What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[Tsaraslondon]

Baker was at her absolute vocal peak in 1973 and this recording shows how thrilling she was in the theatre. Though the opera is sung in English her Maria can be considered as definitive as Callas's Anna Bolena and indeed it was one of the three roles she chose with which to say goodbye to the operatic stage almost ten years later.

[Tsaraslondon]

A really excellent performance of Così fan tutte from La Scala in 1956.

[Tsaraslondon]

This looks more enticing than it is. Recorded live at performances at the Met in 2003, it is very close miked, resulting in a hard, brittle soundscape with quite a bit of stage noise. Levine doesn't really convince me he is a Berlioz conductor and he rarely gves the music that special colour one hears in the conducting of Colin Davis, Gardiner and, more recently, John Nelson. The cast is a fine one, but the chief reason for hearing this set is, without doubt, the superb Didon of the late, lamented Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. For some reason she was not a Met regular and, prior to these performances, the only complete opera she had sung there was John Harbison's The Great Gatsby, though she was scheduled to sing Orfeo in Gluck's opera there in 2007, a role taken over by David Daniels, with the performances being ultimately dedicated to her memory. Her Didon is musically and dramatically one of the best I've ever heard and fit to stand next to that of Janet Baker, which can be no higher praise.

[Wendell_E]

the chief reason for hearing this set is, without doubt, the superb Didon of the late, lamented Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. For some reason she was not a Met regular and, prior to these performances, the only complete opera she had sung there was John Harbison's The Great Gatsby, though she was scheduled to sing Orfeo in Gluck's opera there in 2007, a role taken over by David Daniels, with the performances being ultimately dedicated to her memory.

She wasn't even the originally-scheduled Didon for this production. Olga Borodina withdrew due to pregnancy, so we're particularly lucky to have this performance.

[Tsaraslondon]

She wasn't even the originally-scheduled Didon for this production. Olga Borodina withdrew due to pregnancy, so we're particularly lucky to have this performance.

I didn't know that. How fortunate indeed. Borodina is a fine mezzo, with a beautiful voice,  but she doesn't have Hunt Lieberson's interpretive powers and inner radiance.

[Tsaraslondon]

The sound on this Ars Vocalis release of the famous Callas Covent Garden La Traviata was taken from a first generation tape of the BBC Third Programe broadcast and includes the radio announcements by Walter Greenslade, who, in impeccable BBC English, introduces each act. Sonically it is a great deal better than any other version I've heard and it always suprises me it's never had an official release, not even on Covent Garden's own label, when they were issuing performances like the Sutherland 1959 Lucia di Lammermoor and the Visconti/Giulini Don Carlo.

For me Callas is Violetta and no other singer has ever challenged her total identification with the character. The music isn't so much sung as experienced, even whilsy executing Verdi's instructions with stunning accuracy. I have given the set a much fuller review on my blog https://tsaraslondon.wordpress.com/2017/07/17/callass-covent-garden-traviata/

John Steane once said that, whilst listening to some Callas recordings with a friend, his friend said, "But of course you had to see her," to which he replied, "Ah, but I can, and I do."

[Tsaraslondon]

This Ars Vocalis transfer of Callas's first ever Medea is probably the best sounding one we have, taken from the FonitCetra LP release.

Callas is in stupendous voice. As someone said at the time, she sounds as if she was born singing it. A more detailed review on my blog https://tsaraslondon.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/1986/

[Tsaraslondon]

On another forum someone had commented that they had found five different recordings of Tosca on the Decca label, so, just out of interest, I did a comparison over the last few days. These were my conclusions.



I revisited the Solti Tosca but have to say I got bored before the end of Act I and then just tried various bits in the other two acts. The sound is great. Apart from that the best thing in it is Aragall, though I wouldn't prefer him to Di Stefano, Domingo, Carreras or Bergonzi, all of whom appear on other more recommendable recordings. Nucci is a dead loss and Te Kanawa out of her depth as Tosca. Solti's conducting has little to commend it either, too slow in places and too fast in others. It just doesn't add up to a convincing whole, and considering, as Revitalised Classics points out above, it was all recorded piecemeal, then that's hardly a surprise. A totally forgettable performance.



Where I found the Solti a bit of a bore, this one is quite interesting, but often for all the wrong reasons. First of all Maazel's conducting is fussy beyond belief. He can hardly let a phrase go by without pulling around the tempo or trying to bring out some detail in the score. There is no lyrical flow or sweep and untilmately Puccini gets lost on the altar of Maazel's ego.

Fischer-Dieskau's Scarpia is, as you would expect, intelligently thought out, but it never sounds idiomatic. He is an artist I admire in the right repertoire but Puccini was not for him. Corelli is, well, Corelli. He is definitely the best of the three principals, but he emphasises the heroic at the expense of the seductive. Nonetheless, as always, there is much to enjoy in the sound of the voice itself.

Then there is Nilsson. Well the top notes are fabulous of course, but this isn't really a good role for her. She often overdoes the histrionics, as in her first scene with Scarpia where she adds a surfeit of sobs. She can also be a little clumsy in the ligher sections and Non la sospiri la nostra casetta is clumsy and unpolished. Ultimately, like Fischer-Dieskau, she sounds as if she had strayed into the wrong opera.

For all that I found this more enjoyable than the Solti, which is just plain dull. At least all the singers here have a personality.



So I've moved on to the Rescigno in this mini challenge and there's little here to detain us. In fact I'd be tempted to place this below the Maazel, which at least has interest value. Rescigno was a favourite of Callas's, recording many of her recital albums and delivering at least one great performance in the live 1958 Covent Garden Traviata but his conducting here is just plain dull. Like Te Kanawa, Freni is completely out of her depth, the voice just too light even at this stage of her career. I expected Milnes to be more interesting, especially when you think of his Jack Rance, but for some reason his Scarpia just isn't nasty enough. Which leaves Pavarotti, who sounds out of sorts vocally. The velvet has gone from his voice and he often sounds plain whiney. Not surprisingly his Vittoria! is very small scale when set beside Corelli's. And small scale is what personifies the whole performance, but that's not what Tosca needs.



At last a real Tosca voice! Aside from at the very top of the voice when she can be a bit shrieky, Tebaldi fulfils almost all the demands the role asks of her. I say almost, because she doesn't quite have Callas's flexibility and lightness of touch in Non la sospiri la nostra casetta, but then few do. The beauty of the voice is well caught and she is a convincing Tosca. It's not a particularly subtle performance, from any of the singers, but they do all have splendid voices of the requisite size and weight. Del Monaco is much better than I remembered, though he still bawls from time to time and his arias lack poetry. George London is the best of the Scarpias so far, his voice dark and threatening.

What lets this set down is the routine conducting of Molinari-Pradelli. He is a good accompanist, nothing more. Still, worth hearing for the three lead singers.



So I've come to the end of my mini Decca Tosca challenge and what a difference the conductor makes. This recording is in an altogether different class than the others and the chief reason for that is Karajan's elastic conducting, which is incredibly controlled without being rigid. Where Maazel's conducting draws attention to itself because of the way he fusses with the rhythms, Karajan's rubato is entirely natural. He has at his disposal a cast as well nigh perfect as any other assembled on disc. Taddei's Scarpia is the best I've heard since Gobbi, sounding equally dangerous but in a completely different way. You feel this man could dangerously lash out viciously at any second. Gobbi's Scarpia would be unlikely to get his own hands dirty, but you feel Taddei's nt ony would but would enjoy doing so. Di Stefano is in slightly fresher voice for De Sabata but he is still an excellent Cavaradossi, and I actually prefer him to both Corelli and Del Monaco. He fulfils all aspects of the character, artist, lover and revolutionary, finding the poetry in his arias and an almost crazed fervour in his cries of Vittoria. He brings more "face" to his character than anyone. Truly this was one of his very best roles.

Which leaves us with Price and here I have a feeling I might be treading on controversial ground. The voice is, of course, absolutely gorgeous, her characterisation sensuous and feminine, and her singing is deeply felt (Vissi d'arte is really lovely). She is a good deal preferable to Nilsson, Freni or Te Kanawa, but I would still place Callas and Tebaldi ahead of her in the Tosca canon. The Callas/De Sabata I know so well that it tends to play in my mind's ear whenever I hear the opera, but I had also just listened to Tebaldi in the role and she sounds more like a natural for the role to me. It's hard to put my finger on what is missing, but I'd be perfectly happy with her Tosca if I hadn't heard Callas and Tebaldi in the role. Nonethless she is one of the best Toscas on record and in very good company.

So now having heard all five of the Decca recordings adriesba mentioned, my final ordering has slightly changed.

1. (by a fair margin) Karajan
2. Molinari-Pradelli (the only other really worth hearing, mostly for Tebaldi's Tosca)
3. Maazel
4. Rescigno
5. Solti

The De Sabata would still be my ultimate first choice, but the Karajan has also stood the test of time and anyone wanting an audio Tosca would be happy with either.

[mc ukrneal]

On another forum someone had commented that they had found five different recordings of Tosca on the Decca label, so, just out of interest, I did a comparison over the last few days. These were my conclusions.



I revisited the Solti Tosca but have to say I got bored before the end of Act I and then just tried various bits in the other two acts. The sound is great. Apart from that the best thing in it is Aragall, though I wouldn't prefer him to Di Stefano, Domingo, Carreras or Bergonzi, all of whom appear on other more recommendable recordings. Nucci is a dead loss and Te Kanawa out of her depth as Tosca. Solti's conducting has little to commend it either, too slow in places and too fast in others. It just doesn't add up to a convincing whole, and considering, as Revitalised Classics points out above, it was all recorded piecemeal, then that's hardly a surprise. A totally forgettable performance.



Where I found the Solti a bit of a bore, this one is quite interesting, but often for all the wrong reasons. First of all Maazel's conducting is fussy beyond belief. He can hardly let a phrase go by without pulling around the tempo or trying to bring out some detail in the score. There is no lyrical flow or sweep and untilmately Puccini gets lost on the altar of Maazel's ego.

Fischer-Dieskau's Scarpia is, as you would expect, intelligently thought out, but it never sounds idiomatic. He is an artist I admire in the right repertoire but Puccini was not for him. Corelli is, well, Corelli. He is definitely the best of the three principals, but he emphasises the heroic at the expense of the seductive. Nonetheless, as always, there is much to enjoy in the sound of the voice itself.

Then there is Nilsson. Well the top notes are fabulous of course, but this isn't really a good role for her. She often overdoes the histrionics, as in her first scene with Scarpia where she adds a surfeit of sobs. She can also be a little clumsy in the ligher sections and Non la sospiri la nostra casetta is clumsy and unpolished. Ultimately, like Fischer-Dieskau, she sounds as if she had strayed into the wrong opera.

For all that I found this more enjoyable than the Solti, which is just plain dull. At least all the singers here have a personality.



So I've moved on to the Rescigno in this mini challenge and there's little here to detain us. In fact I'd be tempted to place this below the Maazel, which at least has interest value. Rescigno was a favourite of Callas's, recording many of her recital albums and delivering at least one great performance in the live 1958 Covent Garden Traviata but his conducting here is just plain dull. Like Te Kanawa, Freni is completely out of her depth, the voice just too light even at this stage of her career. I expected Milnes to be more interesting, especially when you think of his Jack Rance, but for some reason his Scarpia just isn't nasty enough. Which leaves Pavarotti, who sounds out of sorts vocally. The velvet has gone from his voice and he often sounds plain whiney. Not surprisingly his Vittoria! is very small scale when set beside Corelli's. And small scale is what personifies the whole performance, but that's not what Tosca needs.



At last a real Tosca voice! Aside from at the very top of the voice when she can be a bit shrieky, Tebaldi fulfils almost all the demands the role asks of her. I say almost, because she doesn't quite have Callas's flexibility and lightness of touch in Non la sospiri la nostra casetta, but then few do. The beauty of the voice is well caught and she is a convincing Tosca. It's not a particularly subtle performance, from any of the singers, but they do all have splendid voices of the requisite size and weight. Del Monaco is much better than I remembered, though he still bawls from time to time and his arias lack poetry. George London is the best of the Scarpias so far, his voice dark and threatening.

What lets this set down is the routine conducting of Molinari-Pradelli. He is a good accompanist, nothing more. Still, worth hearing for the three lead singers.



So I've come to the end of my mini Decca Tosca challenge and what a difference the conductor makes. This recording is in an altogether different class than the others and the chief reason for that is Karajan's elastic conducting, which is incredibly controlled without being rigid. Where Maazel's conducting draws attention to itself because of the way he fusses with the rhythms, Karajan's rubato is entirely natural. He has at his disposal a cast as well nigh perfect as any other assembled on disc. Taddei's Scarpia is the best I've heard since Gobbi, sounding equally dangerous but in a completely different way. You feel this man could dangerously lash out viciously at any second. Gobbi's Scarpia would be unlikely to get his own hands dirty, but you feel Taddei's nt ony would but would enjoy doing so. Di Stefano is in slightly fresher voice for De Sabata but he is still an excellent Cavaradossi, and I actually prefer him to both Corelli and Del Monaco. He fulfils all aspects of the character, artist, lover and revolutionary, finding the poetry in his arias and an almost crazed fervour in his cries of Vittoria. He brings more "face" to his character than anyone. Truly this was one of his very best roles.

Which leaves us with Price and here I have a feeling I might be treading on controversial ground. The voice is, of course, absolutely gorgeous, her characterisation sensuous and feminine, and her singing is deeply felt (Vissi d'arte is really lovely). She is a good deal preferable to Nilsson, Freni or Te Kanawa, but I would still place Callas and Tebaldi ahead of her in the Tosca canon. The Callas/De Sabata I know so well that it tends to play in my mind's ear whenever I hear the opera, but I had also just listened to Tebaldi in the role and she sounds more like a natural for the role to me. It's hard to put my finger on what is missing, but I'd be perfectly happy with her Tosca if I hadn't heard Callas and Tebaldi in the role. Nonethless she is one of the best Toscas on record and in very good company.

So now having heard all five of the Decca recordings adriesba mentioned, my final ordering has slightly changed.

1. (by a fair margin) Karajan
2. Molinari-Pradelli (the only other really worth hearing, mostly for Tebaldi's Tosca)
3. Maazel
4. Rescigno
5. Solti

The De Sabata would still be my ultimate first choice, but the Karajan has also stood the test of time and anyone wanting an audio Tosca would be happy with either.

A nice summary! I totally agree about the Solti Tosca. It was my first purchase of this opera and I knew it was a dud early on. When I was auditioning new ones, I picked the Karajan, in part because of the wonderful singing and excellent pacing. But also in part for the blood curdling 'Vittoria'. I sampled every version I could find, and this one won that small phrase hands down. But that small moment is something that is repeated time and time again with the Karajan - because it's full of passion and gripping drama. I don't think anyone has sung the role better than DiStefano. I always come away wishing he'd had more to sing, he's that good.

I love Price in this role, and when one is in that exalted company (that you mention), it really becomes a preference thing. And I'd go with Price/Karajan myself. I would mention that the sound in this latest incarnation is better than in previous, though there is some congestion at times. Still, it's better sounding than the recordings before it and the sheer drama is as good as any in the roles across the board. Besides, one can never have too many good recordings! It's wonderful to have such great choices!

[André]

Nice summary indeed! Haven't heard that Solti Tosca, wouldn't do it anyway (Te Kanawa is not a singer I really like). For Freni's Tosca (a role too heavy for her) I much prefer her portrayal under Sinopoli. Not vocally lovely, but very effective dramatically. And Sinopoli's conducting is quite arresting. I also very much like Vishnevskaya's version. She sounds as sweet as a cup of plain yogurt, but my! what character !

[JBS]

Hmm...I have Milnes in two other perfornances, one on DVD, one on CD. Both with Domingo, the CD one with Price [on RCA], and I remember them as fairly good. Perhaps he got better in the role as time went on? [I don't have recording dates in front of me.]  I don't have any of the Decca recordings.  I'm another one for whom Callas just owns this role.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Hmm...I have Milnes in two other perfornances, one on DVD, one on CD. Both with Domingo, the CD one with Price [on RCA], and I remember them as fairly good. Perhaps he got better in the role as time went on? [I don't have recording dates in front of me.]  I don't have any of the Decca recordings.  I'm another one for whom Callas just owns this role.

I remember being wowed when watching this video (on youtube) years ago by Milnes:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHOJCdfBFQg

Nice to read your operatic comments, as always, TL.    Like you, I always come back to Callas as being my ultimate favorite re Tosca.  I have her live recording with Pretre and her other one with De Sabata.  Haven't listened to my Leontyne Price/Karajan recording in some time.  Will have to revisit that one.  I'm a huge fan of her Aida as well as her singing overall.

Well, I finally got around to watching Britten's Peter Grimes with Jon Vickers.  Excellent!  Thoroughly loved it!  Really impressed by Jon Vickers singing and acting--extremely powerful and poignant at times.  Also, by the compassion and restraint of Heather Harper's character and singing.  I wasn't able to get my little mitts on the Met DVD but did get ahold of the Kultur one which was filmed at the Royal Opera House with Heather Harper, etc.  Particularly impressed by the characters/acting/and singing of Capt. Balstrode (Norman Bailey) and I believe the characters name was Mrs. Sedley (Patricia Payne)...the opium addicted (via Laudanum) character who keeps ranting (and gossiping) about Peter Grimes' crimes and guilt.  Time well spent.  The only negative:  it was filmed in 1981, so the picture is rather more grainy and blurred than I would like, but hey, I adapted to it.    Enjoyed, too, the shots of the opera (and the conductor) during the interludes and the passacaglia.

PD

EDIT:  Sorry, I had meant to type "orchestra" rather than "opera" re the interludes and the passacaglia.

[bhodges]

Well, I finally got around to watching Britten's Peter Grimes with Jon Vickers.  Excellent!  Thoroughly loved it!  Really impressed by Jon Vickers singing and acting--extremely powerful and poignant at times.  Also, by the compassion and restraint of Heather Harper's character and singing.  I wasn't able to get my little mitts on the Met DVD but did get ahold of the Kultur one which was filmed at the Royal Opera House with Heather Harper, etc.  Particularly impressed by the characters/acting/and singing of Capt. Balstrode (Norman Bailey) and I believe the characters name was Mrs. Sedley (Patricia Payne)...the opium addicted (via Laudanum) character who keeps ranting (and gossiping) about Peter Grimes' crimes and guilt.  Time well spent.  The only negative:  it was filmed in 1981, so the picture is rather more grainy and blurred than I would like, but hey, I adapted to it.    Enjoyed, too, the shots of the opera (and the conductor) during the interludes and the passacaglia.

PD

Thanks for the comments. I've actually heard (but not seen) Vickers in this performance, and he's excellent. Do try to see the Met version with Anthony Dean Griffey, who gives the role a different slant. Plus, Donald Runnicles and the Met Orchestra are clearly having a great time with the score.

--Bruce

[knight66]

This looks more enticing than it is. Recorded live at performances at the Met in 2003, it is very close miked, resulting in a hard, brittle soundscape with quite a bit of stage noise. Levine doesn't really convince me he is a Berlioz conductor and he rarely gves the music that special colour one hears in the conducting of Colin Davis, Gardiner and, more recently, John Nelson. The cast is a fine one, but the chief reason for hearing this set is, without doubt, the superb Didon of the late, lamented Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. For some reason she was not a Met regular and, prior to these performances, the only complete opera she had sung there was John Harbison's The Great Gatsby, though she was scheduled to sing Orfeo in Gluck's opera there in 2007, a role taken over by David Daniels, with the performances being ultimately dedicated to her memory. Her Didon is musically and dramatically one of the best I've ever heard and fit to stand next to that of Janet Baker, which can be no higher praise.

I tried hard to get a copy of these discs, but failed. Thet were available from the Met shop and last time I was there I went to the shop to buy them, but they said it was perm out of stock. I don't like Levine's way with Berlioz, he submerges the woodwind and soups up the sound generally. I was really keen to hear Hunt Lieberson, I bet she was terrific.

Mike

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Thanks for the comments. I've actually heard (but not seen) Vickers in this performance, and he's excellent. Do try to see the Met version with Anthony Dean Griffey, who gives the role a different slant. Plus, Donald Runnicles and the Met Orchestra are clearly having a great time with the score.

--Bruce

Thanks for the suggestion:  I'll *jot it down.  I was going to ask anyway, but since you've brought it up....did Vickers do a studio recording of Peter Grimes?  Or are there various 'off air' ones?

*the trick is putting it somewhere that I'll remember to look there (if you know what I mean?)! 

PD

[bhodges]

Thanks for the suggestion:  I'll *jot it down.  I was going to ask anyway, but since you've brought it up....did Vickers do a studio recording of Peter Grimes?  Or are there various 'off air' ones?

*the trick is putting it somewhere that I'll remember to look there (if you know what I mean?)! 

PD

Here's the recording, I think. It's been a long time, and I heard it at a friend's house. (I don't own the recording.) But there must be some airchecks lying around somewhere!

https://www.amazon.com/Britten-Peter-Grimes-Benjamin/dp/B00000E4UM/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=Grimes+vickers&qid=1603141508&s=movies-tv&sr=1-4-catcorr

--Bruce

[JBS]

New arrival. Now at the start of Act II

Kauffman's voice seems a bit strained on his initial entrance but improved after that. I didn't look for timings but the first act seems very fast paced until it slows down for the love duet.

[Tsaraslondon]

Thanks for the suggestion:  I'll *jot it down.  I was going to ask anyway, but since you've brought it up....did Vickers do a studio recording of Peter Grimes?  Or are there various 'off air' ones?

*the trick is putting it somewhere that I'll remember to look there (if you know what I mean?)! 

PD

The Davis studio recording of Peter Grimes is one of my favourites and preserves most of the cast of the stage production. It's on Philips and definitely worth having.

[Roasted Swan]

The Davis studio recording of Peter Grimes is one of my favourites and preserves most of the cast of the stage production. It's on Philips and definitely worth having.

I saw Vickers and this cast back in the 80's when this recording was made.  It really was an extraordinary stage performance - this great lumbering obsessed bully with a visionary and damaged psyche.  The contrast between the physical presence and the tortured soul was utterly compelling in the theatre.  It still "works" on disc but I find that it was the visual element that lifted this into the pantheon of the greats as a performance.  The rest of the cast and Davis and the ROH orchestra and chorus were on electric form too.

[Tsaraslondon]

I saw Vickers and this cast back in the 80's when this recording was made.  It really was an extraordinary stage performance - this great lumbering obsessed bully with a visionary and damaged psyche.  The contrast between the physical presence and the tortured soul was utterly compelling in the theatre.  It still "works" on disc but I find that it was the visual element that lifted this into the pantheon of the greats as a performance.  The rest of the cast and Davis and the ROH orchestra and chorus were on electric form too.

What a wonderful memory to have. Performances like that stay with us for a lifetime.