What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[Tsaraslondon]

Der Rosenkavalier has a very special place in my heart. I first heard it in 1972 when Scottish Opera brought the revival of their hugely successful (and thankfully traditional) Anthony Besch production to the Theatre Royal in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I would have been twenty and a large group of us had travelled from my home town of Darlington to see the production. I didn't know a note of the music, but I'd read reviews and seen plenty of photographs of the production. It was one of those evenings when everything went right, with Helga Dernesch scoring a huge personal success as a radiantly aristocratic and beautiful Marschallin. At one point in the final trio I turned to a friend sitting next to me and she had tears streaming down her face. So taken was I with the performance that I went to the next one a couple of days later and, as soon as I'd saved up enough money, I bought this recording, which I've had in various incarnations ever since.


This present Warner re-master is the best I've ever heard and only adds lustre to what I think is one of the greatest opera recordings ever made. I can never quite understand why it is never mentioned in the same breath as, say the De Sabata Tosca or the Giulini Don Giovanni. When people come up with the inevitable comments about Schwarzkopf being mannered, I honestly don't know what they are talking about. Her Marschallin has it all; her tender teasing of Octavian at the beginning, the girlish playfulness with Ochs and then the change of mood through the levee, which you can hear the minute she tells Hippolyte he's made her look like an old woman. From their to the end of the act she is magnificent, combining verbal acuity with gorgeous lyrical tone. In the last act, every inch the aristocrat, she treats the Commandant with both dignity and kindness, takes a few swipes at Octavian, is indignantly furious with Ochs, and gently magnanimous with Sophie. I think it one the greatest portrayals of any role ever set down on disc.


By her side, she has a wonderfully youthful and ardent Christa Ludwig as Octavian, who grows from the gauche young lad of the first act to the more assured young man of the last one, a delightfully innocent and girlish Sophie in Teresa Stich-Randall and in Otto Edelmann an Ochs who manages to remind us that he is both a boor and an aristocrat. There are also superb cameos from the likes of Eberhard Wächter as Faninal, Nicolai Gedda as the Italian SInger, Ljuba Welitsch as the Duenna and Kerstin Meyer as Annina. With the Philharmonia in fantastic form and Karajan at the helm, this is a fabulous recording. I've known and loved it now for well nigh fifty years and I've never heard another to better it.

We all have our favourites of course and no doubt someone will try to point me in the direction of Solti or Haitink or Erich Kleiber, but I've heard them all my preference is firm.

[JBS]

I don't have that, but I do have the film with Jurinac...

But I hope you've heard Fleming at least once. I have the DVD of this and I think it's superb in all respects.

Not mentioned on that cover: Jonas Kauffman as a (ravenously hungry) Italian Singer.

[André]

Der Rosenkavalier has a very special place in my heart. I first heard it in 1972 when Scottish Opera brought the revival of their hugely successful (and thankfully traditional) Anthony Besch production to the Theatre Royal in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I would have been twenty and a large group of us had travelled from my home town of Darlington to see the production. I didn't know a note of the music, but I'd read reviews and seen plenty of photographs of the production. It was one of those evenings when everything went right, with Helga Dernesch scoring a huge personal success as a radiantly aristocratic and beautiful Marschallin. At one point in the final trio I turned to a friend sitting next to me and she had tears streaming down her face. So taken was I with the performance that I went to the next one a couple of days later and, as soon as I'd saved up enough money, I bought this recording, which I've had in various incarnations ever since.


This present Warner re-master is the best I've ever heard and only adds lustre to what I think is one of the greatest opera recordings ever made. I can never quite understand why it is never mentioned in the same breath as, say the De Sabata Tosca or the Giulini Don Giovanni. When people come up with the inevitable comments about Schwarzkopf being mannered, I honestly don't know what they are talking about. Her Marschallin has it all; her tender teasing of Octavian at the beginning, the girlish playfulness with Ochs and then the change of mood through the levee, which you can hear the minute she tells Hippolyte he's made her look like an old woman. From their to the end of the act she is magnificent, combining verbal acuity with gorgeous lyrical tone. In the last act, every inch the aristocrat, she treats the Commandant with both dignity and kindness, takes a few swipes at Octavian, is indignantly furious with Ochs, and gently magnanimous with Sophie. I think it one the greatest portrayals of any role ever set down on disc.


By her side, she has a wonderfully youthful and ardent Christa Ludwig as Octavian, who grows from the gauche young lad of the first act to the more assured young man of the last one, a delightfully innocent and girlish Sophie in Teresa Stich-Randall and in Otto Edelmann an Ochs who manages to remind us that he is both a boor and an aristocrat. There are also superb cameos from the likes of Eberhard Wächter as Faninal, Nicolai Gedda as the Italian SInger, Ljuba Welitsch as the Duenna and Kerstin Meyer as Annina. With the Philharmonia in fantastic form and Karajan at the helm, this is a fabulous recording. I've known and loved it now for well nigh fifty years and I've never heard another to better it.

We all have our favourites of course and no doubt someone will try to point me in the direction of Solti or Haitink or Erich Kleiber, but I've heard them all my preference is firm.

I agree with your assessment, esp. concerning Schwarzkopf's Marschallin, a crowning achievement on every level, vocal and verbal. My only slight disappointment with the performance is the Italian Singer's aria with Gedda. Maybe he had a cold that day. The voice isn't free and he sounds strained. But that's all. Everything else is perfect.

[Mirror Image]

Der Rosenkavalier has a very special place in my heart. I first heard it in 1972 when Scottish Opera brought the revival of their hugely successful (and thankfully traditional) Anthony Besch production to the Theatre Royal in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I would have been twenty and a large group of us had travelled from my home town of Darlington to see the production. I didn't know a note of the music, but I'd read reviews and seen plenty of photographs of the production. It was one of those evenings when everything went right, with Helga Dernesch scoring a huge personal success as a radiantly aristocratic and beautiful Marschallin. At one point in the final trio I turned to a friend sitting next to me and she had tears streaming down her face. So taken was I with the performance that I went to the next one a couple of days later and, as soon as I'd saved up enough money, I bought this recording, which I've had in various incarnations ever since.


This present Warner re-master is the best I've ever heard and only adds lustre to what I think is one of the greatest opera recordings ever made. I can never quite understand why it is never mentioned in the same breath as, say the De Sabata Tosca or the Giulini Don Giovanni. When people come up with the inevitable comments about Schwarzkopf being mannered, I honestly don't know what they are talking about. Her Marschallin has it all; her tender teasing of Octavian at the beginning, the girlish playfulness with Ochs and then the change of mood through the levee, which you can hear the minute she tells Hippolyte he's made her look like an old woman. From their to the end of the act she is magnificent, combining verbal acuity with gorgeous lyrical tone. In the last act, every inch the aristocrat, she treats the Commandant with both dignity and kindness, takes a few swipes at Octavian, is indignantly furious with Ochs, and gently magnanimous with Sophie. I think it one the greatest portrayals of any role ever set down on disc.


By her side, she has a wonderfully youthful and ardent Christa Ludwig as Octavian, who grows from the gauche young lad of the first act to the more assured young man of the last one, a delightfully innocent and girlish Sophie in Teresa Stich-Randall and in Otto Edelmann an Ochs who manages to remind us that he is both a boor and an aristocrat. There are also superb cameos from the likes of Eberhard Wächter as Faninal, Nicolai Gedda as the Italian SInger, Ljuba Welitsch as the Duenna and Kerstin Meyer as Annina. With the Philharmonia in fantastic form and Karajan at the helm, this is a fabulous recording. I've known and loved it now for well nigh fifty years and I've never heard another to better it.

We all have our favourites of course and no doubt someone will try to point me in the direction of Solti or Haitink or Erich Kleiber, but I've heard them all my preference is firm.

A fantastic recording, but not my reference --- my reference is the Bernstein, which Rafael (ritter) recommended to me awhile back:



Many listeners have an issue with Gwyneth Jones as Octavian and I'll admit she's not the same league as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf or Yvonne Minton, but Ludwig and Popp are exquisite and in fine voice. Walter Berry also sounds very good (I've always like his voice anyway). I also love Bernstein's interpretation but he does drive the music a bit hard. But you can tell he loves this opera and let's face it, Bernstein hasn't recorded much opera during his long career, but when he committed to recording something, it was going to be special even if a listener doesn't necessarily like the approach. The Wiener Philharmoniker are completely at home in the music, too. The sonics in my hybrid SACD remaster on Sony is remarkable, but I thought the original CD issue, which I also own, sounds pretty damn good, too.

[Wendell_E]

[The Karajan Frau ohne Schatten] is mono from 1964 and not stereo. That alone might be the cause of complaint.

Isn't that the performance where Karajan rearranged the order of scenes in Act II to cut down on scene changing? I'd certainly have complaints about that.

[Roasted Swan]

A fantastic recording, but not my reference --- my reference is the Bernstein, which Rafael (ritter) recommended to me awhile back:



Many listeners have an issue with Gwyneth Jones as Octavian and I'll admit she's not the same league as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf or Yvonne Minton, but Ludwig and Popp are exquisite and in fine voice. Walter Berry also sounds very good (I've always like his voice anyway). I also love Bernstein's interpretation but he does drive the music a bit hard. But you can tell he loves this opera and let's face it, Bernstein hasn't recorded much opera during his long career, but when he committed to recording something, it was going to be special even if a listener doesn't necessarily like the approach. The Wiener Philharmoniker are completely at home in the music, too. The sonics in my hybrid SACD remaster on Sony is remarkable, but I thought the original CD issue, which I also own, sounds pretty damn good, too.

I remember being knocked out the first time I heard this version - what a cast!  Also, the CBS (as was) engineering is remarkably good (better) than I often expect from this source.  Did they "borrow" Decca's Vienna set-up for this?  Your point about Bernstein's few opera recordings is well-made.  Given that he was such a 'theatrical' composer and conductor I wonder why he did not do more?  Perhaps his ego didn't like being hidden in a pit of pesky singers being more in the spotlight......!!

[Tsaraslondon]

I remember being knocked out the first time I heard this version - what a cast!  Also, the CBS (as was) engineering is remarkably good (better) than I often expect from this source.  Did they "borrow" Decca's Vienna set-up for this?  Your point about Bernstein's few opera recordings is well-made.  Given that he was such a 'theatrical' composer and conductor I wonder why he did not do more?  Perhaps his ego didn't like being hidden in a pit of pesky singers being more in the spotlight......!!

An almost forgotten part of his career is the two operas he conducted with Callas at La Scala. The first was Medea in 1953, an almost forgotten work which he had to study and learn in a few days when he stepped in for an indisposed Victor De Sabata. After Callas sang the role in Florence earlier in the year to massive critical acclaim, La Scala decided to substistute the orginally planned Scarlatti Mitridate Eupatore. They were about to start rehearsals when De Sabata fell ill and they were left without a conductor for an opera that virtually nobody knew. One assumes Vittorio Gui, who conducted the opera in Florence, was not available. Bernstein was on a tour of Italy and, after she heard him conduct a concert, Callas apparently suggested him. He took on the assignment. learning and preparing his version of the opera in a few days, and the rest, as they say is history.



He returned in 1955 to conduct La Sonnambula, the second of the famous Callas/Visconti La Scala productions and scored another huge success.



However I don't know if he conducted much opera in the theatre after that.

[Wendell_E]

However I don't know if he conducted much opera in the theatre after that.

At the same time (March 1955) as those La Sonnambulas, he was also doing Bohème at La Scala. In 1978, he conducted the Wiener Staatsoper forces in Fidelio at La Scala.

In Vienna, in addition to Fidelio, he conducted Falstaff, Rosenkavalier, and his own A Quiet Place. At the Met, he did Falstaff, Cavalleria Rusticana, and Carmen.

[ritter]

That's more or less what I was aware of regarding Bernstein conducting in the opera house. Most of it is available live (Medea and La Sonnambula with Callas from La Scala), or from studio recordings deriving from the live productions (Fidelio and Carmen on DG, Falstaff and Der Rosenkavalier on CBS/Sony).

Then there's the late Tristan from Munich (live recordings of concert performances, one act at a time) and La Bohème on DG (which AFAIK was not derived from any live event).

[Tsaraslondon]

At the same time (March 1955) as those La Sonnambulas, he was also doing Bohème at La Scala. In 1978, he conducted the Wiener Staatsoper forces in Fidelio at La Scala.

In Vienna, in addition to Fidelio, he conducted Falstaff, Rosenkavalier, and his own A Quiet Place. At the Met, he did Falstaff, Cavalleria Rusticana, and Carmen.

I'd forgotten about the Vienna Fidelio and the Carmen with Horne.

[JBS]

Spending the afternoon with


At the moment, the opening scene of Act II is playing.

Jacobs makes three important innovations

1. The original libretto has an opening scene with the Hermit and Agathe which Weber cut (on the advice, it seems, of his wife). There are is an aria for the Hermit and a duetto which he therefore did not set.  Jacobs set these with music borrowed from other parts of the opera..
2. In the official version, the character Kuno has a spoken monologue explaining the origin of the shooting contest. In the original  libretto the explanation is given as a sung ballad. Weber did not set it. Jacobs therefore adapted a song by Schubert (from Teufels Lustschloss) to provide the music.
3. Beyond the Wolf's Glen scene , there are various points in the action at which Samiel is visible to the audience (and to the villian Kaspar) but does not speak. Jacobs wrote lines for him to speak at those points so his presence would be noticed in an audio-only production like this. Much of what Samiel says in the recording was in fact improvised by the actor who performed the role, Max Urlacher.

[Mirror Image]

I remember being knocked out the first time I heard this version - what a cast!  Also, the CBS (as was) engineering is remarkably good (better) than I often expect from this source.  Did they "borrow" Decca's Vienna set-up for this?  Your point about Bernstein's few opera recordings is well-made.  Given that he was such a 'theatrical' composer and conductor I wonder why he did not do more?  Perhaps his ego didn't like being hidden in a pit of pesky singers being more in the spotlight......!!

Yeah, it is strange he didn't record more as, like you said, he has such an affinity for the theatre. I guess we should be grateful for what we have, but could you imagine him in Berg's Wozzeck or Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth, I mean talk about wishful thinking.

[Tsaraslondon]

This live recording (in somewhat dim, distant sound) brings back memories of a production that was one of the highights of my early opera going career, though I saw the revival, by which time they had reverted to the original German and Janet Baker and Elizabeth Harwood had been replaced by Anne Howells and Teresa Cahill and Michael Langdon had taken over the role of Ochs. Scottish Opera were riding the crest of a wave at the time and vied wth London companies for Britain's best opera company.

The star of this performance was undoubtedly Janet Baker, who never sang the role of Octavian again. She is everything an Octavian should be; ardent, impulsive, youthfully gauche and with a fine and perhaps unexpected gift for comedy in the final act. She is in superb voice, filling her music with soaring, free tone. So too is Elizabeth Harwood as Sophie. Even at this early stage in her career, Dernesch, who gamely learned the role in English, has one or two moments of strain in the upper register (she muffs the high G at silberne Rose in the first act) but she is a warmly feminine and dignified Marschallin. I can attest to the fact that her acting and personal beauty made any such moments inconsequential. In fact, she walked away with the honours when I saw her in the role and she is still the most perfect Marschallin I have ever seen on stage.



Noel Mangin is perhaps a little light of voice for Ochs (Michael Langdon was better), but Alexander Gibson conducts a wonderful (and absolutely note complete) version of the score.

Disc 4 in this set is given over to the Prologue from a 1977 production of Ariadne auf Naxos with Janet Baker as the Composer, yet another role she never visited again. What a shame she dropped both roles from her repertoire, as she is ideal in both. Helga Dernesch is again in the cast, this time as the Prima Donna/Ariadne, though we hear little of her in the prologue. The performance is again in English and one should give a special word of praise to Iain Cuthbertson who is superb in the speaking role of the Majo-Domo. I'd be interested to hear Dernesch in the opera, but it is good to have this memento of Baker's wonderful Composer. The sound here is better than on the Rosenkavalier.

The set is rounded out with a live performance of Frauenliebe und Leben, though the notes don't tell us where this is from. The cycle (accomapanied by Martin Isepp) was one of Baker's first recordings for the Saga label in the mid 1960s and then she re-recorded it with Barenboim in 1977, just a couple of years before this one with Graham Johnson. Both her studio recordings are among the best available, but this one benefits from the added frisson of being performed before an audience.

[Tsaraslondon]

There is another Welitsch/Reiner performance from 1952 in better sound, with Hotter as Jokanaan, but Welitsch is in better voice here - and this really is a thrilling performance. Welitsch is, and no doubt always will be, my yardstick for the role. Her bright silvery top register has no problem cutting through the orchestration and her interpretation leaves little to be desired. She was, after all, coached in the role by Strauss himself. Reiner's conducting is superb, bringing out all the erotic decadence in the score.

This issue also includes music from a 1951 Don Giovanni, also conducted by Reiner and with Eugene Conley as Ottavio, and a 1950 Aida, this time under Emil Cooper with Ramon Vinay as Radames and Margaret Harshaw as Amneris. Welitsch is an exciting Anna but it is a bit casual with note values and tends to rush the beat. Her Aida was also well known, but the voice is a little too relentlessly bright for my taste here. Nonetheless these excerpts are very interesting to hear.

[Tsaraslondon]

Karajan's 1978 recording of Salome is surely one of the most stunningly beautiful ever committed to disc. Whether you therefore miss some of the lurid decadence of the piece is a moot point and different people will have different reactions. Of the other studio versions I've heard (Solti, Leinsdorf and Sinopoli) this one is by far my favourite. Behrens was the perfect choice at this time, the voice having a silvery sheen on top and her characterisation being very much school of Welitsch. Behrens is the epitome of the spoiled, single-minded teenager and this is without doubt one of the best things she ever did on disc.

It is brilliantly cast (Van Dam as Jokanaan, Baltsa as Herodias and Böhm an excellent Herod) with even some star names amongst the Jews and Nazarenes. Only the rather fruity Page disappoints.

[Biffo]

Karajan's 1978 recording of Salome is surely one of the most stunningly beautiful ever committed to disc. Whether you therefore miss some of the lurid decadence of the piece is a moot point and different people will have different reactions. Of the other studio versions I've heard (Solti, Leinsdorf and Sinopoli) this one is by far my favourite. Behrens was the perfect choice at this time, the voice having a silvery sheen on top and her characterisation being very much school of Welitsch. Behrens is the epitome of the spoiled, single-minded teenager and this is without doubt one of the best things she ever did on disc.

It is brilliantly cast (Van Dam as Jokanaan, Baltsa as Herodias and Böhm an excellent Herod) with even some star names amongst the Jews and Nazarenes. Only the rather fruity Page disappoints.

+1 - my favourite Karajan recording

[ritter]

Some Napoleonic, proto-grand opéra today. Gaspare Spontini's Fernand Cortez ou la conquète du Mexique, recorded live at the 2019 Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, under the baton of Jean-Louis Tingaud.



Some (many?) people say that Spontini is a bore, and that his best-known work, La Vestale, is just Norma's unappealing older sister. But, I really like La Vestale and Olympie, and find Spontini's style empire really attractive, think he has a sober but effective dramatic pacing, has a nice melodic gift, and is quite a master in the treatment of the orchestra.

Fernand Cortez is given here more complete that in the previous recording on Accord conducted by Jean-Paul Penin, and in general terms this newer recording is better (except for the French diction of some of the singers, which is quite poor).

It would be great if some enterprising opera company gave this Fernand Cortez and Wolfgang Rihm's Die Eroberung von Mexico on alternate evenings. 

[Florestan]

Some Napoleonic, proto-grand opéra today. Gaspare Spontini's Fernand Cortez ou la conquète du Mexique, recorded live at the 2019 Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, under the baton of Jean-Louis Tingaud.



Some (many?) people say that Spontini is a bore, and that his best-known work, La Vestale, is just Norma's unappealing older sister. But, I really like La Vestale and Olympie, and find Spontini's style empire really attractive, think he has a sober but effective dramatic pacing, has a nice melodic gift, and is quite a master in the treatment of the orchestra.

Fernand Cortez is given here more complete that in the previous recording on Accord conducted by Jean-Paul Penin, and in general terms this newer recording is better (except for the French diction of some of the singers, which is quite poor).

Speaking of which:

I'm horrified by Mesple's diction while singing. I understand everything she says in spoken dialogues or recitatives but when she starts singing it's an unmitigated disaster, I understand nothing at all. Peter-Christoph Runge, not even a Frenchman, has a much, much better diction than her. Heck, even when listening to Joan Sutherland singing in French I can understand more. 

[ritter]

Yeah, but Mme. Mesplé was French, born and bred, which makes it all the more regrettable. The singers in my recording from Florence have names like Luca, Davide, Leonard and Delia, so you could forgive them for not being intelligible.

Bonjour à vous, cher Monsieur!

[Florestan]

Yeah, but Mme. Mesplé was French, born and bred, which makes it all the more regrettable.

Precisely. I am truly perplexed that a French-born singer can have such a bad French diction.

Bonjour à vous, cher Monsieur!

Votre humble serviteur, cher maître!