Album

If you're looking for one album documenting the career of Marilyn Horne, this is the one to buy. Composed mostly of operatic excerpts from the 1960s and '70s, but also including some art song and concert selections from the 1980s, Decca's Just for the Record: The Golden Voice captures the sound and fury of Horne in her prime. Most everything Horne was known for is here: Handel, Rossini, Bellini, some Verdi, and Bizet's Carmen. The combination of style, agility, and sheer amplitude that she brought to this music is irresistible, even if Horne's distinctive, somewhat snarly timbre isn't your cup of tea. The opening "Habanera" has a rhythmic restraint and style that, while less earthy than some Carmens, takes on a smiling dramatic tension, even as an excerpt. The Rossini and Handel selections have all the kinetic energy and pathos they could want, and the excerpts from Norma and Il Trovatore document her exciting partnerships with Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti. Of the art song and concert excerpts on the second disc, Nin's "Jesús de Nazareth," with pianist Martin Katz, and Aaron Copland's "I bought me a cat" are the highlights (no one could ask for a better quacking duck than Horne's!).

© Allen Schrott, All Music Guide

CD 1 of 2
Georges Bizet Composer Carmen (opéra-comique)...Act 1 Work Manhattan Opera Chorus Chorus/Choir, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein Conductor, John Mauceri Chorus/Choir Director, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
1	11b.L'amour est un oiseau rebelle (Habañera)	4:59			$0.99
Camille Saint-Saëns Composer Samson et Dalila (opera), Op.47...Act 2 Work Wiener Staatsopernorchester Orchestra, Henry Lewis Conductor, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
2	9.Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix	6:28			$0.99
Gioacchino Antonio Rossini Composer Semiramide (melodramma tragico)...Act 1 Work Royal Opera House Orchestra Covent Garden Orchestra, Henry Lewis Conductor, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
3	10 Sc.5: Eccomi alfine in Babilonia; 11.Sc.5: Ah! quel giorno ognor rammento	11:09			$1.99
Gioacchino Antonio Rossini Composer L'italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers; opera)...Act 1 Work Royal Opera House Orchestra Covent Garden Orchestra, Henry Lewis Conductor, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
4	8.Cruda sorte! Amor tiranno!	4:48			$0.99
George Frideric Handel Composer Semele, HWV58...Act 2 Work Richard Bonynge Conductor, New Symphony Orchestra of London Orchestra, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
5	6.Air: Hence, Iris, hence away	3:39			$0.99
George Frideric Handel Composer Rodelinda, regina de' Longobardi, HWV19 (opera)...Act 1 Work Henry Lewis Conductor, Vienna Cantata Orchestra Orchestra, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
6	14.Sc.6, Aria: Dove sei, amato bene?	6:57			$0.99
Christoph Willibald von Gluck Composer Orfeo ed Euridice, Wq.30 (opera in 3 acts, Italian version)...Act 1 Work 6:28 Royal Opera House Orchestra Covent Garden Orchestra, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano, Georg Solti Conductor
7	14.Recitative: Che disse? Che ascoltai?...Addio, addio o miei sospiri	2:08			$0.99
8	14.Recitative: Che disse? Che ascoltai?...Addio, addio o miei sospiri	4:20			$0.99
Giacomo Meyerbeer Composer Le prophète (grand opera)...Act 5 Work Royal Opera House Orchestra Covent Garden Orchestra, Henry Lewis Conductor, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
9	2.O pretres de Baal!	9:39			$1.49
Ambroise Thomas Composer Mignon (opera)...Act 2 Work Wiener Staatsopernorchester Orchestra, Henry Lewis Conductor, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
10	15.Elle est là! Près de lui!	4:41			$0.99
Gioacchino Antonio Rossini Composer La donna del lago (The Lady of the Lake; melodramma)...Act 1 Work Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Henry Lewis Conductor, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
11	11.Mura felici	10:54			$1.99
Gioacchino Antonio Rossini Composer La donna del lago (The Lady of the Lake; melodramma)...Act 2 Work Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Henry Lewis Conductor, Ambrosian Opera Chorus Chorus/Choir, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano, John McCarthy Chorus/Choir Director
12	15.Tanti affetti in tal momento	9:14			$1.49
CD 2 of 2
Giovanni Battista Lampugnani Composer Meraspe (or L'Olympiade), pasticcio Work Richard Bonynge Conductor, New Symphony Orchestra of London Orchestra, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
1	Superbo di me stesso	3:16			$0.99
Gaetano Donizetti Composer Lucrezia Borgia (opera)...Act 2 Work Richard Bonynge Conductor, London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano, London Symphony Chorus Chorus/Choir
2	6.Il segreto per esser felici (Brindisi)	3:23			$0.99
Vincenzo Bellini Composer Norma (opera seria)...Act 2 Work 14:25 Richard Bonynge Conductor, Joan Sutherland Soprano, London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
3	4.Mi chiami, o Norma?	2:37			$0.99
4	5.Deh! con te, con te il prendi	3:55			$0.99
5	6.Mira, o Norma; 7.Cedi, deh cedi!	5:37			$0.99
6	8.Si, fino all'ore estreme	2:16			$0.99
Giuseppe Verdi Composer Il Trovatore (opera)...Act 2 Work 13:21 Wynford Evans Tenor, Richard Bonynge Conductor, Luciano Pavarotti Tenor, National Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
7	4.Sc.1: Soli or siamo; 5.Sc.1: Condotta ell'era in ceppi	6:16			$0.99
8	Act Two: Non son tuo figlio?	2:30			$0.99
9	7.Sc.1: Mal reggendo all' aspro assalto; 8.Sc.1: L'usato messo Ruiz invia!; 9.Sc.2: Inoltra il pié	4:35			$0.99
Amilcare Ponchielli Composer La Gioconda, opera in 4 acts...Act 2 Work Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra Orchestra, Renata Tebaldi Soprano, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano, Lamberto Gardelli Conductor
10	11.E un anatema! Ah! chi sei?	3:47			$0.99
Franz Peter Schubert Composer Nacht und Träume, D.827, Op.43, No.2 Work Martin Katz Piano, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
11	Nacht und Träume, D.827, Op.43, No.2	4:08			$0.99
Robert Alexander Schumann Composer 6 Gesänge, Op.107 Work Martin Katz Piano, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
12	6.Abendlied ('Es ist so still geworden')	6:12			$0.99
Richard Wagner Composer Wesendonk Lieder, WWV91 Work Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Henry Lewis Conductor, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
13	5.Traume: Sag, welch wunderbare Traume	5:57			$0.99
Joaquin Nin Composer Jesús de Nazareth, for voice & piano Work Martin Katz Piano, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
14	Jesús de Nazareth, for voice & piano	3:43			$0.99
American Traditional Composer Shenandoah, folk song Work English Chamber Orchestra Orchestra, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano, Carl Davis Conductor
15	Shenandoah, folk song	3:07			$0.99
Aaron Copland Composer Old American Songs No.1...Old American Songs No.1 (arr. voice and orchestra) Work English Chamber Orchestra Orchestra, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano, Carl Davis Conductor
16	5.I Bought Me a Cat	2:18			$0.99
Albert Hay Malotte Composer The Lord's Prayer Work English Chamber Orchestra Orchestra, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano, Carl Davis Conductor
17	The Lord's Prayer	3:55			$0.99
Leonard Bernstein Composer West Side Story (musical) Work Leonard Bernstein Orchestra Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein Conductor, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano
18	12b.Somewhere	2:38			$0.99
Aaron Copland Composer Old American Songs No.2...Old American Songs No.2 (arr. voice and orchestra) Work English Chamber Orchestra Orchestra, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano, Carl Davis Conductor
19	4.At the River	3:23			$0.99
Stephen Collin Foster Composer Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair Work English Chamber Orchestra Orchestra, Osian Ellis Harp, Marilyn Horne Mezzo-Soprano, Carl Davis Conductor
20	Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair	4:15			$0.99