What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[Lisztianwagner]

First listen to:

Richard Strauss
Ariadne auf Naxos

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Rita Streich, Irmgard Seefried, Rudolf Schock, Hermann Prey
Herbert von Karajan & Philharmonia Orchestra

[nico1616]

First listen to:

Richard Strauss
Ariadne auf Naxos

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Rita Streich, Irmgard Seefried, Rudolf Schock, Hermann Prey
Herbert von Karajan & Philharmonia Orchestra

I am not a big fan of Strauss but this recording is the real thing. What a cast! What a conductor! Love it.

[Lisztianwagner]

I am not a big fan of Strauss but this recording is the real thing. What a cast! What a conductor! Love it.

I'm a big fan of Strauss instead, but I confess it is the first time I've listened to Ariadne auf Naxos; really a splendid opera. I agree Karajan's recording is superb, he could unfold the expressiveness and the beauty of that music like no one else for me. The singers are all excellent too.

[André]

Otello is so big in the world of opera that it's impossible to discuss it out of context - the history of the work, performance history, singers, conductors, etc.

There are plenty of anecdotes surrounding Verdi's composing of the work, Boïto's libretto, the original cast, the orchestra, etc. Like Tamagno's apparent inability to sing any pitch correctly (Verdi's remark), Victor Maurel being Verdi's dream Iago (he'd cast him even if he could only speak), Toscanini being a cellist in the orchestra at the creation, etc.

One anecdote I wasn't aware of is that both Barbirolli's father and grandfather were also in the orchestra, playing in the violin section at the premiere. Barbirolli Sr played the work a number of times and relayed his knowledge and admiration of the score to his son. Papa Barbirolli often regaled the household with Verdi and Otello anecdotes. That certainly makes Sir John's familiarity with and genuine affection for the score more understandable. Because this is Barbirolli's Otello, first and foremost.

The cast has always sharply divided critical opinion - but that is just noise. What comes out from listening to that magnificent recording is the immensity of Verdi's score. The orchestral execution, beautifully captured by the EMI engineers make us  hear the score as it is rarely heard. Also, the conductor's tempi are vigorous yet spacious, which helps immeasurably in allowing the singers time to enunciate and project character into their lines. The choruses are particularly fine.

McCracken has taken flak in some circles for his singing. Beefy, melodramatic they say. Nonsense. He is recorded at a slightly greater distance, probably because of the size of his voice. The resulting sound IMO never makes him sound beefy. His big dramatic outbursts in the last two acts are terrifying. I still prefer Vickers, but he's a great Otello. FiDi as Iago is definitely an acquired taste. The voice is so instantly recognizable that it screams Fischer-Dieskau, not Iago. Gobbi and Bacquier are more satisfying. Gwyneth Jones is the ideal Desdemona. Not a hint of wobble to be heard, the voice is at its creamiest best. Her death scene is, well, to die for. Only Margaret Price equals her performance but even then Jones makes a more convincing innocent victim. Freni, Tebaldi and Rysanek are excellent too in a more conventional grand opera tradition.

[foxandpeng]

Philip Glass
Akhnaten
The Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Dennis Russell Davies
Sony

Worth a listen.
Worth a listen.
Worth an occasional listen.
An occasional listen.
Occasional listen.

As one would expect. But then, I like Glass. Even his operas, surprisingly. I forget that he is an exception to the 'no vocal music' rule.

Pleasant enough change.

[VonStupp]

Benjamin Britten
Paul Bunyan

James Lawless as Paul Bunyan
Pop Wagner as Narrator
Dan Dressen as Johnny Inkslinger
Elisabeth Comeaux Nelson as Tiny
Plymouth Music Series - Philip Brunelle

Cross-post from WAYL2N:

I had a fun time with this one, especially the opening number of singing trees and forest fauna.

I'm guessing  Paul Bunyan is the odd child amongst Britten's stage works?
VS




My wife thought Paul Bunyan was dead on the cover art, but W.H. Auden's libretto provides the answer:

One night he dreamt he was to be
The greatest logger in history.
He woke to feel something stroking his brow
And found it was the tongue of an enormous cow.

[André]

Benjamin Britten
Paul Bunyan

James Lawless as Paul Bunyan
Pop Wagner as Narrator
Dan Dressen as Johnny Inkslinger
Elisabeth Comeaux Nelson as Tiny
Plymouth Music Series - Philip Brunelle

Cross-post from WAYL2N:

I had a fun time with this one, especially the opening number of singing trees and forest fauna.

I'm guessing  Paul Bunyan is the odd child amongst Britten's stage works?
VS




My wife thought Paul Bunyan was dead on the cover art, but W.H. Auden's libretto provides the answer:

One night he dreamt he was to be
The greatest logger in history.
He woke to feel something stroking his brow
And found it was the tongue of an enormous cow.

So, brow rhymes with cow and how, eh ? I always thought it rhymed with blow and crow. English is such a weird language.  

[Number Six]

Maria Callas: Pure (2014)

La Divina for a Friday afternoon.

[JBS]

So, brow rhymes with cow and how, eh ? I always thought it rhymed with blow and crow. English is such a weird language.  

Think of "how now brown cow".

(Although afaik there is no relation between the words brow and brown.)

Regarding the opera itself, I think the "Quartet of the Defeated" (at the end of Act 1 Scene 1), is one of the greatest passages of music Britten produced.

[Lisztianwagner]

Another straussian gap filled, first listen to:

Richard Strauss
Arabella

Walter Berry (Graf Walner), Helga Schmidt (Adelaide), Julia Varady (Arabella), Helen Donath (Zdenka), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Mandryka), Adolf Dallapozza (Matteo), Hermann Winkler (Graf Elemer), Klaus-Jurgen Kuper (Graf Dominik), Hermann Becht (Graf Lamoral), Elfie Hobarth (Fiakermilli)
Wolfgang Sawallisch & Bayerisches Staatsorchester

[VonStupp]

Regarding the opera itself, I think the "Quartet of the Defeated" (at the end of Act 1 Scene 1), is one of the greatest passages of music Britten produced.

The bluesy musical setting is indeed singular, especially surrounded by such rustic folksiness. Perhaps a bit of Broadway from Britten? I am unsure how much Britten pursued the jazz idiom outside of film and radio, but it definitely stands out.
VS

[JBS]

The bluesy musical setting is indeed singular, especially surrounded by such rustic folksiness. Perhaps a bit of Broadway from Britten? I am unsure how much Britten pursued the jazz idiom outside of film and radio, but it definitely stands out.
VS

IIRC Britten and Auden initially envisaged Paul Bunyan as a Broadway offering.

[Wendell_E]

The first commercial recording of Tippett's final opera, New Year.

Rhian Lois (Jo Ann)
Ross Ramgobin (Donny)
Susan Bickley (Nan)
Roland Wood (Merlin)
Robert Murray (Pelegrin)
Rachel Nicholls (Regan)
Alan Oke (The Presenter)

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins

[Roasted Swan]

So, brow rhymes with cow and how, eh ? I always thought it rhymed with blow and crow. English is such a weird language.  

Yo Bro, if you sew, mow and hoe that will get you some dough

[Lisztianwagner]

First listen to:

Richard Strauss
Intermezzo

Lucia Popp, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Adolf Dallapozza, Martin Finke, Kurt Moll
Wolfgang Sawallisch & Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

[Que]

First listen to:

Richard Strauss
Intermezzo

Lucia Popp, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Adolf Dallapozza, Martin Finke, Kurt Moll
Wolfgang Sawallisch & Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Through this recording I discovered that Sawallisch was an excellent Straussian!

[Lisztianwagner]

Through this recording I discovered that Sawallisch was an excellent Straussian!

Agreed, he was indeed excellent and about Straussian operas, I found his Arabella very beautiful too; I had great expectations as he was a fine Wagnerian conductor as well. For its daily life sets, Intermezzo made me think of Schönberg's Von Heute auf Morgen, though it has definitely lighter atmospheres.

[André]

Mozart operas and their recordings are pillars of the opera world. Today's 'Met Afternoon at the Opera' broadcast featured a Met performance of Le Nozzle di Figaro. All the performers as well as the Maestra (?: woman conductor) are totally unknown names. Only Mozart could lure patrons into shedding hundreds of dollars on a seat with zero NAME singer or conductor on the billboard.

So, this performance is.. ? Quite fine ! I've had it for a number of years but it's only recently that I've found it musically rewarding. For a long time I put period performances of Mozart in a 'museum exhibit' category to be looked at with a critical/historical eye but not really as an emotional/musical experience.

The singers are very good, even though none of them has a recognizable voice. Dorabella, Ferrando and Fiordiligi are perfectly portrayed. Technically and musically all the roles are very well handled - no weak link. Jacob's' orchestra (and his continuo player) are the real storytellers here. They link the arias, duets, terzettos and ensembles together masterfully. Concerto Köln sings and zings in a most felicitous manner, the tang and bite of the strings and brass resonating pleasantly in the fine acoustics of the Grosser Sendesaal of the Cologne Radio (Concerto Köln's habitual recording venue).

For many, listening to Cosi is like an advanced course in psychology and musicology. There's a school of thought that posits Cosi as a feminist pamphlet, while another thinks it's terribly misogynistic.

For some a well-filled disc of excerpts is just perfect. Mozart chiselled every scene like a gem on an elaborate jewel ornament. Focusing on the diamonds only (the purple patches) means not seeing the shape of the jewel as well as the perfect rubies and emeralds that dot its contours.

Cosi does not have the full cornucopia of tunes that burst forth from Le Nozze or the dramatic flair and larger than life characters Da Ponte etched in Don Giovanni. Cosi is best experienced as a sophisticated boudoir piece, its musical felicities likely to draw smiles and swoons from educated  bourgeois audiences.

[Jo498]

The artificiality of Cosi must have been obvious to contemporaries. I think the fact that a similar seduction bet (and similar moral, not to "play with fire", albeit in a more tragic plot), namely the "Liaisons dangereuses" by Laclos were made into several highly successful movies (including adaptations to modern teenagers) in the 1980s and 90s shows that despite the "lab setting" important aspects of human nature and relations are captured well.
And more generally, the fleeting nature of erotic attraction should be closer to the life experiences of most of us than saving one's spouse from a dungeon or conquering Egypt.

[André]

Very well sung but with the voices too forward for my taste. They not only leap out of the speakers but they seem to be singing loud most of the time. The effect is tiring on the ear. Stryja conducts wonderfully. This set has a hothouse sonic atmosphere, intoxicating but prone to be overbearing in the climaxes. I'm still not sure it qualifies as a standard opera. I'm reminded of Strauss' Frau Ohne Schatten by the work's luxuriant orchestration and up front, ecstatic vocalism, but also of early 20th century symbolist operas by its static, philosophical subject matter. It can almost be heard as a big vocal symphony, symbolism be damned.