Cosi Fan Tutte: Eterna Collection - Premium Opera Music for Relaxation, Study & Romantic Evenings

I am amazed that no one here compares this version to the famous Karajan version with Schwarzkopf. That is really the relevant comparison, and very telling. It is because of Schwarzkopf's handling of the phrase "A Guarda Sorella" and just about a million other details that I always thought the Karajan version had no real peer. But in this live performance the lovely phrase is handled equally well, or even a little better. And Cantelli's conducting is very brisk and almost jaunty in a way that largely works, except maybe in "Soave si il vento," where the Karajan reading takes on a beauty that is truly almost from another planet, not from this tawdry world of ours. Also the Mesmerist doctor is played in the Karajan version with high camp, which is the right reading to my ears, as the more straight attempts, as in this one, seem at cross purposes with the music. Small quibbles. This is a great set!