What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[Papy Oli]

I don't, I'm afraid. I have the first CD transfer which came with a full libretto and translation. I wouldn't know where to look on the net. It seems to me that librettos and translations are becoming increasingly difficult to find. Perhaps nobody cares what's going on anymore.

no worries, thank you.

Actually, while answering, I remembered I once saved a Decca link months ago when I first ventured into Opera.
Rummaging in my bookmarks, here it is :

https://libretti.deccaclassics.com

...and it does include L'Elisir !! 

On my way to download them all before I forget the existence of this link again    

[Florestan]

On the off-chance, have you or anyone please got a PDF of the Italian libretto + English translations or can point me  towards one online?

I wouldn't know where to look on the net.

https://pdfcoffee.com/lx27elisir-dx27amore-libretto-with-translation-pdf-free.html

[Florestan]

no worries, thank you.

Actually, while answering, I remembered I once saved a Decca link months ago when I first ventured into Opera.
Rummaging in my bookmarks, here it is :

https://libretti.deccaclassics.com

...and it does include L'Elisir !! 

On my way to download them all before I forget the existence of this link again  

Nice find, Olivier!

[Papy Oli]

https://pdfcoffee.com/lx27elisir-dx27amore-libretto-with-translation-pdf-free.html

Thank you Andrei, I'll save that link too.

[Que]

Are there anymore similar links to on line libretti?

[Mapman]

Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle (in English)
Howell, Burgess; Elder: BBC NOW

[Lisztianwagner]

Crossposting from the WAYLTN thread:

On youtube:
Ernst Krenek
Karl V, part I

Gerd Albrecht, ORF-Choir & Radio Symphonie Orchester Wien

[Lisztianwagner]

The first part was gorgeous, now:

Ernst Krenek
Karl V, part II

Gerd Albrecht, ORF-Choir & Radio Symphonie Orchester Wien

[Lisztianwagner]

I've found on youtube a recording of Dallapiccola's Il Prigioniero in German and although I'm not particularly fond of opera sung in a different language from the original one, I can't resist to have a listen to it:

Luigi Dallapiccola
Il Prigioniero

Hans Rosbaud & Berliner Philharmoniker

[Florestan]

Well, it's Rosbaud so you can't go wrong.

[Lisztianwagner]

Well, it's Rosbaud so you can't go wrong.

As a matter of fact, I put great trust in Rosbaud's conducting skills and he didn't disappoint me, his recording was gorgeous; the German translation also fit the music very well without losing the beauty and the profundity of poetical shades of the original language.

[Todd]

I know the Mackerras verion is generally the preferred one, and of course the great Lucia Popp heads the cast, but this one is pretty dandy, too, and it has the equally great Gabriela Benackova as the Fox.  And it has a Czech band.

[Mapman]

Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
Gens, Marin-Degor, Brua, Berg; Christie: Les Arts Florissants

It's good music, but I'm not impressed by this performance. I don't like the somewhat harsh vibrato-less string sound, and some of the singing (especially the Witches) is ugly. I think the singing is probably intentionally ugly, but I don't think it works.

[Que]

Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
Gens, Marin-Degor, Brua, Berg; Christie: Les Arts Florissants

It's good music, but I'm not impressed by this performance. I don't like the somewhat harsh vibrato-less string sound, and some of the singing (especially the Witches) is ugly. I think the singing is probably intentionally ugly, but I don't think it works.

It  does seem hard to get everything right in that piece!
My love for the Haïm recording was shortlived. Now I have Hogwood lined up for auditioning.

[ritter]

Gian Francesco Malipiero's opera form the mid-1930s, Giulio Cesare.



Malipiero had the unfortunate idea of dedicating this work to Benito Mussolini, but apparently that did not help him being ingratiated with the fascist regime, and the opera was not a success. It's based on Shakespeare (a couple of years later, the composer would write an Antonio e Cleopatra).

Of the operas by Malipiero I Know (he apparently composed 35 of them, but only a handful are available on record, and live performances are few and far between these days), this is the most "traditional", and is closer to the typical Italian opera of the pre-WW2 years than other works by the composer. Perhaps not his most inspired score, but still his style comes through ("autumnal angular neoclassicism" is the term I can come up with), and it is certainly interesting.

[Todd]

Malipiero had the unfortunate idea of dedicating this work to Benito Mussolini

Maybe not the best decision.

[Todd]

I relistened to Pappano's recording of Suor Angelica recently, and I decided I just had to have another version.  So Nelsons it was.  It's just as beautiful and very well played.  I think I'd give Pappano the slight overall edge, but now I can flip a coin next time I listen.  This also comes with the Preludio sinfonico, so that's a nice bonus. 

I did investigate other recordings of the opera a bit, and the Sutherland/Bonynge is available separately as a download.  Otherwise, it looks like I might end up with a couple more complete versions of Il Trittico.  I can think of worse things.

[Tsaraslondon]

I relistened to Pappano's recording of Suor Angelica recently, and I decided I just had to have another version.  So Nelsons it was.  It's just as beautiful and very well played.  I think I'd give Pappano the slight overall edge, but now I can flip a coin next time I listen.  This also comes with the Preludio sinfonico, so that's a nice bonus. 

I did investigate other recordings of the opera a bit, and the Sutherland/Bonynge is available separately as a download.  Otherwise, it looks like I might end up with a couple more complete versions of Il Trittico.  I can think of worse things.

The Sutherland was recorded a tad too late in her career, I always feel.

My out and out favourite is Scotto with Maazel, then De Los Angeles with Serafin and Ricciarelli with Bartoletti, all of which I prefer to Pappano. I don't know what availability is like, but I'm pretty sure they can all be streamed.

In all honesty, though, I should say it's my least favourite of the three operas in the tryptich.

[Wendell_E]

The Sutherland was recorded a tad too late in her career, I always feel.

My out and out favourite is Scotto with Maazel, then De Los Angeles with Serafin and Ricciarelli with Bartoletti, all of which I prefer to Pappano. I don't know what availability is like, but I'm pretty sure they can all be streamed.

In all honesty, though, I should say it's my least favourite of the three operas in the tryptich.

It's my favorite of the three, but we agree about the Scotto/Maazel recording, indeed about all the versions you recommend.

[Florestan]

(Cross post from the WAYLTN thread)



Listened to the whole thing over a few days.

I'm very sorry (which is a way to say I'm very glad) to report to our esteemed colleague and moderator @ritter that I found absolutely nothing vulgar whatsoever, let alone revolting, neither in the subject matter (which is actually quite bland for a verismo opera: nobody dies, nobody gets killed, nobody gets mad, there is no abject poverty, there are no prostitutes and no ruffians; it's a bourgeois drama through and through: cabaret singer seduces millionaire and falls genuinely in love in the process, subsequently finds out her lover is married with child, meets the child and the wife and eventually leaves his lover for the sake of his child who needs the father --- quite Victorian, I'd say) nor in the music (which is actually delicately scored, mostly for strings, winds and harp). The only complaint I have is that the tunes are not as memorable as those in Pagliacci. All in all, a very enjoyable work.