Il mio tesoro" from Mozart's Don Giovanni. Things get even better - there's a Donizetti aria from Il Duca d'Alba, the famous tenor aria from La Juive, the "Quando le sere al placido" from Luisa Miller, Lenski's aria from Eugene Onegin, some Gounod (including arias from Faust and Roméo et Juliette), the love duet from Madama Butterfly with Leontyne Price, and much more...