What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

Started by Tsaraslondon, April 10, 2017, 04:29:04 AM

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Spineur

I added to my amazon.it super-dupper cheap bargain order, this box

[asin]B06VSZ2Y2J[/asin]

with one disc for each singer

Mirella Freni/Anna Moffo/Monserrat Caballé/Leontine Price/Renata Scotto/Leonie Rysanek/Inge Borkh/Sherley Verrett/Eleanor Steber/Richard Tucker/Placido Domingo/John Vickers/Sherrill Milnes/Georges London/Fritz Wunderlich.

The absence of Callas, Tebaldi, Pavarotti... may surprise, but there are here some wonderful voices which I had never heared before (I think).  Right now listening to Eleanor Steber - really magnificent.

Tsaraslondon

Quote from: Spineur on July 26, 2017, 09:19:15 AM
I added to my amazon.it super-dupper cheap bargain order, this box

[asin]B06VSZ2Y2J[/asin]

with one disc for each singer

Mirella Freni/Anna Moffo/Monserrat Caballé/Leontine Price/Renata Scotto/Leonie Rysanek/Inge Borkh/Sherley Verrett/Eleanor Steber/Richard Tucker/Placido Domingo/John Vickers/Sherrill Milnes/Georges London/Fritz Wunderlich.

The absence of Callas, Tebaldi, Pavarotti... may surprise, but there are here some wonderful voices which I had never heared before (I think).  Right now listening to Eleanor Steber - really magnificent.

Which Steber disc is it? I really like her recording of Les Nuits d'Eté.

I assume the absence of Callas, Tebaldi, Pavarotti, and other great names like Schwarzkopf, Sutherland, De Los Angeles has more to do with the provenance of the original recitals. These seem to be RCA, Sony, and (I think) Eurodisc.

Looking at the cover, there are at least two classics there - Caballé's first recital for RCA and Verrett's French Arias recital. I also really like Scotto's Verismo Arias, which seems to be included.

Enjoy.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

Spineur

Quote from: ritter on July 25, 2017, 12:16:42 PM
Listening to the end of Meistersinger live from Bayreuth (it's opening night) on Spanish National Radio.

Philippe Jordan is conducting, and this is sounding excellent, with every detail of the orchestra coming through. The singing seems first-rate to me as well.
This is a critique (in french) of this performance which was broadcasted on tv except in France.  They didnt seem to appreciate the critique of Wagner antisemitism in this staging.  Angela Merkel and the king&queen of Sweden attended the performance

http://www.olyrix.com/articles/actu-des-operas/1209/les-maitres-chanteurs-denoncent-lantisemitisme-de-wagner-pour-ouvrir-bayreuth-2017-barrie-kosky-nuremberg-actualite-polemique-judaisme-dans-la-musique-antisemite-invite-angela-merkel

Spineur

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on July 26, 2017, 09:54:29 AM
Which Steber disc is it? I really like her recording of Les Nuits d'Eté.
No, its 50% Mozart, 50% french repertoire excluding Berlioz.

Quote
... I also really like Scotto's Verismo Arias, which seems to be included.
Spinning righr now !

Tsaraslondon

Quote from: Spineur on July 26, 2017, 10:36:23 AM
No, its 50% Mozart, 50% french repertoire excluding Berlioz.

The only Steber recital I have is this one

.

No Mozart, but sacred arias by Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn, coupled to her wonderful performance with Mitropoulos of Les Nuits d'Eté.

I'd be interested to hear the Mozart and French Arias.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

ritter

Quote from: Spineur on July 26, 2017, 10:06:10 AM
This is a critique (in french) of this performance which was broadcasted on tv except in France.  They didnt seem to appreciate the critique of Wagner antisemitism in this staging.  Angela Merkel and the king&queen of Sweden attended the performance

http://www.olyrix.com/articles/actu-des-operas/1209/les-maitres-chanteurs-denoncent-lantisemitisme-de-wagner-pour-ouvrir-bayreuth-2017-barrie-kosky-nuremberg-actualite-polemique-judaisme-dans-la-musique-antisemite-invite-angela-merkel
In general, the reviews I've read in the German and Spanish press are favourable. I am of those who think that Wagner's rabid antisemtism is not reflected in the plots, characters or music of his dramatic works, but rather that the issue is completely ignored by him (in that context, obviously). Still, I am open to interpretations that take a different angle, and Barrie Kosky apparently has made a very eloquent and intelligent use of this notion in his work, and has garnered a resounding success. I will apply (again  ::)) for tickets next year, to see if I get lucky.  ;)

Some stills from the staging:


Act 1 (set in Villa Wahnfried - a device already used by Sttefan herheim in his brilliant Parsifal staging).


The Festwiese in Act 3 is the hall in which the Nuremberg trials were held after WW2.


Beckmesser turned into a caricature of the jew as supposedly seen by Wagner.

ritter

#546
Quote from: Spineur on July 26, 2017, 09:19:15 AM
... Right now listening to Eleanor Steber - really magnificent.

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on July 26, 2017, 10:58:24 AM
The only Steber recital I have is this one

.

No Mozart, but sacred arias by Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn, coupled to her wonderful performance with Mitropoulos of Les Nuits d'Eté.

I'd be interested to hear the Mozart and French Arias.

Indeed, Eleanor Steber was a singer of the highest rank, IMHO. Those Nuits d'été are truly wonderful, and her Mozart (there's a live Don Giovanni form the Met under Karl Bóhm, with George London and Lisa della Casa) is also first-rate. There's also a recording of Strauss's Four Last Songs (under Levine), but unfortunately it's from late in her career (1970), coupled with excerpts from Die Frau ohne Schatten (again under Bóhm--from 1953 and in dismal sound). And she's a powerful Elsa in the classic Bayreuth recording of Lohengrin under Keilberth (from 1953). I read somewhere that she originally was cast to be Donna Anna in the Krips Don Giovanni on Decca, but she was also notoriously unreliable (or so it is said), and had to be replaced by Suzanne Danco.

You gentlemen mentioning her has prompted me to pull the trigger on this:

[asin]B000003LIH[/asin]
Steber sings Cassandre, and the great Regina Resnik is Didon. The score is cut (as was customary then), but I've read generally positive reviews of the performance.

Regards,


EDIT:

Now listening to Eleanor Steber's "Don Ottavio, son morta!...Or sai chi l'onore" from the 1957 Met performance:



Outstanding!  :)

Spineur

#547
So tonight I am starting the listening of Meyerbeer "Il Crociato in Egitto" produced by Opera Rara.  There is another cheaper production available but the Opera Rara is supposed to be the better of the two.

[asin]B000003LNQ[/asin]

This opera is from his italian period just before he moved to France.  The orchestral writing, the difficult vocal parts, the scenic effects with large chorus, and I may add, the lack of focus are already all there.  There is perhaps a certain italian classism in the music which help to see where Meyerbeer style comes from.  I am always amazed how good the Opera Rara production sound despite the lack of vocal stars.  In fact many young singers who have started with them have moved on to big opera house.

Todd

The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

ritter

Quote from: Todd on July 28, 2017, 11:06:49 AM

A great recording of a wondeful opera! Berganza is stunning there, combining her beautiful and sweet tone with a zesty interpretation of the role. A classic...

Tsaraslondon

Quote from: ritter on July 28, 2017, 11:55:44 AM
A great recording of a wondeful opera! Berganza is stunning there, combining her beautiful and sweet tone with a zesty interpretation of the role. A classic...

I've always found it a bit dull to be honest. On CD, I quite like the Marriner with Baltsa perhaps a slightly too feisty Cenerentola, but my favourite version has always been the DVD with Von Stade, also conducted by Abbado. Von Stade could have been born for the role.




\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

Tsaraslondon



A while since I've listened to this set, which, unlike the movie it was the soundtrack to, is note complete.

The principal problem with it is the sound. There are some very strange balances, and it sometimes sounds as if the singers are in different acoustics. Diaz doesn't make much of an impression as Iago, certainly no match for Gobbi on the Vickers/Serafin or Milnes on Domingo's first recording with Levine, but Domingo is superb, and more inside the role than he was for Levine, which he recorded before he'd had stage experience in it. Ricciarelli is a most affecting Desdemona, much preferable to Rysanek on Serafin, but I wouldn't necessarily prefer her to Scotto on the Levine. Nor would I prefer Maazel's conducting to either Serafin or Levine. He makes all the right gestures, but seems somewhat detached.

An interesting listen none the less.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

ritter

Quote from: maxbeesley on July 31, 2017, 04:46:04 AM
I am listening to "The Marriage of Figaro". It is composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte.
Great stuff! Are you enjoying it?

One of the greatest operas ever, IMHO... :)

Todd

The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Spineur

#554
From the diaposon "great voices" box.  A fantastic disc



The verissmo disc of Renata Scotto was also excellent.  I found Montserrat Caballé and Shirley Verrett discs nice but not as thrilling as this one is.

Tsaraslondon

Quote from: Spineur on August 04, 2017, 09:38:30 AM
From the diaposon "great voices" box.  A fantastic disc



The verissmo disc of Renata Scotto was also excellent.  I found Montserrat Caballé and Shirley Verrett discs nice but not as thrilling as this one is.

Funny how people differ. The Moffo is lovely, but I find both the Caballe and Verrett discs much more thrilling. Mind you I prefer the repertoire on those discs.

I like Scotto's Verismo disc, but actually prefer the Verdi disc she did at around the same time.

\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

zamyrabyrd

Quote from: Spineur on August 04, 2017, 09:38:30 AM
The verissmo disc of Renata Scotto was also excellent.  I found Montserrat Caballé and Shirley Verrett discs nice but not as thrilling as this one is.

Prompted by the discussion on Moffo's disk, I took mine out to have a listen.
Also, I would not call it "thrilling" but excellent and expressive.
A lyric soprano could not compete with dramatic voices on their own territory.
But this collection is echt-lyric-coloratura material and she shines like a diamond.
It was recorded in Rome, 1960, with no less a conductor than Tullio Serafin.

ZB
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one."

― Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

king ubu

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on July 28, 2017, 02:31:16 PM
I've always found it a bit dull to be honest. On CD, I quite like the Marriner with Baltsa perhaps a slightly too feisty Cenerentola, but my favourite version has always been the DVD with Von Stade, also conducted by Abbado. Von Stade could have been born for the role.



Watched a pretty nicely done (partly) animated film of "La Cenerentola" from Torino on telly last night (or rather I've had it on the temporary drive there, together with several other operas, and have been scolded by the missus to watch them and free up space many times ... last night, the new "Clemenza" from Salzburg was added whilst "La Cenerentola" was then deleted). There's a - mostly negative, I gather, my Italian is most modest - review with some pics here:
https://musicofilia.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/la-cenerentola-di-rossini-secondo-andermann-verdone-gelmetti-e-raiuno/
I nonetheless quite enjoyed it for what it was, found the music and singing pretty gorgeous for most of the time.

Also had a great time last Sunday at Munich State Opera with Les Contes d'Hoffmann (and in my absence, another recording of it arrived, Rudel 1972 with Sills etc., already five-act but in wrong sequence). Anyway, I was deeply impressed by the great acoustic in Munich. I had asked Jens for pointers - thank you kindly! - and sat front row, almost centre, in the gallery, at the very top that is, with perfect view and indeed glorious acoustic - I never heard an opera sounding so good!
Es wollt ein meydlein grasen gan:
Fick mich, lieber Peter!
Und do die roten röslein stan:
Fick mich, lieber Peter!
Fick mich mehr, du hast dein ehr.
Kannstu nit, ich wills dich lern.
Fick mich, lieber Peter!

http://ubus-notizen.blogspot.ch/

Spineur

I attended the live performance in 2006 at the Opera de Lyon

[asin]B000UZ4EO8[/asin]

I think the analytical orchestral direction by Evelino Pidò is a big asset for this version.  Even in the tutti with the chorus, you hear distinctively the horn and the piccolo.   Dessay portrays Amina as a young girl with a ravishing lightness which soothes me.   Lisa is the weak point.  She is supposed to be consumed with jalousy, which I fail to percieve.

Ghost Sonata

What Operetta am I listening to?: 

[asin]B000I0SEQE[/asin]

Hitler, fond of this composer, reportedly offered him "Honorary Aryan" status which Kálmán declined; he quickly emigrated to Paris and then the U.S.  His work was then banned in the Third Reich.  Ayn Rand liked him, too.  But don't let that turn you off:  he's precisely what you want from an operetta composer - a lotta fun with lilting melodies, amusing lyrics, and charming theatricality.  This issue is w/o libretto, but the recording from the 50s (no more precision is provided than that!) is clean and clear.
I like Conor71's "I  like old Music" signature.