What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[San Antone]

A 1954 live recording in good sound with big voices. Der Freischütz is not an opera I often listen to, nor do I know it very well. This one is quite entertaining.

Do you know this one?



Jacobs, Feiburger Barockorchester
Immler, Patirchak, Kasper, Scmitt, Urlacher

I generally prefer period orchestras, and René Jacobs has proven to be a reliable opera interpreter, IMO.

[nico1616]

Do you know this one?



Jacobs, Feiburger Barockorchester
Immler, Patirchak, Kasper, Scmitt, Urlacher

I generally prefer period orchestras, and René Jacobs has proven to be a reliable opera interpreter, IMO.

I don't know that one. René Jacobs is a bit hit and miss for me. I love his old baroque recordings, his Giulio Cesare or Scarlatti's Il Primo Omicidio are real classics. But what he did with Mozart operas was disappointing, he just doesn't have a cast to compete with the big recordings from the past. Therefore I don't think his Freischutz will appeal to me.

[nico1616]

I have the Keilberth studio recording, which also has Elisabeth Grümmer as Agathe.

I have the Keilberth too, and the Kleiber and Jochum on DG. But they are just gathering dust, so much to listen to and so little time.

[JBS]

I don't know that one. René Jacobs is a bit hit and miss for me. I love his old baroque recordings, his Giulio Cesare or Scarlatti's Il Primo Omicidio are real classics. But what he did with Mozart operas was disappointing, he just doesn't have a cast to compete with the big recordings from the past. Therefore I don't think his Freischutz will appeal to me.

Jacobs's approach to Freischutz is an extension of his approach to the Mozart Singspielen: try to make the non-musical sections equal to the musical ones. In the case of Freischutz the main device to do that was to invent voiceovers by Samael supposedly only heard by the villian, to make an audio fill-in for those places where the in-theater audience sees a silent Samael on stage but where an audio only audience would otherwise not realize he was present.
Jacobs also uses an aria and accompanying scene which Weber cut before the first performance.

If you can, stream it: I think it's worth at least one listen.

FTR, I think Jacobs's Mozart series is uniformly good, and have little or no problems with the singers. But of course that's a matter where chacun a son gout must rule.

[Que]

Jacobs's approach to Freischutz is an extension of his approach to the Mozart Singspielen: try to make the non-musical sections equal to the musical ones. In the case of Freischutz the main device to do that was to invent voiceovers by Samael supposedly only heard by the villian, to make an audio fill-in for those places where the in-theater audience sees a silent Samael on stage but where an audio only audience would otherwise not realize he was present.
Jacobs also uses an aria and accompanying scene which Weber cut before the first performance.


If you can, stream it: I think it's worth at least one listen.

Interesting! I am also curious about this period performance:

FTR, I think Jacobs's Mozart series is uniformly good, and have little or no problems with the singers. But of course that's a matter where chacun a son gout must rule.

Same - I generally like his Mozart opera performances.

[San Antone]

Amilcare Ponchielli : La Gioconda
1980: Montserrat Caballé, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes



Others I have saved to a Spotify folder:

1952: Maria Callas, Gianni Poggi, Paolo Silveri
1957: Zinka Milanov, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Leonard Warren
1967: Renata Tebaldi, Carlo Bergonzi, Robert Merrill

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Orlando is one of Händel's best, with that over the top madness scene at the end of act 2 and all those great arias. I especially like Rosemary Joshua's Angelica in Christie's recording but the whole cast is great.
Which recording of Guilio Cesare have you chosen?

Indeed. Orlando is a gorgeous work. The recording I bought of Giulio Cesare is the Minkowski on Archiv Produktion. I still haven't received it in the mail, but hopefully I will over the next few days.

[Tsaraslondon]

Amilcare Ponchielli : La Gioconda
1980: Montserrat Caballé, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes



Others I have saved to a Spotify folder:

1952: Maria Callas, Gianni Poggi, Paolo Silveri
1957: Zinka Milanov, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Leonard Warren
1967: Renata Tebaldi, Carlo Bergonzi, Robert Merrill

Not the second Callas recording?

1959: Maria Callas, Fiorenza Cossotto, Pier Miranda Ferraro, Piero Cappuccilli

It's in excellent sound and she is in fine voice for 1959.

[nico1616]

Amilcare Ponchielli : La Gioconda
1980: Montserrat Caballé, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes



Others I have saved to a Spotify folder:

1952: Maria Callas, Gianni Poggi, Paolo Silveri
1957: Zinka Milanov, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Leonard Warren
1967: Renata Tebaldi, Carlo Bergonzi, Robert Merrill

There a lots of superb Gioconda recordings, in addition to these I would add the Decca Cerquetti/Del Monaco/Bastianini/Simionato/Siepi 1958.

[nico1616]

Indeed. Orlando is a gorgeous work. The recording I bought of Giulio Cesare is the Minkowski on Archiv Produktion. I still haven't received it in the mail, but hopefully I will over the next few days.

You can't go wrong with Minkowski and Händel. His Giulio Cesare is stunning, you are in for a treat 

[San Antone]

Not the second Callas recording?

1959: Maria Callas, Fiorenza Cossotto, Pier Miranda Ferraro, Piero Cappuccilli

It's in excellent sound and she is in fine voice for 1959.

I pretty much dismissed it because of the lateness in her career (fine voice for 1959), knowing there was one from her prime. But the rest of the cast is so good, I planned on going back to it.

I also prefer saving only a few recordings in a folder and not having two by the same main singer. But Callas is Callas, and transcends all rules.   

[San Antone]

Jacobs's approach to Freischutz is an extension of his approach to the Mozart Singspielen: try to make the non-musical sections equal to the musical ones. In the case of Freischutz the main device to do that was to invent voiceovers by Samael supposedly only heard by the villian, to make an audio fill-in for those places where the in-theater audience sees a silent Samael on stage but where an audio only audience would otherwise not realize he was present.
Jacobs also uses an aria and accompanying scene which Weber cut before the first performance.

If you can, stream it: I think it's worth at least one listen.

FTR, I think Jacobs's Mozart series is uniformly good, and have little or no problems with the singers. But of course that's a matter where chacun a son gout must rule.

I have come off of the Jacobs recording because of the musical changes he made. 

When I listened to other recordings (this is a new opera for me, Jacobs was the first I'd heard) they all began with other musical numbers.  And after reading a survey in Music-Web by Roger Stone on most of the existing recordings (excellent article, btw, despite his bias against PI/HIP) he explains that Jacobs commissioned the creation of three new numbers, cobbling together some pieces of texts that had been discarded by Weber and his collaborators, and having new music created from existing sections or sketches.

The entire opening sequences are very different in Jacobs' recording from all other recordings/performances.

That said, the new numbers are not "bad" per se, and make logical sense narrative-wise, but I want to know the opera better before taking on his version.

[Tsaraslondon]

I pretty much dismissed it because of the lateness in her career (fine voice for 1959), knowing there was one from her prime. But the rest of the cast is so good, I planned on going back to it.

I also prefer saving only a few recordings in a folder and not having two by the same main singer. But Callas is Callas, and transcends all rules.   

Well I actually prefer it to her first recording. You can see my review of it here.

[San Antone]

Well I actually prefer it to her first recording. You can see my review of it here.

There is a recent re-release of the 1959 recording: 



Very clean.

[Tsaraslondon]

There is a recent re-release of the 1959 recording: 



Very clean.

I think it's the same remaster as the 2014 version with different cover art.

[San Antone]

Giordano : Andre Chénier
(1941) Beniamino Gigli, Maria Caniglia, Gino Bechi
Oliviero De Fabritiis, Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus



Despite the older date, 1941, I love this recording. The cast, and importantly the recorded sound is better than the later live recordings from 1955 (Mario Del Monaco/Maria Callas) or 1957 (Richard Tucker/Zinka Milanov).

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

You can't go wrong with Minkowski and Händel. His Giulio Cesare is stunning, you are in for a treat 

Very nice. Looking forward to it, indeed.

[San Antone]

Verdi: Otello
Ramon Vinay, Herva Nelli, Giuseppe Valdengo, Virginio Assandri, Nan Merriman & Leslie Chabay
NBC Symphony Orchestra and Choruses, Arturo Toscanini



I usually cite Rigoletto as my favorite opera by Verdi, but for a long time it was Otello.  And, truth be told, every time I listen to it I am swept away by the power in which Verdi captured Shakespeare's drama.

This Naxos transfer sounds better to me than the RCA; plus there is the commentary included, which is nice to hear, at least once.

[Kalevala]

Verdi: Otello
Ramon Vinay, Herva Nelli, Giuseppe Valdengo, Virginio Assandri, Nan Merriman & Leslie Chabay
NBC Symphony Orchestra and Choruses, Arturo Toscanini



I usually cite Rigoletto as my favorite opera by Verdi, but for a long time it was Otello.  And, truth be told, every time I listen to it I am swept away by the power in which Verdi captured Shakespeare's drama.

This Naxos transfer sounds better to me than the RCA; plus there is the commentary included, which is nice to hear, at least once.

Otello is a favorite of mine.  I was thinking of it last night while watching a late night talk show in which they were interviewing the actor Jake Gyllenhaal who is playing Iago in a new Broadway production of it (opposite Denzel Washington as Othello). 

K

[Tsaraslondon]

There is a recent re-release of the 1959 recording: 



Very clean.

I've just noticed that, oddly, they list Renato Ercolani, the comprimario who sings Isepo, on the front cover, but not Ivo Vinco, who sings Alvise.