What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

The secret to Pelleas is to let yourself drift on a lake of melodic fragments and allusions and not worry too much about what is making sense.

Exactly!

However I kept getting distracted during the production I saw in Vienna. The stage is flooded and easily 1.5 metres at the deepest part. I kept thinking whether or not they drain it for the following night's performance of Madama Butterfly or do they just cover it? Is the water warm? Are the singers wearing wet suits under their costume?

[Clayton]

The Met's production of Parsifal only had a few centimetres of "blood" (though due to the size of the stage this translated into quite a volume) but they warmed this before the act and also had heat pads under the pool so that it would not cool too quickly and allow the performers to be as comfortable as possible.

[MAuer]

Conductor: Carl Maria Giulini
Vienna Philharmonic; Vienna State Opera Chorus
Cast: Piero Cappuccilli, Ileana Cotrubas, Plácido Domingo, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Elena Obraztsova, Hanna Schwarz, Kurt Moll, Luigi de Corato, Walter Gullino, Dirk Sagemuller, Olive Fredricks, Audrey Michael

Hadn't listened to this one in a while.

[Sonata]

Rameau: Pygmalion
Cyrille Dubois (Pygmalion), Marie-Claude Chappuis (Céphise), Céline Scheen (La Statue), Eugénie Warnier (L’Amour)
Les Talens Lyriques, Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Christophe Rousset




Handel: Alceste
Lucy Crowe (soprano), Benjamin Hulett (tenor) & Andrew Foster-Williams (bass-baritone)
Early Opera Company, Christian Curnyn

How is that Pygmalion?

[Florestan]

[Amfortas]

The secret to Pelleas is to let yourself drift on a lake of melodic fragments and allusions and not worry too much about what is making sense.

Wait . . . I thought that was the secret to *life* . . .

[Sonata]

Prokofiev: War & Peace

[Soave_Fanciulla]

How is that Pygmalion?

Very jolly and dancy!

- - - Updated - - -

However I kept getting distracted during the production I saw in Vienna. The stage is flooded and easily 1.5 metres at the deepest part. I kept thinking whether or not they drain it for the following night's performance of Madama Butterfly or do they just cover it? Is the water warm? Are the singers wearing wet suits under their costume?

Haha! That the kind of thought I often have too!

[Sonata]

Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Heroes & Villians

[Itullian]

I enjoyed this. The sound was OK. I thought Edelmann was very good and Schwarzkopf as well. Wasn't crazy about Hopf. but the rest were fine. I thought Karajan pressed a bit too hard with his faster tempos.
But to hear this historic occasion was well worth it.
I'm sure I'll be listening to it again.
Thanks Amfortas

[Florestan]

[Sonata]

I too am listening to Roberto Devereaux, the recording with Sills

[Florestan]

I too am listening to Roberto Devereaux, the recording with Sills

Of my sets (Gencer, Sills, Gruberova, and Theodossiou) Sills voice seems to high pitched or thin or something. Gruberova somewhat better, but Theodossiou has a much deeper or richer voice for this queen IMO. But Gencer is probably the best. Funny though, because it was my Beverly Sills craze that even got me into the Donizetti Queens.

[Florestan]

Back to back Behrens' Fidelios:

[Soave_Fanciulla]

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)
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie