What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Florestan]

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.

But Waltraud sings Waltraute in the 1989 Sawallisch set I just got in yesterday's mail, which I just started listening to tonight (see below).

[Florestan]

[Sonata]

Rossini time



Actually, having just watched Verdi's Macbeth and Falstaff, I should consider continuing this apparent Shakespeare trend: Verdi's Otello, Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream, Gonoud's Romeo and Juliet, Bellini's Capuleti and Montecchi, and Thomas' Hamlet. Should be fun!

[Hoffmann]

A gorgeous day here in Washington today, so for today's walk:

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Rossini time



Actually, having just watched Verdi's Macbeth and Falstaff, I should consider continuing this apparent Shakespeare trend: Verdi's Otello, Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream, Gonoud's Romeo and Juliet, Bellini's Capuleti and Montecchi, and Thomas' Hamlet. Should be fun!

A good project - how about Adès' The Tempest, Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, & Reimann's Lear.

[MAuer]

Conductor: Emmanuelle Haïm
Cast: Ian Bostridge (Orfeo), Natalie Dessay (La Musica), Patrizia Ciofi (Euridice), Véronique Gens (Proserpina), Alice Coote (Messaggiera), Sonia Prina (Speranza), Carolyn Sampson (Ninfa), Paul Agnew (Eco/Shepherd), Christopher Maltman (Apollo/Shepherd), Lorenzo Regazzo (Plutone), Mario Luperi (Caronte), Pascal Bertin, Richard Burkhard (Shepherds)

Got things backwards here, so that I’m familiarizing myself with Monteverdi’s first opera after getting acquainted with his last one (L'Incoronazione di Poppea) and second-to-last one (Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria) previously. Almost four decades separate Poppea (1642) and L’Orfeo (1607), and the stylistic differences between the two are pronounced. The death of Elizabeth I preceded the premiere of L’Orfeo by only four years, and the Renaissance roots of the music seem quite clear in contrast to the early Baroque character of Poppea and Ulisse. What really amazes me is that some of the solo vocal writing, especially in the third and fourth acts, almost sounds to me as though it could have come from the pen of certain 21st century composers. It’s not melodic in the same way we’re accustomed to hearing even in Monteverdi’s own later works, and at times, Orfeo’s music has the sort of vocal acrobatics that really makes me think of modern operas (not the atonal ones). What may also be influencing my perception is the fact that I have Poppea and Ulisse on DVD, whereas this is an audio recording without any visuals to support the drama and which perhaps makes me focus on the music more.
In any event, this is a fabulous recording with what really amounts to luxury casting in the many small roles. Glad I waited for it.

[Sonata]

A good project - how about Adès' The Tempest, Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, & Reimann's Lear.

Thank you for the additional suggestions! I'll look for those too.

Right now I'm back to Verdi, my favorite. I was able to listen to most of this opera during my morning workout and commute, I hope to finish during my lunch break. The singing on this recording is phenomenal across the board, in my humble opinion.

[Hoffmann]

Very windy here today - although sunny and nice. However, didn't sleep well last night so decided a nap was inevitable. Listening to now, this set that somehow had escaped notice:

[Hoffmann]

I went out to walk today, but it was still windy and cold. I walked a little over a mile and decided that life is short and turned around and walked home. However, I felt guilty for being a wuss, so found my way downstairs in my building to the gym and the treadmill. Not my favorite thing, but no one was around, so got in an hour (etiquette allows 30 mins max) and managed to walk off a few calories. Today's listen:

[Florestan]

Just arrived today, completing my Goodall cycle.

[Hoffmann]

Just arrived today, completing my Goodall cycle.

Ok, Florestan. I am alternately fascinated and appalled by the concept of the Ring in English. Somehow it just doesn't seem right - "ring" true, as it were.

You've listened to the Ring done both in German and English - What do you think - Does work well in translation? Does the Ring in English improve one's ability to understand the operas over German?

[Florestan]

Ok, Florestan. I am alternately fascinated and appalled by the concept of the Ring in English. Somehow it just doesn't seem right - "ring" true, as it were.

You've listened to the Ring done both in German and English - What do you think - Does work well in translation? Does the Ring in English improve one's ability to understand the operas over German?

I have a lot of operas in English: Fidelio, Barber of Seville, Elixir of Love, Martha, Merry Widow, Mary Stuart, Thieving Magpie, Tosca, Flying Dutchman. Fidelio is terrible (Abscheulicher is translated as "sadistic swine"!). The others are pretty good and in fact I only have the English set for the Thieving Magpie. In particular I really like Martha in English a lot (much humor in this translation--makes me think Gilbert and Sullivan), but even then turn back to a German version for the beauty of the original language performance.

As for the Ring, the Goodall performance is exceptionally good. I rank it right up there with some of the best Rings on CD. I think it is especially good for me because I am new to the ring (6 weeks in) and being such a long opera (series of operas) it is much easier to know where I am in the English recording, though it is not always easy to understand the words, there does seem to be a bit more clarity of the sung word in Goodall's Ring over many other English recordings and that may be because he uses about the slowest tempos of any Ring cycle (roughtly 17 hours on 16 disks vs typical 15 hours on 14 disks). In Beethoven symphonies I got rid of the slow cycles (Klemperer and Wand) and kept the faster ones such as Monteux and Zinman, but in the Goodall Ring, I do not feel like it is dragging. The bonus is if you love the Ring, you get to love it for 17 hours instead of just 15.

If you do pursue the Goodall ring, be sure to get it on Chandos as I understand from reviews/comments that it is remastered and sounds much better than the older EMI release. I know Prestoclassical sells the entire cycle but it is about $150 though they recently has it on sale for around $100 and probably will do so again someday.

The way I got into the Goodall Ring is I found a good used Rheingold for $9 shipped. Now who could resist such a deal? I was going to leave it at that, but liked it so much I found a Valkyrie set for $17 shipped. After listening to both a couple times, I read more reviews that really gave the cycle high praise and then simply ordered the other two making my investment total out to $79. I could have gotten a good used complete cycle for $100 but the only thing I am missing is the main storage box, and my Siegfried is brand new.

Here is one of the glowing reviews.

I do also love to hear the Ring in German and have Neuhold, Solti, Krauss, and Sawallisch. But I could see Goodall being my top Ring.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

I have a lot of operas in English: Fidelio, Barber of Seville, Elixir of Love, Martha, Merry Widow, Mary Stuart, Thieving Magpie, Tosca, Flying Dutchman. Fidelio is terrible (Abscheulicher is translated as "sadistic swine"!). The others are pretty good and in fact I only have the English set for the Thieving Magpie. In particular I really like Martha in English a lot (much humor in this translation--makes me think Gilbert and Sullivan), but even then turn back to a German version for the beauty of the original language performance.

As for the Ring, the Goodall performance is exceptionally good. I rank it right up there with some of the best Rings on CD. I think it is especially good for me because I am new to the ring (6 weeks in) and being such a long opera (series of operas) it is much easier to know where I am in the English recording, though it is not always easy to understand the words, there does seem to be a bit more clarity of the sung word in Goodall's Ring over many other English recordings and that may be because he uses about the slowest tempos of any Ring cycle (roughtly 17 hours on 16 disks vs typical 15 hours on 14 disks). In Beethoven symphonies I got rid of the slow cycles (Klemperer and Wand) and kept the faster ones such as Monteux and Zinman, but in the Goodall Ring, I do not feel like it is dragging. The bonus is if you love the Ring, you get to love it for 17 hours instead of just 15.

If you do pursue the Goodall ring, be sure to get it on Chandos as I understand from reviews/comments that it is remastered and sounds much better than the older EMI release. I know Prestoclassical sells the entire cycle but it is about $150 though they recently has it on sale for around $100 and probably will do so again someday.

The way I got into the Goodall Ring is I found a good used Rheingold for $9 shipped. Now who could resist such a deal? I was going to leave it at that, but liked it so much I found a Valkyrie set for $17 shipped. After listening to both a couple times, I read more reviews that really gave the cycle high praise and then simply ordered the other two making my investment total out to $79. I could have gotten a good used complete cycle for $100 but the only thing I am missing is the main storage box, and my Siegfried is brand new.

Here is one of the glowing reviews.

I do also love to hear the Ring in German and have Neuhold, Solti, Krauss, and Sawallisch. But I could see Goodall being my top Ring.

I am also enjoying the Goodall Ring ( the library has it, yay!) - musically it's good, with a Siegfried with beauty of tone as well as power; and it is excellent to have the words in a very good translation.

[Amfortas]

Actually, having just watched Verdi's Macbeth and Falstaff, I should consider continuing this apparent Shakespeare trend: Verdi's Otello, Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream, Gonoud's Romeo and Juliet, Bellini's Capuleti and Montecchi, and Thomas' Hamlet. Should be fun!

And Reimann's Lear. Just sayin'.

EDIT: As usual, Soave was way ahead of me.

[Florestan]