Advantages: Beautiful music and vocals, classic tracks,
Disadvantages: Specialised taste.

...opera heroines. Sempre libera(Always free) One of my favourite tracks were Violetta in La Traviata again try to still the thoughts of love. Her voice trills around a terrific piece of music. Ch'llbel sogno di Doretta.(The fine dream of Doretta Puccini's La Rondine, The Swallow, is one of Puccini's less popular operas and another tale of love. Una voce poco fa(A voice a moment ago, in my heart. From Il barbered Siviglia(The Barber of Seville) by Rossini. In quelle trine morbid (Amid these soft lace curtains) Manon Lescaut by Puccini. The female heroine complains that poverty with the love of her life would have been preferable to the life of luxury with an old man in a loveless relationship, which she had. Signore Ascolata(Listen, sir) Turandot was unfinished by Puccini when he died in 1924 and features love and then death as a central... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Moving, emotional and dramatic
Disadvantages: Unless a big fan of opera's or Puccini it does not really warrant sole purchase

...---OVERVIEW--- Having listened to classical music for a long time I had never been attracted to the Puccini CD's which I constantly knew were there in the stores. It wasn't until I saw the film Heavenly Creatures (a definite watch) that I discovered the true impact of Puccini's works. Using the Humming chorus from Madame Butterfly to powerful effect I was driven to buy a CD of his best works. --Puccini-- FULL NAME - Giacomo Puccini NATIONALITY - Italian BORN - 1858 DIED - 1924 MAJOR WORKS - Manon Lescaut, La Boheme, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Turandot. ---PRICE--- At £5 a go, buying and getting hold of Puccini's music is no problem at all and is available in most high street music chains (HMV, Virgin etc) Again like many of my other classical CD's I recommend the NAXOS label for quality and price. ---MADAME BUTTERFLY--- The Madame... Read review

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Advantages: Colossal
Disadvantages: Can't think of any

.... L'ultima canzone 7. Passione 8. La canzone dell'amore 9. Rondine al nido 10. Una chitarra nella notte 11. Chitarra Romana 12. La mia canzone al vento 13. Serenata 14. Un amore cosi grande 15. If we were in love 16. Tu che m'hai preso il cuor God knows what its like but there is a great picture of Mr Pavarotti's chubby cheeks (his face for God's sake, what were you thinking?) on the cover. I know some people are likely to think that I may have given too much emphasis to Mr Pavarotti's physical appearance at the expense of discussing the album. The guy is a huge talent and he fills houses wherever he goes, so much so that it almost seems incongruous that such a small shiny disc could hold so much (I have actually thought about how difficult it would be to physically compress Mr Pavarotti so that he would fit into a CD jewel case... Read review

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Advantages: Classic recordings from a master of his trade.
Disadvantages: Mono recordings, Crackly in parts.

...La reine de Saba: Inspirez-moi, race divine by Charles Gounod Serse, HWV 40: Ombra mai fu "Largo" by George Frideric Handel Le Cid: O Souverain, ô juge, ô père by Jules Massenet Manon: Ah! fuyez, douce image by Jules Massenet L'Africaine: O paradis sorti de l'onde by Giacomo Meyerbeer Les Huguenots: Plus blanche que la blanche hermine by Giacomo Meyerbeer La Gioconda: Cielo e mar by Amilcare Ponchielli La Bohème: O soave fanciulla by Giacomo Puccini La Bohème: Che gelida manina by Giacomo Puccini Tosca: Recondita armonia by Giacomo Puccini Tosca: E lucevan le stelle by Giacomo Puccini Manon Lescaut: Donna non vidi mai by Giacomo Puccini Eugene Onegin, Op. 24: Lensky's aria by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Aida: Celeste Aida by Giuseppe Verdi Il trovatore: Di quella pira by Giuseppe Verdi Il trovatore: Ah si, ben mio by Giuseppe... Read review

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Advantages: Good Selection, Free Meal on Your Birthday
Disadvantages: No good bars in the vacinity

...It was my Birthday 25th June and the England match as well, so what do you want to do was the question asked by my girlfriend. The answer was simple as far as I was concerned, the local to watch the football then some food. The restaurant of choice was Puccinis in Shirley, Southampton which is a short walk from my local. --------------The Location-------------- The restaurant is located in Shirley, a suburb of Southampton. The area was not really not renown for quality restaurants but this is changing as a number of good restaurants have recently opened, the most recent being Puccinis. Puccinis is located on Shirley Road there are a few restaurants in this area so if you drop in on the off chance and get turned away there are plenty of other restaurants you could try. I would however advise booking on 02380-764522 if you want to visit... Read review

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Advantages: Rich baritone performance, superb orchestration
Disadvantages: Dark and menacing

...and asks to be sheltered by Michele's cloak. He pulls the cloak away to reveal Luigi's lifeless form. In triumph, he pushes her savagely onto the dead body. The Composer Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca, Italy in 1858 to a family of church musicians. He studied musical composition. He enters a one-act opera competition with Le Villi. Although he was unsuccessful it was heard by Verdi's publisher, Ricordi, who commissioned an opera from Puccini. His first opera, Edgar, appeared in 1889, was a failure however Puccini's next opera, La bohème in 1896, was to become probably his most popular opera. The Libretto The librettist, Giuseppe Adami, took his subject from a one-act play, La Houppelande (The Cloak) by the French writer Didier Gold. The Performers Antenore Reali (Baritone) – Michele, Clara Petrella (Soprano) – Giorgetta, Glauco Scarlini... Read review

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Advantages: All good strong performances with some absolutely glorious
Disadvantages: Some of the arias do not show the singers at their best

...Delibes Performed by Munich Radio Orchestra with Edita Gruberova Conducted by Gustav Kuhn > Beautiful, rather more dramatic than Joan Sutherland and also nice clear diction and glorious soft singing La Wally, opera (dramma musicale) in 4 acts Ebben? Ne andrò lontano Composed by Alfredo Catalani Performed by Munich Radio Orchestra with Ghena Dimitrova Conducted by Lamberto Gardelli > a dramatic performance of this aria. Could do with clearer diction. Her high notes are terrific and hugely exciting. The recorded sound is very good here with the orchestra big and proud. La bohème, opera Che gelida manina Composed by Giacomo Puccini Performed by Rome Opera House Orchestra with Nicolai Gedda Conducted by Thomas Schippers > A stylish, ardent performance here - different from say Pavarotti or Domingo but nice in its own way. From... Read review

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Advantages: great show
Disadvantages: none

...was such a success that American playwright and producer David Belasco created a one-act play also called Madame Butterfly. It premiered in New York in1900 and took the public by storm; a month later it was taken to London where it opened at the Duke of York’s theatre. Puccini was in London for the opening of TOSCA and went to see the play. He immediately realized it’s potential as an opera. On 17 February 1904 Puccini’s Madame Butterfly premiered at La Scala, Milan. Alain Boublil and Claude Michel Schonberg were first inspired by a photo, taken a few weeks before the fall of Saigon it was a picture of a woman giving up her baby at a Saigon airport in the anticipation of a new life for her child. The Performance The opening scene is set in a seedy looking bar/brothel in Saigon in 1975; the Engineer (played by Leo Tavarro Valdez) provides the comic... Read review

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Advantages: Some great music
Disadvantages: Compilations!

...opera making it on? I don't think Classic FMs listeners are quite ready for that yet. The track list for the Opera is: 1. Delibes: Flower Duet (Lakmé) 2. Rossini: Largo al Factotum (Barber of Seville) 3. Puccini: Nessun Dorma (Turandot) 4. Dvorak: Song to the Moon (Rusalka) 5. Bizet: Au Fond du Temple Saint (The Pearl Fishers) 6. Bellini: Casta Diva (Norma) 7. Puccini: Che Gelida Manina (La Boheme) 8. Mascagni: Easter Hymn (Cavalleria Rusticana) 9. Bizet: Toreador's song (Carmen) 10. Verdi: Brindisi (La Traviata) 11. Puccini: Humming Chorus (Madame Butterfly) 12. Verdi: Celeste Aidi (Aidi) 13. Mozart: La ci darem la mano (Don Giovanni) 14. Verdi: Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves (Nabucco) 15. Puccini: O mio Babbino Caro (Gianni Schicchi) The Opera CD is probably my least listened to of the three, not because I dislike Opera... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Warm, welcoming, exquisite food, great staff.
Disadvantages: May be a little expensive for some, you will have to book in advance.

...Introduction I thought it about high time that I a) write a new opinion for ciao and b) let you all into a little secret of one of my favourite restaurants. So here goes then. The restaurant is one of my clear favorites for many reasons, most of which will hopefully become apparent whilst reading this opinion. It has to be said the Puccini’s does indeed bring some of the finest Italian food and wine to Manchester. The local paper (Manchester Evening News) has described Puccini’s as a, “Hidden Gem”, and this is statement I do agree with. The paper also recommends its service and warm atmosphere. The restaurant is apparently named after Giacomo Puccini, who was an Italian composer famous for his love of food and good company and also for his exotic operas during the 1890s. Atmosphere & Welcome The atmosphere is warm and welcoming... Read review

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