What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Festat]

Yes, I think the decision to make quite clear that the ghosts do exist is a great loss. I find the opera really tense until the confirmation, when Mrs. Grose tell her who Quint was I'm on the edge of my seat, then I think it dissipates a little, in spite of Britten's musical effort to make it as spooky as possible.

I just noticed the post in the wrong thread, though. Should have been in the "listening to"!

[Clayton]

This is an opera I have a love-hate relationship with. Whilst I love Britten's operas and the atmosphere he creates with the music...the libretto is a simplistic adaptation of the original story focussed on an interpretation which I think was actually a little out of date even when the opera was being written.

Yes, I think the decision to make quite clear that the ghosts do exist is a great loss. I find the opera really tense until the confirmation, when Mrs. Grose tell her who Quint was I'm on the edge of my seat, then I think it dissipates a little, in spite of Britten's musical effort to make it as spooky as possible...

I'm just going to go with "spooky"

[Clayton]

Scarlatti, A: Carlo re d'Allemagna
Romina Basso (King Lotario of Germany), Roberta Invernizzi (Queen Giuditta, dowager empress), Marina de Liso (Princess Gildippe, her daughter), Marianne Beate Kielland (Prince Adalgiso, son of Lotario), Carlo Vincenzo Allemano (Berardo, a knight), José Maria Lo Monaco (Asparando, a traitor), Damian Pinti (Amilla) & Roberto Abbondonza (Bleso)
Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Fabio Biondi

[Nekrotzar]

I have actually never heard Böhm's Wagner beyond Tristan und Isolde. Man, I was really missing out. I never really see this as the 'desert island Dutchman' but it's wonderful to listen to nevertheless.

[Hoffmann]

I have actually never heard Böhm's Wagner beyond Tristan und Isolde. Man, I was really missing out. I never really see this as the 'desert island Dutchman' but it's wonderful to listen to nevertheless.

If and whenever you have the chance, try to listen to this one - my favorite:





Gottlob Frick, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Marianne Schech, Rudolf Schock and Fritz Wunderlich
Franz Konzwitschny, Conductor


also seen as:

[Clayton]

I do have my own listening pile but keep getting distracted by other people's listening


Handel: Deidamia
Simone Kermes (Deidamia), Dominique Labelle (Nerea), Anna Maria Panzarella (Achille), Anna Bonitatibus (Ulisse), Furio Zanasi (Fenice) & Antonio Abete (Licomede)
Il Complesso Barocco, Alan Curtis



though I think I need to see/hear Sally Matthews' Deidamia again to move on properly

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Scarlatti, A: Carlo re d'Allemagna
Romina Basso (King Lotario of Germany), Roberta Invernizzi (Queen Giuditta, dowager empress), Marina de Liso (Princess Gildippe, her daughter), Marianne Beate Kielland (Prince Adalgiso, son of Lotario), Carlo Vincenzo Allemano (Berardo, a knight), José Maria Lo Monaco (Asparando, a traitor), Damian Pinti (Amilla) & Roberto Abbondonza (Bleso)
Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Fabio Biondi

I thought this was fabulous. I'm now a daddy Scarlatti fan as well as a baby Scarlatti enthusiast.

[Clayton]

also following MAuer, I was aiming for the Abbado with Giacomo Aragall but missed...

Bellini: I Capuleti e I Montecchi
Anna Netrebko (Giulietta), Elina Garanca (Romeo), Joseph Calleja (Tebaldo), Robert Gleadow (Lorenzo) & Tiziano Bracci (Capellio)
Wiener Singakademie & Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi

[Clayton]

Gluck: La Clemenza di Tito
Rainer Trost (Tito Vespasiano), Laura Aikin (Vitellia), Raffaella Milanesi (Sesto), Arantza Ezenarro (Servilia), Valer Sabadus (Annio) & Flavio Ferri-Benedetti (Publio)
L'arte del mondo, Werner Ehrhardt
2013



In the tea cabinet, Gluck is a fine stable of warhorses and this is one of the finer stallions. In fact if I was to choose three to go to battle with, this would be one of them. It is a fine specimen, good character(s), beautiful and fine classical form (well I can't say baroque form but that would be truer).

Here the stable master (no more horse analogy please) Werner Ehrhardt has two countertenors for the roles where originally Gluck wrote for castrato (Sesto was Cafarelli) Annio and Publio. Both perform bel canto (as do all other cast) with power and control and despite this is exactly what Gluck was moving away from with his reform operas, this is a mark of Gluck mastery of the opera seria.

An obvious question would be which one, Gluck or Mozart? This is despite the fact that there are maybe over fifty operas written to Metastasio's libretto first set to music by Caldara. I only know the two but asked to choose my answer would firstly be a simple "no". Pressed, I might suggest Gluck's interpretation...

A very good value for money recording (GBP 14 at PC) it comes with a full libretto in Italian, English, German and French, I would recommend this for baroque, Gluck and Sabadus fans amongst others.

[Adrian]

also following MAuer, I was aiming for the Abbado with Giacomo Aragall but missed...

Bellini: I Capuleti e I Montecchi
Anna Netrebko (Giulietta), Elina Garanca (Romeo), Joseph Calleja (Tebaldo), Robert Gleadow (Lorenzo) & Tiziano Bracci (Capellio)
Wiener Singakademie & Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi

Comes nowhere near the Sills/ Baker recording.
Perhaps for front cover lovers but that's about as far as it gets.

[Nekrotzar]

If and whenever you have the chance, try to listen to this one - my favorite:





Gottlob Frick, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Marianne Schech, Rudolf Schock and Fritz Wunderlich
Franz Konzwitschny, Conductor


also seen as:

Ah, I found this in spotify so I am listen to it now.

Thoughts: it's much slower than the other two I've heard from what I've heard of this recording so far!

[Hoffmann]

Ah, I found this in spotify so I am listen to it now.

Thoughts: it's much slower than the other two I've heard from what I've heard of this recording so far!

Since I listen to it with some frequency, I've lost any point of reference as to tempo - so, it seems just right to me. I think it's really well sung, however, which is paramount.

Maybe, though, I need to go and give the Böhm a listen and gain some perspective!

[MAuer]

also following MAuer, I was aiming for the Abbado with Giacomo Aragall but missed...

Bellini: I Capuleti e I Montecchi
Anna Netrebko (Giulietta), Elina Garanca (Romeo), Joseph Calleja (Tebaldo), Robert Gleadow (Lorenzo) & Tiziano Bracci (Capellio)
Wiener Singakademie & Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi

It's a shame the recording quality was so poor on that Opera d'Oro version, because Bellini's music is beautiful and the singing itself is wonderful. To me, Aragall just sounds right as Romeo -- though I can understand that people who love this opera as Bellini wrote it would likely disagree.

[Nekrotzar]

Since I listen to it with some frequency, I've lost any point of reference as to tempo - so, it seems just right to me. I think it's really well sung, however, which is paramount.

Maybe, though, I need to go and give the Böhm a listen and gain some perspective!

The Janowski recording is pretty quick as well.

[Clayton]

Comes nowhere near the Sills/ Baker recording.
Perhaps for front cover lovers but that's about as far as it gets.

I like them both, maybe the more dramatic Patanè and maybe more tender Luisi

- - - Updated - - -

It's a shame the recording quality was so poor on that Opera d'Oro version, because Bellini's music is beautiful and the singing itself is wonderful. To me, Aragall just sounds right as Romeo -- though I can understand that people who love this opera as Bellini wrote it would likely disagree.

I like the Aragall Romeo too but I too wish the recording quality was better