Excerpts from:Rhinegold, Valkyrie, Siegfried, Flying Dutchman, Tristan and Isolde,Parsifal, Mastersingers, Palestrina, Magic Flute, Marriage of Figaro,Elektra, Salome, Fidelio, Don Carlos, Aida, Falstaff, Pagliacci, Carmen,Boris Godunov, Lieder rarities

He was one of the 20th century’s most importantopera singers.From Milan to New York, there was not an opera house of any standing where his performances had not been welcomed by enthusiastic audiences. But the “mainline” of his performing career ran for decades between Munich, Vienna, Salzburg and Bayreuth. That was where he made most of the recordings that are here offered in an unprecedented 10-CD retrospective.In contrast to equally great predecessors such as Friedrich Schorr and Alexander Kipnis, Hans Hotter reached his peak just as newly developed magnetic-tape technology opened up completely new recording possibilities. We experience the great heroic baritone as the “divine Wotan” in thrilling live recordings that also bring us the richly comic “Barber of Seville”and another memorable barber in the now legendary“Schweigsame Frau” from the Salzburg Festival.Much as opinions may differ about the vocal qualities and interpretative skills of singers, in Hans Hotter’scase there is absolute unanimity on one point: he was a consummate character actor.Words and music combine to make his stage figures into unforgettable personalities.Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau describes this in his tribute to Hotter as the “incomparable assimilation” of the singer to the people he embodies on stage