What are you listening to now?

[SimonNZ]

Berio's Ritorno Degli Snovidenia - Pierre Boulez, cond.

[Tsaraslondon]

What a debt we owe to Philips and Gardelli for their early Verdi series. I due Foscari was Verdi's sixth opera, and is his most intimate opera to date. A superb performance under Gardelli, Ricciarelli and Carreras giving us some of their best work on disc.

[Florestan]

[Tsaraslondon]

Suliotis' consciously-employed Callas-isms are very much in evidence in her live 1966 Nabucco, much more-so in fact than her Decca studio recording with Gardelli.

She has the fierce high end, certainly- but aside from that, her phrasing is second-rate Callas and her coloring is, well,  'fourth-rate' Callas.

I still marvel at the high-end power of her voice though if not her dramatic instincts.

That said, I'll take the Decca Gardelli Nabucco for best overall cast, performance, and recorded engineered sound- and of course for Suliotis' Abigaille- which is second only to Callas' in tigerish intensity; and where Suliotis' voice is at her pristine, silvery best. 

But when it comes to Princess Abigaille per se?- I unstintingly reach for the ravishingly poised ferocity of Callas' Abigaille.

The meaningfully-conveyed and thrilling dramatic intensity Callas' "Ben io t'invenni, o fatal scritto!"simply has to be heard to be believed.

FIER-ce.

Absolutely spot on.

Callas was in pristine, thrillingly fearless voice back in that 1949 Nabucco, but it isn't all about power and force. There are many moments of pure poetry as well, making this Abigaille probably the most rounded you are ever likely to hear. I prize such moments as her short dying solo as much as, say the  exciting cabaletta Salgo gia del trono aurato.

[Tsaraslondon]

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Is this worth getting? I'm rather partial to Bonney, as you know.

[SimonNZ]

Boulez's Le Marteau sans maître - cond. composer

[The new erato]

Although the good Lord alone knows when I will ever watch it: my pile of operas on CD and DVD is perilously high, and includes stuff I bought six years or more ago, and have yet to play.

I stopped buying music DVDs/Blu Rays for that reason. I can always put on a CD while doing some work/reading etc, that doesn't work with DVDs.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Boulez conducting the Dufourt and Ferneyhough on this recording. The Höller is done by Eötvös.



I love Dufourt's music and I'm so glad to have more of it.
Of special note is Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco, not conducted by Boulez but is very fitting on this disc in terms of the overall aesthetic. Really beautiful, and really imagining program that really just works. It's as if all these pieces were composed to exist together on this disc.

[NikF]

Debussy: Jeux - Martinon/Orchestre National de l'ORTF.

[Karl Henning]

Boulez conducting the Dufourt and Ferneyhough on this recording. The Höller is done by Eötvös.



I love Dufourt's music and I'm so glad to have more of it.
Of special note is Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco, not conducted by Boulez but is very fitting on this disc in terms of the overall aesthetic. Really beautiful, and really imagining program that really just works. It's as if all these pieces were composed to exist together on this disc.

The Harvey is exquisite.

[Karl Henning]

Great way to start the day:

Holmboe
Symphony № 7, Op.50/M.167 (1950)
Aarhus Symphony
Hughes

[asin]B000027DT8[/asin]

[North Star]

G'day, folks!

Test-drive Thursday
Harvey
Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco
https://www.youtube.com/v/TxEGPIEraFA

[Karl Henning]

Cheers, Karlo!

[NikF]

Elgar: Enigma Variations - Dutoit/Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

[asin]B00000E4L5[/asin]

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

What a debt we owe to Philips and Gardelli for their early Verdi series. I due Foscari was Verdi's sixth opera, and is his most intimate opera to date. A superb performance under Gardelli, Ricciarelli and Carreras giving us some of their best work on disc.

Sensuous and colorful Verdi? And with Ricciarelli? Definitely.

"Garçon, may I have a 'double order' of Ricciarelli with that Foscari?- hold the Sutherland, please."

[ritter]

From this recent pruchase:


Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Don Giovanni. Don Giovanni: Antonio Campó, Donna Anna: Teresa Stich-Randall,  Don Ottavio: Nicolai Gedda, Il Commendatore: Raffaele Arié,  Donna Elvira: Suzanne Danco, Leporello: Marcello Cortis, Masetto: André Vessières, Zerlina: Anna Moffo - Orchestre de la  Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris, Choeurs Elisabeth Brasseur - Hans Rosbaud (cond.)

This 1956 perfomance of Don Giovanni has received rather negative reviews, which mention "overparted singers" and "conducting lacking in drama". I think it is quite enjoyable. No metaphysical drama or soul-searching here, but rather a straight-froward approach to this wonderful opera, underscoring the gioccoso aspects (in the case of Marcello Cortis's Leporello, perhaps too much so) and showing great teamwork. Yes, all perfomers sound young, and it is all on the light side, but that suits the piece as well as other approaches.

It's surpsing that Antonio Campó, the Don Giovanni, didn't have a more distinguised international career. Incidentally, he was the father of Spanish pop singer Marta Sánchez.

[Sadko]

Wagner: Tristan, Vorspiel und "Liebestod" (Prague RSO)
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 (Czech PO)

Václav Talich

[asin]B000ENWHWC[/asin]

[North Star]

Always a good time to revisit this favourite disc. I wonder if anyone else here has actually heard this too...

Monteverdi: Litanie della Beata Virgine
Magnificats by Bencini, Soler & Carissimi
Salve Regina settings by A. Scarlatti & Melani
Stravinsky: Ave Maria
Alessandrini & Concerto Italiano

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Lazarev's Master and Margarita.   If you haven't read the novel (by Mikhail Bulgakov) on which this ballet is based , it is warmly recommended.

[Karl Henning]

Always a good time to revisit this favourite disc. I wonder if anyone else here has actually heard this too...

Monteverdi: Litanie della Beata Virgine
Magnificats by Bencini, Soler & Carissimi
Salve Regina settings by A. Scarlatti & Melani
Stravinsky: Ave Maria
Alessandrini & Concerto Italiano

You know, I think I have not, yet . . . I do know where to lay my hands on that CD, though (at home, naturalmente).