What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Clayton]

Nice Tebaldi selections,
That cast inAdriana is first rate. Did you ever listen to her in la Wally and Turandot.
Nothing like an opera where all or most of the cast is tops.

Haunting performance. I only heard it recently for the first time and thought it stunning.

In fact, I think that is a good idea for next on the playlist...

[Hoffmann]

Yesterday was a kind of an on and off rainy day, so spent the day painting the rear bedroom and loudly entertaining my neighbors with Verdi (on Saturday, all bets are off):



This was my second listen to the Nilsson Macbeth - it's an excellent recording, but my ears have become accustomed to Elena Suliotis as Lady M., so the Gardelli CD remains, for me, the reference recording.



I decided that if my neighbors are going to learn to love opera, they need to know Callas!

[Dark_Angel]

I decided that if my neighbors are going to learn to love opera, they need to know Callas!

Well said sir, she can remain incognito with some nice headphones.....

Not sure if you already own the standard EMI studio boxset but you may also really also like the red Membran boxset which has slightly different recordings and includes key live recordings, also the packaging is far better with each composer having inner box and each opera having digipack with individual photos of that work......great price $66 Amazon USA prime! (shipping alone probably costs $10)

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[Hoffmann]

[QUOTE=Dark_Angel;40182]Well said sir, she can remain incognito with some nice headphones.....

Not sure if you already own the standard EMI studio boxset but you may also really also like the red Membran boxset which has slightly different recordings and includes key live recordings, also the packaging is far better with each composer having inner box and each opera having digipack with individual photos of that work......great price $66 Amazon USA prime! (shipping alone probably costs $10)



Ok, a question: I know both box sets are worth having. However, if I only buy one, do I buy one of these or wait and buy the one to be issued in September?

[Dark_Angel]

Ok, a question: I know both box sets are worth having. However, if I only buy one, do I buy one of these or wait and buy the one to be issued in September?

If money is no object you get the remastered original artwork set in September.........

We cannot let minor details like money stop our relentless pursuit of the ultimate Callas opera experience, right?

[Hoffmann]

For today's walk:



I enjoyed this - very well sung recording, but might require a couple more listens to get a better sense of the opéra.



Then, later this afternoon, after a nap:



I like this a lot - wonderful recording, wonderful opera.

[Clayton]

The cricket finished now for a couple of weeks I'm back to...

Vivaldi: L'Incoronazione di Dario
Anders Dahlin (Dario), Sara Mingardo (Statira), Delphine Galou (Argene), Riccardo Novaro (Niceno), Roberta Mameli (Alinda), Lucia Cirillo (Oronte), Sofia Soloviy (Arpago), Giuseppina Bridelli (Flora)
Accademia Bizantina,
Ottavio Dantone
Recorded Die Glocke, Bremen September 2013
World Premiere Complete Recording



Another very good cast singing very beautifully; these Naive Vivaldi operas are all consistently very good. So much so, that my next purchase is being more and more directed to the Naive boxset.

[Clayton]

Vivaldi - Operas 1 Deluxe Edition
CD + DVD
Vivaldi:
Orlando finto pazzo, RV727
Antonio Abete, Gemma Bertagnolli, Marina Comparato, Sonia Prina, Martin Oro & Marianna Pizzolato
Coro del Teatro Regio di Torino & Academia Montis Regalis, Alessandro de Marchi
Juditha Triumphans, RV644
Magdalena Kozena
Academia Montis Regalis, Alessandro de Marchi
Tito Manlio RV 738
Dramma per musica on a libretto by Matteo Noris
Nicola Ulivieri, Karina Gauvin, Debora Beronesi, Ann Hallenberg, Marijana Mijanovic, Barbara Di Castri, Mark Milhofer & Christian Senn
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
La Verità in cimento
Opera in three acts RV739
Nathalie Stutzmann, Gemma Bertagnoli, Sara Mingardo, Guillemette Laurens, Philippe Jaroussky & Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Orlando Furioso, RV728
Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Jennifer Larmore, Veronica Cangemi, Philippe Jaroussky, Lorenzo Regazzo, Ann Hallenberg & Blandine Staskiewicz
Choeur Les Eléments & Ensemble Matheus, an-Christophe Spinosi
Atenaide
world première
Sandrine Piau & Vivica Genaux (sopranos), Guillemette Laurens & Romina Basso (mezzo sopranos), Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto) Paul Agnew & Stefano Ferrari (tenors)
Modo Antiquo, Federico Maria Sardelli
L'Olimpiade RV725
Marianna Kulikova (mezzo-soprano), Laura Giordano (soprano), Riccardo Novaro (baritone) & Sergio Foresti (bass)
Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini
Griselda, RV718
world première recording
Griselda: Marie-Nicole Lemieux (contralto), Costanza: Veronica Cangemi (soprano), Ottone: Simone Kermes (soprano), Roberto: Philippe Jaroussky (countertenor), Gualtiero: Stefano Ferrari (tenor) & Corrado: Iestyn Davies (countertenor)
Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Farnace
First time available as part of the Vivaldi Edition
Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall

Nice looking presentation (I'm just a sucker for pretty looking boxes) and priced at GBP120 for 8 operas.

I already have one of them but I like it so much, I don't mind having another copy!

[Dark_Angel]

Nice looking presentation (I'm just a sucker for pretty looking boxes) and priced at GBP120 for 8 operas.

I already have one of them but I like it so much, I don't mind having another copy!

The trouble with those nice boxsets is that they are released "after" all the individual operas have been on the market and you have already made a substantial investment buying them individually.......

Usually you can save money buying the boxset making them even more attractive

[Dark_Angel]

The cricket finished now for a couple of weeks I'm back to...

Vivaldi: L'Incoronazione di Dario
Anders Dahlin (Dario), Sara Mingardo (Statira), Delphine Galou (Argene), Riccardo Novaro (Niceno), Roberta Mameli (Alinda), Lucia Cirillo (Oronte), Sofia Soloviy (Arpago), Giuseppina Bridelli (Flora)
Accademia Bizantina,
Ottavio Dantone
Recorded Die Glocke, Bremen September 2013
World Premiere Complete Recording

Last couple Naïve Vivaldi releases have featured Delphine Galou who I was very impressed with and mentioned her recently in "new singers we should watch closely" thread

Vocally she is a mezzo/contralto but has very extended range with creative dramatic ornament that makes her a pure pleasure to listen to......

[Clayton]

Vaccai: La sposa di Messina
Jessica Pratt (Donna Isabella), Filippo Adami (Don Emanuele), Armando Ariostini (Don Cesare), Wakako Ono (Beatrice), Maurizio Lo Piccolo (Diego)
Classica Chamber Choir & Brno Virtuosi Brunensis,
Antonino Fogliani
Recorded live at the Kursaal, Bad Wildbad, Germany 15-18 July 2009
world première recording



This is a good opera, melodic and with arias in the belcanto tradition. It has good singing, particularily Jessica Pratt (enough to consider ICEIM at La Fenice next year...) but good all round. It is a live recording but good sound, well balanced and very little noise.

[Clayton]

Did someone mention La Wally?

Catalani: La Wally
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Piero Cappuccilli, Justino Diaz, Lydia Marimpietri & Alfredo Mariotti
Coro Lirico di Torino & Orchestre national de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo,
Fausto Cleva
Recorded June 1968, Salle Alcazar, Monte Carlo

[Dark_Angel]

Did someone mention La Wally?

Catalani: La Wally
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Piero Cappuccilli, Justino Diaz, Lydia Marimpietri & Alfredo Mariotti
Coro Lirico di Torino & Orchestre national de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo,
Fausto Cleva
Recorded June 1968, Salle Alcazar, Monte Carlo

This is vocally such a wonderful opera yet almost always disgarded as 2nd tier work by "the critics" a near perfect vehicle for Tebaldi's vocal style, the sheer beauty of "Ebben? Ne andro lontana" aria cannot be denied........

[Clayton]

This is vocally such a wonderful opera yet almost always disgarded as 2nd tier work by "the critics"...

2nd tier?! It must be a small tier 1! What would something like Belisario, La Sposa di Messina or La Toison D'Or that I don't think makes top 1000 most performed operas be... tier 184?

...a near perfect vehicle for Tebaldi's vocal style, the sheer beauty of "Ebben? Ne andro lontana" aria cannot be denied........

Absolutely stunning.

[Clayton]

Well, the best critic has got to be yourself... or actually in my case I mostly follow the opinion of fellow OL members...

I reminded myself of ICEIM...

Bellini: I Capuleti e I Montecchi
Anna Netrebko (Giulietta), Elina Garanca (Romeo), Joseph Calleja (Tebaldo), Robert Gleadow (Lorenzo) & Tiziano Bracci (Capellio)
Wiener Singakademie & Wiener Symphoniker,
Fabio Luisi
Recorded Vienna Konzerhaus April 2008



Now this, I recommend to any Bellini fans. Or any fans of Anna Netrebko, Elīna Garanča, belcanto opera, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Symphoniker, Joseph Calleja... blah, blah, blah...

Yes it is one of my favourites...