What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[Kalevala]

Yes, indeed. My first recording of Bluebeard's Castle and still one of the great ones. It was through this recording that I became obsessed with this work that I ended up buying books and really any information I could find on it.

Bluebeard's Castle remains my favorite piece of music of all-time.

I really do need to give that a listen to as I love a lot of Bartok's music.  Is there an online libretto?

K

[Lisztianwagner]

I wish it would have been my first one! Had it been, my first reaction to this wonderful opera probably wouldn't have been so mixed!

Agreed, a very good performance can certainly change the perception of a work. Out of curiosity, what is the first Lohengrin you've ever listened to?

[Ganondorf]

Agreed, a very good performance can certainly change the perception of a work. Out of curiosity, what is the first Lohengrin you've ever listened to?

The only thing I remember about that recording is that it was made, incredibly enough, in Bayreuth and that performance was quite monotonous to my ears. So your guess is as good as mine. There is a chance that my ears were not yet ripe for this work although it's hard to imagine anyone interested in good Wagnerian sound to be unimpressed with Kempe Lohengrin. Christa Ludwig alone is enough to make this exceptional recording.

[Mirror Image]

I really do need to give that a listen to as I love a lot of Bartok's music.  Is there an online libretto?

K

Hey K, this is the only thing I could find by doing a quick Google search:

https://www.powell-pressburger.org/Reviews/64_Bluebeard/Words.html

[JBS]

The only thing I remember about that recording is that it was made, incredibly enough, in Bayreuth and that performance was quite monotonous to my ears. So your guess is as good as mine. There is a chance that my ears were not yet ripe for this work although it's hard to imagine anyone interested in good Wagnerian sound to be unimpressed with Kempe Lohengrin. Christa Ludwig alone is enough to make this exceptional recording.

My first Lohengrin was a live performance: the Metropolitan Opera on its then-annual spring tour in Atlanta. All I remember of it is that it was rather dark and dreary, especially the first act.

Cast listing from the Met archives

Lohengrin
Atlanta Civic Center, Atlanta, Georgia, Fri, May 6, 1977




Lohengrin (564)
Richard Wagner | Richard Wagner
LohengrinJohn Alexander

Elsa Pilar Lorengar

Ortrud Mignon Dunn

Telramund Morley Meredith

King Heinrich John Macurdy

Herald Arthur Thompson

Gottfried Antoinette Peloso

Noble Robert Goodloe

Noble Andrea Velis

Noble Philip Booth

Noble Charles Anthony


Conductor James Levine




The name Andrea Velis brings back memories...always a supporting role but the sort of singer no opera company can do without

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Velis

[Tsaraslondon]

I'm not sure Georges Prêtre ever had the measure of Berlioz's idiom, with conducting which at times seems somewhat perfunctory. It's a great shame, because he has one of the best casts ever assembled for the work, with Janet Baker outstanding as Marguerite, as she is in La mort de Clêopâtre.

[ritter]

Verdi: Simon Boccanegra. Cappuccilli, Freni, Carreras, Ghiaurov, van Dam, La Scala, Claudio Abbado.

[Tsaraslondon]

Klemperer's magisterial conducting makes this a great recording, but, truth to tell, some of the singing lets it down. Adam can be a bit wobbly as the Dutchman and, whilst there's no denying Silja's commitment, she can be a bit squally as Senta. Talvela is superb as Daland and Kozub is fine as Erik, but Unger as the Steersman, sounds all of his 52 years at the time of the recording, if not older.

[Tsaraslondon]

All in all, I have to say I prefer this Konwitschny recording of Der fliegende Holländer to the Klemperer. Fischer- Dieskau gives a more thoughtful, intellectual account of the Dutchman, and, at this stage of his career (he was 35 at the time of the recording) he is less inclined to bark. Frick is superb as Daland and Shoch is fine as Erik, with the youthful Wunderlich the best of all possible Steersmen. The let down is Marianne Schech's Senta. I can't agree with Ralph Moore in finding that she "suggests youthful feminine idealism and naivety." To me she sounds dreadfully matronly, indeed more suited to the role of Mary, which is ably sung here by Sieglinde Wagner (no relation, apparently). I do agree with him, though, about Konwitschny's vital conducting and the excellent playing of the Staatskapelle, Berlin.

[Lisztianwagner]

Béla Bartók
Bluebeard's Castle

Christa Ludwig (Judith), Walter Berry (Bluebeard)
István Kertész & London Symphony Orchestra

[ritter]

György Kúrtag: Fin de partie. Frode Olsen (bar.), Zsolt Haja (bar.), Hilary Summers (alto), Leonardo Cortellazzi (ten.), Danubian Orchestra, Markus Stenz (con.).

[Lisztianwagner]

Alban Berg
Lulu

Gerd Nienstedt, Teresa Stratas, Franz Mazura, Robert Tear, Kenneth Riegel, Toni Blankenheim, Jules Bastin, Helmut Pampuch, Hanna Schwarz, Yvonne Minton, Pierre-Yves Le Maigat, Jane Manning, Claude Meloni, Anna Ringart, Ursula Boese
Pierre Boulez & Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris

[ritter]

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the first performance of Turandot in Milan on 25 April 1926.



This is the first recording of the work, made in 1938. Franco Ghione conducts the Turin EIAR Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with Gina Cigna in the title rôle, Francesco Merli as Calaf, Magda Olivero —whom I got to see live in recital towards the end of her long and distinguished career— as Liù, Luciano Neroni as Timur, et al.