What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[MAuer]

Conductor: Zubin Mehta; RAI Orchestra and Chorus
Cast: Sesto Bruscantini, Teresa Stratas, Sena Jurinac, Mario Petri, Teresa Berganza, Giorgio Tadeo, Nucci Condo, Agostino Lazzari, et. al.

One takes one's chances with the sound quality of Opera d'Oro recordings, but this is pretty good. And the cast -- aside from Mario Petri's woolly-sounding Count -- is excellent.

[Florestan]

[Florestan]

[Hoffmann]

I'm back from a week in the midwest without opera (I don't recommend it), so needed to hear something reassuring. Norma fit the bill with terrific Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne and a super John Alexander. Just what I needed.

I had one of my regular board of trustees meetings in Ohio and on then went on to visit my cousins in Michigan (one of these days, Florestan will need to spill his secret music store in Dearborn..). My cousin Tottie now is 97 and seems to be doing well despite some infirmities.

Her son Jeffrey, is a U Michigan alum and has seasons tickets to their football games (what some refer to as 'real football'), so took me to the Michigan/Michigan State game, while his wife stayed home (she loves football, so I still feel guilty). I had never been to a Big 10 game before - unlike anything I've ever seen. Ann Arbor appeared to be in the final stages of madness; great marching bands, Michigan lost, it poured down rain, the whole shebang.

Then on to Game 5 of the Washington Nationals - Chicago Cubs playoffs (baseball). Nats lost, I don't want to talk about it.

Anyway, good to be home.

[Sonata]

Gotterdammerung: conducted by Karajan.


I can most assuredly say that Karajan is my favorite Ring cycle. His focus on beautiful conducting and singing appeals to my preferences. I know these voices are lighter than in a lot of the other big Rings, but this is a set where I'm hearing SINGING and not just talking or yelling (no offense intended to other cycles, just again my own tastes).

But I am not a fan-girl and I can acknowledge shortcomings. for me there aren't many. However, I wasn't a big fan of Gerard Stolze voice (Loge in Rheingold and Mime in Siegfried), he's more nasally than I like. But for the kind of characters these are, it bothers me less than if he sang some of the other characters.

Also, I've noticed in Gotterdammerung (but none of the others) an issue with the sonics. I find there are several passages in this opera where I'm having to crank up my car stereo to hear clearly, which results static noise from the stereo too. I suspect Solti MIGHT take top preference for my favorite Gotterdammerung, though Karajan still is the complete cycle for me.

that said......I've grown to love the Ring so much over this last listening (to truly love a Wagner opera is unusual for me!)that I may take the plunge and add Solti's cycle at a later date to my collection to add to my Karajan, Barenboim, and Half-Haitink cycles

[Florestan]

[Florestan]

[Hoffmann]

Yesterday's walk:





I love this opera - lots of bang-up great melodies, although maybe a bit too frantic at times. Still, a great listen while out enjoying a city walk!

[Florestan]

[Clayton]

Handel: Imeneo
Magnus Staveland (Imeneo), Ann Hallenberg (Tirinto), Monica Piccinini (Rosmene), Fabrizio Beggi (Argenio), Cristiana Arcari (Clomiri) & Fabio Biondi (violin & direction)
Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi
Recorded June 2015, Halle



The second to last attempt to entertain London with the Italianate opera. Imeneo followed by Deidamia where Handel understood the public were no longer interested and followed with the English language oratorios.
Here it is presented with adaptations made for a later performance in Dublin under the title Hymen.

[Clayton]

A Portuguese composer of the Neapolitan school, here applying those beautiful and distinctive characters to the Metastasio libretto.



Carvalho, J: L’Angelica
Joana Seara, Sandra Medeiros (sopranos), Lidia Vinyes Curtis, Maria Luísa Tavares (mezzo-sopranos), Fernando Guimarães (tenor)
Concerto Campestre, Pedro Castro
Recorded October 2014 Auditório Vianna da Mota, Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa

fab and currently on sale at PC

[Clayton]

Actually catalogued as a serenata but it did have performances at the King's theatre so let's call it closer to an opera and post it in this thread. Composed as a celebration of the marriage of Princess Anne (his favourite pupil and "only" reason to teach music) to Prince William of Orange, Il Parnasso in festa, per li sponsali di Teti e Peleo was performed before the court on the day before the wedding which took place 14 March 1734.



Il Parnasso in festa, per li sponsali di Teti e Peleo
Carolyn Sampson ( Clio ); Lucy Crowe ( Orfeo ); Rebecca Outram ( Calliope ); Diana Moore ( Apollo/Euterpe ); Ruth Clegg ( Clori ); Peter Harvey ( Marte );
The King's Consort, Matthew Halls
Recorded June 2008





'ang on... so how closely related were the wedded?

[Sonata]

Verdi Macbeth in English

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

I'm back from a week in the midwest without opera (I don't recommend it)

I can sympathise. Most of the people in my own home town are like that.

Luckily I'm in Vienna and there's opera everywhere you look. I accosted two young women and asked if they would take my photo by a poster. They agreed of course but then went into great detail about Wozzeck and Berg and Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern. Of course they could have been the only two women in the whole of Vienna who knew about atonal music but somehow I doubt it. They were absolutely lovely and wished me a pleasant evening.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

I can sympathise. Most of the people in my own home town are like that.

Luckily I'm in Vienna and there's opera everywhere you look. I accosted two young women and asked if they would take my photo by a poster. They agreed of course but then went into great detail about Wozzeck and Berg and Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern. Of course they could have been the only two women in the whole of Vienna who knew about atonal music but somehow I doubt it. They were absolutely lovely and wished me a pleasant evening.

It sounds like a lovely dream, people who know about music and opera just wandering freely around the street.

In NZ I occasionally strike up a conversation AT the opera and mostly people know nothing about it - it's just an excuse to get dressed up.