After an adult lifetime of loving the work of the great Luciano Pavarrotti, I could not resist buying the new 101 disc complete opera release. From the moment I put on the first disc (Beatrice di Tenda) I was newly in awe of the voice, the expressive detail and the whole experience. The same renewed sense of wonder was maintained throughout the twenty-nine discs I'v listened to so far.
However, the presentation is appalling to an equal degree. Several of the individual spines have the wrong opera and/or composer - e.g. try looking for the Madama Butterfly CDs in the box - and a few have the wrong disc numbers. The Blu Ray of Madama Butterfly has the cast list for La Boheme on the sleeve, and there are many more errors.
The hard-back book has so many errors that there's no room to list them. Several cast lists begin with the wrong characters and cast-members, there are some wrong disc numbers, Pavarotti's name is completely missing from one cast list and James Jolly's essay is full of typos, stylistic errors, errors of fact and lazy editing. Very disappointing for such a special set.
Anthony Ryan
Unfortunately, these "complete" sets suffer from the limitations the "low" cost of them (normally one pays from 1,5 to 3 pounds per disc) dictates. It is always better to go for the individual works in their most "original" or "properly" reworked editions. Of course, in this case, one has to pay much more...
Parla
Pavarotti is an overated loud but insensitive populist marketable bore. He will undoubtedly appeal to all those who like what they are told to like and don't use their own ears.
I know an ass when I see one. And I see one.. right now.. right here.
DGG