What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[JBS]

First ever listen to this opera.

Recorded 1957. It's mono, but the engineers made a fairly decent approximation of stereo.

[Tsaraslondon]

First ever listen to this opera.

Recorded 1957. It's mono, but the engineers made a fairly decent approximation of stereo.

How is it? I only know it by name as one of the operas Callas sang in in Greece.

[JBS]

How is it? I only know it by name as one of the operas Callas sang in in Greece.

Hmm. Hard to describe after only one listen: the booklet's essay refers to it as German verismo.
Which is true as to the plot (but the hero strangles the villian, not the other way around). Music does not evoke any particular composer but does sound like something written when it was (1903). The Janowski recording features Marton and Kollo, which should indicate what type of singers it requires and perhaps why Callas never sang it later. Going by available recordings, it was popular in Germany in the 1950s/60s.

[André]

Tiefland is a very fine work. The story is not unlike that of La Wally, especially the mountain setting. A fringe work maybe, but it's never left the stage in the germanic opera houses. There's quite a few recordings to choose from.

[André]

First ever listen to this opera.

Recorded 1957. It's mono, but the engineers made a fairly decent approximation of stereo.

This must be a good recording, judging from the names on the cover (all A-list names in german/austrian opera houses of the time) and Moralt was an excellent conductor. He was Richard Strauss' nephew.

[ritter]

Tiefland is a very fine work. The story is not unlike that of La Wally, especially the mountain setting. A fringe work maybe, but it's never left the stage in the germanic opera houses. There's quite a few recordings to choose from.

Tiefland is based on a play by Ángel Guimerá, Terra baixa. Guimerá was one of the main exponents of the reinaxença or resurgence of Catalan literature in the second half of the 19th century. He was born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands, and that city's main theatre, which also served as an opera house until the opening of the Auditorium designed by Santiago Calatrava, bears his name ("Teatro Guimerá").

Another curiosity is that the pianist-composer Eugen d'Albert was married for a time to the Venezuelan pianist (and also composer) Teresa Carreño. The main concert and opera complex in Caracas bears her name (she was an Internationally acclaimed virtuoso).

[JBS]

Returning to the Warner Puccini set


Tabarro features Gobbi and Mas, Angelica features De Los Angeles and Barbieri, Gianni features Gobbi and De Los Angeles. All three recordings were from the 1950s, and only Gianni is in stereo.

[Mapman]

Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
Troyanos, Nimsgern; Boulez

I think this is my third time hearing Bluebeard's Castle. It's surprisingly compelling.

[Tsaraslondon]

Returning to the Warner Puccini set


Tabarro features Gobbi and Mas, Angelica features De Los Angeles and Barbieri, Gianni features Gobbi and De Los Angeles. All three recordings were from the 1950s, and only Gianni is in stereo.

A terrific set, despite the ancient sound.

Il trittico with Gobbi and De Los Angeles

[Florestan]

Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
Troyanos, Nimsgern; Boulez

I think this is my third time hearing Bluebeard's Castle. It's surprisingly compelling.

What language is it sung in?

[ritter]

What language is it sung in?

In the original Hungarian...

[Florestan]

In the original Hungarian...

Hmmmm...

[ritter]

Hmmmm...

Hmmm...what? 

Good afternoon, Andrei!

[Roasted Swan]

Hmmm...what? 

Good afternoon, Andrei!

As in Hungarian spoken/sung by non-Hungarians I assume.........?!  (I'd forgotten how young Troyanos was when she died - very sad)

[Florestan]

Hmmm...what? 

Good afternoon, Andrei!

Enjoying an opera sung in a language one doesn't understand. Cool! 

Good evening  Rafael.

[ritter]

Enjoying an opera sung in a language one doesn't understand. Cool! 

...

El rayo que no cesa... 

[André]

Cross-posted from the WAYL2 thread. After another listening, I am just as positive about this superb work/recording:

Well, I'll be. I've liked Berwald's music for many years, orchestral or chamber alike, but this incursion into his opera Estrella de Soria was a revelation. I did not expect such a wealth of winning, fully developed musical material: arias, duets, terzetts and various ensembles as well as orchestral pieces (overture, march, interludes). There are no complete recordings of the work and it's never staged in opera houses. Only the overture and a few highlights can be found here and there.

The disc is a highlights one only, but at 72 minutes it presents a fair approximation of what the whole thing probably is. This is a lavish production, complete with excellent singers (soloists and choristers) and orchestral playing, a quadrilingual 124 pages libretto and booklet notes.

This recording stopped at just highlights, but there seems to be a libretto translation problem behind it. It's detailed in the notes but too long a story to report here. In short: the original swedish libretto was adapted from a german play, but contained too many translation errors and incoherences to survive intact. A revival in the 1930s used a new translation but only an abridged version of the work was staged. The musical numbers are almost all there but all the connecting material (dialogues mostly) was left out. So we get a truncated version. The revised version was never committed to disc. Pity.

Musically this is absolutely splendid. There is not a single weak or ordinary passage. Hearing an opera in a language other than Italian, French, German, English or Russian is a rare experience and makes for a slightly disconcerting feeling, as there are no verbal cues one can anchor to. In a sense it adds to the sense of discovery. Recommended !

[nico1616]

I have so many Nozze's in my collection, and this is the last I acquired. Leinsdorf's conducting really stands out, and his cast is fantastic with big voices.  I associate George London with Wagner roles and his Count is larger than life and at times very menacing. Giorgio Tozzi is a Figaro with a constant smile in his voice, I think these are my favorite male leads in any Nozze. And then there is della Casa, who has no weak roles on disc and Roberta Peters, who I only knew as Böhm's queen of the night, they join the large group of great Contessa's and Susanna's. Moreover, this is the first Nozze where I do not feel the urge to skip the arias of Marcellina and Basilio in the 4th act, not second-rate Mozart after all. All in all, an indispensable version.

[André]

I had NO IDEA that this set existed. Now I'm interested !

[nico1616]

I had NO IDEA that this set existed. Now I'm interested !

It is quite rare, momox sold it a long time for more than 100 euros and then suddenly the price dropped to 23 euros and that was my moment 
Some Decca opera cd sets were on the market only for a very short time and in quite limited numbers.