What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Clayton]

How does this compare to Opera Rara's recording of Belisario?

Belisario is a drama about love, family, plots of murder and betrayal. The music is dramatic but more on a personal scale. The music paints pictures of the different characters of the story and their love or treachery.

Dom Sébastien is a tragedy. It is in the style of Grand Opera, it is almost 3 hours (with ballet) but more, it is dark, quite dark. Underlying the story of the failed crusade, impossible love and ursurpation is Portugal loss of sovereignty. The music colours this dark tale all the way through in an almost epic way.

err...

or were you just asking about the sound quality?

They are both very good. Belisario was recorded in the BBC studios so of course is excellent. Dom Sébastien has a couple of spots where perhaps audience noise has been cut (so the music cuts a little abruptly) but I think it is otherwise very well balanced. I did not realize at first it was a concert performance.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Someone needs to put out a directive to all existing and potential opera directors that the old "play within a play" ploy has been done before. Lots. And better than here. But the singing is very good.



Some lovely lesser known Handel arias here:



And some pretty stonking Vinci ones here:

[Hoffmann]

Conductor: Franco Capuano
w/Teatro San Carlo Orchestra & Chorus, Naples

Saffo: Leyla Gencer
Faone: Tito del Bianco
Aleandro: Louis Quilico
et. al.

Leyla Gencer is outstanding in this live recording from 1967. It's kind of hard to get much of a feel for the opera, though, since it sounds like it was recorded from the bottom of a swimming pool.


and:


(an old favorite with great singing)

[Clayton]

Verdi: La forza del destino
Zinka Milanov, Giuseppe di Stefano, Leonard Warren, Giorgio Tozzi, Rosalind Elias
Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Chorus, Rome
Fernando Previtali
Recorded 1958

[Hoffmann]

Verdi: La forza del destino
Zinka Milanov, Giuseppe di Stefano, Leonard Warren, Giorgio Tozzi, Rosalind Elias
Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra and Chorus, Rome
Fernando Previtali
Recorded 1958

What do you think of this? I remember hearing from my boss at the National Endowment for the Arts many years ago that Zinka Milanov was the definitive Leonora in Forza. How's the recording itself? My mouse finger is getting itchy again...

[Clayton]

What do you think of this? I remember hearing from my boss at the National Endowment for the Arts many years ago that Zinka Milanov was the definitive Leonora in Forza. How's the recording itself? My mouse finger is getting itchy again...

I think it is superb. Good sound and Milanov, di Stefano and Warren are all excellent. I have heard some opinions that by 1958 Milanov's voice was in decline but I can only hear a very beautiful and passionate and attractive and...
If you can, get it. It was two a penny about a couple of months ago. Now on Amazon uk it has shot up to GBP 60+ for a new copy (odd cyclical market pattern).

[Clayton]

Verdi: La forza del destino
Ludwig Welter (Marchese di Calatrava); Antonietta Stella (Leonora); Ettore Bastianini (Don Carlo); Giuseppe di Stefano (Alvaro); Giulietta Simionato (Preziosilla);Walter Kreppel (Padre Guardiano); Karl Dönch (Fra Melitone); Annemarie Ludwig (Curra)
Choir & Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera,
Dimitri Mitropoulos
Live recording 23/9/1960

[Hoffmann]

Had to:

[Clayton]

Verdi: Un ballo in maschera
Plácido Domingo (Riccardo), Katia Ricciarelli (Amelia), Renato Bruson (Renato), Elena Obraztsova (Ulrica), Edita Gruberova (Oscar), Ruggero Raimondi (Samuele), Luigi De Corato (Silvano), Giovanni Foiani (Tom), Antonio Savastano (Un giudice)
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala,
Claudio Abbado
Studio recording, 1979-1980.



A stupendous cast.

[Hoffmann]

After last night's Der Rosenkavalier, I woke up wanting more Strauss:

[Clayton]

Verdi: Simon Boccanegra
Piero Cappuccilli (Boccanegra), Mirella Freni (Amelia/Maria), José van Dam (Paolo), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Jacopo Fiesco), José Carreras (Gabriele)
La Scala Chorus & Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Recorded 1977

[Clayton]

After last night's Der Rosenkavalier, I woke up wanting more Strauss:

And did this satisfy? Is it a good recording?

[Hoffmann]

And did this satisfy? Is it a good recording?

It's live, so has some audience noise at the beginning. Quality of singing is excellent, and there are a number of opportunities for the principals to show off. I like the opera, but it is not Rosenkavalier. Quality of sound, for an older recording (1963) is very good.

Did it satisfy? I enjoyed it, but probably should have listened to Rosenkavalier again, instead. Problem there is that I'm not overly fond of the one recording I have (Bernard Haitink: Kiri Te Kanawa, Anne Sofie von Otter, Barbara Hendricks and Kurt Rydl, EMI 1990). Seems the Karajan is the one to own.

[Clayton]

Verdi: La Traviata
Ileana Cotrubas (Violetta Valery), Stefania Malagu (Flora Bervoix), Helena Jungwirth (Annina), Placido Domingo (Alfredo Germont), Sherrill Milnes (Giorgio Germont), Walter Gullino (Gastone), Bruno Grella (Barone Douphol) Alfredo Giacomotti (Marchese d’Obigny), Giovanni Foiani (Dottore Grenvil), Walter Gullino (Giuseppe)
Bayerischer Staatsopernchor & Bayerisches Staatsorchester,
Carlos Kleiber
Recorded 1977

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Verdi: La Traviata
Ileana Cotrubas (Violetta Valery), Stefania Malagu (Flora Bervoix), Helena Jungwirth (Annina), Placido Domingo (Alfredo Germont), Sherrill Milnes (Giorgio Germont), Walter Gullino (Gastone), Bruno Grella (Barone Douphol) Alfredo Giacomotti (Marchese d’Obigny), Giovanni Foiani (Dottore Grenvil), Walter Gullino (Giuseppe)
Bayerischer Staatsopernchor & Bayerisches Staatsorchester,
Carlos Kleiber
Recorded 1977

Thus is my favourite audio Verdi recording, and possibly one of my top 10 CDs. I just love Cotrubas. My everlasting regret is that the video version of it is only available in very fuzzy format on YouTube or bootleg.