Jake Heggie: Moby Dick. Very accessible and melodious modern opera, if not exactly memorable music. The production is AMAZING, Jay Hunter Morris was good in the title role, if not quite bonkers enough; but the standout for me was Morgan Smith as the First Mate Starbuck. Worthy mentions: Jonathan Lemalu, (bit of national pride there), Stephen Costello and Talise Trevigne. Recommended.
Purcell: King Arthur, with Nancy Argenta and Gerald Finley
Rolando Villazón, Mozart Concert arias (on Spotify, while I worked on the tax return)
Natalie
Another RCA Rigoletto very good 1950 mono studio sound.....budget price wih new remastered sound, nice addition for me. Gilda is unknown to me previously Erna Berger with light silvery voice that reminds me of Roberta Peters
This joins RCA 1956 and 1963 recordings (both with Robert Merrill) in collection, you cannot have too many Rigolettos right......
A great Sunday listen.
Bellini: Il Pirata
Carmen Giannattasio (Imogene), Mark Le Brocq (Itulbo), Ludovic Tezier (Ernesto), Jose Bros (Gualtiero), Brindley Sherratt (Goffredo) and Victoria Simmonds (Adele)
London Philharmonic Orchestra,
David Parry
Recorded at Henry Wood Hall, London March/April 2010
Vivaldi: La Fida Ninfa
Lorenzo Regazzo (bass), Veronica Cangemi (soprano), Christian Senn (bass-baritone), Philippe Jaroussky (counter-tenor), Sandrine Piau (soprano), Sara Mingardo (contralto), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (contralto), Topi Lehtipuu (tenor)
Ensemble Matheus,
Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Recorded Église Notre-Dame du Liban, Paris April/May 2008
Rimsky Korsakov: Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden)
Valentina Sokolik (Snow Maiden), Irina Arkhipova (Spring), Anton Grigoriev (Tsar Berendey), Anatoly Moksayakov (Mizgir), Lidya Sakharenko (Kupava), Alexander Vedernikov (King Frost), Vladimir Matorin (Bermyata) & Ivan Budrin (Carnival)
Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio,
Vladimir Fedoseyev
Recorded 1975
Humperdinck: Königskinder
Jonas Kaufmann, Ofelia Sala, Detlef Roth & Nora Gubisch
Orchestra National de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon,
Armin Jordan
Live recording 27 July 2005 Opéra Berlioz-Le Corum Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon
Handel: Rinaldo
(complete opera - original 1711 version)
Cecilia Bartoli (Almirena), David Daniels (Rinaldo), Bernarda Fink (Goffredo), Gerald Finley (Argante), Luba Orgonasova (Armida), Daniel Taylor (Eustazio), Bejun Mehta (A Christian Magician)
Academy of Ancient Music,
Christopher Hogwood
Recorded Henry Wood Hall, London 19-27 November 1999
Giuseppe Verdi: Ernani
Anita Cerquetti (Elvira), Mario Del Monaco (Ernani), Ettore Bastianini (Don Carlo), Boris Christoff (Silva), Luciana Boni (Giovanna), Athos Cesarini (Don Riccardo), Aurelian Neagu (Jago)
Chorus and Orchestra of Maggio musicale fiorentino
Dimitri Mitropoulos
Live performance, Florence, 25 June 1957
Like Dark_Angel said, this is truly wonderful.
Really good stuff.
In fact if they could bottle this, I reckon they could sell it. No wait... err.. hang on...
Three great male voices (as required) and a rare chance to hear Cerquetti in her prime, what a great powerful dramatic voice she had!Originally Posted by Clayton
Giuseppe Verdi: Ernani
Anita Cerquetti (Elvira), Mario Del Monaco (Ernani), Ettore Bastianini (Don Carlo), Boris Christoff (Silva), Luciana Boni (Giovanna), Athos Cesarini (Don Riccardo), Aurelian Neagu (Jago)
Chorus and Orchestra of Maggio musicale fiorentino
Dimitri Mitropoulos
Live performance, Florence, 25 June 1957
Like Dark_Angel said, this is truly wonderful.
Really good stuff.
In fact if they could bottle this, I reckon they could sell it. No wait... err.. hang on...
Dvorak: Rusalka, Op. 114
Renée Fleming (Rusalka), Ben Heppner (Prince), Dolora Zajick (Jezibaba), Eva Urbanová (Foreign Princess), Franz Hawalta (Water Goblin)
Kühn Mixed Choir, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra,
Charles Mackerras
Recorded Rudolfinum, Prague, 28 April - 9 May 1998
Does this meet your approval, will you buy more? (there are many more, he he)Vivaldi: La Fida Ninfa
Lorenzo Regazzo (bass), Veronica Cangemi (soprano), Christian Senn (bass-baritone), Philippe Jaroussky (counter-tenor), Sandrine Piau (soprano), Sara Mingardo (contralto), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (contralto), Topi Lehtipuu (tenor)
Ensemble Matheus,
Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Recorded Église Notre-Dame du Liban, Paris April/May 2008
Best thing about this Rheingold: René Pape's Wotan. Such a beautiful lyrical bass voice. Runner up: Johannes Martin Kränzle's wild-eyed Alberich. He so SO good at slimy villains. I liked a lot of the stage design but found the dancers very intrusive and not really integrated, except in the imprisoned Alberich scene where his Nibelungen acted as chains imprisoning him:
Natalie
Beautiful opera.
I love how the story and all the characters are so beautifully portrayed.
Yes, I will buy more; I like the collection box by NAIVE label. I have sooooo many great operas to look forward to.
The surprises for me though this week were "Snegurochka" (Gesundheit), Königskinder (are the rest of his operas like this?) and Rusalka. I love them all.
I know... I'm all over the place. I've gotta concentration span like...
Wot?
Post script / red herring
Until very recently I thought of course Italian and French were the most romantic sounding languages.
Now I have come to comprehend that the romance is in the heart (or in this case the music) be it conveyed in Russian, German, Czech or any other form of communication.
Please could anyone feel completely free to slap me with a wet fish or change channel to the alternate comedy show.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks