What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Been an odd sort of week so returned to a new version of one of my favourite operas.

Attachment 8718

La Traviata is still one of my favourite Verdi Operas (especially the first two acts which are close to perfect) my favourite part remains the finale of act 2 scene 1 with Germont's famous aria and the sadly often cut "No, non udrai rimproveri"

And this to me is the perfect recording. The particular timbre of Cotrubas's voice is just right for Violetta.

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

I listened to another perfect opera
Attachment 8719

I listened to this on the shopping schlep today - thanks for the memory nudge.

[Hoffmann]

I haven't stopped to figure out how many operas remain from that box I bought back in November, but I just put this on this recording from 1979 for this morning's listen:

[Florestan]

After hearing this on DVD I could not help getting the CD of the same performance:

[Clayton]

Winter series now over, there's no more cricket until the summer series starts in May (sad face) and I'm back to the world of opera (happy face)...



Verdi: Aida
Anja Harteros (Aida), Jonas Kaufmann (Radamès), Ekaterina Semenchuk (Amneris), Ludovic Tezier (Amonasro), Erwin Schrott (Ramfis), Marco Spotti (Il Re d'Egitto), Paolo Fanale (Un Messaggero), Eleonora Buratto (Sacerdotessa)
Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Roma; Coro dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Roma, Antonio Pappano
2015

now if this had been around at the time we were recommending recordings for Aida in the favourite recordings thread, this would have been my choice, it is magnificent. Superb interpretation with magnificent cast, chorus and orchestra. A wonderful book format with libretto, synopsis, essays and pictures (I like pictures) and an absolute bargain price of GBP 14 at PC, it's a must get for Verdi, JK and Harteros fans amongst others.
I do understand MAuer's point about the sound engineering leading to big changes in volume but to be honest a recording like this deserves to be played on speakers in an otherwise empty house at a volume that can be heard in ancient Egypt...

[Hoffmann]

This is nice but, in my view, doesn't replace either the Muti or the Gardelli.

[Povero Buoso]

Essay reference time again. This means Puccini

[Soave_Fanciulla]

José Cura does some of the most nuanced singing I have ever heard from him - he's great in this role. And Olga Borodina, mamma mia, what a force of nature. I reckon Samson could just sit and twiddle his thumbs and let her knock the temple down with her voice.

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

I needed something to last a trip to the mail sorting office to pick up a parcel plus a trip to the supermarket and this admirably served the purpose. I know when it happens but the gun shot always makes me jump!

[Clayton]

I needed something to last a trip to the mail sorting office to pick up a parcel plus a trip to the supermarket and this admirably served the purpose. I know when it happens but the gun shot always makes me jump!
...

Yes, I reeeeally don't like gun shots on the recordings... I rather they did not have them. Or occasionally the thunder. or smashing magic urns.

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

Yes, I reeeeally don't like gun shots on the recordings... I rather they did not have them. Or occasionally the thunder. or smashing magic urns.

Showing my ignorance here ... smashing magic urns?

[Clayton]

It's the Curtis recording of Alcina; it get's me every time!

The wife sometimes calls me a hampster, after we once saw a documentary that told us the hampster scares very easily and can die of a heart attack as a consequence!

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

It's the Curtis recording of Alcina; it get's me every time!

Ah that explains it, have not heard it.

The wife sometimes calls me a hampster, after we once saw a documentary that told us the hampster scares very easily and can die of a heart attack as a consequence!

Hehe!

[Clayton]

Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
Boris Christoff (Boris/Pimen/Varlaam), Nicolai Gedda (Grigory (False Dmitry)), Kim Borg (Rangoni/Tchelkalov), Eugenia Zareska (Marina), Andre Bielecki (Shuisky/Missail), Eugenia Zareska (Fyodor), Ludmilla Lebedeva (Xenia), Lydia Romanova (Hostess), Wassili Pasternak (Simpleton)
Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française, Choeurs Russes de Paris, Issay Dobrowen
Studio recording, 1952



Wonderful Christoff
and Gedda
and
well...
all

[Soave_Fanciulla]

This is a good recording, but... I just don't really get Schumann. I'm glad the library bought it rather than me!