Giuseppe Verdi’s operas are notable for their strong and interesting female characters. Countless operatic divas owe their fame to one or more Verdi operas, some of them having grown into real Verdi specialists acknowledged as the ideal embodiment of leading ladies in operas like La Traviata, Luisa Miller, Aida, Macbeth, Don Carlo and Il trovatore. This double album presents a number of the greatest Verdi singers, along with some prima donnas who are seldom thought of as Verdi exponents.

Contents:

CD 1
1. Macbeth: Ambizioso spirito... Vieni! T’affretta (Act 1)
- Júlia Várady
2. La forza del destino: Pace, pace, mio Dio! (Act 4)
- Grace Bumbry
3. La Traviata: Teneste la promessa – Addio, del passato (Act 3)
- Krassimira Stoyanova
4. Don Carlo: O don fatale, o don crudel (Act 4)
- Marjana Lipovšek
5. Macbeth: La luce langue (Act 2)
- Agnes Baltsa
6. Aida: Qui Radames verrà! ... O patria mia (Act 3)
- Júlia Várady
7. Oberto: Ah, sgombro e il loco alfin! (Act 1)
- Ghena Dimitrova
8. Il trovatore: Stride la vampa! (Act 2)
- Marjana Lipovšek
9. Don Carlo: Tu che la vanità (Act 4)
- Maria Dragoni
10. La Traviata: È strano! (Act 1)
- Júlia Várady

CD 2
1. Aida: Ritorna vincitor! (Act 1)
- Krassimira Stoyanova
2. Il trovatore: Tacea la notte placida (Act 1)
- Grace Bumbry
3. Nabucco: Ben io t’invenni (Act 2)
- Júlia Várady
4. Alzira: Da Gusman, su fragil barca (Act 1)
- Ileana Cotrubaș, Sofia Lis
5. Luisa Miller: Tu puniscimi, o Signore (Act 2)
- Krassimira Stoyanova
6. Il trovatore: Condotta ell’era in ceppi (Act 2)
- Marjana Lipovšek
7. Un ballo in maschera: Ecco l’orrido campo – Ma dall’arido stelo (Act 2)
- Júlia Várady
8. Il trovatore: Timor di me? (Act 4)
- Maria Dragoni
9. La battaglia di Legnano: Voi lo diceste, amiche – Quante volte come un dono (Act 1)
- Krassimira Stoyanova
10. Otello: Piangea cantando nell’erma landa (Act 4)
- Júlia Várady