What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[San Antone]

Verdi : La Traviata
Violetta: Sonya Yoncheva
Alfredo: Michael Fabiano
Germont: Thomas Hampson
CONDUCTOR: Nicola Luisotti
Performance Date: Mar 11, 2017



La Traviata's sumptuous melodies and timeless depiction of doomed love have made the work a favorite of generations of operagoers. In his approach to this classic drama, director Willy Decker sets the action on a nearly bare stage, focusing the audience's full attention on the three main characters. As Violetta, the ailing courtesan desperate to escape her past, soprano Sonya Yoncheva offers a fearless and sympathetic performance from beginning to end. American tenor Michael Fabiano sings with ardent longing as her devoted lover Alfredo, delivering emotionally wrought phrases and ringing top notes. Thomas Hampson brings a burnished baritone to Germont, Alfredo's protective father whose stern demands spell disaster for the young couple. On the podium, maestro Nicola Luisotti leads an electric performance of Verdi's unforgettable score. (Met Opera on Demand)

I was impressed with this stripped down production: the singing, the acting, and the sets which were minimal but effective - all added up to a very enjoyable Traviata.

[JBS]

One of two Carmens in Warner's new Bizet edition. The other one is (yawn) the Callas recording.*


*Yawn because it's not as if the Callas recording is otherwise unavailable, and not because of anything inherent in the performance itself.

[JBS]

One of two Carmens in Warner's new Bizet edition. The other one is (yawn) the Callas recording.*


*Yawn because it's not as if the Callas recording is otherwise unavailable, and not because of anything inherent in the performance itself.

After action debriefing:
Act 1 was a bit mechanical and underwhelming, but the other three acts improved. Sort of "let Mrs Rattle sing her famous stuff, and then we can start with a real opera".

The version performed (Oeser) is the opera comique spoken dialogue version.

[Tsaraslondon]

*Yawn because it's not as if the Callas recording is otherwise unavailable, and not because of anything inherent in the performance itself.

Well, yes I suppose they could have used the Gheorghiu recording, or even the old Cluytens. The Callas and the Beecham recordings have been reissued many, many times before.

[Lisztianwagner]

Richard Wagner
Tannhäuser

Spas Wenkoff (Tannhäuser), Gwyneth Jones (Elizabeth/Venus), Bernd Weikl (Wolfram von Eschenbach), Hans Sotin (Landgraf von Thüringen), Robert Schunk (Walther von der Vogelweide), Franz Mazura (Biterolf), John Pickering (Heinrich der Schreiber), Heinz Feldhoff (Reinmar von Zweter)
Colin Davis & Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele

[ritter]

Richard Wagner
Tannhäuser

Spas Wenkoff (Tannhäuser), Gwyneth Jones (Elizabeth/Venus), Bernd Weikl (Wolfram von Eschenbach), Hans Sotin (Landgraf von Thüringen), Robert Schunk (Walther von der Vogelweide), Franz Mazura (Biterolf), John Pickering (Heinrich der Schreiber), Heinz Feldhoff (Reinmar von Zweter)
Colin Davis & Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele

A classic production, which created a scandal when it was first unveiled.

BTW, Ilaria, how was Siegfried alla Scala?

[Lisztianwagner]

A classic production, which created a scandal when it was first unveiled.

BTW, Ilaria, how was Siegfried alla Scala?

An absolutely beautiful Tannhäuser; I didn't know that production created a scandal, why, because of the ballet?

Siegfried was amazing, I enjoyed it very much! The staging took inspiration from a mythological fairy-tale world, which worked, especially for Mime's forge, as it didn't distort Wagner's libretto; Young handled the orchestra very well, brightly and powerfully, but also accurately, hers was a solid interpretation, with dense and colourful sonorities. The singers were excellent too, just Vogt sometimes seemed a little overwhelmed by the orchestra in the first act, but he got better and better during the opera.

[nico1616]

A Rigoletto in German, it seems totally misplaced but this one works. First the amazing sound for a 1950 recording where every orchestral detail is brought forward by the fabulous direction by Fricsay.
The cast is one of the best I ever heard for this opera: Rita Streich as Gilda, Josef Metternich is Rigoletto, Margareta Klose is Maddalena and Rudolf Schock must be the most perfect Duke I have ever heard.
This is the Verdi opera I know best, and this recording is on the level of my beloved Guilini/DG and Callas/EMI sets.