New 'Best Of' Albums From Opera Greats

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LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the world's most popular tenors, one of the most influential guitarists of all-time, one of the finest coloratura sopranos today, and one of the greatest conductors in history are celebrated with new "best of" editions of 20th Century Masters/The Millennium Collection, each released November 9, 2004 by Hip-O/UMe. Albums for Placido Domingo, Andres Segovia, Kathleen Battle and Herbert von Karajan join previously released volumes of the series spotlighting such giants of classical music as Leonard Bernstein, Luciano Pavarotti and the Boston Pops. A new essay and photos are included in each package.

THE BEST OF PLACIDO DOMINGO finds one of the original Three Tenors performing many of his signature songs and arias, including "Granada," "Be My Love," "Volver," "La donna e mobile" (Rigoletto), "Celeste Aida" (Aida) and "Vesti la giubba" (Pagliacci) as well as songs from the operas The Barber Of Seville, Il Travatore, Carmen and Tosca. Along with Pavarotti, Domingo has been largely responsible for the increasing mainstream popularity of opera among contemporary listeners. His rich ringing tenor voice and his warm personality has made him one of the world's best-loved classical singers.

THE BEST OF ANDRES SEGOVIA offers a collection of the best-known and most popular works from one of the best-selling classical guitarists of all-time. A major influence on guitarists from Eric Clapton, Roger McGuinn and Keith Richards to students such as John Williams, Christopher Parkening and Oscar Ghiglia, he single-handedly raised the instrument's status in popular culture through concerts, best-selling recordings and as a renowned teacher. The album includes Bach's Prelude in G major from Cello Suite No. 1, Bouree in E minor, Gavotte from Violin Partita in E minor and Gigue from Lute Suite in C minor plus works by Rodrigo, Albeniz and Granados.

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