What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Hoffmann]

This morning:



Then, this afternoon, another old favorite (it had rested untouched long enough):




It worked!!

[Dark_Angel]

Donizetti - Daughter of the Regiment
Italian and french versions, both live recordings
1969 with young Pavarotti, Freni and 1986 with excellent sound Kraus and June Anderson, an amazing performance at that age for Alfredo Kraus with his golden voice still hitting the high notes!

Donizetti and Rossini have several famous operas in both languages since there was much money and fame to be had at that time in Paris opera scence, Rossini actually moved there later in his life.




There is also a famous live Sills version I have but sound is not as good as two above......

[Clayton]

A lovely canal side walk on a calm and sunny morning, sunlight dancing on the water.
Except I ran in to the towpath gang again, horrible juveniles making a nuisance of themselves. I knew their parents; they were much the same. Hissing and flapping their wings at passers-by, one day they're going to run into geese bigger and stronger than them.

Back to a continuing theme.

Beethoven: Fidelio, Op. 72
Jonas Kaufmann (Florestan), Nina Stemme (Leonore), Falk Struckmann (Pizarro), Christof Fischesser (Rocco), Rachel Harnisch (Marzelline), Christoph Strehl (Jaquino), Peter Mattei (Don Fernando), Juan Sebastian Acosta (Erste Gefangener), Levente Pall (Zweite Gefangener)
Lucerne Festival Orchestra & Arnold Schoenberg Chor,
Claudio Abbado



Falk Struckmann
Voice like a Barbera wine. Good evil and balanced casting.
What's he talking about?
I don't know, just let him be.

And how many times have I pressed replay for
Gott! Welch Dunkel hier!... In des Lebens Frühlingstagen
?

Rhetorical; please do not send in your answers, lines are closed and you may still be charged by your network supplier.

[Hoffmann]

Nice that you had a calm and sunny morning with dancing sunlight for your walk (towpath gang notwithstanding). North America's Polar Vortex (sic) has made all walking beyond unpleasant the past couple of days (right now it's 16 degrees F, with wind feels like 11F).

I've got cabin fever and beginning to understand why American retirees flee to Florida...

[Clayton]

cold


- - - Updated - - -

completely snowed in?

= 3 opera day? or 4?

[Clayton]

I'm not sure this was such a good idea; feel pretty confused so far about the latest round of OLLOMRO. Oh well, in the words of Magnus Magnusson, I've started so I'll finish.

Rossini: Guglielmo Tell
Sherrill Milnes (Guglielmo Tell), Luciano Pavarotti (Arnoldo), Mirella Freni (Matilde), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Gualtiero Furst), John Tomlinson (Melchthal), Della Jones (Jemmy), Elizabeth Connell (Edwige), Richard Van Allan (Leutoldo), Piero De Palma (Rodolfo), John Noble (Un Cacciatore), Cesar Antonio Suarez (Un pescatore)
Ambrosian Opera Chorus & National Philharmonic Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly
Kingsway Hall, London, August 1979

[Soave_Fanciulla]

A
And how many times have I pressed replay for
Gott! Welch Dunkel hier!... In des Lebens Frühlingstagen

The first note of this as sung by Kaufmann is the most epic thing in the whole of opera.

[Clayton]

The first note of this as sung by Kaufmann is the most epic thing in the whole of opera.

After hearing this again today, I actually looked at his schedule for this year.

[Itullian]

Wonderful

[Clayton]

Is it just because I'm new to this forum, or have we been seeing a different side of Itullian recently?

It's like he's removed his steel boots...

and...

err...


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Now I'm interested in Hansel und Gretel

[Clayton]

Verdi: Falstaff
Bryn Terfel (Falstaff), Thomas Hampson (Ford), Adrianne Pieczonka (Alice Ford), Danill Shtoda (Fenton), Dorothea Röschmann (Nannetta), Larissa Diadkova (Mistress Quickly), Stella Doufexis (Meg Page), Anthony Mee (Bardolfo), Enrico Facini (Dr Cajus), Anatoly Kotcherga (Pistola)
Berliner Philharmoniker, Rundfunkchor Berlin,
Claudio Abbado



Beautiful music, irritating story. Thomas Hampson great voice.

[Amfortas]

Is it just because I'm new to this forum, or have we been seeing a different side of Itullian recently?

It's like he's removed his steel boots...

and...

err...


- - - Updated - - -


Now I'm interested in Hansel und Gretel

Hansel und Gretel is actually more than a bit Wagnerian.

[Clayton]

Hansel und Gretel is actually more than a bit Wagnerian.

Okay, stick it on the bill then. Already got 48753456 other recordings competing for a spot in next quarter's purchasing budget.

For me this morning (inspired by a Dark_Angel post earlier)


Donizetti: La Fille du Régiment
Edita Gruberova, Deon van der Walt, Rosa Laghezza, Philippe Fourcade, Francois Castel, Heidi Steinhaus, Andra Rascher, Hans-Werner Bunz
Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks,
Marcello Panni

[Clayton]

Great cast! Zinka Milanov was one of the greatest Leonoras ever. I might have to find me one of those...

Zinka Milanov apparently at the end of her singing career but I think she sings Leonora beautifully and evocatively. I am very happy with this recording but it does not seem so popular and so there are lots of copies around at a very reasonable price. Very good cost efficiency recording (if that's not too sterile a term for such a dramatic/romantic opera!). Very good sound too.

[Clayton]

Wozzeck op.7
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Evelyn Lear, Helmut Melchert, Fritz Wunderlich, Gerhard Stolze, Karl Christian Kohn
Chor und Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin,
Karl Böhm
Studio recording 1965



cold, dark, wet and oddly interesting