Villaz‹n's Zarzuela Disc, 1955 Bayreuth G‹tterd‹mmerung Make Billboard Classical Chart | Playbill

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Classic Arts News Villaz‹n's Zarzuela Disc, 1955 Bayreuth G‹tterd‹mmerung Make Billboard Classical Chart An album of zarzuela arias by tenor Rolando Villaz‹n and a live G‹tterd‹mmerung from Bayreuth's mid-20th-century glory years are the two new arrivals on this week's Billboard classical chart.
Gitano, on Virgin Classics, features Villaz‹n in a selection of arias from 20th-century zarzuelas, with one composed as recently as 1998. He is accompanied by the Orquesta Comunidad de Madrid under the baton of an even more famous champion of the zarzuela repertoire — Plšcido Domingo. The disc arrives on the chart at no. 10.

Debuting at no. 24 is a live recording, released for the first time, of a near-legendary performance of Wagner's G‹tterd‹mmerung from the 1955 Bayreuth Festival. The set, issued by the Testament label, features Astrid Varnay as Br‹nnhilde, Wolfgang Windgassen as Siegfried, Josef Greindl as Hagen, Hermann Uhde as Gunther, Maria Ilosvay as Waltraute, Gr_ Brouwenstijn as Gutrune, and Gustav Neidlinger as Alberich; Joseph Keilberth conducts.

My Magic Flute, a disc by James Galway featuring Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp and arrangements of other Mozart works, returned to the chart at no. 18. Two titles by crossover violinist Andr_ Rieu, New Year's in Vienna and The Flying Dutchman came back at, respectively, no. 21 and no. 25. (Rieu's The Homecoming! remains at no. 8.)

Last week's newcomer, of Cherubini's Requiem in C minor by Boston Baroque, slipped off this week's classical chart — as did Decca's recording of Pagliacci starring Andrea Bocelli and Ana Mar‹a Mart‹nez, DG's compilation entitled Mozart!, and Da Pacem and other choral works by Arvo P‹rt. (That last disc, having just won a Grammy, may well return to the chart next week.)

Appassionato, by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, now marks its fifth straight week at no. 1. It is followed by Sting's John Dowland disc Songs From the Labyrinth, Joshua Bell's Voice of the Violin, the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's recording of her husband's Neruda Songs (which also won a Grammy Award), soprano Anna Netrebko's The Russian Album, and Lang Lang's Dragon Songs (a collection of piano music from his native China).

The new entrant on this week's Billboard classical crossover chart, at no. 12, is Showtime!, a selection of tunes from Broadway and Hollywood musicals performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra.

The top ten discs on this week's crossover chart are the same as last week, headed by Josh Groban's Awake and including three titles each by Il Divo and Andrea Bocelli.

 
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