A very interesting topic, because it is a compilation of Data and Curiosities of the record industry in different times. The topic is not new, however, try to gather all the information possible, in order to have the list as updated as possible. If someone knows other data (or corrections) that are not on the list, you can share them; Any input is welcome.
Recordings made with a different cast than originally planned:
Planned recordings that were never made (some of them sometimes started before being interrupted, or fully recorded, but blocked by a particular cause or artist):
Recordings made with a different cast than originally planned:
- Idomeneo by Levine (DGG) with Battle & Von Otter (replaced respectively by Grant-Murphy and Bartoli)
- Idomeneo by Colin Davis (PHILIPS) with Julia Varady (replaced by Roberta Alexander)
- Le Nozze di Figaro by Böhm / Ponnelle (DVD, DGG) with Rachel Yakar ?? (Replaced by Kiri Te Kanawa)
- Le Nozze di Figaro by Abbado (DGG) with Samuel Ramey (replaced by Bo Skovhus)
- Don Giovanni by Krips (DECCA) with Eleanor Steber (replaced by Suzanne Danco)
- Don Giovanni by Furtwangler (DVD, DGG) with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (replaced by Lisa Della Casa)
- Don Giovanni by Giulini II ?? (EMI) (replaced by Klemperer)
- Don Giovanni by Böhm (DGG) with Wunderlich & Janowitz (replaced respectively by Schreier and Nilsson)
- Don Giovanni by Abbado (DGG) with Eaglen & Bartoli (replaced respectively by Carmela Remigio and Patrizia Pace)
- Don Giovanni by Mackerras (Telarc) with Cecilia Gasdia ?? (Replaced by Christine Brewer)
- Cosi fan tutte by Klemperer (EMI) with an "Illustrious Mozartian" (did not say who it was, only that was replaced by Margaret Price by desire of Herr Klemperer)
- Costi fan tutte by Solti II (DECCA) with Vinson Cole (replaced by Frank Lopardo) and Ruth Ziesak (replaced by Renée Fleming)
- Die Zauberflöte de Beecham (HMV / EMI) with Richard Tauber, Herbert Janssen and Alexander Kipnis (replaced by Helge Roswaenge, Walter Grossmann and Wilhelm Strienz respectively)
- Die Zauberflöte by Solti I (DECCA) with Helen Donath (replaced by Pilar Lorengar)
- Die Zauberflöte by Haitink (EMI) with Helen Donath (replaced by Lucia Popp)
- Die Entführung aus dem Serail by Krips (EMI) with Karin Ott? (Replaced by Lucia Popp)
- Fidelio by Harnoncourt (Teldec) with Lucia Popp (replaced by Charlotte Margiono)
- Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Abbado II (DGG) with Pavarotti (replaced by Frank Lopardo)
- Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Lopez-Cobos (TELDEC) with Gasdia (replaced by Larmore)
- Il Turco in Italia by Chailly (CBS) with Renata Scotto (replaced by Caballé)
- Guillaume Tell by Gardelli (EMI) with Corelli & Callas (replaced respectively by Gedda and Caballé)
- I Puritani by Bonynge I (DECCA) with Corelli (replaced by Pierre Duval)
- Lucia di Lammermoor by Lopez-Cobos (PHILIPS) with Cristina Deutekom (replaced by Montserrat Caballé because Deutekom wanted to make her strident strings)
- Lucia di Lammermoor by Rescigno (EMI) (Muti was scheduled to direct her, but Gruberova wanted to make her strident strings ...)
- Lucrezia Borgia by Bonynge (DECCA) with Pavarotti?? (Replaced by Aragall)
- Nabucco by Sinopoli (DGG) with Caballé (replaced by Dimitrova)
- Nabucco by Muti (EMI) with Sherrill Milnes (replaced by Piero Cappuccilli, who was also replaced by Matteo Manuguerra)
- Ernani by Bonynge (DECCA) with Samuel Ramey (replaced by Paata Burchuladze)
- Macbeth by Gardelli (DECCA) with Tito Gobbi (replaced by Sherrill Milnes, who was also replaced by Fischer-Dieskau)
- I Masnadieri by Bonynge (DECCA) with Pavarotti (replaced by Bonisolli)
- Luisa Miller by Maag (DECCA) with Cossotto (replaced by Anna Reynolds)
- Luisa Miller by Maazel (DGG) with Ghiaurov ?? (Replaced by G. Howell)
- Rigoletto by Erede (DECCA) with Gianni Poggi (replaced by Mario del Monaco)
- Il Trovatore by Schippers (EMI) with Regine Crespin (replaced by Gabriella Tucci)
- Il Trovatore (RCA) with William Steinberg (replaced by Zubin Mehta)
- Il Trovatore by Mehta II (DECCA) with Freni (replaced by Antonella Banaudi)
- La Traviata by Mehta (PHILIPS) with Carreras (replaced by Alfredo Kraus)
- I Vespri siciliani by Levine (RCA) with Caballé (replaced by Arroyo)
- Un Ballo in Maschera by Toscanini (RCA) with Bjoerling (replaced by Peerce)
- Un Ballo in maschera by Solti I (DECCA) with Bjoerling (replaced by Bergonzi)
- Un Ballo in maschera by Muti (EMI) with Caballé (replaced by Arroyo)
- Simon Boccanegra by Solti (DECCA) with Margaret Price (replaced by Kiri te Kanawa)
- La Forza del Destino by Schippers (RCA) with Corelli (replaced by Tucker)
- La Forza del Destino by Gardelli (EMI) with Corelli & Caballé (replaced respectively by Bergonzi and Arroyo)
- Aida by Solti (DECCA) with Leonie Rysanek (replaced by Leontyne Price)
- Aida by Pappano (EMI / WARNER) with Gheorghiu (The recording began to contemplate just after the Butterfly of 2009. finally opted for Harteros)
- Otello by Levine (RCA) with Leontyne Price (replaced by Scotto)
- Otello by Karajan I (DECCA) with Bastianini (replaced by Protti)
- Otello by Barbirolli (EMI) with Corelli, Caballe and Dieskau (being replaced the first 2 by McCracken and Gywneth Jones)
- La Bohème by Schippers (EMI) with Bjoerling & De Los Angeles (replaced respectively by Gedda and Freni)
- La Bohème by Colin Davis (PHILIPS) with Caballé in the role of Musseta?? (Replaced by Ashley Putnam)
- Madama Butterfly by Patane (EURODISC) with Moffo (replaced by Maria Chiara)
- Madama Butterfly by Maazel (CBS) with Aragall (replaced by Domingo) and I. Minton (replaced by G. Knight)
- Tosca by De Fabritiis (HMV / EMI) with Iva Pacetti (replaced by Maria Caniglia)
- Tosca by Rescigno (DECCA) with Shirley Verrett (replaced by Mirella Freni)
- La Fanciulla del West by Matacic (EMI) with Callas, Corelli & Gobbi (replaced respectively by Nilsson, Gibin and Mongelli)
- Turandot by Molinari-Pradelli (EMI) with Tucci (replaced by Freni, who was also replaced by Scotto)
- La Rondine by Molinari-Pradelli (RCA) with Alfredo Kraus (replaced by Daniele Barioni)
- Il Tabarro by Pappano (EMI) with Gorchakova (replaced by Guleghina)
- Cavalleria Rusticana by Santini (EMI) with Lucine Amara (replaced by Victoria De Los Angeles)
- Adriana Lecouvreur by Bonynge (DECCA) with Pavarotti (replaced by Bergonzi)
- Mefistofele by Serafin (DECCA) with Di Stefano (he got to record his part, but for differences with serafin, he was replaced by Del Monaco)
- Oberon by Conlon (EMI) with Michael Sylvester (replaced by Ben Heppner) and Carol Vaness (replaced by Deborah Voigt)
- Der Fliegende Holländer by Klemperer (EMI) with James King (replaced by Ernst Kozub)
- Meistersinger by Solti I (DECCA) with Gundula Janowitz, Alberto Remedios, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau & Karl Ridderbusch (replaced respectively by Hannelore Bode, Rene Kollo, Bernd Weikl and Norman Bailey)
- Meistersinger by Jochum (DGG) with Edith Mathis ?? (Replaced by Catarina Ligenzda)
- Siegfried by Solti (DECCA) with Ernst Kozub (replaced by Wolfgang Windgassen) and Kirsten Flagstad (replaced by Marga Höffgen)
- Siegfried by Karajan (DGG) with Christa Ludwig (replaced by Helga Dernesch)
- Götterdämmerung by Solti (DECCA) with Ernst Kozub (replaced by Wolfgang Windgassen)
- Lohengrin by Leinsdorf (RCA) with Leontyne Price (replaced by Lucine Amara)
- Lohengrin by Karajan (EMI) with Ursula Schoroeder-Feinen (replaced by Dunja Vejzovic)
- Lohengrin by Colin Davis (RCA) with Lucia Popp (replaced by Sharon Sweet)
- Tannhäuser by Solti (DECCA) with Regine Crespin (replaced by Christa Ludwig)
- Die Walkure by Leinsdorf (RCA / DECCA) with Leonie Rysanek (replaced by Regine Crespin, who was replaced by Marie Collier, who was replaced by Gré Brouwenstijn) and Grace Hoffman (replaced by Rita Gorr). Originally this version was going to be project of Karajan ??
- Die Walkure by Dohnanyi (DECCA) with Placido Domingo ?? (Replaced by Poul Elming)
- Tristan und Isolde by Furtwängler (EMI) with Martha Mödl & Boris Christoff (replaced respectively by Margarete klose & Ludwig Weber, who in turn were replaced by Blanche Thebom and Josef Greindl)
- Salomé by Karajan (EMI) with Stratas ?? (Which was thrown back when Karajan told him that in addition to the recording, would have to assume the performances in Salzburg and eventually resorted to Behrens)
- Salomé by Nagano (French version EMI / VIRGIN) with Stratas ?? (Replaced by Karen Huffstodt)
- Salomé by Sinopoli (DGG) with Ekkehard Wlaschiha (replaced by Bryn Terfel)
- Elektra (DGG) with Fricsay and Goltz (replaced respectively by Böhm and Borkh)
- Elektra by Solti (DECCA) with Rysanek ?? (Replaced by G. Jones, who in turn was replaced by Nilsson)
- Rosenkavalier by Böhm (DGG) with Lisa della Casa (the first choice and express wish of Herr Böhm, but for reasons of contract was replaced by Marianne Schech)
- Rosenkavalier by Karajan (EMI) with Jurinac (replaced by Stich-Randall)
- Rosenkavalier by Haitink (EMI) with Shicoff (replaced by Richard Leech)
- Ariadne auf Naxos by Kempe (EMI) with Christa Ludwig (replaced by Gundula Janowitz)
- Ariadne auf Naxos by Böhm (DGG) with Domingo (replaced by Jess Thomas)
- Ariadne auf Naxos by Levine (DGG) with Domingo (replaced by Gary Lakes)
- Die Frau Ohne Schatten by Solti (DECCA) with Christa Ludwig ?? (Apparently offered by Solti himself, but she rejected the offer as it was at a late date and the maestro opted for Reinhild Runkel)
- Romeo et Juliette by Plasson (EMI) with Neil Shicoff (replaced by Alfredo kraus)
- Romeo et Juliette by Plasson II (EMI) with Leontina Vaduva (replaced by Gheorghiu)
- Romeo et Juliette by Slatkin (RCA) with Gheorghiu (replaced by Ruth Ann Swenson)
- Les Huguenots by Bonynge (DECCA) with Gedda (replaced by Anastasios Vrenios)
- Faust by Rizzi (TELDEC) with Shicoff & June Anderson (replaced respectively by Jerry Hadley and Marie McLaughlin, the latter being replaced by Cecilia Gasdia)
- Carmen by Karajan (EMI) with Callas and Björling (the initial project is canceled due to differences between Callas and Karajan and finally the recording was made with Beecham, De Los Angeles and Gedda respectively)
- Carmen by Solti (DECCA) with Pavarotti & Verrett (replaced respectively by Domingo and Berganza, the latter being replaced by Troyanos)
- Carmen by Ozawa (PHILIPS) with Carreras (replaced by Shicoff)
- Les Contes d'Hoffmann by Cluytens II (EMI) with Callas as Olympia (replaced by Gianna D'Angelo), C. Ludwig as Nicklausse (replaced by J.-Christophe Benoît) and for the villans Fischer-Dieskau, Ghiaurov and Waechter (finally replaced by Ghiuselev, London and Blanc)
- Les Contes d'Hoffmann by Cambreling (EMI) with Edita Gruberova as Olympia (replaced by Luciana Serra)
- Les Contes d'Hoffmann by Nagano (Erato) with Barbara Hendricks as Antonia (replaced by Leontina Vaduva)
- Bernstein's West Side Story (DGG) with Domingo (replaced by Francisco Araiza, who was in turn replaced by Neil Shicoff, who was also replaced by José Carreras)
- Die Lustige Witwe with Karajan (EMI) (replaced by Otto Ackermann)
- Boris Godunov by Karajan (DECCA) with Souliotis ?? (replaced by Vishnevskaya)
- Thais (EMI) with Jean Martinon (he died and was replaced by Lorin Maazel)
- Werther by Plasson (EMI) with Teresa Berganza ?? (Replaced by Tatiana Troyanos)
Planned recordings that were never made (some of them sometimes started before being interrupted, or fully recorded, but blocked by a particular cause or artist):
- Idomeneo (DGG) Film directed by Ponnelle (UNITEL project that contemplated documenting all the Mozartian productions of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle in "Film version".) It was truncated to the death of the director, just as he finished filming "Cosi Fan Tutte" In 1988)
- Lucio Silla (DGG) Film directed by Ponnelle (Idem ...)
- Die Entführung aus dem Serail (DGG) Film directed by Ponnelle (Idem ...)
- Die Zauberflote (DGG) Film directed by Ponnelle (Idem ...)
- Don Giovanni (DGG) Film directed by Ponnelle (Idem ...)
- Don Giovanni (RCA) with Levine, Milnes, L.Price, Caballé, Blegen and Burrows
- Il Barbiere di Siviglia (RCA) with Alberto Zedda (It was supposed to be the first recording of the critical edition)
- Otello (DECCA) with Pritchard, Anderson, Blake and Merritt (by the interpreters is understood to be that of Rossini)
- Armida (EMI) with Masini, Anderson and Blake (Aix-en-Provence performances were filmed, but apparently EMI itself canceled its publication for the production ...)
- Ricciardo e Zoraide (DECCA) with Chailly, Anderson, Ford and Merritt
- La Gazza Ladra (DECCA) with Bartoli and Flórez ??
- Semiramide (ERATO) with Caballé and Dupuy
- I Capuleti e i Montecchi (DECCA) with Bonynge, Sutherland, Horne, and Pavarotti ??
- I Capuleti e i Montecchi (NIGHTINGALE?) With Gruberova, Florez and Oprisanu ??
- Norma (DECCA) with Gavazzeni?, Cerquetti, Del Monaco, and Simionato
- Norma (DGG) with Karajan, Ricciarelli, Freni and Carreras
- Norma (SONY?) With Dimitrova, Baltsa, Ghiaurov, Malagnini and Tchakarov??
- I Puritani (SONY) with Gruberova and Merritt
- I Puritani (PHILIPS) with Deutekom
- Lucia di Lammermoor (SONY?) With Merritt??
- La Favorita (?) With Baltsa, Kraus and Gavanelli (It exists and has spread, though never in an "official" way)
- Anna Bolena (?) With Devia, Ganassi, Mukeria and Roberto Abbado (the live performances of Florence)
- Anna Bolena (RCA) with Caballé
- Maria Stuarda (RCA) with Caballé
- Roberto Devereux (RCA) with Caballé
- Attila (EMI) with Caballé
- Alzira (RCA) with Moffo, Bonisolli and Cappuccilli
- Rigoletto (DGG) with Karajan and Freni
- Trovatore (EMI) with Giulini, Caballé, Verrett and Cappuccilli
- La Traviata (EMI) with Callas (One of the Callas projects canceled in the 60's, EMI always wanted to record it with various artists, but for various reasons it was not possible)
- La Traviata (PHILIPS) with Davis, Ricciarelli and Carreras
- La Traviata (DGG) with Giulini, Plowright, Lima and Pons (Apparently it was recorded, but Giulini himself vetoed his release, arguing that he would cancel his future projects with DGG)
- La Forza del Destino (EMI) with Caballé and Carreras
- La Forza del Destino (DECCA) with Voigt, Pavarotti, Nucci, and Scandiuzzi
- Macbeth (EMI) with Callas (One of the Callas projects canceled in the 60's, for various reasons)
- Don Carlo (EMI) with Callas (One of the Callas projects canceled in the 60's, for various reasons)
- Don Carlo (DECCA) with Karajan, Domingo, Freni, and Ludwig
- Don Carlo ... in Italian (DGG) with Abbado, Domingo, Ricciarelli, Obraztsova, and Bruson
- Aida (DGG) with Cheryl Studer
- Otello by Fritz Reiner (RCA) with Jussi Bjoerling and Victoria of Los Angeles
- Falstaff (DGG) with Kathleen Battle
- La Gioconda (RCA) with Levine, Scotto, Domingo, Milnes, and Troyanos (Apparently it was canceled since in the period of time that had to be effected, the Boheme was opted with the same director, soprano and baritone)
- Le Villi (EMI) with Alagna and Gheorghiu (Reduced to extracts in the disc of La Rondine)
- Edgar (EMI) with Alagna & Gheorghiu
- La Bohème (DGG) with Kleiber, Cotrubas, Domingo, Ricciarelli and Ghiaurov
- Madama Butterfly (RCA) with te Kanawa and Domingo
- Madama Butterfly (DECCA) with Caballé and Pavarotti
- Madama Butterfly (?) With Caballé and Martí ??
- Tosca (EMI) with Floriana Cavalli and Alfredo Kraus
- Tosca (EMI) with Regine Crespin (She only recorded extracts in French with Georges Prêtre to the baton in 1960)
- Tosca (SONY) with Tomowa-Sintow, Gedda, Wixell and Tchakarov (exists and circulates there, but never in an "official" way)
- Tosca (RCA) with Moffo
- Lodoletta (RCA) with Moffo
- Adriana Lecouvreur (PHILIPS) with Caballé and Carreras
- Adriana Lecouvreur (EMI) with Alagna and Gheorghiu
- Lohengrin (EMI) with Karajan, Bjoerling, Schwarzkopf and Callas (All I know is that it was going to take place between the late 50's and early 60's)
- Tristan und Isolde of Solti II (DECCA) (Solti contemplated doing his re-make from the 80's and they discussed various options for the couple: James King, Placido Domingo, Jessye Norman, Hildegard Behrens and Maria Ewing. Ben Heppner and Deborah Voigt, but Heppner was not sure at all since he still did not sing the role and Solti died, thus truncating the project)
- Parsifal (RCA?) With Voigt, Heppner, Terfel, Leiferkus, Hendrik Rootering and directed by Colin Davis
- Die Schweigsame Frau (RCA) with Gruberova, Moll, and Van der Walt
- Elektra (DGG) with Deborah Voigt (who refused to sing the lead), Cheryl Studer and directed by Sinopoli
- Rosenkavalier (DGG) with Studer, Battle, Moll, and Von Otter
- Arabella (DGG) with Cheryl Studer, Angela Maria Blasi, Bryn Terfel and directed by Sinopoli
- Die Frau Ohne Schatten (DGG) with Studer, Terfel and directed by Sinopoli
- Ariadne auf Naxos (DECCA?) With Voigt, Dessay and Dohnanyi ?? (It is possible that it has been canceled and DGG rescued the ladies for Sinopoli's Recording)
- Ariadne auf Naxos (EMI?) With Sawallisch ??
- Die Liebe der Danae (EMI?) With Haitink ??
- Fidelio (COLUMBIA / EMI?) With Bruno Walter ?? (Considered in the late 50's / early 60's and discarded several options that the maestro did not convince him for one thing or another: Leonor: Eileen Farrel, Ingrid Bjoner, Inge Borkh, Sena Jurinac and the chosen one was Gré Brouwenstijn. Marceline: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Irmgard Seefried, Rita Streich and the chosen one was Wilma Lipp. Florestan: Jon Vickers was discarded and James McCracken was contemplated when the maestro was ill and died)
- Romeo et Juliette de Luisi (? -DVD) with Andrea Boccelli and Maite Alberola??
- Les Contes d'Hoffmann (PHILIPS) featuring Levine, Kraus, M.Price and Baltsa
- Manon (DGG) with Studer and Sunday
- La Damnation de Faust (EMI 58/59) with Cluytens, Gorr, Gedda and Souzay (Reduced to highlights)
- La Damnation de Faust (EMI 67/68) with Charles Munch and Crespin (replaced by Victoria of Los Angeles, finally the project was truncated with that cast and was made the recording of Prêtre)
- Benvenuto Cellini (EMI / VIRGIN) with Alagna and Kunde ??
- Les Troyens (EMI) with Alagna, Varady and Plasson ??
- Juive (RCA) with Tucker, Arroyo and Moffo (Reduced to highlights)
- Robert Le Diable (CBS / SONY?) With Merritt and Ramey ??
- Die Tote Stadt (DGG?) With Jane Eaglen ??
- Die Tote Stadt (EMI?) With Voigt or Mattila ?? And Conlon (canceled when DGG planned to carry out the previous ...finally none was made)
- Aufstteg und Fall der Stad Mahagonny (DECCA) (Inexplicable its cancellation by the project "Weill" that carried out for Decca)
- Gloriana (DECCA?) With Janet Baker and Britten
All clarification / contribution is welcome since the purpose of this post is to update it with the information which is yet to come.