La forza del destino

[Sergeant Rock]

And I seem to remember that Monteux's Enigma was for many years a top recommendation...

As to Elgar, I don't think the Solti was in the clear traditional mainstream, but I seem to remember it got a warm reception.

Before Solti recorded the First he made a searching study of Elgar's own 78 recording....[and it has] the same rich, committed qualities that mark the Elgar performance--Penguin

Solti's incandescent performance of the Second is modeled closely on Elgar's surprisingly clipped and urgent reading--Penguin

About Monteux's Enigma: Nimrod is slower than usual but I don't know how much slower, not into Bernstein territory I bet; but anyway, Differences from traditional tempi elsewhere are marginal--Penguin

Karajan's Planets, and Jochum's too, were well received but I'd argue there's nothing radical about their performances; nothing that would alarm the reactionary critics.

Sarge

[Hector]

Before Solti recorded the First he made a searching study of Elgar's own 78 recording....[and it has] the same rich, committed qualities that mark the Elgar performance--Penguin

Solti's incandescent performance of the Second is modeled closely on Elgar's surprisingly clipped and urgent reading--Penguin

About Monteux's Enigma: Nimrod is slower than usual but I don't know how much slower, not into Bernstein territory I bet; but anyway, Differences from traditional tempi elsewhere are marginal--Penguin

Karajan's Planets, and Jochum's too, were well received but I'd argue there's nothing radical about their performances; nothing that would alarm the reactionary critics.

Sarge

These 'Penguin Record Guide' views are so out of date.

It is, now, recognised that Solti failed to provide anything other than, at best, a run-through, at worse, a bland misunderstanding of Elgar's recording and score. Ugh, preserve me.

Sinopoli has no conception of the ebb and flow in these works.

Haitink is far and away preferable but it is either Boult or Andrew Davis that comes close to ideal in the 2nd.

Now tell me you do not like either and I'll tell you that it is not Elgar that you like but some Brucknerian, overblown concept of the composer.

A view that Monteux, an unlikely Elgar advocate if there ever was one, was frre of.

What am I doing arguing Elgar performing traditions on a Verdi thread?

[knight66]

Referring back to the Sinopoli Macbeth and his discs with Zampieri as Lady M. The discs are about to be reissued and here is their stage performance of the sleepwalking scene from YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVl3vm-UCJU

I knew Lady M was evil....but THIS evil?!!!.....OFELIA HRISTOVA more the voice of a banshee rather than a she-devil, and there is yards of this woman on YouTube, her agent must submit the stuff. Stick to the end, riveting. I have not even mentioned the acting or staging.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVeMM-ctyck&mode=related&search=

Actually I have popped back having also watched her sing
Abigaille aria e cabaletta-Nabucco, a great improvement, but what probably lead to the instability in Macbeth.

Mike

[king ubu]

Just read through this thread after having watched "La forza del destino" on telly last night* (first encounter with the opera, I think - might have seen it 20 years back as a high-schooler, but I'm not quite sure what Verdi operas beyond "Falstaff" I saw then - not "Aida" or "La Traviata" for sure though). Anyways ... I have some of the recordings mentioned here waiting to be explored, but the first one I've just put on right now is the 1953 one by Mitropoulos (Tebaldi, Del Monaco and Siepi among the cast, Aldo Protti is singing Don Carlo - don't know him at all yet). What's the verdict on Mitropoulos' "Forza" then? He wasn't mentioned in this thread at all yet, I think (sorry if I didn't catch any reference or hint). Obviously, sound isn't perfect, but it's surely good enough to get a vivid impression of Tebaldi and Del Monaco ... now I'm eagerly awaiting for Siepi to show up!


*) EDIT: with a riveting Anja Harteros plus Jonas Kaufmann, Ludovic Tézier and a very good Vitalij Kowaljow in the two bass parts (father/Padre Guardiano)

[Drasko]

What's the verdict on Mitropoulos' "Forza" then?

I like it a lot. Sound is bit rough and the audience is rowdy but it's a very exciting performance. Mitropoulos leads with all the fire and brimstone Molinari-Pradelli doesn't provide on roughly contemporaneous Decca studio recording with similar cast, and Tebaldi and Del Monaco were really on that evening, her with more passion he with more nuance (as he usually was live). Proti is no match for Bastianini, but that is probably the only weaker link.   

[king ubu]

Thanks, reassuring indeed as my first impression is very positive! And Siepi is indeed great, too!

There's a later recording by Mitropoulos - are you (or anyone) familiar with both, how do they compare?