What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[Florestan]

Bună seara...

Buona sera, mio signore, buona sera, buona sera!

Please remind me, how do you say "Summer evening" in Spanish (I mean Castellano, of course...)

[ritter]

Buona sera, mio signore, buona sera, buona sera!

Pace, sonno e sanità!   

[Florestan]

Pace, sonno e sanità!   

Pace e gioia mille anni! 

[JBS]

From the Warner Saint-Saëns box.

There's a second recording of the opera in the box, included as a historical recording, from 1946, with Helene Bouvier and Jose Luccioni conducted by Louis Fourestier, the first studio/commercially released recording of the opera.

[Mirror Image]

First listen to this new arrival (highly recommended here on GMG —hat tip to Mirror Image— and elsewhere):



Only Acts I and II today, but this is certainly a superb recording of Pelléas et Mélisande! Serge Baudo paces the score masterfully, making it sound simultaneously intimate and menacing, and the degree of detail of Debussy's wonderful orchestration that can be heard is a revelation. The singing is of an excellent level too, with very clear diction by all involved (one can understand every word). Among the soloists, I'd single out Gabriel Bacquier as Golaud. He really is among the very best I've heard in this central rôle (the work could have easily been titled "Golaud" instead of P&M  ).

Very, very good!

Excellent to read, Rafael. A stunning performance, indeed. I'm glad you enjoyed it. And a good evening to you, mi amigo.

[Tsaraslondon]

This is an excellent Die Zauberflöte regardless of it being HIP, slightly lighter in tone than the Böhm I was listening to a couple of days ago, but the serious elements still given their due weight. Best of the cast are Rosa Mannion's lovely Pamina and Anton Scharinger's delightful Papageno. Blochwitz sounds like a teenager, which is perhaps not inapt, but he hardly eclipses memories of Wunderlich's young, virile hero. As you'd expect Dessay gets round all the notes easily enough, but she doesn't really sound threatening or dangerous. Reinhard Hagen is a fine Sarastro.

[Barbebleu]

Misogyny is a concept that was  completely unknown in the 18th century. Just saying.

Actually misogyny as a concept was known and identified in the early 17th century so Mozart's librettist, Da Ponte, knew exactly what he was saying in Cosi. Just because it was acceptable then doesn't mean we have to like it now. I have similar feelings about Zauberflote's casual racism in the treatment of the character of Monostatos. Just saying!

[Tsaraslondon]

Actually misogyny as a concept was known and identified in the early 17th century so Mozart's librettist, Da Ponte, knew exactly what he was saying in Cosi. Just because it was acceptable then doesn't mean we have to like it now. I have similar feelings about Zauberflote's casual racism in the treatment of the character of Monostatos. Just saying!

I agree, and in fact there's quite a lot of misogyny in Die Zauberflöte too. Though I would never want to come to a point where we don't perform certain works because the morals and ideals of the time no longer coincide with our own, it does no harm to acknowledge the things we may now find abhorrent.

[André]

In that vein I must say I wondered about the character of the young black page in Der Rosenkavalier. There's nothing wrong about his role - character, words, actions: it's a silent role. But he definitely is at the lowest rung of the Marschallin's retinue. How is that perceived by Black people ?

[JBS]

In that vein I must say I wondered about the character of the young black page in Der Rosenkavalier. There's nothing wrong about his role - character, words, actions: it's a silent role. But he definitely is at the lowest rung of the Marschallin's retinue. How is that perceived by Black people ?

I don't know the answer to your question, but it should be pointed out that Black pages were not unusual in 18th century high society, so his presence in the libretto is a bit of historical accuracy.

[André]

I don't know the answer to your question, but it should be pointed out that Black pages were not unusual in 18th century high society, so his presence in the libretto is a bit of historical accuracy.

I know. I have a feeling they were kind of a curiosity, a mascot for aristocrats. That's why I wonder how it is viewed now, in modern productions ?

[JBS]

I know. I have a feeling they were kind of a curiosity, a mascot for aristocrats. That's why I wonder how it is viewed now, in modern productions ?

IIRC the only DVD version I've watched (with Fleming conducted by Thielemann) omits it entirely--but that's placed in a setting that's vaguely 1930s/50s, and not in the 18th century.

[Florestan]

Long spoken dialogues in the Neapoiltan dialect but othewise fun action and great music, though not on the level of his best works. Live recording so lots of stage noise and applause but I don't mind it in the least.

[Wendell_E]

I agree, and in fact there's quite a lot of misogyny in Die Zauberflöte too. Though I would never want to come to a point where we don't perform certain works because the morals and ideals of the time no longer coincide with our own, it does no harm to acknowledge the things we may now find abhorrent.

It's always interesting to see how they handle these things in current productions. I just saw Die Zauberflöte on January 30th in Pensacola, my first live opera since the pandemic started. Monastatos still referred to races in German his aria, but the English subtitles didn't. The dialogues (in English) just cut out racial references entirely. Incidentally, the Monastatos was white, while Sarastro was black. They did, however, translate the line about women chattering a lot, but not doing much.

I saw a student production a decade or two ago, in which Monastatos was sung by a cute blond guy, and his entire aria was one of many cuts in the performance. They did change that line about women, and it was set in a galaxy long ago and far away, so they even avoided ageism by having Papagena as a bug-eyed alien, rather than an old woman, in her first appearances.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Just finished listening to the highlights from Don Carlos on a mono LP on DG.  What a great group of singers!



I was familiar with the voices of Bastianini, and Christoff and had heard of Cossotto, but the rest were unknown to me.  Thoroughly enjoyed it and would love to hear their complete recording of one of my favorite operas.  I ran across the LP several years ago at a local used record store and though that for a buck, I couldn't pass on it.  Cleaned it this morning and am quite pleased with how it came out.

PD

[ritter]

Just finished listening to the highlights from Don Carlos on a mono LP on DG.  What a great group of singers!



I was familiar with the voices of Bastianini, and Christoff and had heard of Cossotto, but the rest were unknown to me.  Thoroughly enjoyed it and would love to hear their complete recording of one of my favorite operas.  I ran across the LP several years ago at a local used record store and though that for a buck, I couldn't pass on it.  Cleaned it this morning and am quite pleased with how it came out.

PD

That is indeed a very successful recording of Don Carlo, which somehow never had wide circulation or received much critical praise AFAIK. I have it on CD (I think it's an Arkiv CD --made to order CD-Rs from ArkivMusic, but with full cover and booklet), and enjoyed it when I listened to it. It's also good because it's the five-act version (many recordings in Italian are of the abridged and revised four-act version).

This was its CD incranation:


It was also included in this set of "Verdi at La Scala":



Both are long OOP, I think.

Good day to you, PD!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

That is indeed a very successful recording of Don Carlo, which somehow never had wide circulation or received much critical praise AFAIK. I have it on CD (I think it's an Arkiv CD --made to order CD-Rs from ArkivMusic, but with full cover and booklet), and enjoyed it when I listened to it. It's also good because it's the five-act version (many recordings in Italian are of the abridged and revised four-act version).

This was its CD incranation:


It was also included in this set of "Verdi at La Scala":



Both are long OOP, I think.

Good day to you, PD!
And good evening to you Rafael! 

Thank you for that information and images.

I have run across some used LP sets of it for sale at reasonable prices (online); I'll try and keep my eyes open locally though.  It would be especially nice to find a stereo set of it --preferably an early pressing of it.    We'll see.

And, yes, it's fun to compare the different versions of it--particularly between the Italian and the French.

PD

p.s.  How do you like the CD transfers(s?) that you have of it by the way?

[listener]

VERDI's first opera OBERTO, Conte di San Bonifacio 1839 (unless someone discovers what happened to an earlier one, Rochester, this may be a re-write)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Regio di Parma,  Antonello Allemandi cond.
a "numbers" opera, five principals and chorus
playing time two hours, principals all have a vibrato that may remind you of yodeling.
It was ranked 499 in frequency of performances, this performance might lower that number.

[Tsaraslondon]

Good day to you, PD!
And good evening to you Rafael! 

Thank you for that information and images.

I have run across some used LP sets of it for sale at reasonable prices (online); I'll try and keep my eyes open locally though.  It would be especially nice to find a stereo set of it --preferably an early pressing of it.    We'll see.

And, yes, it's fun to compare the different versions of it--particularly between the Italian and the French.

PD

p.s.  How do you like the CD transfers(s?) that you have of it by the way?

Don Carlo(s) is one of my favourite Verdi operas and I have three different recordings, though what I essentially have is recordings of three different operas.

The Giulini, which would be my first choice, is of the five act version translated into Italian, which restores the Fontainebleau Act I, which Verdi cut for the first Italian performances. The singers are Domingo, Caballé, Verrett, Milnes and Raimondi, all of whom are very fine in their respective roles.

I also have Karajan, who chooses to record the four act version, which cuts the Fontainebleau act, moving Carlo's aria Io la vid to the Monastery scene, which now becomes the first scene of Act I. His soloists are Carreras (in what I believe to be one of his finest recorded performances), Freni, Baltsa, Cappuccilli and Ghiaurov. Apart from the sound, which has a ridiculously wide dynamic range (some parts almost impossible to hear whilst others blast you out of your seat) it is a very fine performance.

Finally I have the Abbado version, which is also five acts but in the original French. This includes an appendix of music either cut before the first performance, or once included and then subsequently cut by Verdi. It is the least satsifactory of the three performances, but it is very interesting to hear the opera sung in the language Verdi composed it to, and it's also interesting to hear the appendices. The cast is variabale (Domingo, Ricciarelli, Valentini-Terrani, Nucci, Raimondi as Philip and Ghiaurov as the Inquisitor) and none of them have particularly idiomatic French, but it's virtually note complete and is certainly worth hearing.

I've reviewed all of them on my blog http://tsaraslondon.com/2017/04/09/verdis-don-carlos-a-comparison-of-three-different-recordings/

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Don Carlo(s) is one of my favourite Verdi operas and I have three different recordings, though what I essentially have is recordings of three different operas.

The Giulini, which would be my first choice, is of the five act version translated into Italian, which restores the Fontainebleau Act I, which Verdi cut for the first Italian performances. The singers are Domingo, Caballé, Verrett, Milnes and Raimondi, all of whom are very fine in their respective roles.

I also have Karajan, who chooses to record the four act version, which cuts the Fontainebleau act, moving Carlo's aria Io la vid to the Monastery scene, which now becomes the first scene of Act I. His soloists are Carreras (in what I believe to be one of his finest recorded performances), Freni, Baltsa, Cappuccilli and Ghiaurov. Apart from the sound, which has a ridiculously wide dynamic range (some parts almost impossible to hear whilst others blast you out of your seat) it is a very fine performance.

Finally I have the Abbado version, which is also five acts but in the original French. This includes an appendix of music either cut before the first performance, or once included and then subsequently cut by Verdi. It is the least satsifactory of the three performances, but it is very interesting to hear the opera sung in the language Verdi composed it to, and it's also interesting to hear the appendices. The cast is variabale (Domingo, Ricciarelli, Valentini-Terrani, Nucci, Raimondi as Philip and Ghiaurov as the Inquisitor) and none of them have particularly idiomatic French, but it's virtually note complete and is certainly worth hearing.

I've reviewed all of them on my blog http://tsaraslondon.com/2017/04/09/verdis-don-carlos-a-comparison-of-three-different-recordings/

Thank you so much for your thoughts and comments about the different versions--it's hard to keep up with the revisions, etc.  I have (off the top of my head) probably a half-dozen versions...don't believe that I have any in French though.  Will look later and update which ones I do have if you're interested?

PD