Favorite vocal recitals on CD or DVD

[Tsaraslondon]

Disc 2 more or less reproduces the Cantos de España disc I was listening to a couple of days ago, so I move on to Disc 3, which brings us more French and Spanish repertoire, this time with piano accompaniment, or chamber ensemble as in Falla's Psyché. Though her French isn't entirely idiomatic, she is an ideal interpreter of Debussy, Ravel, Fauré and Hahn.

The performance here of Falla's Sietes canciones populares españolas, with Gonzalo Soriano at the piano, is not generally considered her best, and it is true she is not as fierily earthy as Conchita Supervia, but it is equally valid in its more playful style.

[Tsaraslondon]

Disc 4 gives us the French and German items from a 1961 recital, a collection of duets with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and finishes off with De Los Angeles singing Sappishche Ode at Gerald Moore's farewell concert at the Royal Festival Hall She is joined by Schwarzkopf and Fischer-Dieskau for the final item, which is Mozart's trio La Partenza from the same concert.

I have always treasured her performances of Fauré's Chanson d'amour, which is sung with a delightful smile in the voice, and her ideal performance of Clair de lune, which captures to perfection its ancien style, but includes a wonderful change of colour when the accompaniment switches to a more fluid figure at Au calme clair de lune. The duets are all delightful and the two singers blend surprisingly well together.



It is De Los Angeles' centenary year this year and it saddens me to see that Warner, who now own most of her back catalogue, appear to be doing nothing to mark the event. Presumably her name doesn't sell records as well as it once did, which is a pity. She had her own inimitable style and an immediately recognisable voice and was one of the singers who had a large role in formulating my musical tastes.
 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Disc 4 gives us the French and German items from a 1961 recital, a collection of duets with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and finishes off with De Los Angeles singing Sappishche Ode at Gerald Moore's farewell concert at the Royal Festival Hall She is joined by Schwarzkopf and Fischer-Dieskau for the final item, which is Mozart's trio La Partenza from the same concert.

I have always treasured her performances of Fauré's Chanson d'amour, which is sung with a delightful smile in the voice, and her ideal performance of Clair de lune, which captures to perfection its ancien style, but includes a wonderful change of colour when the accompaniment switches to a more fluid figure at Au calme clair de lune. The duets are all delightful and the two singers blend surprisingly well together.



It is De Los Angeles' centenary year this year and it saddens me to see that Warner, who now own most of her back catalogue, appear to be doing nothing to mark the event. Presumably her name doesn't sell records as well as it once did, which is a pity. She had her own inimitable style and an immediately recognisable voice and was one of the singers who had a large role in formulating my musical tastes.
 

How many discs are in that set as it sounds quite nice?  And sorry that they aren't doing anything to celebrate her anniversary. 

PD

[Tsaraslondon]

How many discs are in that set as it sounds quite nice?  And sorry that they aren't doing anything to celebrate her anniversary. 

PD

There are four discs, but it's probably quite difficult to find these days. There's a 7 disc Icon box set, which also includes some of her operatic rep.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

There are four discs, but it's probably quite difficult to find these days. There's a 7 disc Icon box set, which also includes some of her operatic rep.

Thanks.

I just did some digging around (between my CDs and *LPs).  Would have sworn that I had had a boxed set of her recordings (I have a number of those Icon sets).  Initial findings:  On LP, I have the Hommage to Gerald Moore and also a Spanish pressing on EMI of her singing Spanish songs (which was a cool find by me--having to sit on probably a milk crate digging through classical records stored under the waist-high upper record bins!) and on CD, a single disc on EMI of operatic arias.  I know that I also have her on CD in a wonderful recording of Massenet's "Manon" on Testament.  Not certain what other complete operas that I have her in.  Will have to do some more exploring--particularly in honor of her centenary.

*Looked only at LPs that were of things like recitals.  Opera LP sets are much harder for me to access.

PD

[Tsaraslondon]

Thanks.

I just did some digging around (between my CDs and *LPs).  Would have sworn that I had had a boxed set of her recordings (I have a number of those Icon sets).  Initial findings:  On LP, I have the Hommage to Gerald Moore and also a Spanish pressing on EMI of her singing Spanish songs (which was a cool find by me--having to sit on probably a milk crate digging through classical records stored under the waist-high upper record bins!) and on CD, a single disc on EMI of operatic arias.  I know that I also have her on CD in a wonderful recording of Massenet's "Manon" on Testament.  Not certain what other complete operas that I have her in.  Will have to do some more exploring--particularly in honor of her centenary.

*Looked only at LPs that were of things like recitals.  Opera LP sets are much harder for me to access.

PD

Well of course she is on the Beecham Bohème and his Carmen. She also recorded Faust twice, and Butterfly. She also recorded Traviata, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Charlotte in Werther and Mélisande.

[ritter]

Well of course she is on the Beecham Bohème and his Carmen. She also recorded Faust twice, and Butterfly. She also recorded Traviata, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Charlotte in Werther and Méliande.

And Salud in Falla's La vida breve (twice).  And a wonderful Rosina in The Barber of Seville under the great Vittorio Gui.

And then live, but "officially" released, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser (from Bayreuth):



Good day, Tsaras and PD!

[Tsaraslondon]

And Salud in Falla's La vida breve (twice).  And a wonderful Rosina in The Barber of Seville under the great Vittorio Gui.

And then live, but "officially" released, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser (from Bayreuth):



Good day, Tsaras and PD!

Good day, ritter.

How could I possibly forget her Rosina?

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Well of course she is on the Beecham Bohème and his Carmen. She also recorded Faust twice, and Butterfly. She also recorded Traviata, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Charlotte in Werther and Mélisande.

I have her Bohème (on CD)...will have to double-check on the others; however, I expect not.

And hello back @ritter! 

PD

[Tsaraslondon]

Try as I might, I never find Dessay as interesting on record as I do in the flesh. The voice is just not that interesting and more than once I wished I were listening to the lovely Valerie Masterson, who, as far as I'm concerned, was the perfect Cleopatra, both vocally and visually.

Maybe it was my mood, but, despite the interesting programme, this didn't really hold my attention. One for the jettison pile, I think.

[Tsaraslondon]

I found this a much more enjoyable listening experience than the Dessay Cleopatra disc I was listening to earlier. Is it the fact that we get two voices, the more varied programme or the somewhat more lively conducting of Alan Curtis? Who can say? Anyway, it's a keeper.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I found this a much more enjoyable listening experience than the Dessay Cleopatra disc I was listening to earlier. Is it the fact that we get two voices, the more varied programme or the somewhat more lively conducting of Alan Curtis? Who can say? Anyway, it's a keeper.

I enjoy both of their voices.  I remember first hearing Ciofi's voice when I heard a broadcast from the Met of Butterfly.  It was later shown on t.v. 

PD

[Tsaraslondon]

I first saw DiDonato as Dejanira in Luc Bondy's superbly staged production of Hercules, and it's a performance I will never forget. Predictably then, it is the items from that orotorio that are the most vividly characterised, but the whole disc is worth hearing. DiDonato doesn't have a particularly distinctive voice, but she uses it with great skill and, at this time in her career at least, Handel was the perfect composer for her.

I really enjoyed re-visiting this disc this morning.

[Tsaraslondon]

An enterprising collection of mostly off the beaten track bel canto arias, with arias by Pacini, Mercadante and Carafa joining some not so well known arias by Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. Not all of it is great music and I found the januty opening Pacini aria, in which the heroine berates her lover for not being there to witness her dying breath, absolutely hilarious. I'm pretty sure that wasn't the intention. Still, things improve greatly after that and Pacini redeems himself somewhat in the final fourteen minute extract from his opera, Saffo.

In all DiDonato is technically proficient and dramatically involved, but I did occasionally find myself wondering what the likes of Callas and Caballé might have made of this material. She doesn't have the personality of the former or the vocal beauty of the latter. In the arias I did know, from I Capuleti e i Montecchi and Maria Stuarda, she did not erase memories of Janet Baker. Nonetheless an enjoyable disc.
 

[Tsaraslondon]

A whole disc of Neapolitan Song is possibly too much of a good thing and, in any case, this was recorded a little too late in Di Stefano's career. Not really sure how this ended up in my collection, but it's makng for the jettison pile.

[Tsaraslondon]

This 2 disc set brings together all Domingo's early recitals for RCA, Romantic Arias, recorded in 1968 and Domingo sings Caruso and La Voce d'Oro, both recorded in 1971. The first recital is the most wide ranging, with Domingo singing in Italian, German, French and Russian and featuring arias by Handel, Mozart, Donizetti, Halévy, Verdi, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Puccini and Mascagni. I had it on LP and I remember being impressed both by the beauty of the voice and his ability to sing both Mozart and Mascagni with such success. One might not expect it of such a voice, but his mastery of the florid sections of Ottavio's Il mio tesoro is exemplary, not only singing the longest run cleanly and in one breath, but also managing to phrase onwards into the restatement of Il mio tesoro.

The other two recitals are of arias we would more usually expect to hear from a tenor active in Italian repertoire. This issue is well documented too, with texts and translations and details of the recording dates and locations. RCA also add a couple of rare Leoncavallo arias, which were included as fill-ups on the Santi recording of Pagliacci.

Domingo doesn't seem to get much love these days, but you'd go a long way to hear a young tenor half as good these days.

[Tsaraslondon]

Twenty years after The Young Domingo recitals I was listening to a couple of days ago, Domingo is, if anything, in firmer, freer voice and he is better at projecting character. This in an enterprising selection, with excerpts from Handel's Giulio Cesare and Ezio, Spontini's La Vestale (but why not in French?), Bellini's Norma, Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini, Verdi's Attila, Wagner's Rienzi, Puccini's Tosca and Mascagni's Nerone. It is notable that he now takes Sesto's Svegliatevi nel core at a much faster tempo than he did in 1968, but his runs are if anything even more fluid. Nor does he need to resort to aspirates to negotiate the notes.

All in all a very satisfying recital.

[Tsaraslondon]

Recorded five years ago now, this was the young Danish/French sopano's first recital and very fine it is too. I'm not sure all these roles would have suited her on stage at that time, but the French version of Strauss's Salome is surprisingly successful and she has in fact now sung the role to great acclaim at the Aix-en-Provence festival last year.

The programme is an interesting one, starting with two arias where the character adresses a mirror (Marguerite from Gounod's Faust and Thaïs) then the same characters as envisaged by different composers. So we have arias for Manon by Puccini and Massenet, Juliette by Steibelt (a premiere recording) and Gounod (also a premiere recording of the whole scene), Rossini's Rosina and Mozart's Countess Almaviva, and finally the Salomes of Massenet and Strauss. The most successful items vocally, I think, are Margeurite's Jewel Song, the two Juliettes, Massenet's Manon, her two Rosinas, both the sparky Rossini and the more mature, disillusioned Countess, and the two Salomes. Though the voice is a light soprano, the lower register is suprisingly rich (I can't be sure, but I think she sings Rosina's Una voce poco fa in the original mezzo key), but she doesn't really have the fullness of tone required for Puccini's Manon or for Thaïs. On the other hand, there is nothing bland about any of her portrayals and she uses words and music imaginatively to create character. Not surprisingly, her French is excellent, but she sings Italian very well too.

A very promising debut recital and it is good to see that Dreisig appears to be taking her career slowly. Her most recent recital of Mozart arias would suggest that the voice is becoming richer and fuller.

[ritter]

Cross-posted from the WAYLTN thread:

Revisiting this oddly compiled CD (the Strauss selections were AFAIK originally issued on one LP, while the prologue from Boito's Mefistofele was originally coupled with a recording of Liszt's Faust-Symphonie). In any case, I like the repertoire, and enjoy the performances quite a lot.



Caballé performed Salome many times throughout the career (and even late in her career there was a production at La Scala by Robert Wilson that apparently worked very well, as it did not matter that the soprano did not have the physique du rôle). She also made a highly regarded recording of the full opera under Lensdorf (which I must admit I have not heard, and should seek out). As for Ghiaurov, he also went on to record a complete Mefistofele under Oliviero de Fabritiis, with Pavarotti, Mirella Freni, and Caballé as Helen of Troy. Bernstein conducts with lots of panache.

A most enjoyable disc (despite another oddity: why place Salome's dance after the final scene?  The girl has just been killed  )

[Tsaraslondon]

I enjoyed this 2109 recital from young Danish/French soprano Elsa Dreisig again, but not without a couple of tiny reservations. One or two of the songs (La vie antérieure and Morgen) were fresh in my memory in versions by Dame Janet Baker and I missed the cathartic release Baker achieves at the C'est là que j'ai vécu in the Duparc, and also her long breathed repose in teh Strauss. Dreisig occasionally breaks up the long phrases, possibly because the song is taken a mite too slowly.

But these are niggling doubts and all in all this is a fine recital and well worth hearing. Here is my review from when I first heard it in 2021.