What opera have you been watching lately?

**Soave_Fanciulla** · October 24th, 2018, 06:41 PM

Originally Posted by MAuer

If one isn't particularly a fan of either Dame Joan or Flórez, there's very little to choose from in this opera's discography. I prefer both Larry Brownlee and Michael Spyres to him (their voices somehow sound more "masculine" to me), and wish there would be a recording of this opera with one of those gentlemen instead.

I know what you mean about Florez. He has got a lot less goaty with age though.

But it's Dessay who makes the performance - she is perfect.

**Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)** · October 24th, 2018, 11:41 PM

Originally Posted by Soave_Fanciulla

I know what you mean about Florez. He has got a lot less goaty with age though.

But it's Dessay who makes the performance - she is perfect.

I do find Flórez quite good. It is true that his timbre is not the most beautiful one (as compared to a few others among the elite of light lyric tenors, and yes, Larry Brownlee's voice does sound a bit better), but he does compensate for it with excellent technique and pitch accuracy. He does hit all those notes, very effortlessly and correctly...

**JohnGerald** · October 25th, 2018, 12:26 PM

Florex is also a pretty decent actor. I saw him is a production of Tales of Hoffman where he did a commendable job dramatically and vocally. He is scheduled for Traviata at the Met with Damrau, if memory serves. That should be interesting.

**MAuer** · October 26th, 2018, 02:19 PM

This is one of those cases where I don't doubt that a singer is very good or even great; it's just that I personally can't warm to the voice that much.

**Florestan** · October 26th, 2018, 03:52 PM

Originally Posted by MAuer

This is one of those cases where I don't doubt that a singer is very good or even great; it's just that I personally can't warm to the voice that much.

Perhaps if he played Jacquino in a Fidelio production?

**MAuer** · October 27th, 2018, 11:35 AM

Conductor/orchestra: Franz Welser-Möst, Orchestra and Chorus of the Zürich Opera House
Director: Jonathan Miller
Cast: Jonas Kaufmann (Tito Vespasiano), Eva Mei (Vitellia), Vesselina Kasarova (Sesto), Malin Hartelius (Servilia), Liliana Nikiteanu (Annio), Günther Groissböck (Publio)

**Ann Lander (sospiro)** · October 27th, 2018, 12:39 PM

An unusual* Die Zauberflöte from La Monnaie. *Castellucci

Gábor Bretz (Sarastro)
Ed Lyon (Tamino)
Dietrich Henschel (Sprecher)
Sabine Devieihle (Königin der Nacht)
Sophie Karthäuser (Pamina)
Angélique Noldus (Zweite Dame)
Tineke van Ingelgem (Erste Dame)
Esther Kuiper (Dritte Dame)
Georg Nigl (Papageno)
Elina Galitskaya (Papagena)

Music director: Antonello Manacorda

https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/082237...e-magic-flute/

**Soave_Fanciulla** · October 27th, 2018, 07:16 PM

Originally Posted by Ann Lander (sospiro)

An unusual* Die Zauberflöte from La Monnaie. *Castellucci

]

It's a bit like saying *Bieito, isn't it. You know everything will be white and weird and there's a good chance of boa constrictors at some point.

**MAuer** · October 29th, 2018, 11:20 AM

Conductor/orchestra: Ingo Metzmacher, Orchestra and Chorus of the Zürich Opera House
Director: Jens Daniel Herzog
Cast: Jonas Kaufmann (The Prince), Isabel Rey (The Goose Girl), Oliver Widmer (The Fiddler), Liliana Nikiteanu (The Witch), Reinhard Mayr (The Wood Chopper), Boguslaw Bidzinski (The Broom Maker), Tomasz Slawinski (The Innkeeper), Miroslav Christoff (The Tailor)

Another production from the "good old days" when Alexander Pereira was the Intendant at Zürich.