What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Hoffmann]

Kinda rainy again today but supposed to stop this afternoon, so pondering a walk.

In the meantime, I am playing this as it has a great cast and two of my favorite singers in Frederica von Stade and Marilyn Horne:





Unfortunately, this live recording doesn't hold up very well against either the Opera d'Oro (Piero Bellugi w/Montserrat Caballe, Julia Hamari, Franco Bonisolli, et al., 1970) or the CBS Masterworks (Maurizio Pollini w/Katia Ricciarrelli, Lucia Valentini Terrani, Dano Raffanti, Samuel Ramey, et al. 1983).

The recording levels seem out of balance - very singer forward with the orchestra sort of in the background and the performance doesn't seem any where near as polished as the other two. Plus, tenor Rockwell Blake especially did not seem to be having a good outing. I'm also not crazy about Marilyn Horne in the trouser role here, which may be me preferring her in the lighter comedic roles rather than in dramatic Rossini.

Not sure if this was a pirate, as I don't recognize the label, but even used was a very pricey acquisition ($50).

[Hoffmann]

Wow. I thought I had a lot of music to have one dedicated music player to opera (my OperaPod). but to have it even further divided into seperate players by language. Wow!

Well, it's actually not that neat. It's not that easy to divide the catalogue.

German operas were easy to separate out because there style and sound is sort of unique. However, my catalogue of recordings isn't all that big, so I've got some baroque and Russian language operas included.

One of them is primarily bel canto - rather than Italian, and is pretty consistent with a couple of French operas added to the mix.

The third is Italian/Verdi and Italian/Mozart with some more baroque added in.

I'm at the point of really needing another - maybe just for baroque.

[Clayton]

gotta go the way of So_Fa...

I bought this today, the only one left in the country. I've had my eye on one for ages as I am constantly juggling collections on various little Walkmen. This has 128GB (Still will only take part of the collection...). And before anyone mentions iPods, I just would like to express how much I hate iTunes.

[Clayton]

Still stuck on the Keilberth Götterdämmerung. I'm thinking my life may not be complete if I don't get the '55, so am looking into eebay to see how much I can auction my organs for.

[Clayton]

well, there you go. You need to provide a health certificate and smokers and heavy drinkers are not welcome. So if you love your opera, stop smoking, drink in moderation and look after your health.

[Florestan]

Still stuck on the Keilberth Götterdämmerung. I'm thinking my life may not be complete if I don't get the '55, so am looking into eebay to see how much I can auction my organs for.

Too bad you are not pre-puberty. You could give up some organs for a mezzo-soprano singing career, and get the CD set too.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

[Florestan]

[Sonata]

Verdi's Falstaff in English

[Florestan]

Library checkout:

[Festat]

Happy New Year everyone! I'm back.

My (literally) deserted island recording this year:



Early in the morning I'd get my hammock to the beach and listen to this. Amazing how scary it can get when you're all alone by the sea and under a thin crescent moon.

[Festat]

I didn't really appreciate this when it was released. Once I figured Norma was Anna Magnani, however, it all made perfect sense and now it's wonderful.

[Florestan]

[Clayton]

Welcome back Festat and Happy New Year to you!

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

Happy New Year everyone! I'm back.

My (literally) deserted island recording this year:



Early in the morning I'd get my hammock to the beach and listen to this. Amazing how scary it can get when you're all alone by the sea and under a thin crescent moon.

Welcome back and Happy New Year Festat!

Were you really on a deserted island? The only one there?