What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Soave_Fanciulla]

I had no idea we had so many members here who are not HC.

That's all very well but what do you think of the disc?

[Soave_Fanciulla]

This is how to use machinery to stage Wagner effectively.

[DrMike]

That's all very well but what do you think of the disc?

Not a clue. I haven't heard it.

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

Ah nice one HC. The lack of legal downloading is a very irritating part of living Down Under.

I didn't know you couldn't download from Amazon! I suppose it is a long way for the pigeon.

[DrMike]

This is how to use machinery to stage Wagner effectively.

I once thought that Fischer-Dieskau was the only one I could ever listen to singing Schubert, but I am a huge fan of the Padmore/Lewis team up for Schubert's Lieder cycles - I have the all, Schwanengesang, die Winterreise, and die schoene Muellerin, and highly recommend them all.

[Aramis]

What hurts me is that from all charming photos they had from photo session for this album and which we can see inside the booklet, they had to choose this one for the cover, one where she looks like awkward insect.

What doesn't hurt me is that it's great album.

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

What hurts me is that from all charming photos they had from photo session for this album and which we can see inside the booklet, they had to choose this one for the cover, one where she looks like awkward insect.

What doesn't hurt me is that it's great album.

Wow, that's a rather pretty awkward insect. Can I have more of these?

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

I had no idea we had so many members here who are not HC.

I'm sorry to inform you that as far as I know (I just looked at my image on a mirror, very attentively) I'm also not HC.
However, I'm about to publish a review of this, as soon as I find a moment to write it up:

[Aramis]

Wow, that's a rather pretty awkward insect. Can I have more of those?

Sure, go find some grassland and catch as many as you wish.

[HarpsichordConcerto]

HarpsichorConcerto, where should one start in Vivaldi's opera oeuvre?

Vivaldi's operas are enjoying a rediscovery, which are literally happening as we speak, and that which began not many years ago. I can recall when CDs first appeared, performers were recording mainly the concertos and instrumental music (they still are), then moving onto discovering the church music in the 1990s (more or less), and now, the operas. Record label Naïve has released quite a few.

To answer your question, you could begin with say, Ottone in Villa. I have pictured a few below. The oratorio Juditha Triumphans is worth mentioning, too.







Tito Manilo






Orlando Furioso






Juditha Triumphans

[Bardamu]

Composed by an italian musician emigrated in England.
The music has a russian flavor and it is set in America within the chinese community.



Thanks again Schigolch :-)

[brianwalker]

I'm right in the middle of this; what do Rigoletto experts make of this recording?

[Schigolch]

Luigi Nono's Intolleranza 1960, in Mezzo TV.

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

I'm right in the middle of this; what do Rigoletto experts make of this recording?

The make it or break it for this recording is whether or not you *can* like Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Rigoletto, a role that obviously is not well-suited for his thinner, elegant, German-lieder kind of voice with a high tessitura, as opposed to a truly Italianate Verdi baritone. But even if you don't buy this particular aspect of the casting for this recording (and some do like the fact that these characteristics of his voice add some pathos to the role), it still has many other qualities. Bergonzi is just spectacular as the Duca; Rafael Kubelik does a wonderful job and is better here than in other recordings of his, and Scotto at age 30 is probably not the best Gilda but is still very interesting, with a voice that had not yet acquired the unpleasant shrillness that some non-fans blame her for. Comprimario roles are also good with Vinco as Sparafucile and Cossotto as Maddalena. So overall I'd say that this is a very good rendition of Rigoletto, and would have been a total killer, up there with the very best, if they had a specialist in the title role instead of D F-D.

[Aramis]

The make it or break it for this recording is whether or not you *can* like Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Rigoletto, a role that obviously is not well-suited for his thinner, elegant, German-lieder kind of voice with a high tessitura, as opposed to a truly Italianate Verdi baritone. But even if you don't buy this particular aspect of the casting for this recording (and some do like the fact that these characteristics of his voice add some pathos to the role), it still has many other qualities. Bergonzi is just spectacular as the Duca; Rafael Kubelik does a wonderful job and is better here than in other recordings of his, and Scotto at age 30 is probably not the best Gilda but is still very interesting, with a voice that had not yet acquired the unpleasant shrillness that some non-fans blame her for. Comprimario roles are also good with Vinco as Sparafucile and Cossotto as Maddalena. So overall I'd say that this is a very good rendition of Rigoletto, and would have been a total killer, up there with the very best, if they had a specialist in the title role instead of D F-D.

YES INDEED so whatever you like it or not, get other Rigolettos, lots of them: Kraus/Moffo/Merrill, Popp/Aragall/Weikl, Kraus/Scotto/Bastianini, Pavarotti/Sutherland/Milnes or Domingo/Cotrubas/MacNeil if you want another great DVD.