What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Amfortas]

What a joy for a miserable Monday morning.

Tremendous cast. May have to see if I can get ahold of this recording. After all, it's only money.

[Floria]

Tannhauser - Solti - Paris version -Wiener Staatsopernchor

Helga Dernesch, Christa Ludwig, Hans Sotin, René Kollo, Victor Braun, Werner Hollweg

[Clayton]

Lully: Thesée
Howard Crook, Laura Pudwell, Ellen Hargis, Harry van der Kamp, Suzie LeBlanc, Mireille Lebel, Amanda Forsythe, Olivier Laquerre, Marek Rzepka and a few more singers
Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra & Chorus, Paul O’Dette & Stephen Stubbs
2006



I like Lully, he is one of my favourite composers in the whole world and this is one of his best. So when I noticed this was only a finalist in the Gramophone awards for Baroque Vocal category in 2008, I wondered what was better than this that year? It turned out that was the same year the Cavina recording for L'Orfeo came out.
fair' nuff

[Hoffmann]

Tremendous cast. May have to see if I can get ahold of this recording. After all, it's only money.

This afternoon I bought a Naxos Don Carlo CD set with Boris Christoff, conducted by Santini - I thought it was this recording, but it turns out to be a different Santini/Christoff effort from 1954-55. Oh well.




If you find it, let us know - I couldn't find it on Amazon.

[Amfortas]

This afternoon I bought a Naxos Don Carlo CD set with Boris Christoff, conducted by Santini - I thought it was this recording, but it turns out to be a different Santini/Christoff effort from 1954-55. Oh well.

If you find it, let us know - I couldn't find it on Amazon.

Yes, I saw that other Santini Don Carlo; the cast didn't look as uniformly distinguished (though featuring Tito Gobbi!).

The recording we've been discussing is available (in a different edition) on Amazon. A bit more than I want to spend right now, though, so I'll keep it in mind for later.

[Hoffmann]

I decided not to get the Solti as I'm not keen on DFD but my bias may be preventing me from hearing a great recording ...

I wasn't familiar with Flaviano Labò before but I love his voice on the Santini. Bastianini is one of my heroes and Christoff can do no wrong in my eyes/ears.

I like it because of Nicolai Ghiaurov's Philip - does a great job with "Ella giammai m'amo"! Carlo Bergonzi, Renata Tebaldi and Grace Bumbry also are pretty good...DFD doesn't bother me.

[Hoffmann]

Yes, I saw that other Santini Don Carlo; the cast didn't look as uniformly distinguished (though featuring Tito Gobbi!).

The recording we've been discussing is available (in a different edition) on Amazon. A bit more than I want to spend right now, though, so I'll keep it in mind for later.

I agree. $35 - $40 is when I have to scrutinize whether I want a recording that badly. Almost everything is typically available for around $20.

[Hoffmann]

My brother in law was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court yesterday (not that bar) and said that he chatted with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg about being an opera fan - when he asked her about her favorite opera, she said Marriage of Figaro or Don Giovanni - depending on the day.

So, in honor of Her Honor:





Then, later:





This is the opera that put Beverly Sills on the front page of the New York Times. Lousy recording, lots of skips and sounds like it was recorded from the Empire Hotel across the street, but some wonderful duets. Applause also not so great, but sounds very enthusiastic.

[Adrian]

Tannhauser - Solti - Paris version -Wiener Staatsopernchor

Helga Dernesch, Christa Ludwig, Hans Sotin, René Kollo, Victor Braun, Werner Hollweg

The start of the second disc with the somewhat (almost) nervous sounding clarinet player.
Absolute sublime in every way

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Rachmaninov: Aleko
Vassily Gerello (Aleko), Olga Guryakova (Zemfira), Vsevolod Grivnov (The Young Gypsy), Mikhail Kit (The Old Gypsy)
Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Yurlov Capella, Constantine Orbelian

[Clayton]

Rachmaninov: Aleko...

That sounds interesting, what is it like?

[Soave_Fanciulla]

That sounds interesting, what is it like?

Gorgeous music. I've just bought another version...

[Hoffmann]

Rachmaninov: Aleko
Vassily Gerello (Aleko), Olga Guryakova (Zemfira), Vsevolod Grivnov (The Young Gypsy), Mikhail Kit (The Old Gypsy)
Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Yurlov Capella, Constantine Orbelian

Rachmaninov did an opera? For real?

[Clayton]

Rachmaninov did an opera? For real?

apparently not just one but three, available in a multipack at any good vendor near you...

[Clayton]

Rimsky Korsakov:

The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia

Ivan Petrov (Prince Yury Vsevolodovich), Vladimir Ivanovsky (Prince Vsevolod Yur'yevich), Natalya Rozhdestvenskaya (Fevroniya), Dmitri Tarkhov (Grishka Kutyer'ma), Ilya Bogdanov (Fyodor Poyarok), Boris Dobrin (Balladeer)
Moscow Radio Orchestra and Chorus, Vasily Nebolsin
1956



A different interpretation by Nebolsin to Gergiev

"hang on, I did this almost forty years before Gergiev; you should say HE did a different interpretation!"

or rather Gergiev's interpretation is different to that of Nebolsin, who had a more gentle, gentle approach that makes the impact of the melodies have a different sound, almost more romantic and maybe less fantastical. Some wonderful singing by all the principles and a majestic Prince Yury. Grishka is more human, which again is another different dimension to Gergiev's (later) interpretation where we look more at with pity.
A good remaster but how good, I am struggling to say. A reshuffle of furniture has repositioned the speakers which has suddenly increased accoustic quality very much. I need to go through entire library again...