What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[JBS]

I don't see why. The ENO did a wonderful production of Christmas Eve some years ago. I don't recall being bothered that it was in English. Indeed many opera houses do Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin in English, or the language of their own country, which no doubt contributed to it becoming one of the most popular operas in the repertoire. Generally I too prefer operas in the language they were written but performing them in the vernacular probably ony contributed to their popularity. In Italy they only ever performed Wagner in Italian until around the late 1950s.

A friend of mine in college told me of seeing a Vienna production of Boris Godunov in German.

But Russian can be a very melodious language. No reason not to use it if other works are given in French, Italian, or other languages.

[Karl Henning]

Indeed, but I saw a live Kitezh in Bergen about 3 years ago.

Nice!

[The new erato]

Nice!

Great opera. Now Langgaards Antikrist on DVD. A fitting finish to 2020.

[Xenophanes]

My wife wanted to listen to Carmen, so I got out the old 1951 recording conducted by Fritz Reiner with Rise Stevens, Jan Peerce, Robert Merrill, and Licia Albanese on RCA LPs.  It was quite lively and the sound is good mono.

Now she wants to hear Butterfly but we haven't yet.

[Wendell_E]

Probably not many Western operatic singers who can tackle Russian decently? I mean, hearing R-K's operas in English, French or German (or Romanian, for that matter) would be a desecration. 

New Orleans Opera did Tchaikovsky's Maid of Orleans (billed as Joan of Arc) in English last February, their last production before the pandemic shut things down. They did Eugene Onegin in Russian back in 1995, but they had two Russians (Yuri Mazurok and Natalia Rom) in the leads. Western singers often sing Onegin, Boris, and Queen of Spades in the original language. I wonder if they're less willing to devote the time and effort to less common works, that they'll not have much chance of repeating in other productions?

[The new erato]

We've had Eugen Onegin twice in Bergen in the last two decades. Wonderful opera.

[Karl Henning]

Great opera. Now Langgaards Antikrist on DVD. A fitting finish to 2020.

Indeed!

[Karl Henning]

We've had Eugen Onegin twice in Bergen in the last two decades. Wonderful opera.

Yes! Tchaikovsky/Pushkin is a great "collaboration."

[pjme]

On Tv - Saint-Saëns " Samson et Dalila" - complete from the Met.
Very kitschy "Jean Paul Gautier meets Cecil B. DeMille" staging (Darko Tresnjak). Saint-Saëns music is too "stiff", too formal & oratorio-like for such a pink, purple & gold, display...
Opera on Tv is cruel for singers in heavy stage make-up and costumes. Roberto Alagna and Elina Garanca weren't too bad (Alagna isn't a jeune premier anymore) and Garanca has moments when the voice turns almost baritone-like...a very dark, deep voice...that I found hardly sensual.
Still, I enjoyed listening to Saint-Saëns music in all its 19th century splendor (Bachian fugues in Dagon's temple!).

[André]

On Tv - Saint-Saëns " Samson et Dalila" - complete from the Met.
Very kitschy "Jean Paul Gautier meets Cecil B. DeMille" staging (Darko Tresnjak). Saint-Saëns music is too "stiff", too formal & oratorio-like for such a pink, purple & gold, display...
Opera on Tv is cruel for singers in heavy stage make-up and costumes. Roberto Alagna and Elina Garanca weren't too bad (Alagna isn't a jeune premier anymore) and Garanca has moments when the voice turns almost baritone-like...a very dark, deep voice...that I found hardly sensual.
Still, I enjoyed listening to Saint-Saëns music in all its 19th century splendor (Bachian fugues in Dagon's temple!).

Dagon se révè-è-è-è-è-le !  .

Love that tune!

[pjme]

Today : Michael Tippett 's A midsummer marriage.



A couple of years ago I bought this set for a few euros on a flea market... put aside and forgot it. But I knew the Ritual dances -which I dearly love - and took the plunge today. I followed with the libretto and enjoyed this extatic  "riot of of symbols drawn from Greek, Celtic, Christian and Hindu mythologies" (David Cairns, in the booklet).
The 1971 performance is excellent and the youthful voices of Remedios, Carlyle, Herincx, Harwood, Burrowes, Watts, Dean and Bainbridge ring out in splendor.
Tippett's orchestra is another "wondrous machine", shimmering, chirping, broadly caroling or violently stuttering.
The Midsummer marriage needs to be seen in a large opera house, with all the latest tricks of digital scenery. Superb!

[knight66]

On Tv - Saint-Saëns " Samson et Dalila" - complete from the Met.
Very kitschy "Jean Paul Gautier meets Cecil B. DeMille" staging (Darko Tresnjak). Saint-Saëns music is too "stiff", too formal & oratorio-like for such a pink, purple & gold, display...
Opera on Tv is cruel for singers in heavy stage make-up and costumes. Roberto Alagna and Elina Garanca weren't too bad (Alagna isn't a jeune premier anymore) and Garanca has moments when the voice turns almost baritone-like...a very dark, deep voice...that I found hardly sensual.
Still, I enjoyed listening to Saint-Saëns music in all its 19th century splendor (Bachian fugues in Dagon's temple!).

I have a CD set with Rita Gorr, I like her voice, but her approach here really should have warned Samson off, like a butch Sergeant Major in a bad mood. 


I have never heard that Tippet, what a terrific cast, I used to see all those singers when I was young. I will look for it on Streaming.

Mike

[Herman]

I don't know what happened but I find myself listening to Parsifal for a couple of days, which I had not heard in maybe fifteen years. I'm listening to the Salzburg Karajan and the Knappertsbusch Bayreuth 62.

Amazing music.

[knight66]

It took me a long time to catch the Parsifal bug, but now I go through phases of immersing myself in it. It provides quite a journey. I tend to prefer to listen than to also watch it. It makes a very good opera of the mind.


Mike

[knight66]

Today : Michael Tippett 's A midsummer marriage.



A couple of years ago I bought this set for a few euros on a flea market... put aside and forgot it. But I knew the Ritual dances -which I dearly love - and took the plunge today. I followed with the libretto and enjoyed this extatic  "riot of of symbols drawn from Greek, Celtic, Christian and Hindu mythologies" (David Cairns, in the booklet).
The 1971 performance is excellent and the youthful voices of Remedios, Carlyle, Herincx, Harwood, Burrowes, Watts, Dean and Bainbridge ring out in splendor.
Tippett's orchestra is another "wondrous machine", shimmering, chirping, broadly caroling or violently stuttering.
The Midsummer marriage needs to be seen in a large opera house, with all the latest tricks of digital scenery. Superb!

I listened to some of it on Youtube. That meant that the discs arrived today and I have time set aside on Saturday to listen to it.

Thanks.

Mike

[Herman]

[Parsifal] makes a very good opera of the mind.

That's exactly what it is.

[Tsaraslondon]

Yes, I know it's a product of the gramophone but this has always been a favourite performance of Wagner's great love story. Margaret Price may never have been able to sing the role on stage but who can deny the beauty of her singing? Kollo is better than I remembered too.

[Mirror Image]

I don't know what happened but I find myself listening to Parsifal for a couple of days, which I had not heard in maybe fifteen years. I'm listening to the Salzburg Karajan and the Knappertsbusch Bayreuth 62.

Amazing music.

Parsifal along with Das Rheingold are my favorite operas from Wagner. Amazing music, indeed. Parsifal is a fitting swansong as it does feel like a farewell to the world at many points throughout the opera.

[T. D.]

Parsifal along with Das Rheingold are my favorite operas from Wagner. Amazing music, indeed. Parsifal is a fitting swansong as it does feel like a farewell to the world at many points throughout the opera.

Those are my 2 favorite Wagner operas as well. I always thought my preference for Rheingold (even just within the Ring cycle) was unusual and that I was a weirdo. Granted I likely am a weirdo, but perhaps not for that reason. 

[ritter]

Another weirdo here...but to make me even weirder, my Wagner "trifecta" also includes Meistersinger.