What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[Tsaraslondon]

The first performance I ever saw of Fidelio was in either 1970 or 1971, when Scottish Opera brought theire production of it to Newcastle-upom-Tyne. Helga Dernesch was the Leonore and it has remained one of my most treasurable operatic memories. I didn't know as much about singers then as I do now, but it was clear that Dernesch had something very special, right from her first entry into the Canon in Act I, which was like a ray of sunshine piercing the gloom. Whether she was ever the hochdramatische Karajan wanted her to be is a point for debate, but this recording is, in my opinion, the best thing she ever did for the gramophone. Throughout she is a gleaming, radiant presence.

There are other reasons to treasure this recording, including Vickers's thrillingly intense Florestan, Ridderbusch's kindly, avuncular Rocco, Kéléman's bitingly evil Pizzarro and Van Dam's noble Don Fernando. Karajan's conducting of his Berlin forces is incisively dramatic and, all in all, I prefer this version to the famous Klemperer.

I also like the fact that the dialogue is performed by the singers and judicially pruned, Leonore's and Florestan's exchange before O namelose Freude reduced to a simple,
"Leonore!"
"Mein Florestan!"

A great recording.

[Tsaraslondon]

For good measure I listened to the Karajan recording yesterday night and my opinion of it has not changed. Di Stefano is overparted, forcing his tone badly in the high reaches of the role. His series of quadruplets in Di quella pira are unclean throughout. This is not just a fancy detail. Verdi has carefully written out the vocal line with these dotted 16th notes quadruplets over the words pira (pyre) and fuoco (fire) to suggest the flicker of the flames:
.

That rythmic pattern is repeated 13 times during this short aria. Many tenors ignore the dots and fail to suggest the intended effect. A singer like Del Monaco, not known for musicological finesse, articulates them cleanly while singing the line with the requisite swagger :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWlQzkJRVVk

Di Stefano has a basic tone that is appealing but he is sloppy with such things. I'm not blaming di Stefano for not being del Monaco, but his musicianship is not what it could be.

Azucena has 20 written trills in her part. They must be heard cleanly - Horne does it, Barbieri (otherwise quite good) not as well. Panerai is excellent with the words, but please don't tell me you're not hearing his vocal distress on the top notes.

Callas offers an object lesson in how to spin a true verdian line. Her ascent on the words Prima che d'altri vivere in a single breath is miraculous, and so on. She simply cannot be faulted on anything.  But just listen to her 1953 take on D'amor sull'ali rosee from to find her in truly glorious, unassailable mettle - IOW in more secure voice than in the recording:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFggRqk16Zo

Like I said, the Bonynge version is not a first choice, but it is much better than what you describe. You have listened to it so I know you are objective in your opinion. It's not that we're not hearing the same thing, simply not putting the same value on certain stylistic traits or individual artistic achievements. To me that's entirely normal and healthy.

My overall recommendation for a 'best version' also happens to be the Giulini version. If it does not scale the heights of some individual performances from the competition, it is still easily the strongest overall, and an outstanding achievement by any measure.

True, Di Stefano was often a sloppy musician (and he probably shouldn'y have been singing Manrico anyway) but there is something about his personality that I can't quite resist, and when we come to an aria like Ah si, ben mio, he is much more meltingly lyrical than the more heroic Manricos like Del Monaco and Corelli.

I am usually a stickler for musical exactitude, but, for all that Horne articulates the trills better than Barbieri, she just doesn't sound like an Azucena to me. As for Callas, there are, as you say, live performance out there when she was in much better vocal health, but her Leonora is still magnificent.

What puts the seal on the recording for me is the conducting of Karajan. His conducting is thrilling and one is constantly amazed at the many felicities he brings out in the orchestral colour, like the sighing two note violin phrases in Condotta ell'era in ceppi, or the beautifully elegant string tune that underscores Ferrando's questioning of Azucena in Act III, cleverly noting its kinship with Condotta ell'era in ceppi. His pacing is brilliant, rhythms always alert and beautifully sprung, but suitably spacious and long-breathed in Leonora's glorious arias. Nor does he shy away from the score's occasional rude vigour. I think it one of his best ever opera recordings.

[André]

Cross-posted:



Ponchielli: La Gioconda (1952)
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (1953)

While both recordings are fabulous musically speaking, the earlier one (Gioconda) scores much higher by virtue of an excellent recording (Auditorium della RAI, Torino). Mono of course, but spacious, even warm, yet finely detailed - much reminiscent of what EMI got in Paris' Salle Wagram. 

For some reason the discs containing Lucia are riddled with unpleasant distortion. It was impossible to determine if it's a mastering fault (2007 remastering) or if my copy is defective. TBH it was impossible to really enjoy the performance under these conditions. And yet heavens know that I'm quite tolerant to old recordings...

[Tsaraslondon]

Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi has been quite lucky on record with versions featuring Baltsa and Gruberova, Kasaraova and Mei, Larmore and Hong and Garanca and Netrebko, but this 1975 version featuring the rather unlikely coupling of Janet Baker and Sills has always been my personal favourite. Sills is much more suited to the lighter role of Giulietta than she ever was to Norma and the Tudor Queens and Baker, in one of her rare excursions into Italian bel canto is, quite simply superb.

[Tsaraslondon]

Callas caught at her debut in front of one of her most loyal publics. What a night this must have been, though Casta diva passes without applause, possibly due to British reserve and the fact that the opera wasn't that well known. She has excellent support from Ebe Stignani as Adalgisa, though she hardly sounds like the giovinetta Norma describes her and Vittorio Gui in the pit. Mito Picchi is a more lyrical Pollione than usual and slightly muffs his cabaletta in Act I, but he is a most musical singer and Giacomo Vaghi makes a sonorous Oroveso.

This isn't my favourite Callas Norma (that would be La Scala, 1955) but there is no denying she is in sovereign voice here. 

[Tsaraslondon]

Divina's warts and all release of all the surviving music from Callas's 1953 Trieste Norma finds her in fabulous voice, as she was in London in 1952, but here she is beginning to fine down some of her responses to the music and more of the softer side of Norma is beginning to emerge. Casta diva is one of the most beautiful she ever committed to disc and there are some wonderfully tender moments in the duets with the rather stentorian Adalgisa of Nicolai, who sounds even less like the giovinetta Norma describes than Stignani did in London.

Corelli is also in terrific voice and the final duet between him and Callas is absolutely thrilling. This is also the only extant recording of Christoff singing Oroveso, so is valuable for that too. It's just a shame that the performances wasn't captured complete.

[VonStupp]

Hector Berlioz
La damnation de Faust, op. 24
Kenneth Riegel, Frederica Von Stade, José van Dam
Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus



Music Listening Drought Refresh:

Many take exception with Kenneth Riegel's tenor, but I find him just fine until the final love duet where the limits of his singing abilities rear their head. José van Dam's Mephistopheles, particularly his whip lashes in the Pandemonium sequence, is awesome though, and the King of Thule is one of Berlioz's most gorgeous melodies. Chicago and Solti are electric here and the Chicago chorus work is the highlight. Lots of fun to spend a morning with after a week of little-to-no music listening.

Damnation of Faust is listed as a 'légende dramatique', so I threw it in the opera category. Is this an opera?

[Ganondorf]

Damnation of Faust is listed as a 'légende dramatique', so I threw it in the opera category. Is this an opera?

Technically, it's not a pure opera as the term is understood but instead one of those hybrid forms between symphonic work/cantata/opera which Berlioz was so fond of. However, it can be and often has been staged as an opera. I would definitely pay to see it, I love the work so much. However, I don't believe I've seen here in Finland a single Berlioz opera production during the time I've been active with the genre. I wonder why that is, Berlioz is probably my favorite French opera composer (and in fact quite possibly my favorite French composer of all time, surpassing even Debussy).

[VonStupp]

Technically, it's not a pure opera as the term is understood but instead one of those hybrid forms between symphonic work/cantata/opera which Berlioz was so fond of.

Your comment reminded me of his Romeo et Juliette 'symphonie dramatique', a work I haven't heard in some time, a crossbreed Symphony with solo sung characters and Greek chorus.

As a lateral tangent, I always thought secular symphonic choral music needed different, more specific sub-genre labels. The go-to categories of cantata and oratorio from the Baroque Era seem inadequate, especially considering their religious connotations, ones that I associate most famously with Bach and Handel, although the Solo Baroque cantata and its secular ties makes it all the more confusing. Adding to the mix a choral symphony, and even perhaps the choral concerto, it all seems a mess to me.

Berlioz is probably my favorite French opera composer (and in fact quite possibly my favorite French composer of all time, surpassing even Debussy).

I always appreciated Berlioz most as an innovator, perhaps the true successor to Beethoven the revolutionary. Berlioz's abilities with orchestration and pushing the envelope with established forms is always most interesting to my ears.

[André]

After a middling Turco in Italia, EMI and Legge did Rossini proud with this Barbiere.



One of the very best versions of this opera. The three principals have good claims to be their respective role's best exponents. Oh, and orchestra and conducting are excellent, too. The sound is 1957 Kingsway Hall vintage. Hugely enjoyable. Only Zaccaria disappoints a little with a less than succulent Basilio.

[Mirror Image]

After a middling Turco in Italia, EMI and Legge did Rossini proud with this Barbiere.



One of the very best versions of this opera. The three principals have good claims to be their respective role's best exponents. Oh, and orchestra and conducting are excellent, too. The sound is 1957 Kingsway Hall vintage. Hugely enjoyable. Only Zaccaria disappoints a little with a less than succulent Basilio.

Andre, you're making me want to buy that Maria Callas Studio Recordings box set. Damn, I'm not a huge opera fan in general, but she does have a remarkable voice and there is something seductive about many of her recordings from this set that I've sampled. I guess I'm a 'closet' opera fan as I do love many operas, but I don't ever think I'd have the level of commitment that you, Rafael, Tsaraslondon and others here have in spades.

[Karl Henning]

Technically, it's not a pure opera as the term is understood but instead one of those hybrid forms between symphonic work/cantata/opera which Berlioz was so fond of. However, it can be and often has been staged as an opera. I would definitely pay to see it, I love the work so much. However, I don't believe I've seen here in Finland a single Berlioz opera production during the time I've been active with the genre. I wonder why that is, Berlioz is probably my favorite French opera composer (and in fact quite possibly my favorite French composer of all time, surpassing even Debussy).

Great piece!

[Tsaraslondon]

After a middling Turco in Italia, EMI and Legge did Rossini proud with this Barbiere.

If you're referring to the Callas/Rossi-Lemeni Il Turco in Italia, I don't agree at all. The score is cut to ribbons, it is true, but this set has more sunny, italianate warmth and high spirits than any of the modern ur-text versions which followed it. It should also be remembered that Callas scored a great personal success in the role of Fiorilla in Rome in 1950 and that the 1954 recording was followed by performances at La Scala in a new Zeffirelli production, which was also a great success.

The miracle of the Barbiere (and it is a wonderful performance) is that it rises phoenix-like from the ashes of one of Callas's only flops at La Scala with many of the same cast and with Giulini in the pit.

[Tsaraslondon]

Hector Berlioz
La damnation de Faust, op. 24
Kenneth Riegel, Frederica Von Stade, José van Dam
Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus



Music Listening Drought Refresh:

Many take exception with Kenneth Riegel's tenor, but I find him just fine until the final love duet where the limits of his singing abilities rear their head. José van Dam's Mephistopheles, particularly his whip lashes in the Pandemonium sequence, is awesome though, and the King of Thule is one of Berlioz's most gorgeous melodies. Chicago and Solti are electric here and the Chicago chorus work is the highlight. Lots of fun to spend a morning with after a week of little-to-no music listening.

Damnation of Faust is listed as a 'légende dramatique', so I threw it in the opera category. Is this an opera?

I love Berlioz and I love this piece, though it is not, strictly speaking, an opera. I always liken it to Alfred de Musset's closet dramas, plays intended to be read rather than performed on stage, due to their dramatic complexity (they would probably make great radio plays).

You should try to hear Colin Davis's first recording, with Nicolai Gedda as a superb Faust. I would probably prefer Von Stade to Veasey (and Janet Baker is even better on an otherwise not so recommendable recording under Prêtre) but Solti is not a natural Berliozian, whereas Davis spent a lifetime studying and conducting his works.

[Tsaraslondon]

I've been listening to my various recordings of Callas in Norma and today I've got to her first studio recording, which is usually a recommendation for those wanting a good studio recording. I wouldn't prefer her performance here to either of the ones I've listened to so far (London, 1952 and Trieste, 1953). The sound is better, of course, and it benefits from Serafin's superb conducting, but Filippeschi is something of a trial, and no match for Corelli, who sings Pollione in Trieste, nor to Picchi, who sings the role in London. Stignani is better in London two years earlier, though in neither performance does she sound like the younger woman she is supposed to be. Rossi-Lemeni is an authoratative Oroveso, but he's a bit woolly-toned and no match for Christoff in Trieste. Callas is just emerging from her famous weight loss, but is in fine, heroic voice, though she misses some of the tenderness she had started to introduce in Trieste.

[VonStupp]

You should try to hear Colin Davis's first recording, with Nicolai Gedda as a superb Faust.

I do know that Gedda is considered the prime Faust; it is quite overdue to give that one a listen, although I thought I remember hearing him with Crespin and Markevitch in Damnation of Faust (I could be wrong).

[...]Davis spent a lifetime studying and conducting his works.

Having grown up on Berlioz from Charles Münch, I was never thrilled with Sir Colin as a Berlioz interpreter. All of the Philips recordings from the 60's and 70's were much lauded, but didn't do much for me at the time, moreso in his retreads with Dresden in the 90's and on the LSO home label before his death. His was a more sophisticated read than anything Münch put out and Davis' choruses were of a higher quality, so maybe a more "adult" review is needed from me.

[...]but Solti is not a natural Berliozian,

No, I agree, but I find many conductors and ensembles rise to the top in literature that isn't in their wheelhouse. On the other hand, if you don't care for Sir Georg's high-voltage razzle dazzle with Chicago, than this Damnation is probably not for you, but my life could do with a little more razzle dazzle in general. 0:) My other go-to is Myung-whun Chung with Bryn Terfel and the Philharmonia, but it's style is similar to that of Solti.

[Tsaraslondon]

I do know that Gedda is considered the prime Faust; it is quite overdue to give that one a listen, although I thought I remember hearing him with Crespin and Markevitch in Damnation of Faust (I could be wrong).
Having grown up on Berlioz from Charles Münch, I was never thrilled with Sir Colin as a Berlioz interpreter. All of the Philips recordings from the 60's and 70's were much lauded, but didn't do much for me at the time, moreso in his retreads with Dresden in the 90's and on the LSO home label before his death. His was a more sophisticated read than anything Münch put out and Davis' choruses were of a higher quality, so maybe a more "adult" review is needed from me.

No, I agree, but I find many conductors and ensembles rise to the top in literature that isn't in their wheelhouse. On the other hand, if you don't care for Sir Georg's high-voltage razzle dazzle with Chicago, than this Damnation is probably not for you, but my life could do with a little more razzle dazzle in general. 0:) My other go-to is Myung-whun Chung with Bryn Terfel and the Philharmonia, but it's style is similar to that of Solti.

Markevitch recorded it with the Canadian tenor, Richard Verreau, who is actually rather good. Unfortunately the Marguerite, Consuélo Rubio, is a bit of a dull dog. I may be wrong, but I don't think Crespin is on any of the complete recordings.

Gedda is also on the Prêtre, which has the wonderful Janet Baker as Marguerite, but Prêtre is not a good Berlioz conductor either.

I think what you like about Solti is exactly what I don't like. Too much razzle dazzle with, in my opinion, not very much underneath. It afflcits many of his recordings and I really dislike his Verdi. I don't know Chung's Faust, but I do like his recording of the Symphonie Fantastique.

[VonStupp]

Markevitch recorded it with the Canadian tenor, Richard Verreau, who is actually rather good. Unfortunately the Marguerite, Consuélo Rubio, is a bit of a dull dog. I may be wrong, but I don't think Crespin is on any of the complete recordings.

I was unsure, but I did track it down. I don't even remember why this crossed my path or why I heard Gedda here before the Davis; I am not sure I even heard the whole recording:

I think what you like about Solti is exactly what I don't like. Too much razzle dazzle with, in my opinion, not very much underneath.

I won't disagree with you, Solti can tend towards surface excitement, and depending on the literature, it is sometimes not music to live by. Having lived all around Chicagoland for much of my life, our home was littered with Fritz Reiner and Georg Solti recordings alongside many visits to Orchestra Hall, so I have a soft-spot for their harder approaches. That said, his Berlioz here is a grand version of high drama and spectacle. I particularly enjoy José van Dam's Mephistopheles alongside Margaret Hillis' Chicago chorus and Von Stade is quite fine as well.

[André]

I was unsure, but I did track it down. I don't even remember why this crossed my path or why I heard Gedda here before the Davis; I am not sure I even heard the whole recording:



I won't disagree with you, Solti does tend towards surface excitement, and depending on the literature, it is not music to live by. Having lived in Chicagoland for most of my life, our home was littered with Fritz Reiner and Georg Solti recordings alongside many visits to Orchestra Hall, so I have a soft-spot for their harder approaches, as it probably is with this 80's performance of Damnation. Plus some days I am not looking to search the depths of man's soul - this week was definitely one of those weeks!

There's also this one, which I prefer:

[André]

If you're referring to the Callas/Rossi-Lemeni Il Turco in Italia, I don't agree at all. The score is cut to ribbons, it is true, but this set has more sunny, italianate warmth and high spirits than any of the modern ur-text versions which followed it. It should also be remembered that Callas scored a great personal success in the role of Fiorilla in Rome in 1950 and that the 1954 recording was followed by performances at La Scala in a new Zeffirelli production, which was also a great success.

The miracle of the Barbiere (and it is a wonderful performance) is that it rises phoenix-like from the ashes of one of Callas's only flops at La Scala with many of the same cast and with Giulini in the pit.

I'm sorry, but even if Callas is in the cast and she happens to be in good voice, that doesn't make it a good performance of the opera. It's not just the cuts (about a quarter of the score, including Fiorilla's last act aria) but the orchestral playing (ragged, with atrocious horn playing right from the beginning of the overture), and some undistinguished singing (Jolanda Gardino as Zaida is painful to listen to). Only Gedda rises to a thoroughly professional level. The lower voices (Stabile, Calabrese and Rossi-Lemeni sound old even if they act well with their voice. As a whole I find there are as many minuses as there are pluses.

The London Barbiere is in another class entirely.