I had dipped into this a month ago but hadn't listened to Il Trovatore in full for a lot longer. It needed a proper re-listen and I was well rewarded.
It might be my fourth favourite Verdi Opera but I still love it.
"Non sono in vena" Rodolfo summing up P.B's feelings on his dissertation.
I Puritani is just wonderful and I must get that version. Reading about cuts, I remember how disappointed I was when I realised there were several scenes cut in the Callas Lucia I'd bought.Originally Posted by Hoffmann
Today I listened to my my favourite Lucia. Uncut.
"Every theatre is an insane asylum, but an opera theatre is the ward for the incurables."
FRANZ SCHALK, attributed, Losing the Plot in Opera: Myths and Secrets of the World's Great Operas
I Puritani is just wonderful and I must get that version. Reading about cuts, I remember how disappointed I was when I realised there were several scenes cut in the Callas Lucia I'd bought.
Scenes? Entire scenes? Lucia? Callas? Whatever were they thinking?
Wolf's Crag scene for one.
"Every theatre is an insane asylum, but an opera theatre is the ward for the incurables."
FRANZ SCHALK, attributed, Losing the Plot in Opera: Myths and Secrets of the World's Great Operas
Karajan Ring - wow.
Natalie
Ditto on my trip to the shops today.
To celebrate the fact I managed to get two tickets for the final dress rehearsal of Nabucco, I listened to this sublime version. If ROH's production is only half as good, I'll be happy.
"Every theatre is an insane asylum, but an opera theatre is the ward for the incurables."
FRANZ SCHALK, attributed, Losing the Plot in Opera: Myths and Secrets of the World's Great Operas
Yesterday's walk:
My favorite Figaro, by far. Kiri Te Kanawa's "Dove Sono" stops me in my tracks. Te Kanawa and Samuel Ramey, Lucia Popp, Frederica von Stade all under Solti's baton, is as good as it gets!
Last night I decided to listen to Muti's I Puritani set with Montserrat ("Montsy") Caballe and Alfredo Kraus as I usually listen only to the Sutherland (also referenced as "Sutherland 2") and Callas sets.
Caballe is very good, as always, as is Kraus. I find Matteo Manuguerra and Agostino Ferrin's Riccardo and Giorgio jarring, however. Once past their not-so-pleasing sound they do begin to grow on me, but my constant ear worm featuring Nicolai Ghiaurov and Piero Cappuccilli keeps fighting them along the way. They sing just fine, but their timbre(s) and sound seems just too idiosyncratic and hard for me to appreciate.
Today's walk was very nice - an especially nice spring day with temps in the 70s (ca. 25 C). That's the way it goes in DC: freezing cold gives way to heat with little break in between.
So, I listened to this:
I have to admit that Il Corsaro is pleasant enough, but not particularly interesting. This recording is nicely sung, but the opera is fairly short, so I had to come up with a follow up:
La Gioconda is not my favorite opera, but this is rather well done. Since it's Callas, the recording emphasizes the high drama, so pretty good walking music.
This is an extremely cheerful piece about the river Seine. Go figure.
Natalie
many appo loggies (as shorty-greasy-spot-spot would have pronounced) for my absence but I am still suffering from unstable internet connection. I think it's due to the population expansion in the area and the necessary network capacity adjustments...
I'm of course listening to much opera, of which most is the usual suspects (seventeenth/ early eighteenth century compositions) so I can't post anything different from what I normally post; except this one was pulled from the tea cabinet today
Bellini: I Puritani
Joan Sutherland (Elvira), Luciano Pavarotti (Arturo Talbot), Piero Cappuccilli (Riccardo Forth), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Giorgio Walton), Anita Caminada (Enrichetta de France), Gian Carlo Luccardi (Gualtiero Walton), Renato Cazzaniga (Bruno Robertson)
Chorus of Royal Opera House Covent Garden, London Symphony Orchestra,
Richard Bonynge
It's been a long time since I listened to this. It is ....
dammit
words fail me
AGAIN
Bravo! I love - love - that recording!
Another lovely day in Washington, DC. Let's see, what did I listen to?
Oh yes, I remember:
This live recording from 1987 is good - naturally, with Marilyn Horne and Montsy! Though I don't know why Montsy gets top billing over Marilyn Horne. Go figure.
Then, because it was a long walk today, I needed a follow up, so, inspired by Florestan:
Superb recording with Beverly Sills and Eileen Farrell.
The poor Queen of Scots -- one recording label used a likeness of a different Mary Stuart -- Queen Mary II -- as a cover illustration; a second used Holbein's portrait of Anne of Cleves; and this one depicts her cousin, Mary Tudor (Mary I).
Superb recording with Beverly Sills and Eileen Farrell.
Am about to dig into this after hearing about a recent production of it in Lasaunne and the North American premiere. I'm a sucker for anything about Napoleon's offspring
And since I'm on this whole 1812/Napoleon jag, I might as well add a little Tchaikovsky/Pushkin to the mix
Plus I just couldn't resist this Opera Rara morsel that I got for myself as a Birthday Gift (just recently in the last year or two became a fan of their work...now if only they would do a recording of Les Huguenots my life would be complete)
another odd (for me) one pulled from the tea cabinet
Rossini: Guillaume Tell
Andrew Foster-Williams (Tell), Alessandra Volpe (Hedwige), Judith Howarth (Mathilde), Michael Spyres (Arnold), Tara Stafford (Jemmy), Giulio Pelligra (Rodolphe), Artavazd Sargsyan (Ruodi), Nahuel Di Pierro (Walther Fürst/Melchthal), Raffaele Facciolà (Gesler), Marco Filippo Romano (Leuthold)
Virtuosi Brunensis & Camerata Bach Choir, Poznań, Antonino Fogliani
as other have said (I think), if this had been arouond at the time of voting on the favourite recording thread, I think I would have recommended this one.
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