What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Nekrotzar]

Solti being the awesome opera conductor he is:



I wish Bartók was an opera composer like Verdi and Wagner etc. in terms of output

[Clayton]

Donizetti: Dom Sébastien, Roi de Portugal
Vesselina Kasarova (Zaida), Giuseppe Filianoti (Dom Sébastien), Alastair Miles (Dom Juan de Silva), Simon Keenlyside (Abayaldos), Carmelo Corrado Caruso (Camoëns), Robert Gleadow (Dom Henrique), John Upperton (Dom Antonio), Andrew Slater (Ben-Selim)
Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House
Mark Elder
Concert performance recorded live ROH Covent Garden 10 & 13 September 2005



Dark and wonderful

[JohnGerald]

It is a good set; try OR's Caterina Cornaro, Donizetti's last opera. Written when his illness was getting pretty bad and not much liked by the academic set, it is very good indeed from my perspective.

[Nekrotzar]

More 20th century stuff. This time Tippett. I've never heard any of his operas before so this is sure to be interesting:

[Clayton]

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
José van Dam (Hans Sachs), Ben Heppner (Walther von Stolzing), Karita Mattila (Eva), Alan Opie (Beckmesser), Iris Vermillion (Magdalena), Herbert Lippert (David), René Pape (Pogner), Albert Dohmen (Kothner), Kelly Anderson (Nachtwächter)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Georg Solti
Recorded during live performances 23-27 September 1995 Orchestra Hall, Chicago

[Clayton]

I can't visit Wagner without Lohengrin

Wagner: Lohengrin
Siegfried Jerusalem (Lohengrin), Cheryl Studer (Elsa), Waltraud Meier (Ortrud), Hartmut Welker (Telramund), Kurt Moll (King Heinrich)
Vienna Philharmonic
Claudio Abbado
Recorded Grosser Saal, Musikverein, Wien 11/1991; 5 & 6/1992



Currently it must be somewhere up in the top twelve on Clayton list.

[Clayton]

Tannhäuser
René Kollo (Tannhäuser), Helga Dernesch (Elisabeth), Christa Ludwig (Venus), Victor Braun (Wolfram), Manfred Jungwirth (Biterolf), Hans Sotin (Hermann), Kurt Equiluz (Heinrich), Norman Bailey (Reinmar), Manfred Jungwirth (Walter von der Vogelweide)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Sängerknaben
Georg Solti
Recorded in Vienna in 1970



twenty one minutes and thirty seconds

[Gigli13]

There is a Decca cd I think 1980. Surta e la note etc (Price w Zubin Mehta Tel Aviv Verdi concert only Ernani on the cd.
Older voice but remarkably has not lost the clarity and beauty. Ernani is a sleeper for Verdi. If you like price try her Christmas albumn you will get points with your friends and family.

[Gigli13]

Did Verdi like del Monaco for his interpretation of the character ? Try Pertile, he's even more powerful. If you watch an opera live ,sometimes a singer can leave a different impression. If you like Bergonzi, then try Tito Schipa. I too like Bergonzi but don't dislike
the typical Othello and Ernani tenors like Del Monaco. I will admit that once some noisy people were congregating by my house and I blasted them away with Othello with those powerful tenors but beauty is in eye of beholder.

[Clayton]

...the typical Othello and Ernani tenors like Del Monaco. I will admit that once some noisy people were congregating by my house and I blasted them away with Othello with those powerful tenors...

of course the plan could have backfired and more people could have congregated

[Gigli13]

Awesome. Another great soprano Claudia Muzo O.A.S.I. Records song 4 Ebben No andro Lontana Edison 82232-R.
(Tebaldi could sign anything. (She auditioned for Toscanini and sang at young age.

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They aren't that civilized.

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They aren't that civilized.

[Amfortas]

Clayton's not the only one who can listen to Wagner.



So good! I used to think I didn't like Jon Vickers, but as Siegmund he's marvelous. A great recording all around--every Wagnerian should have it!

[Gigli13]

Vickers is awesome. Here is a trivia q. Who sang Wontan's Farewell from Die Walkure but earlier sang at Sid Grauman's theater in which the orchestra platform emerged from the pit on an elevator. Hint sang in Die Walkure in 1934 at Met.

[Amfortas]

Regarding the Leinsdorf Walküre. I do find, as in my earlier listenings, a notable slackening of the tension and dramatic impetus during the Todesverkündigung scene, just when it's needed: after Siegmund tells Brünnhilde he will not accompany her to Valhall. From here on, as Vickers and Nilsson's exchange becomes more heated, Leinsdorf seems to let the pace and energy sag at several points. While the scene rebounds to end on a boisterous note, I can't help but regret something of a missed opportunity.

But none of this negates my enjoyment of Act I and the earlier parts of Act II!

EDIT: Or of the stirring Act II conclusion!

[Clayton]

Clayton's not the only one who can listen to Wagner...

I don't know what happened. One minute there was a civilized conversation on opera overtures; next thing I know, I started feeling these urges...

...Who sang Wontan's Farewell from Die Walkure but earlier sang at Sid Grauman's theater in which the orchestra platform emerged from the pit on an elevator. Hint sang in Die Walkure in 1934 at Met.

?



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I don't think I can call myself a Wagnerian, probably more an operalien

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Of course now thanks to Amfortas, I have a Der Ring des Nibelungen urge...