I have not had the time to set down with a cup of earl grey and enjoy a full opera, due to my work schedule, but I have made an effort to listen to Renata Tebaldi perform Si, mi chiamano Mimi every day for the past year. In my opinion, it is the most flawless recording I have ever heard.
Originally Posted by Richard Wagner
Lots of Mozart. Only Mozart, in fact. Something got me and I live almost only on Mozart Arias kind of CDs + some instrumental stuff for diversity. It's been like two weeks now. I'll be throwing up with Come Scoglio and Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata soon. Or do I already?
Trovatore such a great opera, Gabriella Tucci EMI studio and 1964 live......very good sound for live recording
Earlier this week I finally got my hands on a box set of Beethoven's complete string quartets (I'm not a big quartet fan. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it). The "old school" playing of the marvelous Budapest Quartet was "warm" and "lyrical"... perhaps in contrast to the icy perfection of the Emerson Quartet. Anyway... from the "old school" playing of the Budapest, I moved to the "old school" singing of Erich Kunz.
Kunz' magnificent baritone cuts through... even on the oldest recordings. Like the Budapest Quartet he brings an element of warmth and lyricism... whether singing Mozart, Wagner... or the operettas of Strauss... that is absolutely thrilling... joyful... and heart-warming. I seriously think that it is a similar "warmth" and "lyricism" that makes Fritz Wunderlich, in a similar manner, the incomparable tenor to me. From hearing this recording I began to look around Amazon for more performances by Kunz. I have all the Strauss operettas... in fact I only just picked them up a week or two ago... as well as Lehar's Merry Widow. I came upon these Mozart opera's featuring Kinz at ridiculously low prices at picked up both of them (making who knows how many recordings now of these... but really... you can never have too much Mozart... nor too many recordings of Mozart's operas:lol
And the Cosi fan tutte features the delicious and aristocratic Lisa della Casa as well![/QUOTE]
"Suppose you were an idiot ... And suppose you were a member of
Congress .. But I repeat myself." -Mark Twain
As I already stated, you can never have too much Mozart... and certainly you can never have too much of Mozart's operas.
"Suppose you were an idiot ... And suppose you were a member of
Congress .. But I repeat myself." -Mark Twain
That Böhm Così with Della Casa and Ludwig is probably my favorite. It's irresistibly charming.
Could it be better than the other Böhm's recording of it, with Schwarzkopf and Kraus? I could hardly belive there is greater Ferrando on any other recording.
Così is very much a team work. The two Böhm's versions mentioned are both brilliant stuff, but personally I also prefer the one with Della Casa, Ludwig and Dermota.
I agree with Schigolch about the team work. Ludwig is Dorabella in both recordings and you can see how she adapts to the rest of the cast to deliver an even porfmance.
I personally feel a strong sense os intimacy and closeness in the Della Casa version, which is less present in the Schwarzkopf one and which I like very much, particularly in Così.
If I could only keep one Cosi it has to be Jacobs, but for "classic" style version I prefer the other Bohm with Schwarzkopff / Ludwig (although I own both Bohm versions)
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