Still going with Handel
Rodelinda
Simone Kermes, Marijana Mijanovic, Sonia Prina, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Steve Davislim, Vito Priante
Il Complesso Barocco,
Alan Curtis
Beautiful arias from Kermes and Mijanovic.
Oh! There's another 38 more Handel operas?
Ah... a... a... I'm ga... ga... gonna be ba... ba... ba... roke!
Sorry, I'll stop now.
Ahhhh, Simone Kermes! Hoffmann like!Originally Posted by Clayton
Still going with Handel
Rodelinda
Simone Kermes, Marijana Mijanovic, Sonia Prina, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Steve Davislim, Vito Priante
Il Complesso Barocco,
Alan Curtis
Beautiful arias from Kermes and Mijanovic.
Oh! There's another 38 more Handel operas?
Ah... a... a... I'm ga... ga... gonna be ba... ba... ba... roke!
Sorry, I'll stop now.
Keeping Clayton company.
Handel is pretty good hangover music after all.
Christian Gerhaher has a lovely voice for these early romantic arias that sound more like lieder.
McCreesh’s Solomon. On one hand you get Andreas Scholl who is the most stately, wise and beautiful Solomon that can be imagined. But some of McCreesh’s tempi are a little too fast for me, so on the whole I prefer the older John Eliot Gardiner version where you get Nancy Argenta as Solomon’s Queen and Barbara Hendricks as the Queen of Sheba.
La Gazza Ladra.A reasonable production of a mediocre opera (Luiz you are right).
From YouTube I watched two excellent productions, which I can't attach as they have sadly been taken down:
La Finta Giardiniera from Aix en Provence 2012 – a lovely production, in an outdoor setting completely appropriate for the subject matter with a young talented cast. I think the main problem is that this opera is a little long for its music and subject matter.
Salome from the Royal Swedish Opera with lovely Nina Stemme and the best Jochanaan I have ever seen in Josef Wagner. I loved the way he actually, for a few moments, stared at Salome in disgusted attraction before reviling her. And he was young and good looking which made the whole story more believable.
Natalie
Salome
from the Royal Swedish Opera ... interesting
with lovely Nina Stemme ... lovely
Picture ... Eeugh! No thank you.
The holidays are tough for more than one reason. For me, because I spend Christmas with my sister and her family, cold turkey is not only - cold turkey, but no opera cold turkey.
I did listen to a particularly good Werther (generally one of my least favorite operas) on Sirius Met Live in the car on my way north a couple of days ago. Transposed to baritone by Massenet himself for a favored baritone at the time, it featured Thomas Hampson and Susan Graham. I was blown away by their singing (Werther seems to work better when not staged, I think).
I had seen Mr. Hampson sing Amfortas in a concert production of Parsifal, act III, last month at the Kennedy Center, and was astonished by how good he was. I tend to overlook him, but I think he may be under-appreciated.
All that said, the good news is that one of my nephews works in the movie biz in Los Angeles, and came home with a half dozen or so free movie 'screeners' of current films (really only available in December as a convenience for the industry, leading up to the Academy Awards). We've seen Prisoners, American Hustle, Mud, Inside Llewyn Davies and a couple others.
Today, tho' it's soccer all day: Just shoot me. I'd even rather listen to Parsifal...
It has been demanding a hearing like an empty stomach needs food, ever since Dark_Angel mentioned it a few weeks ago.
Verdi: Nabucco
Piero Cappuccilli, Plácido Domingo, Evgeny Nesterenko, Ghena Dimitrova, Lucia Valentini Terrani
Chorus & Orchestra of German Opera Berlin,
Giuseppe Sinopoli
Ghena Dimitrova is great, she seems to be a bit more of a fragile Abigaille than Suliotis' (whose I still prefer). I also like Domingo as Ismaele, more a reckless young man but Tito Gobbi is the more magnificent Nabucco for me.
Sinopoli's conducting sounds a lot more deliberate than Gardelli's more dramatic but in this case I do not have a preference, I like both.
Indulging in the some early bel canto arias by young M Caballe when she had a much more dramatic delivery
Wait 'til you hear *me* sing Mr. Hampson.
Clayton! It's Salome! At least they left his head on! Lookit the Royal Opera House version.
(OT) At the zoo a couple of days ago I heard a lady calling her 18-month-old daughter "Salome! Salome!" Most disturbing.
Last edited by Soave_Fanciulla; December 27th, 2013 at 09:47 AM. Reason: changed pics
Natalie
Aaargh! Can't you retire somewhere with a "headache" and a discreet tablet with lots of downloaded YouTubes/ripped dvds? (My solution in times of extremis, like the Suzuki violin camp coming up)The holidays are tough for more than one reason. For me, because I spend Christmas with my sister and her family, cold turkey is not only - cold turkey, but no opera cold turkey.
Today, tho' it's soccer all day: Just shoot me. I'd even rather listen to Parsifal...
Natalie
I think on this occasion I will decline your suggestion. I assume it is slightly more disturbing than the Royal Swedish.
Salome slips down the ranking in my list of operas to experience 343 places, somewhere between Norma number 78 and 79.
You mean, Opera Lively's tenth Most Recommended Opera?
Just shoot me. I'd even rather you stabbed me with a blunt instrument.
Verdi: Nabucco
Elena Souliotis, Tito Gobbi, Carlo Cava, Bruno Prevedi, Dora Carral, Giovanni Foiani, Walter Kräutler, Anna d'Auria
Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Opernorchester,
Lamberto Gardelli
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