I work from home using a pc from work and have my personal pc with Itunes next to me so I listen all day.
I tend to get obsessed with an opera each month. Last month it was Andrea Chenier and this month it is Manon Lescaut. Yesterday it was with Kaufmann and Opolais, thanks to Soave Fanciulla's alert (got it before it was blocked), also Tabaldi and del Monaco 1954. Today, Kiri Te Kawana and Jose Carreras.
I understand this recording doesn't really register with most folks - DFD doesn't match up with other bass/baritones, etc. Aside from that, I find Elena Suliotis' Lady M absolutely thrilling!
This is good, but not particularly inspiring while trying to pack...
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Maria Callas, Enzo Mascherini,
1952 de Sabata
On one of those other music forums the question was raised concerning composers or works that you should be more familiar with than you are. I had to admit that I am not as well versed in the operas of Verdi as I should be... especially when considering the fact that my first real experience of opera was Zeffirelli's La Traviata and my first live experience of an opera production was of Aida... both works that I love to this day. In spite of this... I may actually own more recordings of Wagner's Ring or Mozart's Die Zauberflöte than of Verdi operas.
Having admitted to that, I have begun to fill in some of the gaps in my Verdi collection... and listen to some of the un-listened-to recordings of Verdi... including this one:
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"Suppose you were an idiot ... And suppose you were a member of
Congress .. But I repeat myself." -Mark Twain
I bought this in a weak moment last week (after the concert performance I saw) from Amazon - it appears to be out of print, so I decided to seize the moment. Recording and performance is very good (with Jennifer Larmore, Hei Kyung Hong and Paul Groves), but I don't think it surpasses the recording with Gruberova and Baltsa:
and:
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And, my other Cap/Montecchi purchase features Beverly Sills (who doesn't seem to be at her peak), Janet Baker and Nicolai Gedda:
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I broke down and bought this off iTunes - I love it!
and, right now (I love this one also):
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