What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[Mirror Image]

Spinning the first disc of this new arrival:



Sounds rather good so far. Haitink's ear for detail is paying dividends here. Otter and Holzmair also sound scintillating.

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Wagner: Die Walküre
Cook (Siegmund), Ronge (Sieglinde), Wegner (Wotan), Nikolova (Fricka), Pohl (Brünnhilde)
Badische Staatskapelle/Neuhold

I've had this (along with the other Ring operas) for nearly two years, but it's only now I've gotten round to listening to it. As much as I really enjoy the music in these operas, I have to be in the mood to commit four hours to it.

That's why you take breaks from it. Listen to an act a day or something like this. This was the only way I could get through a Wagner opera. I remember many years ago, I spent a good portion of the summer listening to the Ring (the HvK cycle, which is my personal preference). One of the great summers of my adult life.

[Tsaraslondon]

Domingo seems to come in for a lot of flak these days, but it is salutary to remember that this, his first recording of a role he became particularly associated with, was made over forty years ago. He has now of course turned to baritone roles (with qualified success, admittedly), but, by any standards, the man has had a long and illustrious career.

He made two further studio recordings of the role (one of them used for the soundtrack to the Zeffirelli film), and their are at least three official videos of him performing the role on stage, and a number of unofficial live accounts. This recording finds him early in his conquest of this signature role, but the it is already well sung in. Records cannot of course capture his superb acting and powerful stage presence, but his Otello is still, even at this early stage of his career, a great performance. Some, and I am probably one of them, would prefer a voice with a bit more squillo on top. My favourite Otello remains Vickers, who has musicality, dramatic intensity and squillo, but I prefer Domingo to Del Monaco, whose singing can indeed be thrilling, but who tends to let volume compensate for a lack of real dramatic awareness.

There are other reasons to enjoy this recording. Levine's conductiing, which derives from long stage acquaintance with the opera, is definitely one of his best Verdi recordings (though the recording itself is a tad congested in the climaxes) and Milnes is also caught at something close to his best, a suave, guileful and conniving Iago. Scotto, though she may not have Tebaldi's beauty of tone, is a much more communicative and moving Desdemona, and this is one of her most succesful perfromances on disc. The voice occasionally spreads on top when under pressure, but her pianissimo singing is exquisite and her phrasing wonderfully musical.

Despite reservations about Rysanek's Desdemona, the Serafin set with Vickers and Gobbi remains my favourite studio recording. That said, I would always want one of Domingo's studio recordings as well. Though Domingo himself may be even more moving in his later two recordings and many, I know, would go for his last recording under Chung, with Studer and Leiferkus, I still prefer this early one. I've never been a big fan of Studer and Leiferkus sounds unidiomatic to me, for all his intelligence and dramatic acumen. The Maazel is let down by some weird recording balances and Diaz's well sung but anonymous Iago, though Ricciarelli is also an affectingly touching Desdemona.

[JBS]

I had the good fortune to see Milnes perform Iago on a MET tour in 1979, with Levine conducting. (Richard Cassilly and Gilda Cruz Romo were Otello and Desdemona.) For both acting and singing, Milnes performance would be hard to better.

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Disc 2:

[mc ukrneal]

Domingo seems to come in for a lot of flak these days, but it is salutary to remember that this, his first recording of a role he became particularly associated with, was made over forty years ago. He has now of course turned to baritone roles (with qualified success, admittedly), but, by any standards, the man has had a long and illustrious career.

He made two further studio recordings of the role (one of them used for the soundtrack to the Zeffirelli film), and their are at least three official videos of him performing the role on stage, and a number of unofficial live accounts. This recording finds him early in his conquest of this signature role, but the it is already well sung in. Records cannot of course capture his superb acting and powerful stage presence, but his Otello is still, even at this early stage of his career, a great performance. Some, and I am probably one of them, would prefer a voice with a bit more squillo on top. My favourite Otello remains Vickers, who has musicality, dramatic intensity and squillo, but I prefer Domingo to Del Monaco, whose singing can indeed be thrilling, but who tends to let volume compensate for a lack of real dramatic awareness.

There are other reasons to enjoy this recording. Levine's conductiing, which derives from long stage acquaintance with the opera, is definitely one of his best Verdi recordings (though the recording itself is a tad congested in the climaxes) and Milnes is also caught at something close to his best, a suave, guileful and conniving Iago. Scotto, though she may not have Tebaldi's beauty of tone, is a much more communicative and moving Desdemona, and this is one of her most succesful perfromances on disc. The voice occasionally spreads on top when under pressure, but her pianissimo singing is exquisite and her phrasing wonderfully musical.

Despite reservations about Rysanek's Desdemona, the Serafin set with Vickers and Gobbi remains my favourite studio recording. That said, I would always want one of Domingo's studio recordings as well. Though Domingo himself may be even more moving in his later two recordings and many, I know, would go for his last recording under Chung, with Studer and Leiferkus, I still prefer this early one. I've never been a big fan of Studer and Leiferkus sounds unidiomatic to me, for all his intelligence and dramatic acumen. The Maazel is let down by some weird recording balances and Diaz's well sung but anonymous Iago, though Ricciarelli is also an affectingly touching Desdemona.

I love Scotto here and she is, for me, the thing that tips the scales. The congestion really is an irritation, but then when you hear their (she and Domingo) singing at the end of Act I - it is just so captivating. It showcases Domingo at his best as well. Milnes has never been a favorite of mine, but I have to agree that he is caught here about as good as it gets.

[Tsaraslondon]

I love Scotto here and she is, for me, the thing that tips the scales. The congestion really is an irritation, but then when you hear their (she and Domingo) singing at the end of Act I - it is just so captivating. It showcases Domingo at his best as well. Milnes has never been a favorite of mine, but I have to agree that he is caught here about as good as it gets.

I agree. Scotto makes far more of the rather placide character of Desdemona than, well, anyone else really. Yes, I suppose the likes of Tebaldi, Rethberg and Freni have probably sung it with more consistent beauty of tone, but with not quite Scotto's verbal and musical specificity.

[Tsaraslondon]

Beecham's La Boheme has achieved something of a classic status, and with good reason. Beecham's conducting, spacious in the love music but with plenty of vitality in the lighter music, is always beautifully balanced and elegantly shaped, and often quite revelatory, and the recording, though only mono, is remarkably spacious and well balanced.

He has at his disposal one of the most ideal casts that has ever been assembled for the opera. Has there ever been a more perfect Mimi than De Los Angeles? I can't imagine the role ever being more perfectly fulfilled. Bjoerling makes a wonderfully poetic romantic dreamer, though, it has to be said, he is less comfortable in the episodes of bohemian high jinks, where someone like Di Stefano is much more at home. That said, he has much better musical manners, and much more ease on top. Merrill and Amara, the latter not too sparkily soubrettish, are also an ideal second couple and the bohemians all brilliantly characterful.

Karajan of course enjoys better sound and his recording is also wonderfully well cast, but I suspect that for many, and I might well consider myself one of them, this will be their first choice for the opera.

[mc ukrneal]

Beecham's La Boheme has achieved something of a classic status, and with good reason. Beecham's conducting, spacious in the love music but with plenty of vitality in the lighter music, is always beautifully balanced and elegantly shaped, and often quite revelatory, and the recording, though only mono, is remarkably spacious and well balanced.

He has at his disposal one of the most ideal casts that has ever been assembled for the opera. Has there ever been a more perfect Mimi than De Los Angeles? I can't imagine the role ever being more perfectly fulfilled. Bjoerling makes a wonderfully poetic romantic dreamer, though, it has to be said, he is less comfortable in the episodes of bohemian high jinks, where someone like Di Stefano is much more at home. That said, he has much better musical manners, and much more ease on top. Merrill and Amara, the latter not too sparkily soubrettish, are also an ideal second couple and the bohemians all brilliantly characterful.

Karajan of course enjoys better sound and his recording is also wonderfully well cast, but I suspect that for many, and I might well consider myself one of them, this will be their first choice for the opera.

It's a delight for sure. Luckily, which ever one we prefer, we can appreciate the wonderful music here. I prefer Pavarotti, but Bjoerling is so musical (even if at times the straight tone will spoil things just a bit). I find Bjoerling more believable as the ardent lover too.  On the other hand, De Los Angeles is so beautiful. The role almost seems written for her. Do you remember how old she was when she recorded this? She sounds so youthful, you never doubt her.

But then, we are spoilt for choice in this opera, don't you think? I can think of about a half dozen really good versions (you already mentioned De Stefano with Callas, there is Bergonzi with Tebaldi who I wouldn't want to be without either, Freni/Pavarotti under Schippers, Toscanini's recording, etc.). And there may be more that I have just not heard...

[Tsaraslondon]

It's a delight for sure. Luckily, which ever one we prefer, we can appreciate the wonderful music here. I prefer Pavarotti, but Bjoerling is so musical (even if at times the straight tone will spoil things just a bit). I find Bjoerling more believable as the ardent lover too.  On the other hand, De Los Angeles is so beautiful. The role almost seems written for her. Do you remember how old she was when she recorded this? She sounds so youthful, you never doubt her.

But then, we are spoilt for choice in this opera, don't you think? I can think of about a half dozen really good versions (you already mentioned De Stefano with Callas, there is Bergonzi with Tebaldi who I wouldn't want to be without either, Freni/Pavarotti under Schippers, Toscanini's recording, etc.). And there may be more that I have just not heard...

My other favourite recording is Callas/Di Stefano. Callas is remarkably successful in an uncharacteristic role and Di Stefano has such charm and ebullience it is easy to forget the occasional hardness on top. Votto's dull, routine conducting rather lets his cast down though. You only have to listen to Beecham to realise what's missing. I enjoy it for the singers.

The Beecham and Votto recordings were recorded the same year, 1956, and Callas and De Los Angeles were almost exactly the same age. They would both have been 32 at the time of their respective recordings.

Pavarotti is on the Karajan recording, by the way. Gedda is Freni's partner on the Schippers.

[mc ukrneal]

My other favourite recording is Callas/Di Stefano. Callas is remarkably successful in an uncharacteristic role and Di Stefano has such charm and ebullience it is easy to forget the occasional hardness on top. Votto's dull, routine conducting rather lets his cast down though. You only have to listen to Beecham to realise what's missing. I enjoy it for the singers.

The Beecham and Votto recordings were recorded the same year, 1956, and Callas and De Los Angeles were almost exactly the same age. They would both have been 32 at the time of their respective recordings.

Pavarotti is on the Karajan recording, by the way. Gedda is Freni's partner on the Schippers.

Ah, then there are two. One is with Pavarotti and the other is with Gedda. I have the one with Pavarotti, which was an RAI studio broadcast. Pavarotti and Freni are in slightly more youthful voice. It's one of Opera d'Oro's better recordings I think, because there is no audience noise.

32 is still a good age to sing this role. I find it hard to believe when the voice starts to get too heavy. I hadn't realized they'd recorded it in the same year. Fascinating.

[Tsaraslondon]

32 is still a good age to sing this role. I find it hard to believe when the voice starts to get too heavy. I hadn't realized they'd recorded it in the same year. Fascinating.

There is a video of a production from San Francisco in 1988 with Freni and Pavarotti, when both would have been 53. It gets a lot of good reviews for the singing, but I just can't watch it. Both look far too old and Pavarotti can scarcely move anymore, he has got so fat. One of my favourites is an Australian Opera performance of a Baz Luhrmann production. None of the singers is in the top rank, but they are all believably young, and I find it incredibly touching.

[knight66]

I had not listened to Boheme for a long time, then last summer I was on Dorset Opera admin and was in on rehearsals and performances of it. And it reignited my love for it. It came home to me how tightly plotted each scene it and no padding at all in the music. It was extraordinarily moving, especially sad after the terrifically written high jinks.

The Beecham and Karajan versions are the two I have had since I was a teen, I have several others, including Callas, but those are the two I that I really connect with.

Mike

[Wendell_E]

Mobile Opera's doing Wolf-Ferrari's Il segreto di Susanna on Feb. 15th & 17th. I used to do a better job of preparing for operas I'm about to see, especially if I've never seen them live. Subtitles have made me lazy (I'm sure age has nothing to do with it). Though I bought the 1970s Decca recording of (Chiara/Weikl/Gardelli) not long after its release and have had CBS version (Scotto, Bruson/Pritchard) on CD for a while now, I really don't know it that well. I checked Amazon Music Unlimited yesterday (Sunday) to see what they had, and listened to both the Gardelli and a 1954 version, originally on Cetra, with Elena Rizzieri and Giuseppe Valdengo, Angelo Questa conducting. I listened to the latter following along with an online score, and was surprised to notice some cuts, since the Pritchard recording's only 49 minutes. I'll probably listen to the Pritchard and Gardelli versions again with the score in the next couple of days.

Despite its brevity, the Pritchard CD has no fillers. The Gardelli has Chiara singing Verdi Arias, the Questa an odd selection of Verdi Preludes that you wouldn't often hear outside the operas (Aida, Ballo, and Rigoletto), plus the Overture to La favorita and Humming Chorus from Butterfly.

[JBS]

I have
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There's also a recording on Naxos about which I know nothing.  I like the Petrenko, but I must admit I think it's an opera for which one recording will suffice.

[Mirror Image]

Listened to the first disc of HvK's Pelléas et Mélisande on EMI (err...Warner) and found it to be very good. I'll listen to the rest of his performance later on in the week. It seems he really has an ear for French music that I wished he had pursued more often, although I don't think he could pull off an opera like Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges or Roussel's ballet Le festin de l'Araignée, but he was a conductor full of surprises.

[Tsaraslondon]

The Boulez recording of Debussy's great opera was one of the first operas I owned on CD, a present from a friend, who loved the opera, though he had reservations about this performance. Mine had a different cover, and was a Japanese issue. It might have even been the only recording available on CD at the time.

Well, I too have always had my reservations. It seems to me that both recording and performance lack atmosphere. There is something cold and clinical about it, the score laid out to reveal its intricate workings, but in the process losing its heart.

Though there are no French singers in the cast, all have very clear French diction, and, even with my rusty French, it's easy to understand what they are singing without the aid of a libretto. I wish I liked it more, but It's not a recording I listen to very often. To be honest, I prefer the controversial Karajan recording, though my first choice remains with Desormière.

[Tsaraslondon]

Listened to the first disc of HvK's Pelléas et Mélisande on EMI (err...Warner) and found it to be very good. I'll listen to the rest of his performance later on in the week. It seems he really has an ear for French music that I wished he had pursued more often, although I don't think he could pull off an opera like Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges or Roussel's ballet Le festin de l'Araignée, but he was a conductor full of surprises.

I also like the Karajan recording, though it has always been somewhat controversial, many claiming that Karajan Wagnerises the music. It wouldn't be my only recording of the opera, nor my favourite, but I do enoy it.

[Tsaraslondon]

Verdi's first foray into comedy (he wasn't to attempt full blown comedy again until his final opera, Falstaff) owes a great deal to the comedies of Donizetti. Though it flopped at its La Scala premiere, it was something of a success five years later when given at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice, a theatre with a strong tradition of comedy.

Like all the recordings in Gardelli's series of early Verdi operas for Philips, this has a great deal to commend it, though, to my mind it lacks the buffa high spirits of an earlier recording under Alfredo Simonetto, with a cast that includes Renato Capecchi, Sesto Bruscantini and Lina Pagliughi. The ladies are, too my mind, a bit too heavy of voice, particularly Cossotto, who doesn't sound entirely at home in what is really a soprano leggiero role.

Still, we get the whole score here, where the Simonetto is about ten minutes shorter, and musically there is a lot to enjoy, not least Carreras's honeyed Edoardo. It's just that, next to the older recording, it all sounds a bit po-faced.

[Mirror Image]

The Boulez recording of Debussy's great opera was one of the first operas I owned on CD, a present from a friend, who loved the opera, though he had reservations about this performance. Mine had a different cover, and was a Japanese issue. It might have even been the only recording available on CD at the time.

Well, I too have always had my reservations. It seems to me that both recording and performance lack atmosphere. There is something cold and clinical about it, the score laid out to reveal its intricate workings, but in the process losing its heart.

Though there are no French singers in the cast, all have very clear French diction, and, even with my rusty French, it's easy to understand what they are singing without the aid of a libretto. I wish I liked it more, but It's not a recording I listen to very often. To be honest, I prefer the controversial Karajan recording, though my first choice remains with Desormière.

I certainly concur with your feelings regarding this Boulez recording. It's never been a favorite performance of mine (not that it's bad), but I also feel it lacks atmosphere. I generally like Boulez's conducting, especially earlier in his career, but I never felt this was a landmark performance. Right now, I have to say that Baudo and Abbado are my favorites.