What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[André]

This oldie is pretty much of its era: a « stand up and deliver » affair. Forget about a concept' or an 'artistic vision'.

It's audible from the get go: good orchestral presence, but as soon as the voices enter they line up and vie for the listener's attention with f to ff singing, quite like old silent movie expressions:



Which is not to say the singing is not to be admired: today's opera houses would bribe, maim and kill to have the likes of Björling, Milanov, Christoff etc on their roster. It's just that it's unsubtle, even a tad crude (Leonard Warren's Amonasro), slightly too fast and unwilling to relax. You can almost tell every one needed to catch the last train at the end of the evening (that's not a myth: many an opera performance of yesteryear adjusted to patrons' traveling constraints).

All things considered, I can't really recommend this set despite some very fine siging from the two principals.

[ritter]

Gioachino Rossini : La donna del lago

Elena: Rosanna Carteri
Giacomo V (Uberto): Cesare Valletti
Malcolm Groeme: Irène Companeez
Rodrigo di Dhu: Eddy Ruhl
Douglas d'Angus: Paolo Washington
Serano / Bertrando: Valiano Natali
Albina: Carmen Piccini

Tullio Serafin
Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Nice opera and great cast. The problem is that one of the best pieces of the work, the concluding rondò for the lead female, Tanti affetti (one of Rossini's great creations) is omitted entirely from the performances. What could Tullio Serafin be thinking?

[Tsaraslondon]

Time can be an ally when it comes to assessing things from the past. I bought this set when it came out and didn't like it much. Three of the four principals disappointed me. This is THE opera where competition is at its fiercest. I won't bother detailing what irritated me back then. Suffice to say that rehearing redressed the balance substantially - to the point where i can recommend this as one of the - let's say - 5 best performances on record.

First: glorious orchestral playing, great conducting and superb engineering.
Second: a very sensitive portrayal of Aïda. Past the first Act where her voice is apt to sound stressed in the big ensembles, Anja Harteros gives a sensitive and beautifully vocalized portrayal of the eponymous heroine. Spendid pianissimo high notes - not on a Caballé level, but not far.
Third: a superb mezzo (Ekaterina Semenchuk), gutsy yet very sensual sounding. Patrician, womanly - not a man-eater ogress.
Fourth: the noble Radamès of Jonas Kaufmann. A rather over delicate, over refined 'Celeste Aïda', but a good voice (more baritonal than tenorish), good characterization, very sensitive to the mood of the scenes. The last iteration of 'si schiude in ciel' is to die for.

Ramfis and King of Egypt are very solid. The Priestess' incantations are miked closer than usual, as if she was just ahead of the procession, not in some remote locqtion. I could wish for more venom and fanaticism from Ramfis, but this is a good enough ersatz.

I am still disappointed by Tézier's Amonasro. Good voice, but little bite, not enough grit and amplitude of voice. Better than the cartoonish, mustache-twirling of some old school baritones (Leonard Warren), but a disappointment nonetheless. The drama in Aïda rests on the shoulders of the scorned lover (Amneris) and the battle-weary warrior (Amonasro).

When it's all said and done, Aïda is an opera that rises or falls on a quintet of 4 singers and a conductor/orchestra. Get 4 out of 5 right and you've got a winner. I'll keep this one.

I'm more in the other direction. I rather enjoyed this recording when it was first issued, but I find it's the last of my six recordings of the work that I pull down from the shelf, when I want to listen to the opera (the others are Callas live in Mexico 1951 and London 1953 and in the studio in 1955, Muti with Caballé and Karajan II with Freni).

Orchestrally and sonically it's splendid, but, to be honest, the only one of the principals I really like is Kaufmann. Harteros is touching, but vocally not a patch on Callas, Caballé or Freni. Likewise Semenchuk is a bit too generalised, and nowhere near as interesting as Dominguez, Simionato, Barbieri, Cossotto or my personal favourite, Baltsa.
 

[André]

I'm more in the other direction. I rather enjoyed this recording when it was first issued, but I find it's the last of my six recordings of the work that I pull down from the shelf, when I want to listen to the opera (the others are Callas live in Mexico 1951 and London 1953 and in the studio in 1955, Muti with Caballé and Karajan II with Freni).

Orchestrally and sonically it's splendid, but, to be honest, the only one of the principals I really like is Kaufmann. Harteros is touching, but vocally not a patch on Callas, Caballé or Freni. Likewise Semenchuk is a bit too generalised, and nowhere near as interesting as Dominguez, Simionato, Barbieri, Cossotto or my personal favourite, Baltsa.
 

We're of one mind when it comes to Caballé/Muti and Freni/Karajan. I can't really enjoy the first two Callas recordings you mention because of the precarious sound, but the studio one is definitely up there with Callas, Tucker, Gobbi and Serafin at their best (that's 4 out of 5, so I'm good 😉).

[JBS]

Part of


The composer:


If he looks a little put out, he has reason to be.

This was premiered in Venice a few months before the Mozart/Da Ponte version, with the title role sung by the tenor who created Don Ottavio for Mozart. Oddly enough, a third opera on the same subject was premiered the same evening at another theater in Venice.

Gazzaniga's opera is much shorter than Mozart's--one act lasting about 1 3/4 hours--but it's obvious Da Ponte took over almost all of it for his libretto (including the Catalog Aria) although he obviously added and improved a good deal. He did omit two roles--a fourth woman wooed by Don Giovanni, and a second servant who appears in the final scene. Also not in Mozart are the fireworks accompanying the Don's descent to Hell and the final tarantella danced by the remaining characters, which the Orfeo booklet says were included because the premiere was during the Carnival season.

Synopsis from Wikipedia

With his manservant Pasquariello keeping watch outside, Don Giovanni attempts to seduce Donna Anna. Donna Anna's father, the Commendatore, challenges Giovanni to a duel and is killed. Ottavio, Anna's fiancé, swears vengeance. Meanwhile Don Giovanni encounters his old lover, Donna Elvira outside the walls of Villena. As Don Giovanni woos Donna Ximena, Pasquariello gives Elvira a detailed account all his master's amorous conquests. Maturina and Biagio, accompanied by a party of peasants, arrive. Maturina and Biagio are about to be married, but Don Giovanni chases off a furious Biagio and attempts (unsuccessfully) to seduce Maturina.

Don Giovanni and Pasquariello follow Ottavio when he visits the Commendatore's tomb. Pasquariello is terrified when he hears the statue accept an invitation to dinner. Later that evening at Don Giovanni's house, Elvira pleads with the Don to mend his ways. She leaves when he refuses. Giovanni and Pasquariello enjoy their dinner and sing the praises of food, wine, and Venetian women. The statue suddenly arrives and drags Don Giovanni to his death. Ottavio and the women enter. Pasquariello and Lanterna describe Giovanni's fate to them. The opera ends as all rejoice at his downfall.

This is one of three audio recordings of the opera. There are also two productions available on DVD.

[JBS]

Next up from the Orfeo set, a one-act Orientalisme from Bizet



Reading the plot synopsis, it seems best to ignore the story and enjoy the music, which is very good, especially when Ms. Popp is involved, but there's also a tenor/baritone duet at the start that's just as good as the one in The Pearlfishers.

There are at least three other recordings of this opera, including a recent one from Bru Zane (part of a larger set devoted to le Bizet inconnu) and (if you insist on knowing what the characters are saying)a live recording in English from 1957.