What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Florestan]

L'amico Fritz, Algana/Gheorghiu (my favorite Fritz, but alas if only Beverly Sills had recorded this one)

La Serva Padrona, Moffo (from You Tube video)

Now this gem. This comes off via the translation to English sort of like a Gilbert and Sullivanization of Martha. Quite fun.

[Povero Buoso]

I listened to this again



As always it was brilliant. Then I listened to this as well for the second time within two weeks.



After this much re-listening logically I should be growing tired of these operas. Logically the same thing over and over will grow stale. Logic has been defied as this has not been the case. In my head all day and occasionally out loud I have been channeling Gobbi's Scarpia from the start of act 2 of Tosca or quoting Michele from Il Tabarro or reciting the opening from Gianni Schicchi (verbatim) to my partner as we walked back from dinner. Unfortunately my dissertation (though it is progressing well) means I have been spending copious amounts of time in the library and I need something familiar to keep my sanity. I wish Puccini had written even more operas...

[Florestan]

[Soave_Fanciulla]

[Florestan]

[Clayton]

...
Yesterday's walk:


Attachment 9288

oh I hadn't listened to this for at least a couple of weeks. I had to put this on.

[Florestan]

[Hoffmann]

oh I hadn't listened to this for at least a couple of weeks. I had to put this on.

A really lovely opera I need to listen to more often. Simone Kermes is spectacular!

[Hoffmann]

An otherworldly spring day - DC sparkles on days like this. Temps in the 70s F/20s C, lots of sun and bright blue sky. Ideal walking weather made truly fabulous by listening to one of the really great Rossini operas - one I don't listen to nearly often enough. Completely gorgeous singing from beginning to end:





Conducted by Riccardo Frizza, I don't know the other principals in the cast: Bruno Taddia, Bruno DiSimone, etc.

[Clayton]

An otherworldly spring day - DC sparkles on days like this. Temps in the 70s F/20s C, lots of sun and bright blue sky. Ideal walking weather made truly fabulous by listening to one of the really great Rossini operas - one I don't listen to nearly often enough. Completely gorgeous singing from beginning to end:





Conducted by Riccardo Frizza, I don't know the other principals in the cast: Bruno Taddia, Bruno DiSimone, etc.

Yup, I'm happy to follow Hoffmann here as well

I mean with the Rossini, not the walk.

- - - Updated - - -

I think this CD was one of my first charity shop purchases

[Clayton]

I'm also predicting a mefistofele recording to queue jump the listening pile sometime soon

[Clayton]

I'm also predicting a mefistofele recording to queue jump the listening pile sometime soon

Well, obviously, that didn't happen...

whilst looking in the tea cabinet for the Mefistofele recording, I got distracted and ended up somewhere completely different


Humperdinck: Königskinder
Jonas Kaufmann, Ofelia Sala, Detlef Roth & Nora Gubisch
Orchestra National de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon, Armin Jordan

[Clayton]

and that somehow took me to

Rimsky Korsakov

The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia

Vladimir Galusin (Grishka Kutyer'ma), Galina Gorchakova (Fevroniya), Nikolai Putilin (Fyodor Poyarok), Nikolai Ohotnikov (Yury Vsevolodovich), Yevgeny Boitsov (Merchant I), Evgeny Fedorov (Merchant II), Nikolai Gassiev (Bear Trainer), Olga Korzhenskaya (Youth), Larissa Diadkova (Alkonost)
Kirov Opera & Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, Valery Gergiev
Recorded in 1994



an astounding work, sometimes dubbed the Korsakov Parsifal (I haven't actually figured this one out yet, I'm just stating it as a piece of information on the work thinking it somehow shows the magnitude of the work). It is beautiful, tender, violent, sacred, magnificent, exciting, sad and lovely. Here, it is produced in a wonderful live recording appreciated as one of the best available with a superb cast and a modern good quality sound. I highly, highly recommend it.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

and that somehow took me to

Rimsky Korsakov

The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia

Vladimir Galusin (Grishka Kutyer'ma), Galina Gorchakova (Fevroniya), Nikolai Putilin (Fyodor Poyarok), Nikolai Ohotnikov (Yury Vsevolodovich), Yevgeny Boitsov (Merchant I), Evgeny Fedorov (Merchant II), Nikolai Gassiev (Bear Trainer), Olga Korzhenskaya (Youth), Larissa Diadkova (Alkonost)
Kirov Opera & Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, Valery Gergiev
Recorded in 1994



an astounding work, sometimes dubbed the Korsakov Parsifal (I haven't actually figured this one out yet, I'm just stating it as a piece of information on the work thinking it somehow shows the magnitude of the work). It is beautiful, tender, violent, sacred, magnificent, exciting, sad and lovely. Here, it is produced in a wonderful live recording appreciated as one of the best available with a superb cast and a modern good quality sound. I highly, highly recommend it.

Such a great opera.

[Hoffmann]

Artaserse sets a rather brisk pace. I overdid it a little today (another lovely day, btw) by miss-judging today's course - a new route, which ended up at just under 12 miles.