What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

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

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king ubu

Quote from: Spineur on August 05, 2017, 05:32:14 AM
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.

I like this recording! Would have loved to see Dessay on stage in an opera production, only managed to catch her once, roughly ten years later, in a concert dedicated to excerpts on Händel's "Cleopatra" (with a countertenor participating, too, would have to look up his name, still have the proramme somewhere, he was very much okay but didn't leave a lasting impression).
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

Quote from: king ubu on August 06, 2017, 01:11:28 AM
I like this recording! Would have loved to see Dessay on stage in an opera production, only managed to catch her once, roughly ten years later, in a concert dedicated to excerpts on Händel's "Cleopatra" (with a countertenor participating, too, would have to look up his name, still have the proramme somewhere, he was very much okay but didn't leave a lasting impression).
She was at her peak at the time.  I saw her again in Lucia after her surgery, and the top register was definitively more strained, not as clear.  I have heared her again in a broadcasted concert last year and found that her voice had continued to deteriorate.  This is a real pity because with her acting skills and her musicianship her appearances were a knockout.

king ubu

Quote from: Spineur on August 06, 2017, 03:57:15 AM
She was at her peak at the time.  I saw her again in Lucia after her surgery, and the top register was definitively more strained, not as clear.  I have heared her again in a broadcasted concert last year and found that her voice had continued to deteriorate.  This is a real pity because with her acting skills and her musicianship her appearances were a knockout.

Yeah, I guess I agree, though my experience, other than that concert in late 2014 (I think) is from CDs only ... one recent thing I have on the stacks is her Antonia in "Les Contes d'Hoffmann" (Denève, Liceu, 2013, DVD) - but I have just decided to watch the Marthaler-staged one (Cambreling, Teatro Real de Madrid, 2015) tonight.

Something entirely else: why does the recent Leontyne Price box on Sony credit Erich Leindsdorf (instead of Thomas Schippers) for the 1964 RCA "La forza del destino"?
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/

ritter

Regarding I Capuleti e i Montecchi, I've been listetning this afternoon to this recording, which you can also consider, Spineur:


Although Katia Ricciarelli is captured late in her career, and there is some hardness to her high notes, she is a most affecting Giulietta, and Diana Monague is quite wonderful as Romeo.

It can be had for very little money at amazon.co.uk

N.B.: As I've written on this forum, I am very partial towards Ricciarelli.  ;)

Spineur

Thank you Rafael !  I probably have spent too much time looking for the right version for me of this opera.  I should take the easy route and take what is available - and this one is.

ritter

Quote from: Spineur on August 06, 2017, 09:47:51 AM
Thank you Rafael !  I probably have spent too much time looking for the right version for me of this opera.  I should take the easy route and take what is available - and this one is.
You're welcome! I've just noticed that he picture I posted is of a highlights disc. The whole thing is this one:

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This is a reissue (and might not include the libretto  ::) ). The original release can be found on amazon.de.

Regards,

king ubu

Watched this one yesterday evening:



Could have been freakin' fantastic, and actually it *almost* is ... the Olympia act is outstanding, but then somehow tension dropped a bit. Having an opera staged in the typical Marthaler setting is great, and how he treats the piece as a kind of open-form work, the work-in-progress it ended up being in reality - that's quite fascinating indeed.

It's still a very good production I think, fine singing by all, including the chorus, and musically very good, too - some slight synchronisation problems in some of the large mass scenes aren't a deal-breaker for sure.

Anyways, have just ordered the EMI (audio) production, too, which was I think the first "modern" one (i.e. no longer using the old, heavily cut and amended edition). Will continue my exploration (also have two more video versions not yet watched).
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/

kishnevi

just to be sure, the EMI you're talking about is this one?
[asin]B01CH5F6VI[/asin]

To be frank, it's not one of my favorite operas, other than the bravura soprano arias and the Bacarolle.  I've only got two recordings: the Clutens and the Bonynge.  I've seen it once on TV.  I think it was this production, but with different singers
[asin]B00FOY4HZQ[/asin]

king ubu

Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on August 07, 2017, 07:05:23 AM
just to be sure, the EMI you're talking about is this one?
...

To be frank, it's not one of my favorite operas, other than the bravura soprano arias and the Bacarolle.  I've only got two recordings: the Clutens and the Bonynge.  I've seen it once on TV.  I think it was this production, but with different singers

No, that's the Erato (or: was), but I guess it's one of the best around.

This is the EMI (real EMI) I've ordered:



That DVD is on my pile, and this is no. 3:

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/

kishnevi

Come to think of it, I may have the EMI you ordered. I'll have to look.  But the first review on AmazonUS for that recording is rather scathing about the edition the used.

QuoteThe statement on the back of the CD box reads "in the Critical Edition by Fritz Oeser, with additional material from the Choudens Edition," though exactly what comes from the Choudens is nowhere explained. Oeser's work on Hoffmann from the start came under stong critical attack. He cut material of Offenbach's from Act One to balance it with Act Five. Throughout most of the work he retained the spurious recitatives by Guiraud. He re-orchestrated material as he saw fit. He utilized a song for Nicklausse in the Olympia act that Offenbach never orchestrated (Oeser did that himself) and discarded the famous song that Offenbach replaced it with and did orchestrate. He used the piano score for a discarded Nicklausse number in the Olympia act, wrote lyrics and orchestrated it, and placed it in the the final act for the Muse. His version of the Giulietta act heavily incorporates music from Der Rheinnixen; I've no idea where the lyrics come from. This is clearly a spurious text.

The Nagano and the DVD I posted use the Kaye edition, which seems to be the most recent.

king ubu

#570
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on August 07, 2017, 07:24:15 AM
Come to think of it, I may have the EMI you ordered. I'll have to look.  But the first review on AmazonUS for that recording is rather scathing about the edition the used.

The Nagano and the DVD I posted use the Kaye edition, which seems to be the most recent.

Yes Kaye (and I think independently Keck) is (are) the third and most recent edition(s) - it's a mess really, and I think as recently as one or two years an autograph of a large part (acts 1 and 2 I seem to dimly remember) was found ... new stuff has come up after Oeser and after Kaye.

The DVD I just watched from Liceu seems to mostly use the Oeser edition and points out in a short note in the booklet that this is the edition that has Nicklaussee/The Muse play a more important part that the other editions - which is cool if you Anne Sofie von Otter singing (and acting! impressive!) that part. But I guess most productions will nowadays use their own mix of bits from this and that edition (while using one edition as starting point).

The Munich production from 2011 that I just saw (it was brought back for two evenings during the Opernfestpiele) used Kaye/Keck (so maybe it's not Kaye but Kaye/Keck, but I've seen both names separately ... would have to read it all up again, I'm sure there's an exhaustive wiki entry somewhere). But again, some autographs (not just that big one I mention above) and other things have been found in the meantime, so it's indeed a huge work in progress with Schnitter Tod [aka the grim reaper] playing one of the minor roles (can't quite blame Offenbach - I nearly wrote Hoffmann, ha! - for that ...)

--

PS: and actually, this here's my fourth video version - Nagano (Kaye) again:

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/

kishnevi

Quote from: king ubu on August 07, 2017, 09:04:58 AM
Yes Kaye (and I think independently Keck) is (are) the third and most recent edition(s) - it's a mess really, and I think as recently as one or two years an autograph of a large part (acts 1 and 2 I seem to dimly remember) was found ... new stuff has come up after Oeser and after Kaye.

The DVD I just watched from Liceu seems to mostly use the Oeser edition and points out in a short note in the booklet that this is the edition that has Nicklaussee/The Muse play a more important part that the other editions - which is cool if you Anne Sofie von Otter singing (and acting! impressive!) that part. But I guess most productions will nowadays use their own mix of bits from this and that edition (while using one edition as starting point).

The Munich production from 2011 that I just saw (it was brought back for two evenings during the Opernfestpiele) used Kaye/Keck (so maybe it's not Kaye but Kaye/Keck, but I've seen both names separately ... would have to read it all up again, I'm sure there's an exhaustive wiki entry somewhere). But again, some autographs (not just that big one I mention above) and other things have been found in the meantime, so it's indeed a huge work in progress with Schnitter Tod [aka the grim reaper] playing one of the minor roles (can't quite blame Offenbach - I nearly wrote Hoffmann, ha! - for that ...)

--

PS: and actually, this here's my fourth video version - Nagano (Kaye) again:



That DVD must have come from the same production as the CD I posted, so you are covered on that end. But even the DVD used the phrase "adaption based on..."

king ubu

Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on August 07, 2017, 01:31:31 PM
That DVD must have come from the same production as the CD I posted, so you are covered on that end. But even the DVD used the phrase "adaption based on..."

Yep, I think so too, but haven't watched it yet ... but as I said, I think it's one of the standard performances.

Depending on what you look for though, the early French production by Cluytens has enormous charm (the late forties one reissued by Naxos, that is, not the EMI one, which is also plenty good though). Again: work in progress - you can't have the original French charm, the spoken voices and all, plus good sound plus "correct" edition ...  there's really no correct here, I think, as it all belongs to the history of this opera - it's more like different chapters of interpretation and history of reception etc.

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/

Tsaraslondon

Quote from: king ubu on August 07, 2017, 01:46:41 PM
Yep, I think so too, but haven't watched it yet ... but as I said, I think it's one of the standard performances.

Depending on what you look for though, the early French production by Cluytens has enormous charm (the late forties one reissued by Naxos, that is, not the EMI one, which is also plenty good though). Again: work in progress - you can't have the original French charm, the spoken voices and all, plus good sound plus "correct" edition ...  there's really no correct here, I think, as it all belongs to the history of this opera - it's more like different chapters of interpretation and history of reception etc.



This is a recording I want to hear. I heard snippets on BBC Radio 3's Building a Library programme. The reviewer liked it very much, and, I seem to remember, made it his historical choice. I really liked what I heard of it.

On CD I still maintain an affection for Bonynge, though there are huge question marks over the edition he used.



Sutherland is fabulous as Olympia, not quite so convincing as Giulietta and Antonia (her mushy diction drives me potty as usual) and Domingo excellent as Hoffmann.

I also like  the DVD from the spectacular Covent Garden production, also with Domingo, and a terrific trio of ladies in Luciana Serra, Ileana Cotrubas and Agnes Baltsa.



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

Spineur

#574
Verdi, Aida; live broadcast from the chorégie d'Orange.  You can watch it on culturebox.fr

https://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/amp/opera-classique/opera/choregies-d-orange/aida-de-verdi-aux-choregies-d-orange-2017-259813

Note added: The staging wasnt to my taste, but vocally it was quite fine with Anita Rachvelishvili as Amneris, Marcelo Alvarez as Radames, and Elena O'Connor as Aida.

king ubu

Watched the Salzburg La Clemenza di Tito (Currentzis/Sellars) last night ... great stuff, all things considered! Some amazing singing and acting, and I enjoyed the add-ons (parts of the great mass, and as a closer the Maurerische Trauermusik) ... it all made sense musically, and it worked quite well altogether. However, no matter how good the production, the singing (what a fine chorus!) and playing, no matter how the piece was changed and in many respects improved (by the various additions and interpretative twists) as far as theatrical aspects go, it's still an opera seria and not very lively thing ... but yeah, I liked it a lot, and I guess better than I liked it in my limited exposure so far (I think I've only heard the Colin Davis recording with a fine cast of somewhat too similar sounding singers).
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/

king ubu

And back with Hoffmann we are:



Another old/botched version in so-so sound, but very lively indeed! And even though the sound is not exactly great, you can hear the voices - and what voices! Sándor Kónya as Hoffmann, Gabriel Bacquier as the evil dudes (Lindorf, Coppélius, Dapertutto, Miracle), Mady Mesplé comme Olympia, Heather Harper and Radmila Bakocevic as Antonio and Giulietta, respectively ... Peter Maag is at the head of the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro Colón, and he's doing a heckuva job, methinks!

Here's a review: http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=389184
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/

mc ukrneal

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on August 07, 2017, 10:59:22 PM
On CD I still maintain an affection for Bonynge, though there are huge question marks over the edition he used.

Maybe, but the same question marks loom over any edition, since Offenbach died before the premiere. If you compare all the editions on disc and DVD, they will all be different. And it is hard to hold the older versions to a standard that didn't exist back then (or had not advanced to where it is today), assuming one feels that the changes are improvements at all.
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

Spineur

Continuing my listening of the Voix/recital box.  This time I turned to some of the male singers
Richard Tucker, Placido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, George London.  Still have to listen to John Vickers.

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George London disk is marvelous.  I found the young Placido Domingo from this recital excellent, and certainly better than some of his live performances I attended.  Milnes recital has apparently never been released before on CD, a marvelous testimony.


Spineur

Donizetti, La Favorita
Richard Bonygne,  Fiorenza Cossotto, Gabriel Bacquier, Luciano Pavarotti, Nicolai Ghiaurov

[asin]B0000041WU[/asin]

This is my first listen of this opera, and I am under the charm.  All singers are quite good.  In the middle of the second act there is a 20 minutes ballet: its orchestral score in very lively and entertaining.  I will return to this 3CD set.