What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Clayton]

and as MAuer put it into my head...

Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail, K384
Edita Gruberova (Konstanze), Kathleen Battle (Blonde), Gösta Winbergh (Belmonte), Heinz Zednik (Pedrillo), Martti Talvela (Osmin), Will Quadflieg (Bassa Selim)
Wiener Philharmoniker
Georg Solti
Recorded November 1984, December 1985 Sofiensaal, Vienna

[Soave_Fanciulla]

I think, in a lot of cases, reviews I've read suggest that those voices are the prompters. Fanfare Magazine reviewers constantly complain about the prompters on live opera recordings.

Oh thank goodness. I was starting to think I was hallucinating (nobody else seems, for instance, to have heard the prompter on the Lucrezia Borgia DVD from San Francisco).

[Amfortas]

Somehow, headphones can make all the difference.

Years ago, listening that way to Act II of the famous Böhm Tristan, I discovered that you can clearly hear bass Martti Talvela as King Marke being prompted before he begins each line.

[Hoffmann]

This is my second listen to this - it's pretty wonderful:

[Clayton]

Bellini: La Sonnambula
Maria Callas (Amina), Nicola Monti (Elvino), Eugenia Ratti (Lisa), Fiorenza Cossotto (Teresa), Nicola Zaccaria (Rodolfo), Giuseppe Morresi (Alessio), Franco Ricciardi (Notaro)
Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala Milan
Antonino Votto
Recorded 3-9 March 1957 Basilica di Santa'Eufemia, Milan



Champagne and peaches

[Clayton]

Bellini: I Puritani
Joan Sutherland (Elvira), Nicola Filacuridi (Arturo), John Kentish (Bruno), Giuseppe Modesti (Giorgio), Ernest Blanc (Riccardo), David Ward (Valton) & Monica Sinclair (Enrichetta)
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & The Glyndebourne Chorus
Vittorio Gui
Recorded live 5 June 1960



1999 Louis Roederer Cristal Brut with the juice of baby white peaches hand squeezed by fairies at Claridges

[Clayton]

Bellini: Norma
Cristina Deutekom (Norma), Tatiana Troyanos (Adalgisa), Robleto Merolla (Pollione), Clifford Grant (Oroveso), Janice Felty (Clotilde), Gary Burgess (Flavio)
Chorus and Orchestra of the San Francisco Opera Association,
Carlo Felice Cillario
Live recording 31 October 1975



Champagne cocktail, fruit on the side optional

[Hoffmann]

1999 Louis Roederer Cristal Brut with the juice of baby white peaches hand squeezed by fairies at Claridges

Is that good?

[Clayton]

Is that good?

Well I was thinking "having your heart ripped out by a saber-tooth tiger" but I have not experienced that...

At 2 hours 14 mins, you could almost call it abridged. It does not have the super star cast as the 1973 Bonynge recording and La Stupenda is not as dramatic as in that same. It is a 1960 live performance and whilst the engineer Sébastien Chonion has worked to remove tape noise, I can almost count the number of cigarette butts on the lawn and outside the theatre.

However, Joan Sutherland's 33 year old voice is pretty and the rest of the cast are fine too. Gui does not do Bonynge bounce but an ultra definition super slo-mo, which defines each note so dramatically it is a powerful introduction for the opera that had not been performed in England since 1887. Perhaps not a recording for all but I love it. Glyndebourne did the remaster for an archiving exercise but I am so happy they made the commercial release.

The recording also comes in my favourite book format.

[Clayton]

Similarly, I would not recommend the Deutekom recording as much as I would not recommend having a champagne cocktail. In this recording the tape noise can make you sea sick (if you try listening with headphones) but yes, powerful, dramatic, saber-tooth tiger performance.

- - - Updated - - -

and yes, I like this one too

[Clayton]

Today



courtesy of Medici

and



courtesy of meMarantz

[JohnGerald]

I had been undecided on whether to get the Tutto Verdi Traviata; it played to mixed reviews. But Santa left a nice Amazon gift card, so I took the plunge. I am four star delighted with it; the lack of a fifth star being the absence of the baritone's second act cabaletta. It is a very good performance, with huge applause from the demanding folks in Parma.

[Hoffmann]

I like this!




This is a 1969 live recording. It's enough to give one a sense that it's a pretty good opera and that Leyla Gencer is a pretty good soprano. It's frustrating because the sound is recorded from a enough of a distance that it sounds like it might be under water in a Jacuzzi.

I've cued up the Opera Rara recording on my wish list.

I am calling for a Moment of Silence for the loss of studio recordings.

[Amfortas]

This is a 1969 live recording. It's enough to give one a sense that it's a pretty good opera and that Leyla Gencer is a pretty good soprano. It's frustrating because the sound is recorded from a enough of a distance that it sounds like it might be under water in a Jacuzzi.

I've heard some pretty dreadful sound on Opera D'Oro live recordings. Then again, the Amazon samples for this particular one don't seem too bad. Is the actual CD worse?

I am calling for a Moment of Silence for the loss of studio recordings.

Yes, it's sad to see that glorious chapter closed.

[StLukesGuildOhio]

A lovely recording of Cosi fan tutte sung in English. This Met performance/recording dates from 1951, yet the sound is quite good. It may not be my first choice for Cosi... but then again, there's no such thing as a "first choice" when it comes to Mozart's operas.