Topic: What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

If this counts in this thread, I'm listening to this

[mc ukrneal]

Donizetti's Imelda de' Lambertazzi. A delight. This is an odd opera in the canon. Like others, it was a failure at it's premiere and has been rarely performed. No, it's not a happy opera (he's stabbed and she tries to suck out the poison and dies too). What it does have though, is a reversal of male voices. The father (and his brother) are played by tenors, while the lover (and son) is sung by a baritone! For me, it did make for a constant surprise, but the singing is quite good overall from the men (and the chorus, which is excellent). The title role is the only real female role and is sung well.  The orchestra is superb.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I'm thinking of doing a complete run of The Ring Cycle while I'm still on short holiday, for now; thinking 



(it's so long, that's also why I haven't stepped into Stockhausen's Licht again either in my current listening cycle)

DO IT!

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

[Tsaraslondon]

I move from late middle period Verdi to his second opera Un Giorno di Regno, an attempt at Donizettian comedy, which is actually quite enjoyable, though it doesn't bear many of the hallmarks of later Verdian style. the opera was not a success and Verdi wasn't to attempt comedy again, until his last, great masterpiece Falstaff, though he does introduce comic elements into Un Ballo in Maschera and La Forza del Destino.

I have two recordings of the opera, the other being the Philips/Gardelli recording, which I will listen to for comparison after this one, which was recorded in 1951. This one uses generally lighter voices than Philips version, with singers adept at Rossinian and Donziettian comedy. The female roles are both taken by light sopranos (Lina Pagliughi and Laura Cozzi), which seems to me more apposite casting than the mezzo Fiorenza Cossoto and dramatic soprano Jessye Norman on the Philips set. Juan Oncina, who was well known as a Rossini and Mozart tenor, makes an excellent Edoardo, though, if memory serves me correctly, the young Carreras also gives a terrific performance on the Philips set. The lower buffo roles are in the safe hands of Sesto Bruscantini and Renato Capecchi and Alfredo Simonetto conducts a jaunty, fleet and effervescent account of the score.

A very enjoyable set.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I listened just to act 2 of this today. It truly is something.....I guess in the hands of good performers it can evoke more emotion than almost any other single act of Wagner's music.

[Spineur]

A lesser known Massenet, much, much better than I expected:  I was a little disappointed by Le Mage, (in the same collection), an orientalist opera composed between Manon and Werther.  This is a late Massenet (1907) composed just before his don Quichotte (1910).

The story is reminiscent of Umberto Giordano, Andrea Chenier, as it takes place during the french revolution and Thérèse, the heroin is caught between her husband, a Girondin and Armand an aristocrat who offers her escape as her husband is to be guillotined when the Girondins camp fell against the Montagnards.  Instead, she decided to follow her husband to the scaffold.

The melodramatic libretto is told very simply in a very naturalistic way with much musical reference to the XVII musical style (already perceptible in Manon and Werther).

It's beautifully recorded, Nora Gubisch is a touching Thérèse and Charles Castronovo an ardent Armand, the self centered aristocrat.

It is a very condensed opera with a more modern and more refined musical writing than Manon and prefigures all the 20th century innovation.

[Tsaraslondon]

Unlike the Cetra version, which I was listening to a couple of days ago, this one is note complete. It also enjoys excellent 1970s Philips stereo sound.

Other than that, I'm not sure I'd prefer it to the Cetra set, which has a greater sense of fun.

Though the Philips has a starry cast, role for role I'd take the Cetra cast in preference, save perhaps for Carreras's youthfully charming, honey- toned Edoardo. Cossotto sounds, to my ears at least, uncomfortable in the light soprano role of the Marchesa, and she lacks Pagliughi's natural charm. Norman too sounds miscast as Giulietta.

All in all, I'd have to say the Simonetto was a more joyous experience, not that the Gardelli is bad, but, next to the Simonetto, it all sounds a bit po faced.

I compare the two recordings on my blog

https://tsaraslondon.wordpress.com/2017/04/18/verdis-un-giorno-di-regno-2-recordings/?frame-nonce=2ac6a0730d

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Having finally found time to watch act 2 last night, I now feel like enjoying this recording again.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Finally got around to finishing this. Reaction:   waaaah why can't things just work out happily......I guess sad endings are even better anyway! (well, I tend to enjoy a good sad ending, and this has the perfect music to fit, perhaps not as well paced as Tristan though........Lohengrin is rather on the fast side!!!!)

[Spineur]

(well, I tend to enjoy a good sad ending, and this has the perfect music to fit, perhaps not as well paced as Tristan though........Lohengrin is rather on the fast side!!!!)

You can think of Lohengrin as a prelude to Parsifal.  Lohengrin+Parsifal that take a while, no longer a fast paced affair.
By the way, I rather like this DVD which I watched prior to seing the live performance at Paris-Bastille.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

You can think of Lohengrin as a prelude to Parsifal.  Lohengrin+Parsifal that take a while, no longer a fast paced affair.
By the way, I rather like this DVD which I watched prior to seing the live performance at Paris-Bastille.

That is an iteresting perspective and I can see how that definitely works.....

[TheGSMoeller]

Olga Neuwirth - Lost Highway 

Found some video footage of a Lost Highway performance online. Looked fascinating with its use of several large video screens in back of the stage.

[Tsaraslondon]

Verdi's seventh opera is patchily distinguished and no doubt holds a peripheral hold on the repertoire, because of his sympathetic treatment of the heroine, a character more well drawn than any of his previous leading ladies. Like all his early operas, it is brim full of wonderful tunes, and well worth hearing in a good performance such as this.

Caballe makes a superb Giovanna, singing with purity, beauty and, when required, strength, brilliantly supported by Domingo and Milnes, the star trio of the day. Levine's conducting tends to the loud and barnstorming, and consequently we lose some of the lyricism in Verdi's score. I prefer Gardelli's approach to early Verdi, EMI recorded the set before Philips had got round to recording it for their early Verdi project, meaning that it is missing from the series. Nonetheless, like the Orfeo recordings of Oberto and Alzira (both conducted by Gardelli) it makes a worthy adjunct to the Philips series.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Seeing as there is a DVD available of this, I really really feel the urge to watch this. An incredible score; the vocal writing certainly feels highly emotive, and the instrumental wiring of the ensemble seems to match quite well.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Found some video footage of a Lost Highway performance online. Looked fascinating with its use of several large video screens in back of the stage.

Is it from a production available on DVD or anything like that? Yet to be released? I really hope to watch this one day rather than just listen......

[TheGSMoeller]

Is it from a production available on DVD or anything like that? Yet to be released? I really hope to watch this one day rather than just listen......

Not sure, jessop. Just did a Google search and found a few clips. Here's one I found...


https://vimeo.com/184604214

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Not sure, jessop. Just did a Google search and found a few clips. Here's one I found...


https://vimeo.com/184604214

Thanks for this

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I must add it seems like such an odd choice from Lynch's catalogue to choose to adapt for a movie. Like everything Lynch has done, it has evocative imagery that stays with you and themes that cut deep but an opera would be the last thing I'd have on my mind, considering too that the movie already has it's own excellent score by Angelo Badalamenti and a bunch of soundtracks from different bands/artists.

Olga created a magnificent score though, I really enjoyed it but it really has to be consumed as a separate identity, in my own opinion.

I suppose the worst thing that an adaptation could do is not add any new perspective on the original work....I'm fond of loose adaptations, or adaptations that really show a unique perspective on what it is based, but if an opera follows very closely to the original story but just with different or added music I feel it can be a bit of a wasted opportunity (e.g. Previn's 'A Streetcar Named Desire'). I don't know the story to 'Lost Highway' but I think Neuwirth writes music which is interesting enough on its own anyway. I'd like to see both the film and the opera for a comparison though.

[TheGSMoeller]

I suppose the worst thing that an adaptation could do is not add any new perspective on the original work....I'm fond of loose adaptations, or adaptations that really show a unique perspective on what it is based, but if an opera follows very closely to the original story but just with different or added music I feel it can be a bit of a wasted opportunity (e.g. Previn's 'A Streetcar Named Desire'). I don't know the story to 'Lost Highway' but I think Neuwirth writes music which is interesting enough on its own anyway. I'd like to see both the film and the opera for a comparison though.

I listened to a clip from the opera where the Mystery Man (played by Robert Blake in the film) tells Fred (Bill Pullman in the film) that he's at his house and hands him a (large) cell phone to call him there. It's a great scene in the movie. The opera used the same dialogue from the film word for word. There were even a few other snippets I listened to that similarly took the dialogue straight from the film script. Perhaps the adaptation doesn't sway too far from the original source?

Also, David Lynch is in my pantheon of filmmakers. I've always really loved Lost Highway, and think the story has all the great elements of a mysterious-tragic operatic tale. However, I think Twin Peaks has the potential to become the contemporary Ring Cycle with all its story lines and characters. Now we need to decide which composer gets the job?