* I Puritani (Riccardo) London/Decca 417 588-2
1974 Sutherland, Pavarotti, Cappuccilli, Ghiaurov, Covent Garden Ch., London Sym. Orch., Bonynge

This is a superb recording of a beautiful Bellini bel-canto opera. Cappuccilli sings a rousing "Suoni la tromba" with his frequent bass partner Nicolai Ghiaurov. Sutherland and a fresh-voiced Luciano Pavarotti are likewise excellent.

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Gaetano Donizetti

* Lucia di Lammermoor (Enrico) EMI Classics 56284
1959 Cappuccilli, Callas, Tagliavini, Ladysz, Philharmonia (London), Serafin

"Callas was certainly more fallible here than in her first Lucia for Serafin in 1953, but the subtleties of interpretation are much greater; she's the very epitome of Scott's gentle, yet ardently intense heroine, and the special way she inflects words and notes lifts every passage in which she's concerned out of the ordinary gamut of soprano singing...Tagliavini, after a rocky start, offers a secure, pleasing, involving Edgardo. Cappuccilli, then in his early prime, is a forceful but not insensitive Enrico. Serafin is a far more thoughtful, expressive Donizettian than his rivals on other sets, confirming this as the most persuasive account of the opera ever recorded." --The Classical Good CD and DVD Guide 2005 (Gramophone)

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

* Don Giovanni (Masetto) EMI Classics
1959 Wächter, Sutherland, Taddei, Alva, Schwarzkopf, Cappuccilli, Frick, Sciutti, Philharmonia (London), Giulini

"Although this set is over 40 years old, none of its successors is as skilled in capturing the piece's drama so unerringly. It has always been most recommendable and Giulini captures all the work's most dramatic characteristics, faithfully supported by the superb Philharmonia forces of that time. At this stage of Giulini's career, he was a direct, lithe conductor, alert to every turn in the story and he projects the nervous tension of the piece ideally while never forcing the pace, as can so easily happen. Then he had one of the most apt casts ever assembled for the piece. Waechter's Giovanni combines the demonic with the seductive in just the right proportions, Taddei is a high-profile Leporello, who relishes the text and sings with lots of 'face'. Elvira was always one of Schwarzkopf's most successful roles: here she delivers the role with tremendous intensity. Sutherland's Anna isn't quite so full of character but is magnificently sung. Alva is a graceful Ottavio. Sciutti's charming Zerlina, Cappuccilli's strong and italiante Masetto and Frick's granite Commendatore are all very much in the picture. The sound is so good, the set might have been recorded yesterday." --The Classical Good CD and DVD Guide 2005 (Gramophone)

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Giuseppe Verdi

Aida (Amonasro) Myto Records MCD 921.57
1972 (April 10) Arroyo, Domingo, Cossotto, Cappuccilli, Ghiaurov, Orch. e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Abbado [LIVE]
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* Aida (Amonasro) Angel CDCC-47271, EMI CDS7 47271-8
1974 Caballé, Domingo, Cossotto, Cappuccilli, Ghiaurov, Royal Opera Ch., New Philharmonia Orch., Muti
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* Attila (Ezio) Golden Age of Opera 187/88
1975 Ghiaurov, Cappuccilli, Orlandi-Malaspina, Luchetti, Orch. e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Patané [LIVE]
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* Attila (Ezio) Gala, Opera d'Oro
1980 Ghiaurov, Cappuccilli, Zampieri, Visconti, Chor und Orchester der Wiener Stattsoper, Sinopoli [LIVE]
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Don Carlo (Don Carlos) (Posa) Claque GM-3004/06, Melodram MEL-37038, Opera d'Oro
1968 (Dec. 7) Prevedi, Malaspina, Cappuccilli, Ghiaurov, Cossotto, Talvela, Orch. e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Abbado (revised italian version in 4 acts) [LIVE]
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Don Carlo (Don Carlos) (Posa) Memories HR 4122/24
1969 (June 10) Prevedi, Zylis-Gara, Cappuccilli, Ghiaurov, Cossotto, Petkov, Orch. Sinfonica e Coro di Roma della RAI, Schippers (revised italian version in 4 acts) [LIVE]


Don Carlo (Don Carlos) (Posa) Hunt CD 582
1970 Domingo, Malaspina, Cappuccilli, Verrett, Ghiaurov, Talvela, Orch. e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Abbado (revised italian version in 4 acts) [LIVE]


Don Carlo (Don Carlos) (Posa) Great Opera Performances GOP 777
1973 (Nov. 20) Luchetti, Ricciarelli, Cappuccilli, Cossotto, Ghiaurov, Casarini, Orch. e Coro del Teatro La Fenice, Prêtre (original french version sung in Italian) [LIVE]

* Don Carlo (Don Carlos) (Posa) Angel CDMC-69304, EMI CMS7 69304-2, EMI 7 63042
1978 Carreras, Freni, Cappuccilli, Ghiaurov, Baltsa, Raimondi, Ch. der Deutschen Oper, Berliner Phil., Karajan (revised italian version in 4 acts)
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Don Carlo (Don Carlos) (Posa) Myto 981175
1977 Carreras, Freni, Cappuccilli, Ghiaurov, Nesterenko, Orch. e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Abbado (revised italian version in 4 acts) [LIVE]
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La Forza del destino (Don Carlo) Legato Classics LCD-141-3
1978 (June 10) Carreras, Caballé, Cappuccilli, Ghiaurov, Nave, Orch. e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Patané [LIVE]
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* Macbeth (Macbeth) Opera d'Oro
1975 Cappuccilli, Verrett, Ghiaurov, Tagliavini, Orch. e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Abbado [LIVE]
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* Macbeth (Macbeth) DG 415 688-2
1976 Cappuccilli, Verrett, Ghiaurov, Domingo, Orch. e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Abbado

”...Abbado captures perfectly the atmosphere of dark deeds and personal ambition leading to tragedy, projected by Verdi, and his reading holds the opera's disparate elements in the score under firm control, catching its interior tensions. He is well supported by his Scala forces. Shirley Verrett may not be ideally incisive or Italiante in accent as Lady Macbeth, but she peers into the character's soul most convincingly. As ever, truly inspired by Abbado, Cappuccilli is a suitably daunted and introverted Macbeth who sings a secure and unwavering legato. Domingo's upright Macduff and Ghiaurov's doom-laden Banquo are both admirable in their respective roles.” --The Classical Good CD and DVD Guide 2005 (Gramophone)

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* Otello (Iago) Myto 971.150, Exclusive 9208-9, Music&Arts 1043, Opera d'Oro 1350
1976 Cappuccilli, Freni, Domingo, Orch. e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Kleiber

“Music and Arts offers a live recording of the legendary performance in December 1976. If Carlos Kleiber can often sound cold or even uninvolved in his studio recordings, this demonstrates the high voltage electricity he can produce on a big occasion, here matching the seering intensity of Toscanini in this work. Placido Domingo, having just completed a series of performances in Hamburg and Paris, is in superb form, with the voice at its finest, and his personal magnetism as an actor heightened by the conductor’s challenge. Mirella Freni as Desdemona is at her freshest, sweet and vulnerable, while Cappuccilli sings with keen incisiveness as Iago, not always sinister-sounding but musically superb. Stage noises are endlessly intrusive, but the atmosphere of a great occasion is vividly caught.” -- The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and DVDs Yearbook 2004/5 (this review comes from the 2002 version of this book)

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Simon Boccanegra (Boccanegra) Foyer FOY 2044, Opera d'Oro
1972 Cappuccilli, Freni, Ghiaurov, Gianni Raimondi, Orch. e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Abbado [LIVE]
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* Simon Boccanegra (Boccanegra) DG 415 692-2
1976 Cappuccilli, Freni, Carreras, van Dam, Ghiaurov, Foiani, Orch. e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Abbado

"This famous recording has become a classic, a performance in the studio after a series of performances at La Scala in the Strehler staging. The close, slightly claustrophobic recording exactly mirrors the mood of nefarious activities and intrigues...In his plebian being, clement exercise of authority and warm, fatherly love, Simon Boccanegra is made for Cappuccilli, who, under Abbado's tutelage, sings it not only con amore but with exemplary, delicately tinted tone and unbelievably long-breathed phrasing. As his daughter Amelia, Freni was just entering her quasi-spinto phase and expands her lyric voice easily into the greater demands of this more dramatic role. Similarly heavier duties had not yet tarnished the youthful ardour and sap in the tone of the 30-year-old Carreras. As the implacable Fiesco, Ghiaurov exudes vengeful command, and van Dam evil machinations as the villain Paolo. Over all presides Abbado in what remains one of his greatest recordings, alert to every facet of the wondrous score, timing every scene, in an opera tricky to pace, to near-perfection, and in sum bringing theatrical drama into the home. This set should now be an essential adornment to any reputable collection of Verdi." --The Classical Good CD and DVD Guide 2005 (Gramophone) “Abbado’s 1977 recording of Simon Boccanegra is one of the most beautiful Verdi sets ever made. The playing of the orchestra is brilliantly incisive as well as refined, so that the drama is underlined by extra sharpness of focus. The cursing of Paolo after the great Council Chamber scene makes the scalp prickle, with the chorus muttering in horror and the bass clarinet adding a sinister comment, here beautifully moulded. Cappuccilli, always intelligent, gives a far more intense and illuminating performance than the one he recorded for RCA earlier in his career. He may not match Gobbi in range of color and detail, but he too gives focus to the performance; and Ghiaurov as Fiesco sings beautifully too. Freni as Maria Boccanegra sings with freshness and clarity, while Van Dam is an impressive Paolo. With electrically intense choral singing as well, this is a set to outshine even Abbado’s superb Macbeth, and it is superbly transferred to CD. The set is now all the more desirable at mid-price.” -- The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and DVDs Yearbook 2004/5 (this review comes from the 2002 version of this book)

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Rigoletto (Rigoletto) DG 457753
1979 Cappuccilli, Cotrubas, Domingo, Ghiaurov, Obraztsova, Moll, Wiener Philharmoniker, Giulini
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Selected other recordings

* Piero Cappuccilli in concert (Variety) Bongiovanni 2501
1995 (1984 Concert) Cappuccilli, Leone Magiera [Italian songs and opera]
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