Today these three (tonight Beethoven's Missa Solemnis live in concert!):
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I guess for a conductor it's not abnormal. That's what they do for a living, so they spend a lifetime studying this stuff. They are the operatic professionals who don't need to spend hours vocalizing so they have more time available to study scores and past performances and to listen to them.
"J'ai dit qu'il ne suffisait pas d'entendre la musique, mais qu'il fallait encore la voir" (Stravinsky)
Today these three (tonight Beethoven's Missa Solemnis live in concert!):
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"Music is enought for a whole lifetime--but a lifetime is not enough for music." --Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff
This is good, but doesn't replace the Muti/Gruberova as my favorite recording of the opera:
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I think I'm mostly stuck on about 25 recordings but none of those are the same as a few years ago...
I have expanded my listening over the few years I've been here on OL, but admit that recordings aren't my preferred vehicle for opera pleasure, preferring live performance above all. Naturally, I've picked the most expensive of all options and am still figuring out how make that work. I don't buy any where near as many new recordings as you guys do, and probably do less listening - mostly using my recordings to keep me company when out on the trail entertaining myself by dodging the cyclists.
So, what's changed in my listening? As much as I am ashamed to admit it, I had only just become acquainted with the Ring just before signing on to OL and now have seen 3 different cycles. Also, many of you are so devoted to the Baroque period, that you have helped expand my appreciation and knowledge of the period so, of course, Handel and Vivaldi. I really only knew Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini, and have come to understand him as a mostly un-recognized genius, especially his still largely not very well known serious and semi-serious operas. Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail once was totally lost on me, but now is among my favorites, along with his so-called lesser operas: Mitradate Re di Ponto, Il re Pastore, La Finta Giardiniera, etc. Parsifal no longer is lost on me. Verdi's operas outside of the 'Big 7' (Aida, Don Carlos, Rigoletto, Otello, Il Trovatore, La Traviata and Un Ballo in Maschera).
There's more, but, oh yes, last but not least: I've learned not to turn up my nose to contemporary opera!
This one very good:
However, so far I am only leaving the Bartoli and Cossotto Barbers on my MP3 Player. Here is my collection:
Baltsa
Bartoli
Battle
Berganza
Callas
Cossotto
D'Angelo
Della Jones (Sung in English)
Ganassi
Gruberova
Larmore
Peters
Sills
I know there are more Barbers out there, but are any worth my acquiring?
"Music is enought for a whole lifetime--but a lifetime is not enough for music." --Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff
"Music is enought for a whole lifetime--but a lifetime is not enough for music." --Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff
Alphabetical order as from my folder listings. Peters is coloratura. You have two soprano Rosinas, but I recall it was written for mezzo, and so you need a mezzo. Of mine,
Baltsa (Mezzo)
Bartoli (Mezzo)
Battle (Soprano)
Berganza (Mezzo)
Callas (Soprano)
Cossotto (Mezzo)
Gianna D'Angelo (Soprano)
Della Jones (Mezzo) Sung in English
Ganassi (Mezzo)
Gruberova (Soprano)
Larmore (Mezzo)
Roberta Peters (Soprano)
Sills (Soprano)
"Music is enought for a whole lifetime--but a lifetime is not enough for music." --Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff
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