FLAC tracks | Classical | 39:02 | 171 MbIn 1947 a brilliant generation of Austro-German singers represented the Vienna State Opera for a short season at Covent Garden.

Among those known to London audiences from before the war were Maria Cebotari and Hans Hotter; new were Anton Dermota, Erich Kunz and an array of sopranos headed by Hilde Gueden, Sena Jurinac, Emmy Loose, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Irmgard Seefried and Ljuba Welitsch.

For one famous evening Richard Tauber joined the cast of Don Giovanni before entering the hospital in which he died four months later.

It was a season which, more than any other event at the time, reassured opera-goers that traditions survived and that singing of real distinction, even greatness, might yet be heard in the postwar world.

Tracklist:01. Gianni Schicchi: “O mio babbino caro”02. La bohème, Act I: “Sí, mi chiamano Mimí”03. Otello, Act IV: “Emilia, te ne prego”04. Otello, Act IV: Willow Song. “Piangea cantando”05. Otello, Act IV: “Ave Maria, piena di grazia”06. The Bartered Bride, Act III: Recitative. “Endlich allein” – Aria. “Wie fremd und tot ist alles um mich”07. Eugene Onegin, Op. 24, Act I: Tatiana’s Letter Scene. “Müsst’ ich zugrunde gehen, erfahren will ich zuvor”