What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[Kalevala]

O.k., so I haven't heard of her before now, but she's now on my radar!  Will see what I can find.  If I'm recalling correctly, I have one or two recordings with Finley (which I believe I enjoyed)...will have to dig further. 

K

So, I just listened to this...Good job.    

K

[Kalevala]

O.k., so I haven't heard of her before now, but she's now on my radar!  Will see what I can find.  If I'm recalling correctly, I have one or two recordings with Finley (which I believe I enjoyed)...will have to dig further. 

K

A the likes for her or him or both?

[Kalevala]

O.k, so I listened to her singing some Verdi (one of my favorite opera composers) vs. Angela Gheorghiu

Comments?

K

[JBS]

Bellini number 2
Bianca e Fernando

Another live performance from Catania 1992.  But someone must have explained to whoever placed the microphones that an important part of opera is the singing, because the problem with the Adelson recording is not present here.

This recording gives the revised 1828 version that was presented in Genoa. The original 1826 Naples version is titled Bianca e Gernando because the heir to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was named Fernando.  There's a recording of that version on Naxos, and a much more recent recording of the Genoa version that seems to be available on DVD.

Alternate cover for the recording reveals this production ignored the fact the story is supposedly set in medieval Sicily.

[JBS]

Bellini number 3
Il Pirata, in a studio recording from 1994

From


The plot of this opera, in which the hero and villain end up dead and the heroine ends up mad, originated in a play by Charles Maturin, the author of Melmoth the Wanderer, which was used as the basis of the French play that served in turn as the basis of Felice Romani's libretto.

[Tsaraslondon]

O.k, so I listened to her singing some Verdi (one of my favorite opera composers) vs. Angela Gheorghiu

Comments?

K

Personally, I prefer Gheorghiu. Davidsen has this annoying habit of starting a note white then adding vibrato, and her legato line isn't great. She moves from note to note without binding them into a proper legato. A terrific last note, but it doesn't make up for what has gone before.

Gheorghiu is live, but we also have a studio performance from her, if we are to compare like with like.

[JBS]

Bayreuth 1961. The Sawallisch Philips recording, with a different Elisabeth and Wolfram, was from Bayreuth 1962. According to Wikipedia, this production was mostly the Dresden version, but with the naughty bits (ie the Bacchanale) of the Paris version spliced in.

Mono but relatively good sound so far.

[JBS]

Addendum to the Tannhauser post

Windgassen was blustery--in fact he rather lived up to his name (Wind Alley). His style fits the proto-Tristan Imbrust im herzen, but it was hard to imagine his voice as belonging to a minstrel--a singer of lyrical songs. De Los Angeles and Fischer-Dieskau were much better; DFD in particular sounded like a minstrel in Holdes Abendstern, but I suppose Windgassen wasn't paying attention.

[Wendell_E]

R.I.P., Maestro Dohnányi.

[Lisztianwagner]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Le Nozze di Figaro

Hilde Gueden (Susanna), Cesare Siepi (Figaro), Alfred Poell (Conte Almaviva), Lisa della Casa (Contessa), Suzanne Danco (Cherubino), Hilde Rössel-Majdan (Marcellina), Fernando Corena (Bartolo), Murray Dickie (Basilio)
Erich Kleiber & Wiener Philharmoniker

[JBS]

Bellini Number 4
La Straniera
Renata Scotto in the title role, a live recording from Palermo 1968
[Not to be confused with another live recording featuring Scotto in a 1970 performance at La Fenice, Venice]


The cover art shows the heroine in a scene from the first production at La Scala.  The plot is based on one of those situations of hidden identity that would occur only to gothic or romantic novelists of the early 19th century, which might explain why almost every modern revival of the opera (including those featuring Caballe and Fleming) since Scotto has been in the form of concert performances.

There have been a few issues of this Palermo performance.



That last one includes a duet from the Caballe recording but is the only Amazon listing that provides a back cover image and thus a cast listing

[JBS]

Bellini 5

Catania 1990
The recording suffers from erratic microphone placement, while the opera suffers from a plot by Voltaire.
The premiere at Parma in 1829 was a flop, and Bellini recycled a large portion of the music into his next opera, I Capuleti e I Montecchi. But the heroine's arias would work nicely as recital material if any sopranos are reading this.

The assignment of vocal roles here is a bit untypical: the heroine is loved by the bass*, who mistakes the mezzo-soprano (who is the heroine's brother) for his rival in love. The tenor is the antagonist (not fair to call him villain), but not in love with anyone. He does get a rather nice aria in the opening scene.

There are three other recordings, all recorded in concert/performance like this one. The one with Renato Scotto, from the same theater, dates from 1976.

*He's the Sultan of Jerusalem. As I said, the original source for this opera was Voltaire.

[JBS]

Bellini 6.
We now reach terra cognita: Bellini's first international hit, with a version of Romeo and Juliet that owes nothing to Shakespeare.


The main feature of the "1830 version" is the transposition of Giuletta's part downwards to suit a mezzo singer (by Bellini, so it has the stamp of composer authority).

This is a live performance from August 2005.  Apparently it was also released on DVD.

[Tsaraslondon]

Bellini 6.
We now reach terra cognita: Bellini's first international hit, with a version of Romeo and Juliet that owes nothing to Shakespeare.


The main feature of the "1830 version" is the transposition of Giuletta's part downwards to suit a mezzo singer (by Bellini, so it has the stamp of composer authority).

This is a live performance from August 2005.  Apparently it was also released on DVD.

But Patrizia Ciofi is a soprano. How odd that she should sing it in the mezzo keys and how odd that Bellini should have transposed the role to suit a mezzo, when the role of Romeo was already written for a mezzo.

I have two favourite versions. This one under Giuseppe Patané,



and this one,

[San Antone]

I read that Biondi's recording is "polarizing", the MusicWeb review was all about this.  But I don't hear anything drastic. YMMV.



I almost always prefer period orchestras in this repertory, and before, so this recording is an obvious choice for me.  I also like the Baker recording mentioned.

[JBS]

Bellini 7

Live performance from July 1994.

It's up against some stiff competition; I have Bartoli and three from Callas (one of them--the La Scala with Bernstein--is included as a bonus in this set from Dynamic).

ETA
Just realized the tenor in this production was set on vibrate, and some recitatives come out muffled because of microphone/stage placement.

ETA 2
Because of the mike placements, much of the sleepwalking scene in Act 2 comes out on low volume, albeit clear.

Even if it were available (it doesn't seem to be, except as part of this set) I wouldn't recommend it. Ciofi's singing is excellent, so it's a shame no other recording of her in the role seems to exist.

[ritter]

One of those obscure opera recordings made by Westminster in the 50s, and that have made it to CD. Argeo Quadri conducts the forces of the Vienna State Opera in Puccini's Tosca, with Simona dall'Argine in the title rôle (her name is familiar to me from old programs of the Teatro Municipal of Caracas that were in my grandmothers house), Nino Scattolini as Cavaradosdi (never heard of him) and Scipio Colombo as Scarpia (he was highly regarded in the role in his day). The list of comprimari includes some prestigious names (Walter Berry, Alfred Poell, Waldemar Kmennt).



Act I today...

[Wanderer]

Nino Scattolini as Cavaradossi (never heard of him)

That's a very unfortunate-sounding name in Greek... 🫣

[ritter]

That's a very unfortunate-sounding name in Greek... 🫣

Not just in Greek, I'm afraid! 

Good evening, Tassos!

[Wanderer]

Not just in Greek, I'm afraid! 

Good evening, Tassos!

All the while listening to (a few versions of) Gluck's Orphée et Euridice.
Good evening, Rafael! 😎