A Celebration

On the occasion of the 90th birthday of Janet Baker, a 21-CD edition is being released containing all recitals and song recordings of the great British mezzo-soprano on Philips, L'Oiseau-Lyre, Argo, Deutsche Grammophon and Hyperion.  Important excerpts from operas and oratorios by Bach, Handel, Mozart and Purcell – where Baker can be heard twice in her leading role in Dido and Aeneas, in 1961 and 1977 respectively. The repertoire ranges from Baroque to 20th century music, including pieces written especially for her. In addition to opera and oratorio, the edition also includes Janet Baker’s acclaimed recordings of the songs of Mahler and Schubert, thus celebrating Janet Baker's incomparable and multifaceted art, as opera singer, concert singer and one of the last living representatives of the Golden Age of song.

All CDs in “Janet Baker: A Celebration” comes with original jackets, rare photographs of recording sessions, archive photos as well as comprehensive booklet texts, making this edition a special tribute to the extraordinary singer.

CD 1         PURCELL Dido and Aeneas [1961]

CD 2        ARIE AMOROSE (Italian Songs & Arias, arr. & ed. Simon Preston)
CAVALLI La Calisto (excerpts)
RAMEAU Hippolyte et Aricie (excerpts)

CD 3        HANDEL La Lucrezia; Arias from Ariodante · Atalanta · Hercules · Joshua · Rodelinda · Serse

CD 4        J.S. BACH
St Matthew Passion BWV 244 (excerpts)
Mass in B minor BWV 232 (excerpts)
HANDEL Judas Maccabaeus (excerpts)

CD 5        J.S. BACH
Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem BWV 159
Vergnügte Ruh’, beliebte Seelenlust BWV 170
Herr, deine Augen sehen nach dem Glauben BWV 102

CD 6        VIVALDI Gloria in D RV 589
DURANTE Magnificat a4 in B flat

CD 7        HANDEL Ariodante (excerpts)
MOZART
La clemenza di Tito (excerpts); Così fan tutte (excerpts)

CD 8        HAYDN Scena di Berenice; Arianna a Naxos
MOZART Così fan tutte (excerpts); Abendempfindung; Das Veilchen

CD 9        GLUCK Arias from Alceste · Armide · Iphigénie en Aulide · Iphigénie en Tauride · La Rencontre imprévue · Orfeo ed Euridice · Paride ed Elena

CD 10      BEETHOVEN Ah perfido!; No, non turbarti; Egmont (excerpts)
SCHUBERT Arias from Alfonso und Estrella, Lazarus, Rosamunde; Ständchen (“Zögernd leise”)

CD 11       SCHUBERT Duets

CD 12      SCHUBERT Vocal Quartets

CD 13      SCHUBERT Settings of Schiller & Goethe

CD 14      MAHLER Songs of Youth

CD 15      MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde

CD 16      BERLIOZ Cléopâtre; Herminie; L’Enfance du Christ (excerpts); Béatrice et Bénédict (excerpt)

CD 17      FAURÉ Mélodies, including La Chanson d’Ève

CD 18      RAVEL 3 Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé; Chansons madécasses
CHAUSSON Chanson perpétuelle
DELAGE 4 Poèmes hindous

CD 19      HOLST Sāvitri
BRITTEN Phaedra
BRITTEN The Rape of Lucretia (excerpts); Owen Wingrave (excerpt)
EGK La Tentation de Saint Antoine

CD 20     TIPPETT A Child of our Time

PURCELL Dido and Aeneas [1977]