What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[ando]

(Mostly) Mozart L'Oca Del Cairo / Lo Sposo Deluso (1991, Philips) Apple Music

[Mapman]

Beethoven: Leonore
Blomstedt, et al.:  Staatskapelle Dresden

Acts 1 and 2 so far. It's been a while since I've seen Fidelio, so I'm not noticing the differences. (When I listen to Fidelio again, maybe I'll have more to say about the revisions.) I'm looking forward to Act 3 after dinner.

[Wendell_E]

Beethoven: Leonore
Blomstedt, et al.:  Staatskapelle Dresden

Acts 1 and 2 so far. It's been a while since I've seen Fidelio, so I'm not noticing the differences.

It's been a while since I've listened to that Leonore, but the differences I recall off the top of my head:

Different overture, I forget which of the Leonore overtures are used. I know it's #1 or #2, not #3.
After the overture, Marzelline's aria comes first, then her duet with Jacquino, in Fidelio it's the other way around.
Leonore's big aria is more florid than in Fidelio.
It is in three acts, as you mention. Fidelio only has two.

One oddity in the libretto is that in the final scene of the opera, the crowd wants Pizarro thrown in the dungeon for the same amount of time Florestan was. Florestan and Leonore argue for a more merciful punishment since he "was only doing his duty". WTF? Keeping Florestan a secret prisoner, and attempting to murder him is his duty?? Why don't they just set Pizzaro free, and kill Florestan, in that case?

I may give that Leonore another listen tomorrow.

My own watching today of the DVD of San Francisco Opera's 2012 performance of Heggie's Moby-Dick, with Jay Hunter Morris, Stephen Costello, Morgan Smith, Jonathan Lemalu, and Talise Trevigne, conducted by Patrick Summers. I liked it a lot. I've been meaning to get the DVD for a while, but finally did. Wish I hadn't waited.

Edit: I pulled out the Leonore, to give it a listen today, and the track list reminds me of two further changes, numbers deleted in Fidelio: A trio for Mazelline, Jacquino, and Rocco before the canon quartet and a duet for Marzelinne and "Fidelio" between the Rocco-Pizarro duet and Leonore's scena.

[ritter]

Recent operatic listening remains focused on vintage Cetra recordings from more than 70 years ago (with, on this occasion, the great Giuseppe Taddei in the title roles).



AFAIK, this was the first studio recording of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (it's from 1949). Only the names of Taddei and of Fernando Corena (as Simone) and Franco Calabrese (as Spinelloccio) are not completely forgotten today. And yet, this recording is a delight, as it works perfectly as an ensemble effort.



Very well conducted by Fernando Previtali, this 1950 recording of The Barber of Seville another winner. Taddei is a great Figaro, Giulietta Simionato a wonderful Rosina, but the real revelation is the hitherto unknown to me Luigi Infantino, a very convincing tenore di grazia, who sings Count Almaviva with the required nimbleness but also with robust and virile tone.

[Lisztianwagner]

Crossposting from the WAYLTN thread:

Richard Wagner
Das Rheingold

Herbert von Karajan & Berliner Philharmoniker



Absolutely ecstatic music and absolutely marvelous performance; I'm not sure I'll be able to finish the entire opera, but I'll listen to that as much as I can.

[JBS]

Recent operatic listening remains focused on vintage Cetra recordings from more than 70 years ago (with, on this occasion, the great Giuseppe Taddei in the title roles).



AFAIK, this was the first studio recording of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (it's from 1949). Only the names of Taddei and of Fernando Corena (as Simone) and Franco Calabrese (as Spinelloccio) are not completely forgotten today. And yet, this recording is a delight, as it works perfectly as an ensemble effort.



Very well conducted by Fernando Previtali, this 1950 recording of The Barber of Seville another winner. Taddei is a great Figaro, Giulietta Simionato a wonderful Rosina, but the real revelation is the hitherto unknown to me Luigi Infantino, a very convincing tenore di grazia, who sings Count Almaviva with the required nimbleness but also with robust and virile tone.

Simionato was my first Rosina, via an budget LP issue of this


BTW, Amazon has this cover for your recording:

[Lisztianwagner]

Crossposting from the WAYLTN thread:

Richard Wagner
Parsifal

Herbert von Karajan & Berliner Philharmoniker

[ritter]

Stuck at home with a bad cold  , a Neapolitan opera buffa seemed like a good idea.

Valentino Fioravanti: Le cantatrici villane ("The Rustic Singers").



This 1951 recording seems to be heavily cut, as —despite including lots of spoken dialogue— it lasts only about an hour, while a later one on the Bongiovanni label takes more than double that. Be that as it may, it's delightful and a good ensemble performance.

[pjme]

Stuck at home with a bad cold

Like the rest of Europe! 
The paper handkerchief industry is doing great business....Time for some comforting music (even if I'm still in awe after listening (and seeing) Die Soldaten)

I may try some Puccini later 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Stuck at home with a bad cold  , a Neapolitan opera buffa seemed like a good idea.

Valentino Fioravanti: Le cantatrici villane ("The Rustic Singers").



This 1951 recording seems to be heavily cut, as —despite including lots of spoken dialogue— it lasts only about an hour, while a later one on the Bongiovanni label takes more than double that. Be that as it may, it's delightful and a good ensemble performance.

I haven't heard of that composer before now!  Glad that you enjoyed it.

Hope that you feel better soon.

Like the rest of Europe! 
The paper handkerchief industry is doing great business....Time for some comforting music (even if I'm still in awe after listening (and seeing) Die Soldaten)

I may try some Puccini later 

Puccini sounds like a great idea!

PD

[Florestan]

Like the rest of Europe! 

Yeah, I too have nasal congestion, sore throat and watery eyes. Two sneezes in a row every 10 minutes or so.

[ando]

Richard Wagner Die Walküre The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra/Chorus James Levine (1988, DG)
Behrens, Norman, Ludwig, Lakes, Morris, Moll
I picked up the DG CD recording today but was glad to see that someone upload a serviceable copy of the  1990 Met production.

(1990, Brian Large)
It's, of course, the second part of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle, where two mortal strangers meet, pulled together by Wotan, king of the gods, until a decree from his wife forces his Valkyrie daughter Brünnhilde to step in and try to save the mortals.

I agree with many that James Morris' Wotan is the superlative draw and that Jessye Norman as Brunnhilde might have made a more dynamic impression than Behrens but it remains a signature recording.

[Roasted Swan]

This received a rave review on MusicWeb very recently;



I saw the opera when it was staged at English National Opera over 40 years ago and the memory of it as a genuine delight remains.  By chance Chandos' website is doing a winter sale which includes all the Naxos at 60% off.  By what I assume is a glitch this performance is available as a FLAC download complete for just £2.30.  Only just started listening but my impression is that the enthusiastic review is well deserved.  Do have a listen if you like fairytale operas - its a gem!

[Tsaraslondon]

This received a rave review on MusicWeb very recently;



I saw the opera when it was staged at English National Opera over 40 years ago and the memory of it as a genuine delight remains.  By chance Chandos' website is doing a winter sale which includes all the Naxos at 60% off.  By what I assume is a glitch this performance is available as a FLAC download complete for just £2.30.  Only just started listening but my impression is that the enthusiastic review is well deserved.  Do have a listen if you like fairytale operas - its a gem!

I saw that ENO production too. I remember it as being absolutely gorgeous. Must say I'm considering this recording.

[springrite]

(Mostly) Mozart L'Oca Del Cairo / Lo Sposo Deluso (1991, Philips) Apple Music

These early (or not so early) little operas from Mozart are all cute little gems!

[ritter]

This 1973 live recording of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, from La Fenice in Venice.



The sound is much better than that of most of these Mondo Musica releases (which AFAIK were made to financially support the rebuilding of La Fenice after the 1996 fire that had completely destroyed it). As could be expected, that great man of the theatre and Donizetti specialist (and countryman) Gianandrea Gavazzeni leads a taut performance, full of vigour and colour. Renato Bruson is an elegant Enrico, while tenor Umberto Grilli doesn't really impress as Edgardo (although he sings the rôle correctly).

As for the lead, I'm afraid that even if Renata Scotto sings very well, I'm not convinced she has the right voice for Lucia. I recently listened to her in recordings of Pergolesi's La Serva padrona and Verdi's La Traviata, and she was superb in both (even for someone like me who's no great fan of the Verdi piece). But in Lucia, I miss the darker inflections Callas (or Sutherland) provide the music with. Here, Scotto's "cleaner" tone turns the mad scene into a display of vocal pyrotechnics, and not much more. But it is very well sung, no doubt about that.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

This received a rave review on MusicWeb very recently;



I saw the opera when it was staged at English National Opera over 40 years ago and the memory of it as a genuine delight remains.  By chance Chandos' website is doing a winter sale which includes all the Naxos at 60% off.  By what I assume is a glitch this performance is available as a FLAC download complete for just £2.30.  Only just started listening but my impression is that the enthusiastic review is well deserved.  Do have a listen if you like fairytale operas - its a gem!

I haven't heard of that one before; however, I have enjoyed recordings of other works of his (with Neemi Jarvi on Chandos) that I've found to be quite lovely and striking...trying to find a pic of this 2-CD set, but can't and am currently feeling lazy about going upstairs.

PD

[Wendell_E]

According to Amazon, I've had this since 2016 but only got around to watching it in full yesterday. A bit oratorio-like at times (I did doze off once), but when it's good, it's very, very good.

[ando]

Rossini: Otello (1988, Ilio Catani, Rossini Opera Festival)

Chris Merritt
Otello
June Anderson
Desdemona
Giorgio Surjan
Elmiro
Rockwell Blake
Rodrigo
Ezio Di Cesare
Jago
Raquel Pierotti
Emilia
Eugenio Favano
Lucio
Francesco Piccoli
Doge
Enrico Facini
Gondoliere
John Pritchard
Conductor

[Tsaraslondon]

Those were the days! Not a weak link in the cast. I seriously doubt whether any company these days could field such a wonderful cast, least of all the present English National Opera.