LES TROYENS

Started by knight66, April 08, 2007, 01:09:23 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Tsaraslondon

#20
Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on April 17, 2007, 08:06:52 AM


As good as the two Davis versions are out there, it is missing some orchestral opulence. Only if we can get a more weighty orchestra like the VPO or Concertgebouw to record this piece, that emphasize very ff and color of the score...

... though I'm not sure if orchestral opulence is what I would want in this opera. We should remember that the opera was written in the 1850s, and, though very much a Romantic work, Berlioz was heavily influenced by the operas of Gluck, whom he admired enormously. I actually like the somewhat lean, spare textures that the Royal Opera Houes Orchestra and the LSO provide in Davis's two recordings. I'm sure that any lack of opulence was intentional on Davis's part. Certainly, the playing of the LSO, in particular is very impressive. Unfortunately, with the exception of Petra Lang, I would say the singers on the earlier performance are preferable to the ones on the latter, so both recordings are really essential listening.



\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

knight66

Yes, I agree with this. I have the Met DVD, the woodwind become submerged in the luxury of the strings. Berlioz wrote beautifully for the woodwind section. I have both Davis versions and an abridged version conducted by Pretre with Horne, Gedda and Verrett. I do like it, but Davis I feel has the superior recordings. I got rid of the Dutiot; it has a very disappointing Dido.

Mike
DavidW: Yeah Mike doesn't get angry, he gets even.
I wasted time: and time wasted me.

Tsaraslondon

Staying with recordings, didn't I read somewhere that Ponto were going to release a recording of one of the Scottish Opera performances with Janet Baker as Dido and Helga Dernesch as Cassandre? Though, sung in English, it's something I would love to get hold of. Dame Janet's recording of the final scene for EMI is one of the greatest Berlioz recordings of all times, and it is a continual cause for regret that she did not appear on the Philips recording, however good Veasey is. A complete performance from her would be treasure indeed.

\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

knight66

Yes, you read it from me. The co responded to an enquiry of mine and said it was in preparation. That was a year ago and nothing has materialised. I agree, it would make for a great issue. I saw the production and musically, it worked fantastically well.

Mike
DavidW: Yeah Mike doesn't get angry, he gets even.
I wasted time: and time wasted me.

Ciel_Rouge

I definitely like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Berlioz-Cassettes-Performer-Elizabeth-Bainbridge/dp/B002BPXIYW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1246233583&sr=8-5



An interesting take on Dido/Aeneas by the way - having listened to Dido and Aeneas by Purcell :)

ritter

mega-bump  ;)

[asin]B0749LRN1C[/asin]

The new recording of Les Troyens under John Nelson (on Erato) gets a glowing 5-star review from Andrew Clements in The Guardian:

"Though it is one of the landmarks in 19th-century French music, and one of the grandest of all grand operas, new versions of Les Troyens, Berlioz's vast Virgilian epic, come along all too rarely. John Nelson's magnificent recording, based on a pair of concert performances he conducted in Strasbourg earlier this year, is the first complete version to appear on disc since Colin Davis's live recording with the London Symphony Orchestra in 2001.

Davis was a peerless Berlioz conductor, and his pioneering earlier recording of the opera, released by Philips in 1970, has been the benchmark for almost half a century. It's a measure of the achievement of Nelson and his carefully assembled cast that their performance easily stands comparison with that classic, and in some respects surpasses it. From the very opening of the four-hour work – with a thrilling first salvo by the combined choruses of the Strasbourg and Karlsruhe operas as well as the Strasbourg Philharmonic's own choir, answered by Marie-Nicole Lemieux's electrifying delivery of Cassandra's first warning – Nelson never allows the dramatic pace to slacken, which is no mean achievement in itself in a work that even its greatest admirers would admit has occasional longueurs.

If Lemieux's performance dominates the first two acts, The Siege of Troy, then it's Joyce DiDonato's Dido who hogs the spotlight for the rest of the opera – the three acts that make up The Trojans at Carthage. Some might find her singing mannered and over-stylised at times, but its dramatic commitment is undeniable, and Dido's final aria is a tremendous emotional tour de force.

She's well matched also to Michael Spyres' Aeneas, who never tries to be the larger-than-life hero that the great Jon Vickers presented in the earlier Davis recording but offers a much more human and humane figure, with singing that never loses its elegance and stylish flexibility.

The smaller roles – Stéphane Degout's Chorebus, Hanna Hipp's Anna, Marianne Crebassa's Ascanio, especially – are equally idiomatic, every one of them cast with immense care, and the Strasbourg orchestra plays wonderfully for Nelson, if not quite as incisively as the LSO does on Davis's two recordings. Overall, though, this is now unquestionably the version of Berlioz's masterpiece to have at home".


https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/nov/22/berlioz-les-troyens-cd-review-john-nelson-joyce-didonato

mc ukrneal

Quote from: ritter on November 22, 2017, 09:42:09 AM
mega-bump  ;)

[asin]B0749LRN1C[/asin]

The new recording of Les Troyens under John Nelson (on Erato) gets a glowing 5-star review from Andrew Clements in The Guardian:

"Though it is one of the landmarks in 19th-century French music, and one of the grandest of all grand operas, new versions of Les Troyens, Berlioz’s vast Virgilian epic, come along all too rarely. John Nelson’s magnificent recording, based on a pair of concert performances he conducted in Strasbourg earlier this year, is the first complete version to appear on disc since Colin Davis’s live recording with the London Symphony Orchestra in 2001.

Davis was a peerless Berlioz conductor, and his pioneering earlier recording of the opera, released by Philips in 1970, has been the benchmark for almost half a century. It’s a measure of the achievement of Nelson and his carefully assembled cast that their performance easily stands comparison with that classic, and in some respects surpasses it. From the very opening of the four-hour work – with a thrilling first salvo by the combined choruses of the Strasbourg and Karlsruhe operas as well as the Strasbourg Philharmonic’s own choir, answered by Marie-Nicole Lemieux’s electrifying delivery of Cassandra’s first warning – Nelson never allows the dramatic pace to slacken, which is no mean achievement in itself in a work that even its greatest admirers would admit has occasional longueurs.

If Lemieux’s performance dominates the first two acts, The Siege of Troy, then it’s Joyce DiDonato’s Dido who hogs the spotlight for the rest of the opera – the three acts that make up The Trojans at Carthage. Some might find her singing mannered and over-stylised at times, but its dramatic commitment is undeniable, and Dido’s final aria is a tremendous emotional tour de force.

She’s well matched also to Michael Spyres’ Aeneas, who never tries to be the larger-than-life hero that the great Jon Vickers presented in the earlier Davis recording but offers a much more human and humane figure, with singing that never loses its elegance and stylish flexibility.

The smaller roles – Stéphane Degout’s Chorebus, Hanna Hipp’s Anna, Marianne Crebassa’s Ascanio, especially – are equally idiomatic, every one of them cast with immense care, and the Strasbourg orchestra plays wonderfully for Nelson, if not quite as incisively as the LSO does on Davis’s two recordings. Overall, though, this is now unquestionably the version of Berlioz’s masterpiece to have at home".


https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/nov/22/berlioz-les-troyens-cd-review-john-nelson-joyce-didonato
oooh! Sounds promising!
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

Todd

Quote from: ritter on November 22, 2017, 09:42:09 AMOverall, though, this is now unquestionably the version of Berlioz's masterpiece to have at home.


A bold statement.  I will have to listen for myself.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Tsaraslondon

Quote from: ritter on November 22, 2017, 09:42:09 AM
mega-bump  ;)

[asin]B0749LRN1C[/asin]

The new recording of Les Troyens under John Nelson (on Erato) gets a glowing 5-star review from Andrew Clements in The Guardian:

and the Strasbourg orchestra plays wonderfully for Nelson, if not quite as incisively as the LSO does on Davis's two recordings. Overall, though, this is now unquestionably the version of Berlioz's masterpiece to have at home".[/i][/color]

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/nov/22/berlioz-les-troyens-cd-review-john-nelson-joyce-didonato

I feel constrained to point out that the orchestra on the first of Davis's recordings of the opera (still my preference of the two, btw) is the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

That said, I'm very interested to hear this version too. Les Troyens is one of my all time favourite operas.

\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

springrite

I saw the Levine METS production in the 80's and liked it very much, although it was not exactly perfect for Domingo. I do prefer historic staging and costumes for such opera. Interestingly, I am teaching The Iliad right now to high school students in China right now. Wish I have this DVD as the modern staging from the DVD I do have does not work for me!

PS: I also went to the LA Opera production with Lakes as Aeneas.
Do what I must do, and let what must happen happen.

knight66

I have had this set on pre-order for months. I got notification that it would arrive today, it did not. Humph.

I have now read four detailed reviews and there is nothng but praise for the set.

Mouth watering, fingers drumming.

Mike
DavidW: Yeah Mike doesn't get angry, he gets even.
I wasted time: and time wasted me.

Spineur

Excellent review on forumopera

https://www.forumopera.com/les-troyens-o-gloire-des-troyens

Michael Spyres as Enée got praises from everywhere.  I said elswere that the french repertoire suited him like a velvet glove.

Tsaraslondon

Quote from: Spineur on November 24, 2017, 11:41:29 AM
Excellent review on forumopera

https://www.forumopera.com/les-troyens-o-gloire-des-troyens

Michael Spyres as Enée got praises from everywhere.  I said elswere that the french repertoire suited him like a velvet glove.

I heard him sing Berlioz's Faust at the proms this year under Gardiner, and he was very fine. I didn't immediately think of him as a natural for Aeneas, though. I would have thought the voce too light. Still very interested t hear the set though.

\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

mc ukrneal

I just came across this one. Intrigued by the singers (and generally positive reviews on Amazon), curious if anyone here is familiar with it?

https://www.amazon.com/Berlioz-Les-Troyens-James-Levine-Celebrating-40-Years-at-the-Met/dp/B0064TEEBC/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1EESHVYJIFN5S&colid=1KZWGAWHU2H1
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

Todd

#34
Quote from: mc ukrneal on November 25, 2017, 04:42:31 PM
I just came across this one. Intrigued by the singers (and generally positive reviews on Amazon), curious if anyone here is familiar with it?


Yes.  All three main roles are well cast, and Lieberson is predictably excellent.  The Met plays well, tempi are generally just fine, and sound is good enough if not great.  I wouldn't pay $70 for a copy, though.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Tsaraslondon

#35
Quote from: mc ukrneal on November 25, 2017, 04:42:31 PM
I just came across this one. Intrigued by the singers (and generally positive reviews on Amazon), curious if anyone here is familiar with it?

https://www.amazon.com/Berlioz-Les-Troyens-James-Levine-Celebrating-40-Years-at-the-Met/dp/B0064TEEBC/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1EESHVYJIFN5S&colid=1KZWGAWHU2H1


Oooh! No I didn't know this one, and I would love to hear Hunt Lieberson sing Didon. It doesn't appear to be available on the UK site and is pretty expensive on the US one.

Over my budget, unfortunately.


\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

mc ukrneal

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on November 26, 2017, 02:02:41 AM

Oooh! No I didn't know this one, and I would love to hear Hunt Lieberson sing Didon. It doesn't appear to be available on the UK site and is pretty expensive on the US one.

Over my budget, unfortunately.



I did find that it is in a Levine set for $100. So if some of the other operas are of interest, perhaps not a bad deal....
https://www.metoperashop.org/shop/james-levine-celebrating-40-years-at-the-met-cd-4113
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

knight66

At one point the set was available on its own. But the Met shop would not post it abroad. I was in NY two years ago and went to the Met shop, no, it was no longer stocked. When I have heard Levine in Berlioz the woodwind has been much too submerged into the textures, however, I was happy to accept that possibility to get hold of Hunt Lieberson as Dido. Perhaps at some time, eventually.

I am very much enjoying the new set. So far I have had time to listen and follow the libretto for the first two discs. I like the lighter voiced Aneas, I just have to get the voice of Vickers out of my head. I do think that Lemieux is pushed as Cassandra and the voice over vibrant as a result. However she is a huge improvement on Lindholm. I enjoy all that the conductor is offering and am looking forward to the second half of the set.

Mike
DavidW: Yeah Mike doesn't get angry, he gets even.
I wasted time: and time wasted me.