What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Clayton]

Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
Boris Christoff (Boris Godunov/Pimen/Varlaam), Nicolai Gedda (Grigory/Dmitry), Eugenia Zareska (Fyodor/Marina), Ludmilla Lebedeva (Xenia), Lydia Romanova (Nurse/Hostess), Andrzej Bielecki (Shuysky/Krushchyov/Missail), Kim Borg (Shchelkalov/Rangoni), Gustav Ustinov (A Boyar), Wassili Pasternak (The Simpleton), Stanislaw Pieczora (Police officer/A Guard), Raymond Bonte (Lavitzky)
Russian Chorus of Paris, French National Radio Orchestra
Issay Dobrowen
Recorded in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris
7th-21st July, 1952



If you could ever call going nuts magnificent or glorious, then this is here with Boris Christoff.

You can here it on Spotify but it is the EMI recording with a different engineer doing the remastering (not as good as the Naxos but still remarkable for the age). I would recommend you hear Boris' monologue in act two (Dostíg ya víshey vlásti) for starters.
You can also hear a sample of the sound quality for the Naxos recording on Presto Classical website; be surprised at the magic of remastering! http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/w/56502/3

[Clayton]

Rameau: Les Surprises de l'Amour
Virginie Pochon, Caroline Mutel, Amel Brahim-Djeloul (sopranos), Karine Deshayes (mezzo-soprano), Anders Dahlin (tenor), Pierre-Yves Pruvot, Jean-Sébastien Bou (baritones)
Les Nouveaux Caractères
Sébastien d’Hérin
Recorded 8-14 March 2013 Espace du Tonkin, Villeurbanne, France



I love Rameau. Absolutely without a shadow of doubt my all time favourite composer in the entire galaxy. Well for today, that is.
And this is one of his best.

[Adrian]

Mozart : Cosi fan Tutte (in English)



I do like this recording, it's old, but so am I, it's in English , but it's very funny.
Steber and Thebom are two wonderful sister and Peters a reliable Despina.
Tucker steals the man's voices . He's in the league of the Krauss recording.
I mean not the first two to recorded or perform Mozart
Sony Heritage 60652

[Adrian]

An insult to the legacy of one of Decca's greatest opera stars, especially compared to recent deluxe boxsets for Callas and Pavarotti, does no one there know the historical stature and devoted fan base of this singer

Also unthinkable Decca has no opera boxset for Sutherland......only recital boxsets

I think Decca is waiting for the first anniversary of her death in 2020 .
The most of the recordings are still available .

[Clayton]

...I do like this recording, it's old, but so am I...

funniest post of the year

so funny, I have a little bit of my tea on the computer screen...

[Hoffmann]

funniest post of the year

so funny, I have a little bit of my tea on the computer screen...

Good thing you are taking polite sips of your tea!

One wonders which is worse for the computer screen: tea or coffee?

I guess I'd better swallow before reading new OL posts when I get up in the morning...

[Floria]

Manon Lescaut 1954

Jussi Björling,Mario Carlin,Robert Merrill,Franco Calabrese,Licia Albanese,Enrico Campi, Orchestra of the Opera House, Rome
Chorus of the Opera House, Rome Jonel Perlea



I am not a fan of Licia Albanese, but I really like this recording.

[Adrian]

La Boheme 1947



Another trip down memory lane.
This one is even older then the other one.......
I do love Tucker and Sayao and the sound is remarkable well for such a old recording.

I remember buying the records of it , it was on Corsica off all places.

I went on holiday 1972 and the rain came poring down with bucket loads.
So the only thing to do was shopping, in a miserable little shop, I found this one
Also the Cosi as above and Gounod s Faust also with Steber.
Time going very quick these days.

[Clayton]

please stop digging up the past, we want to live in the here and now...

Bartók: Duke Bluebeard's Castle, Sz. 48, Op. 11
Walter Berry (bass-baritone) & Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano)
London Symphony Orchestra
István Kertész
Recorded November 1965, Kingsway Hall London

[Floria]

Giordano: Fedora

Angela Gheorghiu, Placido Domingo, Nino Machaidze, Fabio Capitanucci,Marina Comparato
Alberto Veronesi (Conductor), Orchestre symphonique de la Monnaie (Orchestra)

[Clayton]

Giordano: Fedora

Angela Gheorghiu, Placido Domingo, Nino Machaidze, Fabio Capitanucci,Marina Comparato
Alberto Veronesi (Conductor), Orchestre symphonique de la Monnaie (Orchestra)

This has been in an out of my shopping basket more times than anything else...

Floria, tell Clayton what he should do

[Clayton]

Spent the day in Jerusalem in the company of Hogwood and jacobs



I had the good intention of doing a review of the two Rinaldo recordings but got caught up in the magic and my notes has just the one word "sound" written down. I can't even remember where I was going with that.

I can say that they are both excellent recordings and there is very little to choose between them.

I do think the parts of Rinaldo and Argante is much stronger in the Hogwood (David Daniels and Gerald Finley) but I prefer Miah Persson's Almirena and Inga Kalna's Armida in the Jacobs. I can not express any preference with the remainder of the cast; Goffredo is sung equally convicingly and beautifully by Bernarda Fink and Lawrence Zazzo. The same is the case for Daniel Taylor and Christophe Dumaux as Eustazio.

I do prefer the sound of the Jacobs recording, it sounds cleaner and crisper (crispy sound?) and this in turn makes the orchestration preferable. The Jacobs is much more livelier and has more action and magic to the drama.

I can't choose between the two, so I will say you should get both and enjoy them equally.

Handel: Rinaldo
Vivica Genaux (Rinaldo), Inga Kalna (Armida/Second Siren), Miah Persson (Almirena/First Siren), Christophe Dumaux (Eustazio), James Rutherford (Argante), Lawrence Zazzo (Goffredo) & Dominique Visse (A Christian Magician)
Freiburger Barockorchester, René Jacobs
Recorded August 2002 Congress Innsbruck

Handel: Rinaldo
Cecilia Bartoli (Almirena), David Daniels (Rinaldo), Bernarda Fink (Goffredo), Gerald Finley (Argante), Luba Orgonasova (Armida), Daniel Taylor (Eustazio), Bejun Mehta (A Christian Magician)
Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood
Recorded November 1999, Henry Wood Hall

[Clayton]

Lully: Bellérophon
Libretto by Thomas Corneille
Cyril Auvity (Bellérophon), Céline Scheen (Philonoé), Ingrid Perruche (Sténobeé), Jennifer Borghi (Argie/Pallas), Evgeniy Alexiev (Pan/Jobate-Le Roy), Jean Teitgen (Apollon/Amisodar) & Robert Getchell (Bacchis/La Pythie)
Chamber Choir of Namur & Les Talens Lyriques
Christophe Rousset
Recorded December 2010 in the Opera Royal of the Chateau de Versailles, France



Fantastique. Makes me want to read (try to) the Iliad.

One BiG complaInt.

£$A& cover when they could chosen something like this


Bellerophon Riding Pegasus Fighting the Chimaera - Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640)

[Clayton]

oh yes, I forgot to say

I love Lully. Absolutely without a shadow of doubt my all time favourite composer in the entire galaxy. Well for today, that is.
And this is one of his best.

[Floria]

This has been in an out of my shopping basket more times than anything else...

Floria, tell Clayton what he should do

Put it in your shopping cart and do not remove.

If you want to try before you buy. There is a long playlist on the right.