What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Florestan]

and today's listening was an opera I like but hadn't listened to in a while, but has some lovely singing:
Attachment 8362

A splendid opera that I have only on DVD. I need to get it on CD.

I went ahead and ordered one but got the 3 disc set conducted by Bellini instead, because it was slightly lower price and longer total time. Both are great and I struggled a lot with the decision.

[Festat]

[Hoffmann]

This opera really is first rate Bellini. Heart-achingly beautiful and this is a wonderful recording from 1985.

[Florestan]

[Festat]

[Hoffmann]

This continues to be one of my favorite recordings. George London kills!

[Clayton]

After a month of no opera, the one I pull from the tea cabinet first is

Rameau: Les Fêtes d'Hébé
Sophie Daneman, Sarah Connolly, Maryseult Wieczorek, Gaelle Mechaly (Dessus), Jean-Paul Fouchecourt, Paul Agnew (Haute-Contres) & Luc Coadou, Thierry Felix, Matthieu Lecroart, Laurent Slaars (Basses)
Les Arts Florissants
William Christie 1997

[Clayton]

and some mo' Rameau to aid the recovery

Rameau: Dardanus
Live Recording
Bernard Richter, Gaëlle Arquez, João Fernandes, Benoit Arnould, Alain Buet, Sabine Devieilhe, Emmanuelle De Negri & Romain Champion
Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
2012 (I think)

[Clayton]

still with Rameau

Rameau: Les Indes galantes
Claron McFadden (Hebe, Zima), Sandrine Piau (Zaire), Isabelle Poulenard (L'Amour, Phani), Noemi Rime (Fatime), Miriam Ruggeri (Emilie), Howard Crook (Valere/Damon), Jean-Paul Fouchecourt (Don Carlos/Tacmas), Jerome Correas (Bellone/Ali), Bernard Deletre (Huascar/Don Alvar), Nicolas Rivenq (Osman/Adario)
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie

[Hoffmann]

Weather has started to cool off, so much easier to go walking these days. Still a little humid, but nothing like it was a month back.

I hadn't listened to this in months. It's a very good opera with lots of superb singing:

[Clayton]

I'm still with Rameau

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



This one and Les Fêtes d'Hébé are very high in the Clayton Rameau charts. There is something very sexy about Rameau.

I'm talking about the music of course

Never met the geezer and couldn't comment on him though I'm sure he was a blinding guy.

[Hoffmann]

I never had a confirmation from the State of Virginia, so when I called to see if I have been registered to vote, it turns out that the State of Virginia apparently neglected to process my voter registration application when I moved late last year. The website, similarly, wouldn't accept my application online, and told me I had to mail it.

Since the deadline for the November election is 13 October and I will be out of town all next week, I decided to walk to the voter registration office and take care of the issue in person.

The walk would require either one long opera or a shorter one plus the better part of a second. Since La Sonnambula is currently surveying readers for their favorite recording, that would be today's listening.





Sure enough, I still had several miles to go when it finished. Turns out, today was a Bellini kind of day. Or, maybe, a Callas kind of day:






I love Norma and I love many different recordings. However, Callas really does own this role.

[Clayton]

There are many things to catch up on after being away from home for a month, including an octuple ironing pile, rampaging clematis and geraniums in the garden and of course all the other missed chores interspersed with high dose opera.

I have been spending much time with GFH, the usual and the not so usual suspects but top of the Handel charts this week is

Handel: Alcina
Joyce DiDonato (Alcina), Maite Beaumont (Ruggiero), Karina Gauvin (Morgana), Sonia Prina (Bradamante), Kobie Van Rensburg (Oronte), Laura Cherici (Oberto), Vito Priante (Melisso)
Il Complesso Barocco, Alan Curtis



It is most probably due to a hangover from the PaPe/Jaroussky/Aix-en-Provence production but also as it is a wonderful opera and this a great recording.

I have to write a letter to the Aix-en-Provence production asking for a dvd release. I'll add it to the things to do list.

[Clayton]

My opera recovery plan (the catch up after being away for a month with no opera) so far

Rameau → Handel → Monteverdi

at the moment



Monteverdi: Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria
Fernando Guimarães (Ulisse), Jennifer Rivera (Penelope), Aaron Sheehan (Telemaco), Leah Wool (Minerva), Owen McIntosh (Giove), Abigail Nims (Melanto), Daniel Auchincloss (Eumaeus), Sonja DuToit Tengblad (Juno), Ulysses Thomas (Antinous) & Marc Molomot (Irus)
Boston Baroque, Martin Pearlman

[Clayton]

and now for something completely different



Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Galina Vishnevskaya (Tatyana), Ywevgeniy Belos (Onegin), Sergey Lemeshev (Lensky), Larissa Avdeyeva (Olga), Valentina Petrova (Larina), Eugenia Verbitskaya (Filipyevna), Ivan Petrov (Gremin), Andrei Sokolov (Triquet), Igor Mikhailov (Zaretsky)
Choir and Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre
Boris Khaikin 1955



I wanted to check to see if this is the opera I want to buy tickets for with quite a limiting budget.

This recording makes a jolly good case.