What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Clayton]

now this opera really brings out the multiple personality in me but since Mary's post the other day it's been in my to listen to pile...



daft story... no tragic story...

hate the music... no love the music...


it's a marmite opera

[Hoffmann]

Yesterday's walk - I was inspired by watching the Roberta Peters Youtube clip, so despite not owning the Die Zäuberflöte recording featuring Peters as Queen of the Nigt, listened to the recording I do have (I have the recording with Peters on vinyl but no longer have the means to listen to it).

[Florestan]

[MAuer]

Yesterday's walk - I was inspired by watching the Roberta Peters Youtube clip, so despite not owning the Die Zäuberflöte recording featuring Peters as Queen of the Nigt, listened to the recording I do have (I have the recording with Peters on vinyl but no longer have the means to listen to it).

The Böhm Die Zauberflöte was the first opera recording I purchased (back in the late '70s), so I still have the old LPs, too.

[Hoffmann]

The Böhm Die Zauberflöte was the first opera recording I purchased (back in the late '70s), so I still have the old LPs, too.

Yes, it also was one of my first opera purchases - I even remember when and where I bought it: the record department at the old Korvettes Dept store in the late 70s. I had had an unfortunate altercation with my boss at work and decided it was exactly what would cheer me up (she was completely in the wrong, of course!).



Really nasty weather here in DC today, with dangerous level wind gusts, so no walking. In the meantime, a little mid-winter opera listening:

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

Seeing the dress rehearsal of Adriana Lecouvreur soon so had another listen to this. Milnes is brilliant.

It's double cast at ROH so won't know who will be singing but Michonnet is sung by Gerald Finley or Alessandro Corbelli and I'll be happy to see either.

[Florestan]

Awesome. My Sawallisch 1989 Ring cycle CD set arrived today and also this Goodall set that I will be listening to tonight:

[Florestan]

If I'm remembering correctly, Waltraud Meier sings Waltraute in the Levine/Met Ring.

You know, that is really weird. Look at the names:

Waltraud
Waltraute

Do you think her parents named her after the Wagner character, softening the ending a bit?

[Florestan]

I can check it out, though I thought she was pretty much associated with Barenboim.

Meanwhile, you guys are going to get me in trouble. Look what happened. Since you brought it up, I moved my Ring to the MP3 player and having a bit of indecision about what to listen to today, I figured why not, so current listening (1990s cycle with Neuhold conducting--sound quality pretty decent):

But how can I not pursue the grandest and hugest opera cycle in history? I mean, this is a must do for any opera fan worth their salt, eh?

Look what happened. And it was all because of a You Tube posted here, titled "Wagner's 15-hour Ring Cycle...in two and a half minutes." That was December 17 and I had one Ring cycle (Neuhold) as happenstance from having once bought a cheap complete Wagner opera set. Here I am a little over five weeks later, the proud owner of five additional Ring cycles: Solti, Krauss, Sawallisch, Goodall, and Levine on DVD. Guess that makes me a bona fide Ring nut.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Look what happened. And it was all because of a You Tube posted here, titled "Wagner's 15-hour Ring Cycle...in two and a half minutes." That was December 17 and I had one Ring cycle (Neuhold) as happenstance from having once bought a cheap complete Wagner opera set. Here I am a little over five weeks later, the proud owner of five additional Ring cycles: Solti, Krauss, Sawallisch, Goodall, and Levine on DVD. Guess that makes me a bona fide Ring nut.

Yes I've been watching this and thinking "Florestan really got the bug quickly!".

[Florestan]

Yes I've been watching this and thinking "Florestan really got the bug quickly!".

I have a tendency to be impulsive. But it did grab me and carry my along too. Still is. Just ripped my Sawallisch Ring cycle last night and am itching to get listening to it tonight.

[MAuer]

You know, that is really weird. Look at the names:

Waltraud
Waltraute

Do you think her parents named her after the Wagner character, softening the ending a bit?

Waltraud is a fairly common name in the German-speaking countries, as are Gudrun (Gutrune), Siegfried, and Günther. Not too many Wotans or Alberichs running around, however.

I was wrong about Meier singing Waltraute in the Levine Ring -- that's actually Christa Ludwig. As you noted, Frau Meier often performed with Barenboim, and it's in his late 1980s/early 1990s Bayreuth Ring that she sings Waltraute. And, of course, there is a real Siegfried (Jerusalem) singing the offspring of Siegmund and Sieglinde in both of those cycles.

[Clayton]

A follow on from my last poochie listening



Mascagni: Iris
Osaka (Placido Domingo), Iris (Ilona Tokody), Kyoto (Juan Pons), Il Cieco (Bonaldo Giaiotti), Dhia (Gabriella Ferroni), Geisha (Conchita Antunano), Il Cenciaiuolo (Sergio Tedesco), Un Cenciaiuolo, Un Merciaiuolo (Heinrich Weber)
Giuseppe Patané 1988

A very close relative, it is also a drama that is daft in the extreme; irritatingly so. There are musical spots that try to pull you over to the side of a tragic drama but in other parts just give over to daft plot side. Ironic, given that this was the height of the verissimo period (or as our friend Revenant's father put it: Nuova Scuola).

[Clayton]

A very dramatic production and a very good cast. I much prefer the Dobrowen recording with Boris Christoff but it's good to hear other interpretations



Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
edited by Rimsky-Korsakov
Nicolai Ghiaurov (Boris), Olivera Miljakovic (Fyodor), Aleksei Maslennikov (Shuisky/Simpleton), Martti Talvela (Pimen), Ludovic Spiess (Grigory/False Dmitry), Anton Diakov (Varlaam), Nadejda Dobrianova (Xenia), Milen Paunov (Missail), Galina Vishnevskaya (Marina), Zoltan Kélémén (Rangoni), Margarita Lilowa (Hostess)
Wiener Sängerknaben, Sofia Radio Chorus, Wiener Staatsopernchor & Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
Recorded: Sofiensaal, Vienna, 11/1970

[Clayton]

Donizetti's grand opera; too grand actually to be staged in the theatre apparently. Though the good part of audio recordings is that you can just make it up with the most lavish and epic production you can possibly imagine...



Donizetti: Dom Sébastien, Roi de Portugal
Vesselina Kasarova (Zaida), Giuseppe Filianoti (Dom Sébastien), Alastair Miles (Dom Juan de Silva), Simon Keenlyside (Abayaldos), Carmelo Corrado Caruso (Camoëns), Robert Gleadow (Dom Henrique), John Upperton (Dom Antonio), Andrew Slater (Ben-Selim)
Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Mark Elder
Concert performance recorded September 2005, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden