What's the best recording? I'm quite tempted by the Kiri te Kanawa - she seems vocally ideally suited to the role and it'll be in fairly good sound I imagine. Her German pronunciation and slight woodeness annoys me sometimes, but I like her when she's at her best. I have Lisa Della Casa live with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau which is a bit disappointing - Strauss called her the ideal Arabella but she sings out of tune so often, and crucially in the most special parts - such as Das war sehr gut - fairly shocking actually.
Is there a live broadcast floating around anywhere of Fleming doing it? She sings marvellously on the DVD thats been released, but the sound is bad and the orchestral playing (or rather the conducting from Werner Most) is so matter of fact and lacking in lushness that its almost ruined.
Quote from: Guido on July 21, 2010, 04:42:59 PM
What's the best recording? I'm quite tempted by the Kiri te Kanawa - she seems vocally ideally suited to the role and it'll be in fairly good sound I imagine. Her German pronunciation and slight woodeness annoys me sometimes, but I like her when she's at her best. I have Lisa Della Casa live with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau which is a bit disappointing - Strauss called her the ideal Arabella but she sings out of tune so often, and crucially in the most special parts - such as Das war sehr gut - fairly shocking actually.
Is there a live broadcast floating around anywhere of Fleming doing it? She sings marvellously on the DVD thats been released, but the sound is bad and the orchestral playing (or rather the conducting from Werner Most) is so matter of fact and lacking in lushness that its almost ruined.
Della Casa recorded Arabella under Solti's baton in 1957 (George London as Mandryka) with the VPO. It's available as a very budgety re-issue in the Decca "Heritage Masters" series (no libretto or liner notes beyond the cast list and recording details). I'm not a maven on Strauss operas, and this is my only recording, but I think you'll find it more satisfactory than the live performance you described.
There's a rather expensive version on Orfeo, with Varady, and Fischer-Dieskau (again) and conducted by that master Straussian, Wolfgang Sawallisch. I only heard excerpts on the radio once, but it sounded very impressive to me. The only things that has put me off buying it so far is price. It's also probably the reason I don't have a complete recording of the opera, as the cheaper options don't seem that enticing.
Schwarzkopf only recorded excerpts, but they are definitely worth acquiring. Metternich is brilliantly cast as Mandryka and Gedda is superb as Matteo. The conductor is Lovro von Matacic. Too bad they didn't record the complete opera.
I've tried and tried with this work. The Thielemann & Welser-Most recordings, and I've seen it live at Glyndebourne some years ago. I still can't find the attraction in it... in fact I dislike it more each time I try, so I've resolved to leave it alone now. Don't you find it cloying and pretentious?
Quote from: False_Dmitry on July 22, 2010, 01:11:51 AM
I've tried and tried with this work. The Thielemann & Welser-Most recordings, and I've seen it live at Glyndebourne some years ago. I still can't find the attraction in it... in fact I dislike it more each time I try, so I've resolved to leave it alone now. Don't you find it cloying and pretentious?
Well I haven't seen or heard it a long while, though I do listen to the Schwarzkopf excerpts from time to time, and just revel in the glorious singing. As a teenager I saw a film of the opera with Janowitz in the title role and was totally enraptured, though even then I found the Fiakermilli bits pretty hard to take. Nowadays I do find the story more than a little ridiculous and even a little offensive, but it does have some glorious music, and I love Strauss's writing for the soprano voice. Maybe I should just stick to the Schwarzkopf excerpts after all.
Quote from: False_Dmitry on July 22, 2010, 01:11:51 AM
I've tried and tried with this work. The Thielemann & Welser-Most recordings, and I've seen it live at Glyndebourne some years ago. I still can't find the attraction in it... in fact I dislike it more each time I try, so I've resolved to leave it alone now. Don't you find it cloying and pretentious?
In what sense? The music or the libretto? Remember that Hofmannsthal died before properly shaping the second and third acts and Strauss chose to set these two exactly as he had left them in homage to his great colleague - they are however, markedly worse than the first act which I think is just great and musically I think it reflects this also. I agree that there are some weaknesses and occasionally the plot is annoying, but Strauss is composing in exactly the subject area that he excels at so I personally I feel like we get glimpses of the true mastery that is revealed in the very famous operas at the beginning and end of his career. It's certainly his best opera of the 30s.
I think Arabella and Zdenka are wonderfully sketched out characters at least in the first act, and their music is often glorious - that duet in the first act is just so beautiful (though Welser Most just rushes through it - horrendous!) and then the close of the act where Arabella has her monologue approaches though doesn't quite equal the Marschallin's monologue in its touching characterisation and the beauty of the music. Both characters become a little less rounded in the later acts with Arabella apparently completely giving herself to a man when she had been so feisty before but I think an intelligent production with good actors can get around this. The third act is even more farfetched but features another gorgeous aria and then a beautiful ending.
As ever, Strauss is slightly pushing boundaries here as he did with all his intimate, non mythical operas - that Arabella will only marry for love would still have been fairly controversial for a women in high society at that time, though the way it actually resolves itself is perhaps less than satisfactory.
Thanks for the tips - I'll look those ones up. I've just discovered that the Te Kanawa version has succumbed to the deletions axe - what are they thinking?!
Quote from: Tsaraslondon on July 22, 2010, 01:47:17 AMNowadays I do find the story more than a little ridiculous and even a little offensive
Yes, that's largely what I meant :) I suppose I really find it such a disappointment compared to the earlier Hofmanstahl works.. as though he suddenly lost the confidence to proceed in that direction, and backtracked.
Quote from: Guido on July 22, 2010, 01:55:29 AM
that Arabella will only marry for love would still have been fairly controversial for a women in high society at that time
In the
1930s? Are you sure?
I have the Arabella you ask about. A shame it is not available, as it is quite good. Yeah, it misses that extra bit of oompf that a live version would have given, and the role of Zdenka is perhaps not ideal, but overall this is a winner. Tate conducts it at lively tempos, and Kiri sings beautifully. Her voice is truly enrapturing here. So I have no idea how it compares ot others, but it is a version to savor and enjoy (and it took me many years to really begin to appreciate it).
Quote from: Maciek on July 22, 2010, 02:42:24 AM
In the 1930s? Are you sure?
Sorry I should have been clearer - it's set in 1860.
Quote from: ukrneal on July 22, 2010, 03:12:39 AM
I have the Arabella you ask about. A shame it is not available, as it is quite good. Yeah, it misses that extra bit of oompf that a live version would have given, and the role of Zdenka is perhaps not ideal, but overall this is a winner. Tate conducts it at lively tempos, and Kiri sings beautifully. Her voice is truly enrapturing here. So I have no idea how it compares ot others, but it is a version to savor and enjoy (and it took me many years to really begin to appreciate it).
I will keep on the lookout for it... There are recordings of a Met broadcast from 1983 with Battle as Zdenka on youtube with Kiri in the title role again - these sound absolutely gorgeous - Battle is just right for Zdenka it seems - that brittly lyrical tone she has seems perfectly suited to the character - though quite how a Mauri and an African American are meant to be sisters?! :)
Quote from: Guido on July 22, 2010, 03:46:23 AM
Sorry I should have been clearer - it's set in 1860.
Ah, I see. :)
Just listened to the earlier Arabella recording on Spotify - the singing from della Casa is just glorious and much better than the live recording, though I do love Fischer Dieskau as Mandryka (his best role?). Still though, she tends to sit on the flat side of the note, and though the tone is ravishing and the text is wonderfully sung, it grates on me the slightest bit.
For those who are not dependent on perfect "sound" and perfect "voices", I would recommend the Salzburg Arabella with Clemens Krauss.
For a 1942 live recording the recorded sound is still quite acceptable. And in my view it's difficult to get a more inspired conductor in this piece.
(http://www.salzburgerfestspiele.at/Portals/0/images/geschichte/42.jpg) (http://cdn.tower.jp/zz/m/7893/789368832828.jpg)
I fully agree with Tsaraslondon about this: the Schwarzkopf excerpts are ravishing but the whole opera drags quite a bit. I have only seen this in two televised productions on German TV and was mostly bored after the first act until the lovely ending. As has been pointed out, Hofmannsthal was ailing during the writing and died before doing necessary revisions. Strauss might have sharpened up his musical act in response. The actual content is of course very non-pc for nowadays, but Schwarzkopf's singing of "und du sollst mein Geliebter sein" is beyond gorgeous and makes me - the awful daring of a moment's surrender - believe in traditional marriage, but only for that moment .
Thanks for the Krauss recommendation, ccar, I'll look out for this - Krauss was for me the Strauss conductor sans pareil - not so long ago I discovered on a cheapo label (Cantus Classics) his live (and horribly cut) Rosenkavalier (Salzburg 1953): it wipes out every other performance in the climactic scene, IMO, by the time the Marschallin sings "Ja, ja" you have died and gone to heaven. Della Casa sings Octavian, by the way. - I think FiDi's Barak is his best role, by the way.
You can't go wrong with the Solti set with Della Casa and George London. It has never been surpassed,despite the undeniable virtues of the other recordings.
For DVD,the Thielemann/Met is also first rate.
Quote from: Superhorn on July 24, 2010, 05:57:56 AM
You can't go wrong with the Solti set with Della Casa and George London. It has never been surpassed,despite the undeniable virtues of the other recordings.
For DVD,the Thielemann/Met is also first rate.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41tGpqh2jNL._SL500_AA300_.jpg) (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B002BX4V2C/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EE059NRTL._SL500_AA300_.jpg) (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000BO0GPY/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music)
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ZZW2RRV0L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Just recently ordered the Della Casa budget priced Arabella versions shown:
-Keilberth/DG Live
-Solti/Decca
Plus the cheap used Della Casa Strauss collection of songs on Decca Legends, all three cost under $20 total at Amazon USA
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41KPBYC9ATL._SL500_AA300_.jpg) (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B00005A78O/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music)
For Arabella DVD I have the Te Kanawa........
She is the default automatic good choice in most of the Strauss opera DVDs, another lavish MET production.
Renee Fleming has several newer Strauss DVDs out now also although I have not seen them yet, one Arabella DVD will do for me
Quote from: DarkAngel on August 10, 2010, 11:55:14 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41KPBYC9ATL._SL500_AA300_.jpg) (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B00005A78O/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music)
For Arabella DVD I have the Te Kanawa........
She is the default automatic good choice in most of the Strauss opera DVDs, another lavish MET production.
Renee Fleming has several newer Strauss DVDs out now also although I have not seen them yet, one Arabella DVD will do for me
Do you not find her a rather wooden and unsympathetic stage presence? (lovely though her voice undeniably is)
I haven't watched this DVD yet though it has to be said - its sitting on the shelf though. I enjoyed the Fleming DVD quite a bit - both her and Zdenka are very good, but the recorded sound is seriously thin (there's no sense of this being in an actual theatre - maybe they were wearing body microphones?). The conducting is even worse - Welser Most is shockingly disconnected in a work that needs very careful and loving conducting if it is going to come off at all.
Quote from: Guido on August 11, 2010, 10:08:06 AM
Do you not find her a rather wooden and unsympathetic stage presence? (lovely though her voice undeniably is)
I haven't watched this DVD yet though it has to be said - its sitting on the shelf though. I enjoyed the Fleming DVD quite a bit - both her and Zdenka are very good, but the recorded sound is seriously thin (there's no sense of this being in an actual theatre - maybe they were wearing body microphones?). The conducting is even worse - Welser Most is shockingly disconnected in a work that needs very careful and loving conducting if it is going to come off at all.
I understand what you are saying......
Kiri Te Kawana is not an aggressive outgoing persona......
more serene, charming and deeply emotional or thoughtful, never going to be the sparkplug of a party, so parts must be chosen that she will fit, not a good Salome for instance ;)
Quote from: Guido on August 11, 2010, 10:08:06 AM
Do you not find her a rather wooden and unsympathetic stage presence?
Not me - I think she's charming and attractive, and she has a sort of regal quality about her that makes her ideally suited for roles like the Marschallin, Arabella, Madeleine or Figaro's Countess.
Quote from: jhar26 on August 22, 2010, 03:42:16 PM
Not me - I think she's charming and attractive, and she has a sort of regal quality about her that makes her ideally suited for roles like the Marschallin, Arabella, Madeleine or Figaro's Countess.
Yeah that's what her supporters always say, but it doesn't convince me. Each to their own.
Quote from: Guido on August 23, 2010, 08:47:29 AM
Yeah that's what her supporters always say, but it doesn't convince me. Each to their own.
I have a different take. I saw Kiri live at Covent Garden a couple of times. With the right director, she could be excellent. I wouldn't call her wooden (she had a beautiful and graceful stage presence) but she never struck me as someone who probed very deeply, meaning her Marschallin, for instance missed something. To be sure, there were compensations in the sheer beauty of the voice, and in some roles, generally those more passive heroines (The Countess and Desdemona for instance) she was close to ideal. She also made a surprisingly feisty Donna Elvira and an excellent Fiordilgi, her
per pieta being a particular memory of mine.
Yes wooden isn't the right word perhaps... My complaints are much the same as yours - there's a lack of depth and thought in much of her singing, which the beauty of the voice only sometimes compensates for for me. The voice though is like her, very contained and not thin exactly but certainly not voluptuous. I don't know how to describe it. I agree she can be good - I did actually enjoy her Arabella DVD.
Quote from: Guido on August 23, 2010, 01:11:46 PM
Yes wooden isn't the right word perhaps... My complaints are much the same as yours - there's a lack of depth and thought in much of her singing, which the beauty of the voice only sometimes compensates for for me. The voice though is like her, very contained and not thin exactly but certainly not voluptuous. I don't know how to describe it. I agree she can be good - I did actually enjoy her Arabella DVD.
In the theatre, it was a much larger voice than it sometimes sounds on record, and she also had that ability to float glorious
pianissimi into the auditorium. When I was younger I confess to nicknaming her "dreary Kiri". These days I'm a trifle more charitable and find much to admire in her singing of Mozart especially. Certainly her Glyndebourne Figaro Countess, when she, along with Frederica Von Stade and Ileana Cotrubas, was on the threshold of an international career, is one of the best I have ever seen, and is thankfully preserved on DVD.
Quote from: Tsaraslondon on August 23, 2010, 01:19:44 PM
In the theatre, it was a much larger voice than it sometimes sounds on record, and she also had that ability to float glorious pianissimi into the auditorium. When I was younger I confess to nicknaming her "dreary Kiri". These days I'm a trifle more charitable and find much to admire in her singing of Mozart especially. Certainly her Glyndebourne Figaro Countess, when she, along with Frederica Von Stade and Ileana Cotrubas, was on the threshold of an international career, is one of the best I have ever seen, and is thankfully preserved on DVD.
I'll have to look it out...
Quote from: Guido on August 23, 2010, 02:23:38 PM
I'll have to look it out...
Do. It is really worth it. The singers are great, and yet they create something worth more than their individual parts.
Arg - found this on ebay, but he refuses to send me it in the UK! >:(
http://cgi.ebay.com/RICHARD-STRAUSS-ARABELLA-opera-on-3-cds-TE-KANAWA_W0QQitemZ390213200838QQcategoryZ46498QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D2%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D5900484155214324645
Is this production available on DVD (or audio)? Youtube info says 1963 but I think it is actually 1960 - this one (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1710939/).
http://www.youtube.com/v/q2Hpvsuo9Ko
Quote from: mjwal on July 24, 2010, 02:10:51 AM
I think FiDi's Barak is his best role, by the way.
Somehow missed this the first time - very interesting. He would never have survived the role on stage of course, but I can believe that he would bring the humanity that this part requires. I think the piece is wildly overrated by Straussians in general, but Barak's parts in isolation I can take! actually just thinking about the imprisonment scene now is making me want to hear it!
Just found the Kanawa version cheap online, so fingers crossed that they actually have it and will deliver!
But Guido, the Keilberth recording is live, so he did survive the role in 1963...He and Inge Borkh are the highlights of the performance for me. I agree that the whole thing is indigestible, like an overstuffed Christmas pudding.
Really! I'm shocked. But then I don't know why I'm surprised - he did more repertoire (and more inapproprate repertoire) than anyone else. I'm even more curious to hear it now!
Really in that opera the first half hour (i.e. Act 1, Scene 1) is the most inspired (the Amme's monologue, the Falcon and the Kaiserin my favourite bit of all, the descent to the earth!), Act 1, Scene 2 is almost on the same level, and then after that it gets ever more pointless and uninspired, aside from a few sections - the imprisonment scene at the beginning of Act 3, and the tinsel ending is effective on its own terms (if I were cruel I would add: now that our standards have been so lowered by act 2 and half of act 3), though hardly the Wagnerian apotheosis which is clearly the intention or intended model.
Finally got the Te Kanawa/Tate Arabella - it's wonderful! The detail and warmth is brought out as never before possible in this recording as it was made in 1986 - the classic Della Casa version is amazing for its time, but still many of the subtleties are lost.
I am happy!
Hooray - he likes it! Perhaps I will make this my Saturday afternoon listen this weekend. I think you hit it on the head - detail and warmth.
I just reread your previous post - I see you agree about Zdenka. Act 2 particularly comes across very well in this recording, mercifully rescued from what can seem like a disjointed and disparate series of events, it emerges as a series of beautifully detailed and wonderfully imagined little highlights. Gwendolyn Bradley's Fiakermilli is completely fantastic, and doesn't at all out stay her welcome (where on earth did she go to - why didn't she record more!? I would love to hear her Zerbinetta.)
The end of Act 1 "Mein Elemir" is superbly done, as is the end of Act 3, "Das war sehr gut", and then "Dann aber" just ravishing. The languors before this in act 1, at the end of act 2, and the middle of act 3 are all very well sung and played here and all concerned do the absolute best they can with it. The highlights are all so wonderful that the whole thing works far better than I've heard it before.
Quote from: Guido on January 14, 2011, 08:04:39 AM
I just reread your previous post - I see you agree about Zdenka. Act 2 particularly comes across very well in this recording, mercifully rescued from what can seem like a disjointed and disparate series of events, it emerges as a series of beautifully detailed and wonderfully imagined little highlights. Gwendolyn Bradley's Fiakermilli is completely fantastic, and doesn't at all out stay her welcome (where on earth did she go to - why didn't she record more!? I would love to hear her Zerbinetta.)
The end of Act 1 "Mein Elemir" is superbly done, as is the end of Act 3, "Das war sehr gut", and then "Dann aber" just ravishing. The languors before this in act 1, at the end of act 2, and the middle of act 3 are all very well sung and played here and all concerned do the absolute best they can with it. The highlights are all so wonderful that the whole thing works far better than I've heard it before.
I was introduced to this opera by a huge Te Kanawa fan at the music store. They were so passionate about it, despite my reluctance, that I went for it. It was an eye opener for me, and I have been hooked ever since. I think on the next visit, she convinced me to get the Strauss Rosenkavalier (with Kiri of course), which is pretty good too. But I always felt that this one was just so ideal on so many levels. I've heard some other performances, but this is the one that really sparkles for me. And once I get going, like you, I seem to touch upon so many bits and pieces. And the sign of a good performance - I always hear something I never noticed before. It bears up under repeated listening well.
Any idea how the version you have been discussing stacks up against this one?
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41lsNQrHIlL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
Solti conducting Janowitz. She looks too old....but then there is the voice. I have resisted this opera for a long time, getting by with about 20 minutes of beautiful exerptts on CD with Schwartzkopf. For some reason I formed an opinion that away from the obvious highlights, it was dry with yards of dialogue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-TqGKqrIZo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PMgvQnDU14&feature=related
Mike
your impression isn't that far off really, though the good bits are enough to warrant its moderately common revival. The story is rather uninvolving I find.
With regards to that opera DVD - Janowitz is not a great actress (reminds me of Jennifer Saunders in both looks and mannerisms!) - see the first 30 seconds of those two clips, so she's not that well served by the constant close ups in the film. For me she's not the ideal voice for Arabella - not very youthful sounding - a bit too powerful and magisterial! I wasn't able to sit through the whole thing, so maybe I'm not giving a totally fair assessment.
I also very much dislike opera DVDs where the people are miming to their own singing - I've never seen it done well (except in the famous Bohm Elektra, which is so stylised that it somehow works - probably because it's not trying to be naturalistic).
Maybe someone more sympathetic should chime in!
Fair enough, thanks.
Mike
Quote from: knight on February 06, 2011, 01:46:41 AM
Any idea how the version you have been discussing stacks up against this one?
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41lsNQrHIlL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
Solti conducting Janowitz. She looks too old....but then there is the voice. I have resisted this opera for a long time, getting by with about 20 minutes of beautiful exerptts on CD with Schwartzkopf. For some reason I formed an opinion that away from the obvious highlights, it was dry with yards of dialogue.
Mike
It's an age since I saw this. I was very young and saw it on TV, so long ago, that I believe I watched in black and white. It was my introduction to the opera and came from a time when I was soaking up every opera I could manage to see in whatever format I could. My memory is rather hazy, but I do remember enjoying it immensely, though I was rather more sympathetic to Rene Kollo's Matteo than I think one is supposed to be. I couldn't understand why Arabella was being so dismissive of him. Even then I remember finding the Fiakermilli episode extremely irritating.
Quote from: Tsaraslondon on February 07, 2011, 12:15:06 AM
It was my introduction to the opera and came from a time when I was soaking up every opera I could manage to see in whatever format I could.
This is the phase I'm in!
Quote from: Guido on February 07, 2011, 04:31:19 AM
This is the phase I'm in!
It's worthwhile, in my opinion, if nothing else than to see it. Janowitz, as already mentioned is not always the best and it seems to me that she is just singing the role as opposed to trying to be in the role. Yet though her voice is a bit heavy, I was surprised to find myself enjoying it. I do like the period costumes and all that, though the lip synching is not my thing (reaonably done here I guess). Many of the other roles look to be pretty good too.
There is also a Te Kanawa version on film, but I cannot for the life of me remember if I saw it, though both seem well reviewed on Amazon if you are looking for more opinions.
I am pretty sure the story is going to irritate me. Odd that what I can be content with in Rossini, I can see will set my teeth on edge in the more modern setting.
Surprised if anyone finds Janowitz less that excellent in the vocal department. But I have not heard it yet. However I did order it for a bargain price. So I will get back to the thread at some point.
Mike
Do.
The problem I think is that Strauss goes for a great deal more naturalism than Donizetti, which make the trivialities of the plot more grating - the characters and situations are meant to be taken seriously. The libretto of course remains unfinished as Hoffmansthal died whilst wriitng it, and Strauss set it as he left in homage to his great colaborater, but it suffers as a result.
Quote from: knight on February 06, 2011, 01:46:41 AM
Any idea how the version you have been discussing stacks up against this one?
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41lsNQrHIlL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Solti conducting Janowitz. She looks too old....but then there is the voice. I have resisted this opera for a long time, getting by with about 20 minutes of beautiful exerptts on CD with Schwartzkopf. For some reason I formed an opinion that away from the obvious highlights, it was dry with yards of dialogue.
Just watched that a few weeks ago... one gets used to it... but why anyone would want Arabella (who looks like a boring horse) and not her sister (who's quite hot). It's rather well played, well sung... but not an appealing production.
QuoteJust watched that a few weeks ago... one gets used to it... but why anyone would want Arabella (who looks like a boring horse) and not her sister (who's quite hot).
As a gentleman I must say there's not a Grane of truth in your remark ;)
Quote from: mjwal on February 16, 2011, 05:03:26 AM
As a gentleman I must say there's not a Grane of truth in your remark ;)
;D
..
Haw!! it would ..behoof you to make better jokes. Janowitz is the ..mane reason this is a clunker. Heck, she's a night
..mare. I should know; judging opera singers is my daily ..bred.
Kollo, meanwhile, is ..horse throughout, and from scene one he knows he's in for a tough ..ride. I know he ..harnesses all his experience... but in the end the trained ear must cry ..foal! On the other hand, you'd have to be very ..colt-hearted not to fall in love (or mount) with Ghazarian. Her presence alone very nearly ..whips the whole production into shape. Well, I don't want to push the ..gait on this discussion open any further... we have ..ambling time to discuss it more in depth later. I say this, because I have a ..haunch you'll insist on a comeback. Well... be my guest, if you ..muzzle.
I cannot say neigh, sir, to some of your points, though I must bridle at your suggestion that I "muzzle" - I will admit to nuzzling occasionally and have even been known to snaffle a bit on the sly. It was merely your dashed incivility to Ms Janowitz that ruffled my equinimity.
While I love the Della Casa - Ggueden partnership in their sister act, I find slightly more vocal glamour in the duet "Er ist der richtige", where Pilar Lorengar and Arleen Auger ideally abet each other.
Quote from: André on March 06, 2011, 08:55:30 AM
While I love the Della Casa - Ggueden partnership in their sister act, I find slightly more vocal glamour in the duet "Er ist der richtige", where Pilar Lorengar and Arleen Auger ideally abet each other.
Has to be Bonney/Fleming/Eschenbach for me...
Certainly a fine lineup. I'll try to locate a clip or recording. Few composers have used the female voice as exquisitely as Strauss.
The Fleming/Bonney/Eschenbach Met Broadcast from 2001 is coming to siriusxm radio 4 times this week. Unfortunately I'm in the UK and so can't access this service, but would anyone in the US be willing to sign up to the free trial and record it in high quality? I've been wanting to hear this for years. They're also doing the Conlon/ Fleming, Hadley, Ramey, McVeigh Susannah which I'd also love to hear.
http://www.siriusxm.com/servlet/Satellite?c=SXM_Channel_C&childpagename=SXM%2FSXM_Channel_C%2FChannelProgramList&cid=1282009842027&pagename=SXM%2FWrapper
I'll post this on the Strauss thread too.
http://www.youtube.com/v/5xeCbF-a33g