What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[ChamberNut]

Great, although Verdi isn't my favourite composer

I know, I thought it might spark up a revisiting. 

[Tsaraslondon]

Nice... but that thing about the Louisiana desert continues to bug me....

I don't know that recording. My favourite remains the Sinopoli with Freni and Domingo.

It's not my favourite Puccini, and indeed I prefer Massenet's setting of it, which I think gets closer to the spirit of the Prévost's novel. Predictably, I have the Callas recording, but, if I were to acquire another, it would probably be the Sinopoli with Freni and Domingo.

[Kalevala]

@Florestan
@Lisztianwagner

I'm diving deep into the ocean with no life jacket or raft.    First listen ever to a Verdi opera.

Edit: I must say I am enjoying this.

Via: Presto streaming

Verdi

Nabucco, Act I

Yippee!  I hope that you enjoyed it.  Give it/him a chance.  One of my favorites is Don Carlo.  A little sample to entice you here.  It's a duet between DFD and Bergonzi:

K

[Kalevala]

Great, although Verdi isn't my favourite composer, I hope you'll like it and then you'll continue exploring the Opera world! Sinopoli is always an excellent choice.

Aw, come on.  What about the aria Tu che le vanità from Don Carlo [Here with Angela Gheorghiu]? 

K

[JBS]

Such a fuss (not by you) about poor Prevost situating a desert in early 18thC Louisiana. How about Shakespeare, for whom Bohemia had both a desert and a coastline? The undisputed first prize in imaginary geography, though, goes to Offenbach, Meilhac and Halevy: Act II of Les brigands take place at the border between Italy and Spain.

So we have the existence of France being ignored by three Frenchmen...

[Ganondorf]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't there kind of implication in Hamlet that Denmark and Poland border each other?

[Lisztianwagner]

Aw, come on.  What about the aria Tu che le vanità from Don Carlo [Here with Angela Gheorghiu]? 
K

I would say I far prefer this  :

[JBS]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't there kind of implication in Hamlet that Denmark and Poland border each other?

It's not explicit. In the final scene, Fortinbras is returning from "the Polack wars", but he's from Norway, so if he was using a (mostly) land route, he'd have to go through Denmark in any case.

[Kalevala]

I would say I far prefer this  :

It's blocked to me.  What is it?

K

[JBS]

Callas 1965 from the Warner Puccini set, in the 2014 remastering.

[Lisztianwagner]

It's blocked to me.  What is it?

K

Ah, sorry, it was Tutto nel mondo é burla from Falstaff (Karajan/WP).

[Kalevala]

Ah, sorry, it was Tutto nel mondo é burla from Falstaff (Karajan/WP).

Thanks.  I'll try and find it on youtube.

K

[Florestan]

So we have the existence of France being ignored by three Frenchmen...

[nico1616]

I never knew Fricsay recorded Le nozze di Figaro in the studio until I saw this CD box in the thrift shop today. Another 1,50 euros well spent cause it is a real treasure. What a cast (Seefried! Stader! Fischer-Dieskau!) but the best is the direction, one of the best conducted Nozze's I have heard.

[JBS]

Lovro von Matacic conducting
Birgit Nilsson as Minnie
João Gibin as Johnson
Andrea Mongelli as Rance
Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala
Recorded July 1958

[Lisztianwagner]

Béla Bartók
Bluebeard's Castle

Walter Berry, Christa Ludwig
István Kertész & London Symphony Orchestra

[Kalevala]

Béla Bartók
Bluebeard's Castle

Walter Berry, Christa Ludwig
István Kertész & London Symphony Orchestra

I keep meaning to listen to that opera.  The jist that I've taken from it though in terms of theme has rather put me off.  I do love Bartok though.

K

[André]

Contents of this 4-cd set:



'Les Introuvables' series sometimes live up to their pretention, but not really in this case: only Kempe's Berlin Rheingold is at all hard to find (two full Kempe Ring cycles, in London and in Bayreuth, can easily be traced - this 1958 Staatskapelle Berlin was a single effort). The rest has never been out of the catalogue. That doesn't diminish the artistic value of this generous Ring repast despite the absence of any real novelty effect. That being said, that selection from Kempe's Berlin Rheingold is superb in all respects.

The rest focuses mostly on Flagstad's Brünnhilde (under George Sebastian, Karl Böhm, Leopold Ludwig and Wilhelm Furtwängler). There's a FiDi/Kubelik scene: Wotan's Farewell and Magic Fire Music that doesn't raise any goosebumps. He sounds so light voiced next to Hans Hotter in the same selection ! The latter is preceded by Nilsson's magnificent plea 'War es so schmählich' - one of the Ring's most heartbreaking moments. The Walküre Act 1 by Klemperer is included in one of the Klemperer boxes. Dernesch and Sotin are excellent, but Cochran's Siegmund is small-scale and strains audibly on top. Set Svanholm is Flagstad's Siegmund/fried throughout - a stock heldentenor, big on sound, short on characterization. Gottlob Frick is a cavernous sounding, scary Hagen.

It's interesting to focus on the conducting. Kempe, Ludwig and Furtwängler bring clarity of line (Kempe), amazing colouristic detail (Ludwig) and surging passion (Furt) to their respective assignments.

A good voyage through the Ring and some past wagnerian glories. None of the extracts are from Bayreuth. Most hail from EMI's Abbey Road studio no 1.

[JBS]

I keep meaning to listen to that opera.  The jist that I've taken from it though in terms of theme has rather put me off.  I do love Bartok though.

K

It has some of Bartok's best music; that Kertesz recording is among the best.

[T. D.]

It has some of Bartok's best music; that Kertesz recording is among the best.

It [Duke Bluebeard's Castle] is an outstanding opera. It comes off well on stage and has a short running time, so video might be worth seeking out.