What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[vers la flamme]

Crossposting from the WAYLTN thread:
Ludwig van Beethoven
Fidelio, act 2^

Herbert von Karajan & Berliner Philharmoniker

The one major work of Beethoven I have yet to really get to know (well, this and the Diabelli Variations). What do you think of Karajan's recording of it?

[Tsaraslondon]

The one major work of Beethoven I have yet to really get to know (well, this and the Diabelli Variations). What do you think of Karajan's recording of it?

It's my favourite recording of the work. I actually prefer it to the famous Klemperer. I find the Karajan more bitingly dramatic.

Karajan's Fidelio

[vers la flamme]

It's my favourite recording of the work. I actually prefer it to the famous Klemperer. I find the Karajan more bitingly dramatic.

Karajan's Fidelio

I have the Klemperer but have spent very little time with it. Thanks for the link, very well written blog entry there.

[Lisztianwagner]

The one major work of Beethoven I have yet to really get to know (well, this and the Diabelli Variations). What do you think of Karajan's recording of it?

It's my favourite recording of the work. I actually prefer it to the famous Klemperer. I find the Karajan more bitingly dramatic.

Karajan's Fidelio

I agree, it's an absolutely amazing performance, Karajan really knew his Beethoven; it is powerfully compelling, with such a great intensity and dramatic tension, but at the same time, with a deep poetical expressiveness; the finale, with the prisoners finally got free and again under the light of the sun, is so bright, touching and powerful that completely blows away, Karajan chose a perfect rhythm to depict all the joy of that scene.
Klemperer is the first Fidelio I've listened too, but that isn't as moving as Karajan.

[Tsaraslondon]

I agree, it's an absolutely amazing performance, Karajan really knew his Beethoven; it is powerfully compelling, with such a great intensity and dramatic tension, but at the same time, with a deep poetical expressiveness; the finale, with the prisoners finally got free and again under the light of the sun, is so bright, touching and powerful that completely blows away, Karajan chose a perfect rhythm to depict all the joy of that scene.
Klemperer is the first Fidelio I've listened too, but that isn't as moving as Karajan.

I also think it's the best thing Helga Dernesch ever did on disc, a radiant, gleaming Leonore. In fact, role for role, the cast is pretty unbeatable. The dialogue is sensibly abridged too and, thankfully, spoken by the singers. All in all it's a superb performance.

[Lisztianwagner]

I also think it's the best thing Helga Dernesch ever did on disc, a radiant, gleaming Leonore. In fact, role for role, the cast is pretty unbeatable. The dialogue is sensibly abridged too and, thankfully, spoken by the singers. All in all it's a superb performance.

I must admit I haven't listened to many performances of Fidelio, but Dernesch  interprets superbly her role; the rest of the cast is absolutely great too. Bernstein's recording also has a marvelous cast, but Karajan is unparalleled for me.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I have three recordings of it (will have to try and get ahold a copy of the Karajan one):

A live recording from 1950 with Furtwängler (with Flagstad, Patzak, Greindl, Schwarzkopf, etc., with the Wiener Phil.)

Another with Hilde Konetzni, Seefried, Ralf, Schöffler, etc. with Böhm and the Wiener Staatsoper.

Last one is actually a highlights with Gwyneth Jones, James King, Theo Adam, etc. Dresden Staatskapelle and Böhm.

PD

[Lisztianwagner]

I have three recordings of it (will have to try and get ahold a copy of the Karajan one):

A live recording from 1950 with Furtwängler (with Flagstad, Patzak, Greindl, Schwarzkopf, etc., with the Wiener Phil.)

Another with Hilde Konetzni, Seefried, Ralf, Schöffler, etc. with Böhm and the Wiener Staatsoper.

Last one is actually a highlights with Gwyneth Jones, James King, Theo Adam, etc. Dresden Staatskapelle and Böhm.

PD

Furtwängler's Fidelio is gorgeous, but a bit too slow in my opinion, with rather expanded tempi, especially in the finale.

There are two recordings by Karajan, the 1971 studio one with the BPO and a live performance from the Wiener Staatsoper 1962 with the VPO; the latter one is kept in very high esteem and considered one of the best versions of Fidelio; as a matter of fact it is an impressive performance (Vickers, Ludwig, Berry, Kreppel, Janowitz), quite brisk and moving, but also intense and dramatic, with the audio quality that isn't perfect, but clear enough to enjoy the recording.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Furtwängler's Fidelio is gorgeous, but a bit too slow in my opinion, with rather expanded tempi, especially in the finale.

There are two recordings by Karajan, the 1971 studio one with the BPO and a live performance from the Salzburg Festival 1962 with the VPO; the latter one is kept in very high esteem and considered one of the best versions of Fidelio; as a matter of fact it is an impressive performance (Vickers, Ludwig, Berry, Kreppel, Janowitz), quite brisk and moving, but also intense and dramatic, with the audio quality that isn't perfect, but clear enough to enjoy the recording.

Thank you for telling me about the two recordings and your thoughts on them. 

PD

[Lisztianwagner]

Thank you for telling me about the two recordings and your thoughts on them. 

PD

You're welcome. Both of them are highly recommended, but maybe the 1971 recording is easier to find.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

You're welcome. Both of them are highly recommended, but maybe the 1971 recording is easier to find.

I have a few of the Salzburger Festspiele recordings (mostly on Orfeo).  Is the one that you mentioned on their label?  The top one on my list is on their label.

PD

[Lisztianwagner]

I have a few of the Salzburger Festspiele recordings (mostly on Orfeo).  Is the one that you mentioned on their label?  The top one on my list is on their label.

PD

I beg your pardon, I must correct myself, the recording I was referring to isn't from the Salzburg Festival, but from the Wiener Staatsoper, on DG label; my mistake. Karajan's Fidelio from Salzburg Festival is 1957 recording, on Orfeo.

I've found it on youtube and I'm listening to it a little; it sounds very good, I'm sure you won't be able to able to go wrong with that too, Karajan is unbeatable in Beethoven. 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I beg your pardon, I must correct myself, the recording I was referring to isn't from the Salzburg Festival, but from the Wiener Staatsoper, on DG label; my mistake. Karajan's Fidelio from Salzburg Festival is 1957 recording, on Orfeo.

I've found it on youtube and I'm listening to it a little; it sounds very good, I'm sure you won't be able to able to go wrong with that too, Karajan is unbeatable in Beethoven. 

Thank you.  I'll check it out.  What year was it (your favorite) recording from?

PD

[Lisztianwagner]

Thank you.  I'll check it out.  What year was it (your favorite) recording from?

PD

Personally speaking, my favourite is Karajan/BPO, the 1971 recording.

[ritter]

Revisiting Isaac Albéniz's (over)ambitious Merlín, to a libretto by his patron Francis Money-Coutts, 5th Baron Latymer.

[Wendell_E]

As y'all may know, Netflix won't be renting DVDs anymore after September of this year. I won't miss it much, since I've had the same three titles at home since January. January 2022. So, I thought I'd finally get around to watching them, and get a few more rentals in before it's all over. I'd already watched the first act of this Siegfried from a complete 2008 Weimar Ring, but somehow never got back for the rest, waiting for a day when it was convenient to watch the whole thing. Catherine Foster's the only singer I'm familiar with, but they're all more than adequate. As you can tell from the cast list, the director's taken a few tons of liberties. I don't mind much. This seems to be the only part of this Ring that Netflix carries, or I'd check out the rest. It's fairly cheap, so I may even buy the whole thing, though I've already got three Rings on DVD or Blu-ray.


Conductor: Carl St. Clair
Stage Director: Michael Schultz
Set Design: Dirk Becker
Costume Design: Renée Listerdal
Dramaturgy: Wolfgang Willaschek
Staatskapelle Weimar
Directed for Television and video by Brooks Riley

Siegfried: Johnny van Hall
Mime: Frider Aurich
Wanderer: Thomas Möwes
Alberich: Mario Hoff
Fafner: Hidekazu Tsumaya
Waldvogel: Heike Porstein
Erda: Nadine Weissmann
Brünnhilde: Catherine Foster
Grane: Erika Krämer
Hagen (as a child): Johannes Martin
Voice of the Norns: Burghard Wolf
Donner: Lars Creuzburg
Froh: Steffen Bärtel

Supernumeraries:
Siegfried as a Child
Hagen, Loge, and Grane body doubles
Forest Bird
Bear

The beginning credits also list Rossweisse, the end ones don't. If she's in there I don't see her, unless she's one of the girls who look identical to Grane who are setting the table during the final duet. You can ask, I'm not sure I can explain. 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

As y'all may know, Netflix won't be renting DVDs anymore after September of this year. I won't miss it much, since I've had the same three titles at home since January. January 2022. So, I thought I'd finally get around to watching them, and get a few more rentals in before it's all over. I'd already watched the first act of this Siegfried from a complete 2008 Weimar Ring, but somehow never got back for the rest, waiting for a day when it was convenient to watch the whole thing. Catherine Foster's the only singer I'm familiar with, but they're all more than adequate. As you can tell from the cast list, the director's taken a few tons of liberties. I don't mind much. This seems to be the only part of this Ring that Netflix carries, or I'd check out the rest. It's fairly cheap, so I may even buy the whole thing, though I've already got three Rings on DVD or Blu-ray.


Conductor: Carl St. Clair
Stage Director: Michael Schultz
Set Design: Dirk Becker
Costume Design: Renée Listerdal
Dramaturgy: Wolfgang Willaschek
Staatskapelle Weimar
Directed for Television and video by Brooks Riley

Siegfried: Johnny van Hall
Mime: Frider Aurich
Wanderer: Thomas Möwes
Alberich: Mario Hoff
Fafner: Hidekazu Tsumaya
Waldvogel: Heike Porstein
Erda: Nadine Weissmann
Brünnhilde: Catherine Foster
Grane: Erika Krämer
Hagen (as a child): Johannes Martin
Voice of the Norns: Burghard Wolf
Donner: Lars Creuzburg
Froh: Steffen Bärtel

Supernumeraries:
Siegfried as a Child
Hagen, Loge, and Grane body doubles
Forest Bird
Bear

The beginning credits also list Rossweisse, the end ones don't. If she's in there I don't see her, unless she's one of the girls who look identical to Grane who are setting the table during the final duet. You can ask, I'm not sure I can explain. 

Aren't the late fees going to be killer by now though?  Or do they not have any?

PD

[Wendell_E]

Aren't the late fees going to be killer by now though?  Or do they not have any?

PD

No late fees, but they charge a flat monthly fee, so I have been paying for them every month. I just think of it as my little contribution to the economy.

[Papy Oli]

Lehar - Die Lustige Witwe

[Roasted Swan]

I hadn't revisited this recording in years;



A genuinely extraordinary work in a fine performance.  Extraordinary because I have to shake my head every time I think about this assured score being written by a seventeen year old.  The confidence of the writing musically and drammatically is all but unbelievable.  For sure the actual plot is a bit of a "shabby-shocker" but all the more fun for that.  This 1980 recording stands up very well with both Eva Marton and Siegfried Jerusalem fully engaged in their roles.  I've never felt the need to seek out any more recent recordings.  I really shouldn't have left this on the shelf for so long - welcome back Violanta!