What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[knight66]

Odd that you should mention that after my Callas post. Only the other day, I came across a charming interview with Berganza on youtube, in which she describes what it was like for her, as a young singer starting out, to sing alongside Callas in Medea in Dallas.

https://youtu.be/Hd-ixjbPxOI

Thanks for that, charming is apt for the interview.

Mike

[knight66]

A superb cast (with particularly wonderful singing from Grümmer) brilliantly conducted by Keilberth has ensured that this set has retained its classic status.

The very first piece of Freischutz was an extract of this set on an EMI opera sampler. It was from the Wolf Glen scene. Whispering into me ear, "Samuel, Samuel, erschein." Very well produced to be spooky. When I explored further I bought the Kleiber/Janowitz set which I like a great deal. I am currently listening to the Keilberth on Spotify, it stands up well for sound.

Mike

[Tsaraslondon]

The very first piece of Freischutz was an extract of this set on an EMI opera sampler. It was from the Wolf Glen scene. Whispering into me ear, "Samuel, Samuel, erschein." Very well produced to be spooky. When I explored further I bought the Kleiber/Janowitz set which I like a great deal. I am currently listening to the Keilberth on Spotify, it stands up well for sound.

Mike

I'm surprised you didn't already know the Keilberth, Mike. It's something of a classic, and Grümmer sings at least as beautifully as Janowitz, but with a touch more humanity. Shock aspirates a little too much for my taste, and his singing can be a little graceless, but the cast is generally excellent and Keilberth paces the score brilliantly, bringing out all Weber's invention and innovation.

[kishnevi]

A superb cast (with particularly wonderful singing from Grümmer) brilliantly conducted by Keilberth has ensured that this set has retained its classic status.

Was this incarnation remastered? I have the previous budget issue, and I thought the sonics showed their age, so to speak.

[Mirror Image]

Later on tonight, I'll be revisiting Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande again, but I'll just listen to two acts to begin with. Opera is something that's better enjoyed if you take your time with it and don't rush through it just to say you finished it. Every note of Pelléas et Mélisande must be savored.

[André]

Whole scenes from integral sets of the operas named on the cover. Gruberova is in excellent voice. I find her manner beguiling but slightly too sophisticated, lacking an element of danger, of the characters on the brink of mental collapse. Still, this is superb singing qua singing. Sound and what little can be heard of the other singers seem to be excellent. All told, I think I prefer her way with Bellini and Donizetti to Sills' or Sutherland's. She is not quite as spellbinding as Gencer or Caballé, let alone Callas though.

[Tsaraslondon]

Was this incarnation remastered? I have the previous budget issue, and I thought the sonics showed their age, so to speak.

It doesn't look like it. The booklet mentions a 1985 remastering.

As someone who has always put performance before sound, the sonics didn't bother me unduly.

[Tsaraslondon]

I have three Callas recordings of La Sonnambula, and must say I find it very difficult to decide which is my favourite. The 1955 Bernstein is a record of a thrilling night in the theatre, finds Callas in marginally fresher voice, tossing off the intricate variations Bernstein has given her with insouciant ease. The studio recording of 1957 (with almost an identical cast to the one here) enjoys the best sound, but Votto's conducting leans towards the routine. However, live in Cologne, he is transformed, if not quite so individual as Bernstein and Callas is in enviable form. Her first entrance provokes a prolonged bout of applause from the audience, forcing her to repeat her first lines (Care compagne), and she does not disappoint. Some of Bernstein's more intricate embellishments have been trimmed away, but her singing is still wonderfully supple. In the cadenza between the two verses of Ah non giunge she sails up to a forte Eb in alt, only to effect a diminuendo on this stratospheric note, before cascading down a perfect chromatic scale. Monti, who also sings Elvino on Sutherland's first studio recording of the opera, is no match for Valletti, who sings Elvino under Bernstein, but the rest of the cast (Zaccaria a sonorous Count, Angioletti a less acid voiced Lisa than Ratti) is splendid.

The recording sounds very fine in this Ars Vocalis transfer.

[Spineur]

Had a great time last night attending Benvenuto Cellini in the Terry Gilliam (ex monty pyton) at Paris Opera.  This virruoso and spectacular staging was given previously in Amsterdam and London.  Clearly Terry Gilliam did let loose here.  But anyrhing excessive fits Berlioz perfectly and it resuscitated its origins at the comic opera.

Vocaly, the role of Teresa was held beatifully by the coloratura Pretty Yende.  She really was spectacular.  She has a voice which is both powerful and delicate.  Cellini was sung by the american tenor John Osborn who was good but a tone below Pretty Yende.  Notable also was Michele Losier in the role of Ascanio (Cellini assistant).  I also really enjoyed Philippe Jordan direction who didnt impress me that much in Pelleas.

[Tsaraslondon]

I love Berlioz's sparkling, effervescent opera Benvenuto Cellini, and Davis's first recording, with Gedda in fine form, has remained a favourite.

[Wendell_E]

Had a great time last night attending Benvenuto Cellini in the Terry Gilliam (ex monty pyton) at Paris Opera.  This virruoso and spectacular staging was given previously in Amsterdam and London.  Clearly Terry Gilliam did let loose here.  But anyrhing excessive fits Berlioz perfectly and it resuscitated its origins at the comic opera.

Vocaly, the role of Teresa was held beatifully by the coloratura Pretty Yende.  She really was spectacular.  She has a voice which is both powerful and delicate.  Cellini was sung by the american tenor John Osborn who was good but a tone below Pretty Yende.  Notable also was Michele Losier in the role of Ascanio (Cellini assistant).  I also really enjoyed Philippe Jordan direction who didnt impress me that much in Pelleas.

I see a blu-ray of the 2015 Dutch National Opera performances of the production, with a different conductor and some cast changes, will be released next month:

[asin]B07CCLPMW6[/asin]

[kishnevi]

I love Berlioz's sparkling, effervescent opera Benvenuto Cellini, and Davis's first recording, with Gedda in fine form, has remained a favourite.

I have enjoyed Davis's second recording, the one on LSO Live.

[Tsaraslondon]

I have enjoyed Davis's second recording, the one on LSO Live.

I marginally prefer the cast on the earlier recording, especially Gedda in what I think is one of his best recorded roles.

[ritter]

Benvenuto Cellini is a work I should explore in more depth. I have the first Colin Davis recording (that Tsaraslondon posted), but haven't listened to it for a while. I remember it being a very "busy" score....

THREAD DUTY:

Listened to this mutilated and much maligned recording of Bellini's Norma:

[asin]B00NQ2XC6I[/asin]

The recording was made in an abridged version, so it could fit on 4 LP sides. There are small cuts here and there, but the really irritating absence is that of Oroveso's big scene "Ah! Del Tebro" in Act II. The set's raision d'être is Elena Souliotis's assumption of the title rôle. In 1967, she was still in command of her great voice, and her portrayal is very, very exciting. Yes, there are some technical failings (her inability to produce a trill has been pointed out by many reviewers), but the coloratura is acceptable, the tone is engaging and her interpretation is girlish and passionate. Pity her career was so short. Mario del Monaco is well past his prime, sings forte throughout, has a peculiar pronunciation of some vowels, and is generally insufferable. Fiorenza Cossotto gives us her lush and full tone, is perfectly acceptable as Adalgisa, but I always get a slight sense of vulgarity when listening to this famous mezzo. Carlo Cava is a solid Oroveso, but his part is (as mentioned before) the greatest victim of the cuts imposed on the score. Silvio Varviso conducts very eloquently.

Despite its flaws, a recording well worth knowing (despite the bad press it's received), for Souliotis's riveting performance and Varviso's strong leadership. It's  vastly superior to Souliotis live performance from Tokyo—with La Scala forces under de Fabritiis, released by Myto some years ago—, made in 1971, i.e. only 4 years after this studio effort, but in that short time span her career had virtually collapsed and was nearing its end.

What an irresistibly beautiful opera Norma is!

[Tsaraslondon]

Goodall's Tristan und Isolde is often forgotten in surveys of the opera.

It was recorded in 1980-1981 in stunning Decca digital sound, and followed live performances with the same cast. Goodall, as always, favours slow speeds, and there are places where I wish he would get a move on. Nonetheless, Goodall's experience shows and the score unfolds beautifully and inevitably.


The cast is hardly starry, but Linda Esther Gray is a lovely, warmly feminine Isolde,  seemingly untaxed by the upper reaches of the role, and Mitchinson a firm voiced, suitably tortured Tristan. Best of the other soloists is Gwynne Howell, who sings a noble King Marke.

[anothername]

Despite its flaws, a recording well worth knowing (despite the bad press it's received), for Souliotis's riveting performance and Varviso's strong leadership. It's  vastly superior to Souliotis live performance from Tokyo—with La Scala forces under de Fabritiis, released by Myto some years ago—, made in 1971, i.e. only 4 years after this studio effort, but in that short time span her career had virtually collapsed and was nearing its end.

What an irresistibly beautiful opera Norma is!

I will follow you like now.

[ritter]

I will follow you like now.

I'd love to read your impressions, if you care to share them.

As an aside, this book on Souliotis (in Italian) includes a CD of rare live recordings of the singer. Among them, there's a Casta Diva with piano accompaniment from 1963 (when she was 20 years old and still studying with Mercedes Llopart in Milan):



Even if the recording technique was not that great, and this aria is not quite the same stripped of its elegiac orchestral accompaniment, one can understand why the young singer would create such a stir. It turns out it was Gianandrea Gavazzeni who promoted her from the start, a collaboration that led to Souliotis being granted the honor of singing Abigaille in Nabucco on the "notte di Sant'Ambrogio" (the official opening of the season) at La Scala in 1966.

Regards,

[Tsaraslondon]

For all the excellence of the new Nelsons recording of the opera, Davis I remains my absolute favourite. Admittedly there are a few problems with the casting. There have been better Cassandres than Lindholm (though she is not as bad as people often make out), but Vickers is a thrillingly individual Enée and Veasey an excellent Didon, if not as heart-rending as Baker in her recording of the final scene, and Davis has a way with Berlioz, that is second to none.

[ritter]

First listen (libretto in hand, and only to Act 1 for the moment) to Franco Alfano's last work for the stage, Il dottor Antonio, from 1949 (I understand he later wrote a radio opera, Vesuvius, and finally reconstructed his La leggenda di Sakùntala—the parts of which were destroyed during WW2–as just Sakùntala in 1952).

[asin]B076K22NC8[/asin]

The libretto by Mario Ghisalberti, who also wrote the text for Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's charming Venetian bitter-sweet comedy Il campiello), is based on a novel by Giovanni Ruffini (the author of the draft for Donizetti's Don Pasquale), and deals with the impossible love story between a young English aristocrat (Lucy) and an Italian doctor (Antonio), in a risorgimento setting.

The piece is as elegiac and autumnal as it gets (befitting a work which is one of the last exponents of a dying operatic tradition) and rather engaging. The performance is a good Italian radio production, in acceptable sound (1953 vintage). The leads are Carla Gavazzi (an accomplished verismo soprano of the period—but who also recorded Elvira in Don Giovanni for Cetra around that time) and the ever elegant Giacinto Prandelli.

Not a lost masterpiece (so far at least), but very enjoyable, and yet another proof that Franco Alfano was a solid and accomplished composer, and not just "the man who completed Turandot".

[anothername]

I'd love to read your impressions, if you care to share them.

As an aside, this book on Souliotis (in Italian) includes a CD of rare live recordings of the singer. Among them, there's a Casta Diva with piano accompaniment from 1963 (when she was 20 years old and still studying with Mercedes Llopart in Milan):



Even if the recording technique was not that great, and this aria is not quite the same stripped of its elegiac orchestral accompaniment, one can understand why the young singer would create such a stir. It turns out it was Gianandrea Gavazzeni who promoted her from the start, a collaboration that led to Souliotis being granted the honor of singing Abigaille in Nabucco on the "notte di Sant'Ambrogio" (the official opening of the season) at La Scala in 1966.

Regards,

I mostly agree with you, except the Cossotto bit, I love her and very artistic, but hey we can't love all the same voice.