What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[San Antone]

I'm pretty gobsmacked, particularly about you liking the Te Kanawa/Solti Tosca! LOL A clutch of Decca Toscas

And, I find her Butterfly unbearably moving, and not in the least bit mannered.

The Callas Karajan Madama Butterfly.

But you can't please all of the people all of the time! ;-)

I've been listening to this one with singers unknown to me, from 1929:



But as I've found with all "historical" recordings, the singing is very naturalistic and effortless.  Very nice.  Audio quality is surprisingly good.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now streaming via Presto Music --- Bartók Duke Bluebeard's Castle, Sz. 48, Op. 11



One of my favorite works of all-time. This newcomer sounds promising so far. Karina Canellakis has already received many accolades for her previous Bartók recording.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Britten The Rape of Lucretia, Op. 37



Another recording I forgot about that I ran across today (and it was still sealed!). So I ripped to my external SSD and now having a listen. I haven't listened to this opera in ages. This is one of Britten's more controversial works and, by today's standards, it's difficult to hear why, but here is what it's about --- taken from the Britten-Pears website:

The story is set in Rome in 500BC. Lucretia, the wife of the Roman general Collatinus, is assaulted at home by the prince Tarquinius while her husband is away. The following day, Lucretia – traumatised and destroyed by what has happened to her – commits suicide. The action is framed by two choruses, who are looking back from a later era.

[brewski]

Available at 1:00 pm (EDT) this afternoon on Operavision, running through November 9, Opera Zuid's production of Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle. (Recorded in October 2024.)

Don't know either of the singers, nor the orchestra, though I do follow Duncan Ward elsewhere on social media.

Bluebeard: Thomas Oliemans
Judith: Deirdre Angenent
Philzuid Symphony Orchestra
Duncan Ward, conductor

[Lisztianwagner]

First listen to:

Richard Strauss
Capriccio

Gundula Janowitz, Anton de Ridder, Karl Christian Kohn, David Thaw, Hermann Prey, Tatiana Troyanos, Arleen Auger, Wladimir Haag, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Peter Schreier, Karl Ridderbusch
Karl Böhm & Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

First listen to:

Richard Strauss
Capriccio

Gundula Janowitz, Anton de Ridder, Karl Christian Kohn, David Thaw, Hermann Prey, Tatiana Troyanos, Arleen Auger, Wladimir Haag, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Peter Schreier, Karl Ridderbusch
Karl Böhm & Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

And what did you think of this opera?

[nico1616]

This Bayreuth 1943 recording is in remarkable good sound. The acoustics there must be fantastic, with perfect balance between singers and orchestra. It is a bit weird to think that while war was raging in Europe, there were still performances. It is one of the top Meistersinger, with Schöffler as Hans Sachs and Suthaus as Walther.

[Lisztianwagner]

And what did you think of this opera?

I liked it! It is a very lyrical, passionate opera, with a rich, refined and colourful, at times nostalgic, orchestration; I appreciated how the characters were depicted as well as how Strauss subtly used Baroque and Italian Opera elements to develope the plot and the argument of which art comes first between music and poetry, it appears in Wagner's Meistersinger too. The finale was very effective and made the impression that after all the discussion of the relation between sound and word wasn't over yet.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Britten Peter Grimes, Op. 33

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

I liked it! It is a very lyrical, passionate opera, with a rich, refined and colourful, at times nostalgic, orchestration; I appreciated how the characters were depicted as well as how Strauss subtly used Baroque and Italian Opera elements to develope the plot and the argument of which art comes first between music and poetry, it appears in Wagner's Meistersinger too. The finale was very effective and made the impression that after all the discussion of the relation between sound and word wasn't over yet.

Excellent to read. I haven't listened to Capriccio in ages. In fact, I haven't listened to any of Strauss' operatic works in quite some time. I think the last opera I listened to was Daphne (the Haitink recording on EMI) but this was last year.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Here's a question for all the Britten fans that like The Turn of the Screw: outside of the composer's own recording, what is your favorite recording of this chamber opera? Besides Britten's own recording, I've got Harding (Virgin Classics), Bedford (Collins Classics), Farnes (LSO Live) and Colin Davis (Philips).

[Que]

This Bayreuth 1943 recording is in remarkable good sound. The acoustics there must be fantastic, with perfect balance between singers and orchestra. It is a bit weird to think that while war was raging in Europe, there were still performances. It is one of the top Meistersinger, with Schöffler as Hans Sachs and Suthaus as Walther.

Yes, I once heard that recording at a friend's and quite agree! 
And like you mentioned, surprisingly good sound.

[Lisztianwagner]

On youtube, first listen to this opera:

Richard Strauss
Friedenstag

Cornelia Wulkopf, Thomas Woodman, Bernd Weikl, Alfred Kuhn, Florian Cerny, Jaakko Ryhanen, Kurt Moll, Gerhard Auer, Jan-Hendrik Rootering, Karl Helm
Wolfgang Sawallisch & Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks