What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

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

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 6 Guests are viewing this topic.

Tsaraslondon

#1040


A wonderful performance, Schwarzkopf's youthful Eva a particular delight.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

Tsaraslondon



Bartók's gorgeous symbolist opera in this classic performance.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

Baron Scarpia

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on May 14, 2018, 11:29:17 PMBartók's gorgeous symbolist opera in this classic performance.

Impressive, but the diction sounds weird to me, and I didn't like the dramatic changes in recording perspective in various scenes. I'd like less "theater of the mind" and more natural recording perspective.

Tsaraslondon

Quote from: Baron Scarpia on May 15, 2018, 10:33:04 AM
Impressive, but the diction sounds weird to me, and I didn't like the dramatic changes in recording perspective in various scenes. I'd like less "theater of the mind" and more natural recording perspective.

I don't know Hungarian well enough to know if the diction was any good or not, though I wouldn't expect it to be as good as Hungarian forces. I do rather enjoy the changes in recording perspective, depending on what room they are entering, a sort of aural equivalent of a scene change.

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


Tsaraslondon

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

Wendell_E


Arrived yesterday. I've watched about 2/3, loving it so far.

[asin]B07CCLPMW6[/asin]
"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." ― Mark Twain

Tsaraslondon



Britten's "Coronation" opera was not well received at its premiere and had to wait some time for re-assessment, first with the wonderful 1980s ENO production with Sarah Walker and then in the 1990s by Welsh National Opera, with Dame Josephine Barstow in the role of Elizabeth, on which this superb recording is based.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

zamyrabyrd

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on May 11, 2018, 07:39:15 AM

In Italian, Sutherland, Sills and Gruberova all recorded studio sets, but I prefer Caballe (live), particularly the one with Verrett as a thrilling Elisabeth.



Yikes, this picture can be moved to the worst CD covers thread!
"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

Baron Scarpia

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on May 15, 2018, 11:07:47 AM
I don't know Hungarian well enough to know if the diction was any good or not, though I wouldn't expect it to be as good as Hungarian forces. I do rather enjoy the changes in recording perspective, depending on what room they are entering, a sort of aural equivalent of a scene change.

A non-musical association also weighed against it in my mind. The fact that Berry and Ludwig were married at the time. The thought that a man and wife would perform this misogynistic tripe (beautiful music notwithstanding) struck me as awkward.

SurprisedByBeauty

Quote from: Baron Scarpia on May 17, 2018, 09:42:51 AM
A non-musical association also weighed against it in my mind. The fact that Berry and Ludwig were married at the time. The thought that a man and wife would perform this misogynistic tripe (beautiful music notwithstanding) struck me as awkward.

Now THAT would have been a good question, had I thought of it, when interviewing her.
It might have been shortly before their divorce, though... :-)

Tsaraslondon

Quote from: zamyrabyrd on May 17, 2018, 09:28:41 AM
Yikes, this picture can be moved to the worst CD covers thread!


Hahaha! Yes indeed. What on earth were they thinking?
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

Tsaraslondon



Klemperer's magisterial Der fliegende Holländer has achieved almost classic status, though it's a bit slow in parts for my tastes.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

Que

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on May 19, 2018, 02:03:42 PM


Klemperer's magisterial Der fliegende Holländer has achieved almost classic status, though it's a bit slow in parts for my tastes.

Klemperer is usually too slow.... (in his later recordings).

But I still find his Holländer absolutely gripping!  :)

Q

Tsaraslondon



Though James Bowman is a little hooty (I have to admit I'd rather hear someone like David Daniels in the role), he's an improvement on Alfred Deller, who sings Oberon on Britten's own recording. The rest of the cast is excellent, particularly Lillian Watson and Jill Gomez, and the splendid recording brings out all the brilliance of Britten's orchestration.


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

Maestro267

Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten
Behrens, Domingo, Runkel, Van Dam, Varady, Jo
Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsoperorchester
Wiener Sängerknaben
Vienna PO/Solti

Moonfish

#1056
Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle            Fischer-Dieskau/Varady/Sawallisch/Bayerisches Staatsorchester   

Magnificent! An eery opera! I think I will disappear into some surreal realm tonight when I fall asleep. Great music making. Varady and Fischer-Dieskau are perfect in this work.

"Every time you spend money you are casting a vote for the kind of world you want...."
Anna Lappé

Tsaraslondon



Of all Verdi's middle period opera, I Vespri Siciliani is probably the least loved. Originally conceived for the Paris Opéra, it is something of a prolix piece and patchily magnificent, passages of true inspiration being mixed with the occasionally routine. It does show Verdi increasingly in command of his orchestra. The overture and ballet music are among the best he ever composed.

This well cast and excellently sung studio recording serves the opera well, though Arroyo and Raimondi don't eclipse memories of Callas and Christoff in a live recording from Florence in 1951 under Erich Kleiber.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

Wendell_E

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on May 22, 2018, 01:53:32 AM


Arroyo and Raimondi don't eclipse memories of Callas and Christoff in a live recording from Florence in 1951 under Erich Kleiber.

In Arroyo's case, she was replacing the originally-cast Montserrat Caballé, as she also did in Muti's EMI Ballo in Maschera and Gardelli's EMI Forza del Destino.
"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." ― Mark Twain

Tsaraslondon

Quote from: Wendell_E on May 22, 2018, 02:11:11 AM
In Arroyo's case, she was replacing the originally-cast Montserrat Caballé, as she also did in Muti's EMI Ballo in Maschera and Gardelli's EMI Forza del Destino.

She's actually rather good, though a little lacking in personality perhaps. Hard to say if Caballé would have been better.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas