What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Today

Attachment 6389

courtesy of Medici

and

Attachment 6390

courtesy of meMarantz

Well, come one, what do you think of the Glyndebourne production?

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Offenbach: Orphée aux Enfers
Yann Beuron (Orphée), Natalie Dessay (Euridice), Laurent Naouri (Jupiter), Jean-Paul Fouchecourt (Pluton-Aristée), Ewa Podles (L'Opinion Publique), Patricia Petibon (Cupidon), Jennifer Smith (Diane), Veronique Gens (Vénus), Steven Cole (John Styx), Virginie Pochon (Minerve), Etienne Lescroart (Mercure)
Grenoble Chamber Orchestra & Lyon Opera Chorus and Orchestra
Marc Minkowski
Recorded live December 1997, Opéra National de Lyon

Attachment 6415

This is also one where you have to see the corresponding DVD for the full fun experience.

[JohnGerald]

This is also one where you have to see the corresponding DVD for the full fun experience.

Indeed! There are several DVDs of Offenbach operettas and they are all delicious. Best enjoyed with a bit of bubbly and a taste of Brie. La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein with Felicity Lott is quite nicely done.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Indeed! There are several DVDs of Offenbach operettas and they are all delicious. Best enjoyed with a bit of bubbly and a taste of Brie. La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein with Felicity Lott is quite nicely done.

Yes, and La Belle Helene, also with Felicity Lott in best cougar mode is hilarious.

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

Indeed! There are several DVDs of Offenbach operettas and they are all delicious. Best enjoyed with a bit of bubbly and a taste of Brie. La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein with Felicity Lott is quite nicely done.

Agreed! All Offenbach operettas that I know are delightful, and that Felicity Lott DVD is great. I also saw the operetta live at Santa Fe with Susan Graham and Paul Appleby and it was superb!

[Hoffmann]

I love this opera, which somehow doesn't always seem to calculate as top-of-the-line Bellini (an assessment with which I disagree). This is a wonderful recording, showing La Bellissima and Elina Garanca at their best.

[Clayton]

I love that opera, that production and the CD cover.

my listening... my listening... my listening... my listening... my listening... my listening... my listening... my listening... my listening...

Rameau: Les Fêtes de Polymnie
Ballet héroïque. Paris, 1745
Véronique Gens, Emöke Baráth, Aurélia Legay, Márta Stefanik, Mathias Vidal, Thomas Dolié, Domonkos Blazsó
Purcell Choir & Orfeo Orchestra
György Vashegyi
Recorded 5-8 April 2014, Palace of Arts, Budapest



Still serving the self imposed posting ban but this is the best of Rameau, composed on a high after having been appointed to court as Compositeur de la Musique de la Chambre du Roi.

[Hoffmann]

Woke up today to a strange sound

it took a few moments to figure out

it was Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in my head



The postman delivered yesterday and as normal, the postman always knocks twice (I don't have a doorbell)

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Albert Dohmen (Hans Sachs), Robert Dean Smith (Walther von Stolzing), Edith Haller (Eva), Dietrich Henschel (Sixtus Beckmesser), Peter Sonn (David), Michelle Breedt (Magdalene), Georg Zeppenfeld (Veit Pogner), Matti Salminen (Night Watchman), Tuomas Pursio (Fritz Kothner), Michael Smallwood (Kunz Vogelsang), Sebastian Noack (Konrad Nachtigall), Jörg Schörner (Balthasar Zorn)
Rundfunkchor Berlin & Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
Marek Janowski
Live recording of concert performance 3 June 2011

Attachment 6442

I can not comment on this recording as I am under a twenty hour self imposed posting ban for reactions to new recording until I learn to control myself a bit better

When does the self-imposed posting ban expire?

[Clayton]

When does the self-imposed posting ban expire?

until I learn to control my reactions

or

I forget that I have the ban

or

I get over excited again by a new recording that the control in place can't contain the excitement and gets over-rided



Rameau is really testing me here

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

I love this opera, which somehow doesn't always seem to calculate as top-of-the-line Bellini (an assessment with which I disagree). This is a wonderful recording, showing La Bellissima and Elina Garanca at their best.

I agree that I Capuleti e i Montecchi is a very good opera. And oh my God, just the sheer beauty of this cover [cough cough] makes of this CD a mandatory buy!

[Hoffmann]

One of my very favorites:



Say what you will about Joan Sutherland, she hits every note without a hint of effort. Her acting wasn't anything to write home about, of course, but boy, she sure could sing. And, then, Marilyn Horne! Fabulous - one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon.

[Clayton]

Monteverdi: Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria
Anizio Zorzi Giustiniani (Ulisse), Josè Maria Lo Monaco (Penelope), Roberta Mameli (Minerva), Makoto Sakurada (Telemaco, Eurimaco), Salvo Vitale (Nettuno), Giorgia Milanesi (Giunone) with Francesca Cassinari, Vincenzo Di Donato, Marco Bussi, Alessio Tossi, Roberto Balconi, Paolo Antognetti, Francesca Lombardi, Luca Dordolo, Marta Fumagall
La Venexiana
Claudio Cavina
Recorded in Mondovì (Sala Ghisleri), Italy in October 2011

[Floria]

Verdi: Aida
Zinka Milanov, Jussi Björling, Boris Christoff, Leonard Warren
Rome Opera Orchestra, Jonel Perlea 1955



Opera Goes to Hell
Caballe (Artist), Domingo (Artist), Giulini (Artist), Gluck (Composer), Offenbach (Composer), Gounod (Composer), Wagner (Composer), Verdi (Composer), Mozart (Composer)

[Hoffmann]

Verdi: Aida
Zinka Milanov, Jussi Björling, Boris Christoff, Leonard Warren
Rome Opera Orchestra, Jonel Perlea 1955



Opera Goes to Hell
Caballe (Artist), Domingo (Artist), Giulini (Artist), Gluck (Composer), Offenbach (Composer), Gounod (Composer), Wagner (Composer), Verdi (Composer), Mozart (Composer)

I've had that Aida on my wish list for sometime (Great Cast!), but always hesitate because I'm worried about the sound on the old recording - what do you think?

[Clayton]

This Aida recording has been remastered and you would not believe it is a 1955 recording. Very good.