What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Clayton]

Ha ha! A good length Wagner walk!

I also think that performance is very exciting. In fact I've just decided that's my next listening!

[StarThrower]

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

This took me to the supermarket and back. Snow is forecast so I didn't hang about and got home well before the end! Will listen to the rest next time.

[Hoffmann]

How is Rene Kollo's Parsifal? He tended to have good days and not so good days. I saw him sing Lohengrin here in 1975, my second time at the opera, and he was awesome. That evening cemented my fascination and love of opera that has lasted a lifetime.

[Hoffmann]

Ha ha! A good length Wagner walk!

I also think that performance is very exciting. In fact I've just decided that's my next listening!

Well, I will only admit to you that I only walked 6 miles yesterday - far enough that I only got a little more than halfway through Act II. I finished up at home. This happens frequently...

[Sonata]

This seems to be my favorite version of Magic Flute so far, I shall buy it at some point.


My Verdi project rolls on


In the mood for some Russian opera, and I enjoyed my first listen to Sadko.

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

This seems to be my favorite version of Magic Flute so far, I shall buy it at some point.


My Verdi project rolls on




In the mood for some Russian opera, and I enjoyed my first listen to Sadko.

A nice diverse selection there!

[StarThrower]

How is Rene Kollo's Parsifal? He tended to have good days and not so good days. I saw him sing Lohengrin here in 1975, my second time at the opera, and he was awesome. That evening cemented my fascination and love of opera that has lasted a lifetime.

I'm a complete novice when it comes to Wagner, and opera in general. But I love this performance. The sound is superb for a 1975 live recording, and musically speaking, it's one of the most beautiful operas I've listened to so far.

[Florestan]

[Sonata]

A nice diverse selection there!

Thank you Annie! I have a free trial of Amazon unlimited music, so I've been trying out as much as I can. Today I am listening to Prokofiev's War & Peace. I like it very much so far. I listened on my morning commute and all the snow was very evocative for a Russian opera setting

[Clayton]

After a brief trip to the banks of the Seine to enjoy some poetry, music and dance (with Hébé and L'amour), I was back to



Wagner: Götterdämmerung
Marjorie Lawrence (Brunnhilde), Dorothee Manski (Gutrune), Kathryn Meisle (Waltraute), Lauritz Melchior (Siegfried), Friedrich Schorr (Gunther), Eduard Habich (Alberich) & Ludwig Hofmann (Hagen)
Orchestra and Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera, Artur Bodanzky
Live recording 11th January 1936

[Florestan]

After a brief trip to the banks of the Seine to enjoy some poetry, music and dance (with Hébé and L'amour), I was back to



Wagner: Götterdämmerung
Marjorie Lawrence (Brunnhilde), Dorothee Manski (Gutrune), Kathryn Meisle (Waltraute), Lauritz Melchior (Siegfried), Friedrich Schorr (Gunther), Eduard Habich (Alberich) & Ludwig Hofmann (Hagen)
Orchestra and Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera, Artur Bodanzky
Live recording 11th January 1936

Nice. How is the sound quality?

[Clayton]

Nice. How is the sound quality?

The superb award winning Ward Marston has worked on this but it is a live recording from 1936 so has hiss, cracks and tape whirp. Though I also think it's wonderful!
If you prefer the modern studio quality sounds and don't enjoy so much noisier live recordings then I wouldn't recommend this. However if you can see through cracks and pops then I think this is a get for Götterdämmerung fans for the experience of this great cast/performance.

[MAuer]

Conductor/orchestra: Sir Antonio Pappano, Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Cast: Angela Gheorghiu (Butterfly), Jonas Kaufmann (Pinkerton), Enkelejda Shkosa (Suzuki), Fabio Capitanucci (Sharpless), Gregory Bonfatti (Goro) & Raymond Aceto (Bonze)

Love the music; love this recording.

[Clayton]

Going back two evenings and forward five years...



Wagner: Die Walküre
Lauritz Melchior (Siegmund), Astrid Varnay (Sieglinde), Helen Traubel (Brünnhilde), Friedrich Schorr (Wotan), Kerstin Thorborg (Fricka)
New York Metropolitan Opera and Chorus, Erich Leinsdorf
6th December 1941

This time with Helen Traubel partnering Melchior; this is a better sound quality (five years later and taken from a radio broadcast) and has many wet dog moments (spine tingling or body shakes), it really is exciting.