What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Clayton]

There's a few favourites in this thread

http://operalively.com/forums/showth...-Russian-opera

and The legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the maiden Fevroniya is still my favourite

[Florestan]

Still trying to get into this, but the one with Janet Baker and Valerie Masterson is so much better. This one must be a studio recording, just seems very passive, without life.

[Florestan]

[Povero Buoso]

A lot of recent travel so a fair amount of Opera listened to. Listened to all of this for the firs time in absolutely ages


Really do like Onegin a lot but because it's in Russian I cant mouth along as often as I can with my Italian or German operas which upsets me a tad.

Then along with my new Puccini Budden book I delved into my favourite of the big three operas



Shortly after finishing this I also had a listen to the first two acts of La Rondine



While walking through Edinburgh on the Royal mile during the fringe I listened to Ruggero's aria "Parigi! E la citta dei desideri" at sunset with the amusing result I now think of a different city when I hear the aria though it is a fond memory now.

Am also still gorging myself on Falstaff as I have taken to it way more than I expected given my slow coming around to other later Verdi Operas (Boccanegra Aida and Don Carlos) though I have come around to some of those to a very large degree after some time the process with Falstaff had been far more instantaneous and more like my immediate infatuation with Rigoletto and Un Ballo in Maschera. I am not sure why but perhaps it is the quick pace Verdi upholds in Falstaff which I find works really well. I am also seeing the debt that Gianni Schicchi by Puccini owes to it though the works are different enough in tone and humor style (Puccini's is of a far more morbid humor!) with a fair amount of self parody in both.

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[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

A lot of recent travel so a fair amount of Opera listened to. Listened to all of this for the firs time in absolutely ages


Really do like Onegin a lot but because it's in Russian I cant mouth along as often as I can with my Italian or German operas which upsets me a tad.

I know the feeling but that version is fab.

While walking through Edinburgh on the Royal mile during the fringe I listened to Ruggero's aria "Parigi! E la citta dei desideri" at sunset with the amusing result I now think of a different city when I hear the aria though it is a fond memory now.

That's really interesting. I walked the same route to work for 20+ years and when I started listening to opera I knew where I'd be when a certain aria etc started. And when the gunshot in my La forza del destino happened!

Am also still gorging myself on Falstaff as I have taken to it way more than I expected given my slow coming around to other later Verdi Operas (Boccanegra Aida and Don Carlos) though I have come around to some of those to a very large degree after some time the process with Falstaff had been far more instantaneous and more like my immediate infatuation with Rigoletto and Un Ballo in Maschera. I am not sure why but perhaps it is the quick pace Verdi upholds in Falstaff which I find works really well. I am also seeing the debt that Gianni Schicchi by Puccini owes to it though the works are different enough in tone and humor style (Puccini's is of a far more morbid humor!) with a fair amount of self parody in both.

It takes ages before some operas click.

[Sonata]

Stravinsky-Rake's Progress
My first listen! I'm trying to listen to my new aquisitions when I get them instead of building an unlistened to pile

[Florestan]

[MAuer]

Conductor/orchestra: Armin Jordan, Orchestre National de l’Opéra de Monte Carlo
Cast: Rachel Yakar (Mélisande), Eric Tappy (Pelléas), Philippe Huttenlocher (Golaud), François Loop (Arkel), Jocelyne Taillon (Genevieve), Colette Alliot Lugaz (Yniold), Michel Brodard (Doctor/Shepherd)

This is certainly an interesting change from the early Verdi/Rossini operas that I’ve been listening to over the past several months. I’ll be attending a semi-staged performance on 20 October, just 10 days before Halloween, and in a certain respect, this work fits in with the ghosts and goblins. There is, of course, the strange child-woman Mélisande with her unknown background. And the opera’s prevailing atmosphere is dark and often foreboding, from the gloomy forests to the dark seaside cave with its bottomless lakes and the castle vault with its stagnant, foul-smelling, likewise bottomless pool. One is reminded of the 19th century medical belief in “miasmas” as a source of all sorts of nasty illnesses such as cholera. The contrast between light and dark, clarity and shadow is also prominent in the characters’ dialogue.
This is a fine recording, with no weak links anywhere in the cast. Having a lyric tenor Pelléas really helps to differentiate between the two half-brothers and emphasizes that this is the younger of the two. Philippe Huttenlocher is a powerful and very convincing Golaud, and Rachel Yakar’s pure soprano effectively coveys Mélisande’s uncanny nature. François Loup and Jocelyne Taillon are a sympathetic Arkel and Genevieve. The enclosed booklet has only a plot synopsis; no libretto. (At a cost of just over $11.00, this shouldn’t be surprising.) Fortunately, I found a libretto online and was able to obtain a passable English translation.

[Sonata]

Mozart- Don Giovanni, conducted by Guilini

My first listen to this particular recording. Giovanni has my favorite Mozart opera overture. The last time I tried to listen to this opera, it was the Jacobs recording, which just didn't move me. But listening today reminds me that this opera had served time as my favorite opera a couple of years ago I'm enjoying it very much.

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Conductor/orchestra: Armin Jordan, Orchestre National de l’Opéra de Monte Carlo
Cast: Rachel Yakar (Mélisande), Eric Tappy (Pelléas), Philippe Huttenlocher (Golaud), François Loop (Arkel), Jocelyne Taillon (Genevieve), Colette Alliot Lugaz (Yniold), Michel Brodard (Doctor/Shepherd)

This is certainly an interesting change from the early Verdi/Rossini operas that I’ve been listening to over the past several months. I’ll be attending a semi-staged performance on 20 October, just 10 days before Halloween, and in a certain respect, this work fits in with the ghosts and goblins. There is, of course, the strange child-woman Mélisande with her unknown background. And the opera’s prevailing atmosphere is dark and often foreboding, from the gloomy forests to the dark seaside cave with its bottomless lakes and the castle vault with its stagnant, foul-smelling, likewise bottomless pool. One is reminded of the 19th century medical belief in “miasmas” as a source of all sorts of nasty illnesses such as cholera. The contrast between light and dark, clarity and shadow is also prominent in the characters’ dialogue.
This is a fine recording, with no weak links anywhere in the cast. Having a lyric tenor Pelléas really helps to differentiate between the two half-brothers and emphasizes that this is the younger of the two. Philippe Huttenlocher is a powerful and very convincing Golaud, and Rachel Yakar’s pure soprano effectively coveys Mélisande’s uncanny nature. François Loup and Jocelyne Taillon are a sympathetic Arkel and Genevieve. The enclosed booklet has only a plot synopsis; no libretto. (At a cost of just over $11.00, this shouldn’t be surprising.) Fortunately, I found a libretto online and was able to obtain a passable English translation.

I've never been able to get into Pelleas....but I've come a long way with Debussy in the last year or two and as I'm listening to more modern opera lately, maybe it's time to give it another go. Your discussion of the brooding atmosphere may help me frame my mind as I listen to it again!

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

Conductor/orchestra: Armin Jordan, Orchestre National de l’Opéra de Monte Carlo
Cast: Rachel Yakar (Mélisande), Eric Tappy (Pelléas), Philippe Huttenlocher (Golaud), François Loop (Arkel), Jocelyne Taillon (Genevieve), Colette Alliot Lugaz (Yniold), Michel Brodard (Doctor/Shepherd)

This is certainly an interesting change from the early Verdi/Rossini operas that I’ve been listening to over the past several months. I’ll be attending a semi-staged performance on 20 October, just 10 days before Halloween, and in a certain respect, this work fits in with the ghosts and goblins. There is, of course, the strange child-woman Mélisande with her unknown background. And the opera’s prevailing atmosphere is dark and often foreboding, from the gloomy forests to the dark seaside cave with its bottomless lakes and the castle vault with its stagnant, foul-smelling, likewise bottomless pool. One is reminded of the 19th century medical belief in “miasmas” as a source of all sorts of nasty illnesses such as cholera. The contrast between light and dark, clarity and shadow is also prominent in the characters’ dialogue.
This is a fine recording, with no weak links anywhere in the cast. Having a lyric tenor Pelléas really helps to differentiate between the two half-brothers and emphasizes that this is the younger of the two. Philippe Huttenlocher is a powerful and very convincing Golaud, and Rachel Yakar’s pure soprano effectively coveys Mélisande’s uncanny nature. François Loup and Jocelyne Taillon are a sympathetic Arkel and Genevieve. The enclosed booklet has only a plot synopsis; no libretto. (At a cost of just over $11.00, this shouldn’t be surprising.) Fortunately, I found a libretto online and was able to obtain a passable English translation.

That recording sounds good and I may try and get a copy. I'm seeing it on 18 October so we can compare notes.

[Florestan]

I got this after someone else posted listening to it. I checked it out and was interested because
1) it is Handel/Baroque
2) there are only women singing
3) the majority of those women are not sopranos

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

I got this after someone else posted listening to it. I checked it out and was interested because
1) it is Handel/Baroque
2) there are only women singing
3) the majority of those women are not sopranos

This is the main reason why I struggle with Handel and don't give him the attention he deserves. Now if someone could recommend a Handel with only male singers and with most of the voices bass and baritone ...

[Florestan]

This is the main reason why I struggle with Handel and don't give him the attention he deserves. Now if someone could recommend a Handel with only male singers and with most of the voices bass and baritone ...

Well, there is always barbershop quartets.

But seriously, I never thought about it because I normally don't seek out the male voice in opera. They do include a countertenor on some sets of Amidigi, but that does not fit your criteria.

[Sonata]

Philip Glass: Orphee

I'm giving this intriuging work my first full listen.

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This is the main reason why I struggle with Handel and don't give him the attention he deserves. Now if someone could recommend a Handel with only male singers and with most of the voices bass and baritone ...

I imagine you like several Russian operas then? It seems like Russian opera has plenty of deep male voices

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

Well, there is always barbershop quartets.

Or Billy Budd

But seriously, I never thought about it because I normally don't seek out the male voice in opera. They do include a countertenor on some sets of Amidigi, but that does not fit your criteria.

Not keen on countertenors either!

There are a few Handel operas/oratorios/serenatas which have a decent bass role but not many.