What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Sonata]

This weekend I listened to:

Selections from


Vivaldi-Tito Manlio


Rameau-La Temple De La Gloire

Sometimes I struggle to get through a complete Baroque opera in one go, but Vivaldi has such a unique sound to me in his vocal music, and I love the delicate and elegant, effervescent sound of French Baroque. I listened to about an hour of highlights from each of these albums

[Sonata]

Verdi: Songs.

Not technically opera, but I felt close enough to include since it's part of my Verdi project
This is a beautiful album!!

[Hoffmann]

Now that I am back home, I am gamely trying to get back on schedule with my walking. Not easy for me, as anything outdoor-sy really has to be done early (not my strong suit..) as it tends to become blast furnace hot before noon. At least it feels that way with humidity hovering around 80%.

So, today, I listened to an old favorite, which never disappoints - even if Elena Suliotis was past her peak singing years at this point. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau really rises to the occasion without sounding bored and we have a very early, pre-cynical Luciano Pavarotti singing Macduff:

[Florestan]

[Soave_Fanciulla]

[MAuer]

Very nice! Do you have a favorite recording out of these?

The Böhm is my top choice, especially for Wunderlich's Tamino.

[Sonata]

Verdi-Otello in English.


This recording is decidedly inferior to the other two Shakespeare Verdi operas-in-english. Whereas I'm considering purchasing the Macbeth in English to supplement my Italian recording since I enjoyed it so much, I know I won't be listening to this one again. But I don't have time right now to sit down with a libretto so this is a decent way of getting the series of events in my mind. I will be listening to another Otello recording within the next week, likely Karajan recording with Tebaldi and Del Monaco, which I've owned for a year but has languished on my unlistened-to-pile

[Clayton]

Handel: Tamerlano
Xavier Sabata (Tamerlano), Max Emanuel Cencic (Andronico), John Mark Ainsley (Bajazet), Karina Gauvin (Asteria), Ruxandra Donose (Irene), Pavel Kudinov (Leone)
Il Pomo d’Oro, Riccardo Minasi

[Hoffmann]

Geez is it hot! Still, I made it out for a walk this morning. I'm off the hook tomorrow as I have jury duty.

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

Geez is it hot! Still, I made it out for a walk this morning. I'm off the hook tomorrow as I have jury duty.

It's not easy to summon energy when the weather in unkind so well done you for going out. Hope the case is neither distressing nor too long and you can get back to your routine soon.

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My shopping list was a short one today so this was all I needed. I'm going to see a new production in September so I thought I'd refresh the memory.

[Sonata]

Verdi- Aroldo

[Clayton]

Handel: Belshazzar
Allan Clayton (Belshazzar, King of Babylon), Rosemary Joshua (Nitocris), Iestyn Davies (Daniel, Hebrew Prophet), Caitlin Hulcup (Cyrus: Persian Prince), Jonathan Lemalu (Gobrias, Assyrian Nobleman), Jean-Yves Ravoux (Arioch, Babylonian Lord), Geoffroy Buffière, Thibaut Lenaerts, Michael-Loughlin Smith, Damian Witheley
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie

and I 've just added the Aix-en-Provence production from 2011 to the buy basket...

[Festat]

I had that Belshazzar in my hands yesterday but I ended up... now that I think of it I ended up doing absolutely nothing.

[Florestan]

I had that Belshazzar in my hands yesterday but I ended up... now that I think of it I ended up doing absolutely nothing.

What happened? You couldn't Handel it?

[Soave_Fanciulla]