I've had Edinburgh Recital CD for some time, so those selections were repeats, but I really enjoyed the "Les Nuits d'été" with Loren Maazel--more than the CBS recording she made with Ozawa which I still have on LP.I certainly wish someone could find her performance with Kathleen Battle of "Sì, fuggire: a noi non resta" from Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi with the BSO in 1992. She commented so often how much she loved singing Bellini, but I've never been able to hear many of her performances of his works. Thank you.

Frederica Von Stade has only just retired though she still makes the occasional appearance for festive occasions. In these excerpts from her early concert and recital career (circa early to mid 70s) it's easy to hear why the Powers-That-Be sat up and took notice. Her pellucid, somewhat melancholy tone was perfect for much of the French repertoire while it also had a shining joy in it that was ideal for Mozart and Rossini roles.We begin with lovely, poised performance of Berlioz's mini-cycle Les Nuits d'été conducted by Maazel sometime in the 70s. Her timbre sounds very sopranoish, much more so than it would later on (she avoids the optional low note in "Sur les lagunes"). Next we hear her in excerpts from an Edinburgh recital circa 1976 with a superb Martin Isepp at the piano. She has the audience eating out of her hand. We close with selections from a 1975 recital that concludes with three arias, two of which (the Mozart and Rossini) would become central to her career, the other from an early Bellini opera that I don't think she ever sang complete. Her coloratura and high Bs shine in the Cenerentola finale while her command of legato serves her well in "Sorgi,o padre". William Glazier is a fine accompanist.The sound is satisfactory throughout though the Berlioz is a bit uneven. If you're a Flicka fan you need this!