What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[JBS]

[JBS]

Final installment of Mozart for now


Cast
Kurt Moll Sarastro
Peter Schrier Tamini
Luciana Serra Queen of the Night
Margaret Price Pamino
Mikael Melbye Papageno
Maria Venuti Papagena
Robert Tear Monostatos

The Two Speakers: Theo Adam/Armin Ude
The Three Ladies: Marie McLaughlin/Ann Murray/Hanna Schwarz
The Two Armoured Men: Reiner Goldberg/Heinz Reeh
The Three Boys: Franz Hoher/Michael Diedrich/Friedemann Klos (all three being at the time members of the Dresden Kreuzchor)

Except for Melbye (Papageno) none of the singers did the spoken dialogue, which was performed by what I presume to be native German actors.

Recorded in January 1984 in Dresden

[ritter]

Revisiting Verdi's Falstaff (well, the second half of it, i.e., from Act II, part 2 —starting with Alice's "Presenteremo un bill per una tassa al parlamento"— through the end of the opera, as this is what I really find superb), in a historic live recording of Carlo Maria Giulini conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra at the 1963 Holland Festival. Fernando Corina is unfortunately much to clownish in the title rôle, while the rest of the soloists  (Ilva Ligabue, Renato Capecchi, Fedora Barbieri, Mirella Freni, Luis Alva et al.) are fine. Still, the performance doesn't sparkle and is lacklustre (not helped by the congested sound). The applause and bravos at the end of Act II are thunderous, in any case.

Giulini's DG recording from Los Angeles is far superior (it's a personal favourite of mine, but I am aware that it is not universally acclaimed).

CDs 4 and 5 of this set:

I really enjoyed that recording of I Puritani, Jeffrey, and found Lisette Oropesa simply outstanding as Elvira. @Florestan had reservations about Lawrence Brownlee, IIRC (and they're understandable).

How did you find it?

[JBS]

Revisiting Verdi's Falstaff (well, the second half of it, i.e., from Act II, part 2 —starting with Alice's "Presenteremo un bill per una tassa al parlamento"— through the end of the opera, as this is what I really find superb), in a historic live recording of Carlo Maria Giulini conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra at the 1963 Holland Festival. Fernando Corina is unfortunately much to clownish in the title rôle, while the rest of the soloists  (Ilva Ligabue, Renato Capecchi, Fedora Barbieri, Mirella Freni, Luis Alva et al.) are fine. Still, the performance doesn't sparkle and is lacklustre (not helped by the congested sound). The applause and bravos at the end of Act II are thunderous, in any case.

Giulini's DG recording from Los Angeles is far superior (it's a personal favourite of mine, but I am aware that it is not universally acclaimed).

CDs 4 and 5 of this set:


I really enjoyed that recording of I Puritani, Jeffrey, and found Lisette Oropesa simply outstanding as Elvira. @Florestan had reservations about Lawrence Brownlee, IIRC (and they're understandable).

How did you find it?

I thought Oropesa had too much vibrato in the first act, but that disappeared in the last two acts. I found nothing wrong with Brownlee, and the sonics were excellent. So I would recommend it.  But I confess the performance I listened to a couple of weeks ago gripped me a bit more. ⏬


BTW, you are wrong about Falstaff. It's superb from first note to last, not just the second half.

[Florestan]

I really enjoyed that recording of I Puritani, Jeffrey, and found Lisette Oropesa simply outstanding as Elvira. @Florestan had reservations about Lawrence Brownlee, IIRC (and they're understandable).

Actually, I listened only to A te o cara and to my ears he sounded too nasal, almost as if drunk. I'll have to listen again, preferably to the whole thing.

[ritter]

Following the lead of @JBS , I am revisiting I Puritani here, but the "Malibran Version", in which the rôle of Elvira is transposed downwards, and Riccardo is a tenor, not a baritone. As an admirer of Katia Ricciarelli, I have owned recording since it was first issued, and think it is remarkably successful all around.



It was recorded live in Bari in 1986, at the Teatro Petruzzelli (5 years before that theatre was destroyed in an arson attack -- it has since been rebuilt). It has all you can expect from a well-prepared production in an Italian provincial theatre: chorus and orchestra perform with enthusiasm and panache (under the expert leadership of Gabriele Ferro), but are not the most refined ensembles in the world. Still, this is a very good rendition of an obscure version of this beautiful opera.