What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[Florestan]

What a cliffhanger, eh? 

See my post below yours (I had hit "post" too quickly by mistake on my incomplete message)...

Good evening to you, Andrei.

Good evening, Rafael.

[Henk]

[ando]

First listen to Antonio Smareglia's Il Vassallo di Szigeth.



Smareglia (1854-1929) was born in Pula on the Istrian Peninsula (then part of the Austrian Empire) to an Italian father and a Croatian mother. Thus, he's always been regarded as a musical representative of that crossroads of cultures (Italian, Germanic, Slavic), and seems to be regarded as a sort of local celebrity in Trieste and Croatia.

This opera, Smareglia's  first real success, is a gruesome story of deceit and revenge set in medieval Hungary. It was Luigi Illica's first libretto (written in collaboration with one Francesco Pozza, of whom I could find no information at all). Illica's  typical exalted verses and far-fetched dramatic situations are present even at this early stage of the poet's career. The opera had the honour of being first performed at the opening of the 1889-90 season of the Vienna Hofoper, conducted by Hans Richter and with emperor Franz Josef present (it was his name day). Apparently, Johannes Brahms and Eduard Hanslick both praised the work (later on, Smareglia would become more "Wagnerized").

This is the earliest of the three Smareglia works that have been commercially recorded (always by Bongiovanni), the other two being Nozze istriane (a sort of Dalmatian Cavalleria rusticana, also to a libretto by Illica) and La Falena.

The performance (it's from late 2020) is adequate, not more than that. The singing is not world-class, and the lead tenor has a very strange diction (even if he is Italian). Denia Mazzola-Gavazzeni seems to be the guiding force behind this recent spate of recordings of obscure but worthwhile Italian operas from the period 1875 to 1945 (roughly) on Bongiovanni. For this, she can only be commended, and is the worthy successor of her late husband, the great conductor Gianandrea Gavazzeni. Unfortunately, though, at this stage of her career, her voice is no longer what it used to be and is not particularly pleasant to listen to.

Still, a most interesting release.

Thank You. Though you can't always believe what you see I'm assuming this is a "live" performance.   

[ando]

Gounod Roméo et Juliette (2010, Olivier Py)
The sound on this upload is excellent. I'm "listening" to this as I type so I won't comment on the production until I've finished but I did preface the viewing with an interesting review from a blogger who attended a performance of it in Amsterdam.

[ritter]

Thank You. Though you can't always believe what you see I'm assuming this is a "live" performance.   

Looks like it, but there's no sign of an audience. They did dress up for the concert, though... 

[ritter]

A historical curiosity (but, actually, more than just that): the first recording ever of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo.



This was made in Milan in 1939 by His Master's Voice (or rather, La Voce del Padrone). Interestingly, the edition used is that of Gian Francesco Malipiero, and although there isn't (and couldn't be) anything remotely HIP here, the performing edition and the performance try to be respectful of the original score and idiom. I hear recorders, I hear a basso continuo, and I recognise the music. At other points, though, I hear a harp that seems completely out of place. Tempi are much slower than one is now accustomed to (shockingly so in "Ecco pur che a voi ritorno, care selve e spiagge amate"). But the performance is enjoyable.

The conductor, Argentinian Ferruccio Calusio, was active in Buenos Aires, Milan —initially as assistant to Toscanini— and the Metropolitan in New York, but is largely forgotten today. So are (with one exception, kinda) the vocal soloists, even if they had distinguished careers;  they acquit themselves rather well, trying (but not always succeeding) to keep a "sober" singing style. Enrico de Franceschi's imposing voice does justice to the title rôle, and can be touching (e.g. in "Possente spirto"). Ginevra Vivante, who seems to have specialised in (then) contemporary music and whose career was interrupted by the Fascist regimes criminal and stupid adoption of racial laws 1938, is also quite convincing.

The one singer that still has some name recognition today is Bulgarian mezzo Elena Nicolai (in the post-WW2 years, she recorded Cavalleria rusticana with del Monaco, Preziosilla in La Forza del destino next to Callas and Eboli in Don Carlo under Gabriele Santini, and appeared in a recording of Adriana Lecouvreur in which Mafalda Favero sung the title rôle). She's also Adalgisa next to Callas' Norma and Corelli's Pollione in a famous -but incomplete— bootleg recording of Norma from Trieste in 1953. Here, she's caught as the Messaggera in her pre-war prime, and it's easy to understand why she was one of the most highly regarded mezzos in Italy in the 1930s and 40s.

Anyone interested in the performance history of this wonderful score should listen to this recording.

The sound is remarkably vivid for a recording of this vintage.

[Florestan]

the performance try to be respectful of the original score and idiom. I hear recorders, I hear a basso continuo, and I recognise the music. At other points, though, I hear a harp that seems completely out of place.

And yet it is quite in its place. 



A harp is the next best thing when one doesn't have a functional arpa doppia at hand, isn't it?

Good day, mon cher!

[Florestan]

Stendhal considered La pietra del paragone (or rather, Il Sigillara as it was widely known back then) as Rossini's comic masterpiece, putting it above Il Barbiere, L'Italiana and La Cenerentola. I'm not sure I can agree, though (in fact, I strongly disagree). The music is indeed echt Rossini in comic mode, cheerful, witty and full of fire, with exceptional writing for winds. But... there is nothing in terms of memorability that can hold a candle to Il barbiere di Siviglia, either musically or comically. There are so many musical numbers and comic scenes in the latter that vividly stay in one's mind forever after listening to it, as opposed to none at all in La pietra except the overture and a haunting horn solo. This is not a criticism, for the opera is very enjoyable, it's a statement of facts. Pace Stendhal, there is a reason why Il barbiere is universally acclaimed as Rossini's comic masterpiece.

The recording is live but the stage sounds are not intrusive, the voices are realistically recorded and the orchestra shines (this being one of the most symphonic operas of il tedeschino Rossini). Highly recommended.

[JBS]

Stendhal considered La pietra del paragone (or rather, Il Sigillara as it was widely known back then) as Rossini's comic masterpiece, putting it above Il Barbiere, L'Italiana and La Cenerentola. I'm not sure I can agree, though (in fact, I strongly disagree). The music is indeed echt Rossini in comic mode, cheerful, witty and full of fire, with exceptional writing for winds. But... there is nothing in terms of memorability that can hold a candle to Il barbiere di Siviglia, either musically or comically. There are so many musical numbers and comic scenes in the latter that vividly stay in one's mind forever after listening to it, as opposed to none at all in La pietra except the overture and a haunting horn solo. This is not a criticism, for the opera is very enjoyable, it's a statement of facts. Pace Stendhal, there is a reason why Il barbiere is universally acclaimed as Rossini's comic masterpiece.

The recording is live but the stage sounds are not intrusive, the voices are realistically recorded and the orchestra shines (this being one of the most symphonic operas of il tedeschino Rossini). Highly recommended.

I have this recording, of which I remember nothing. Not even the overture or the horn solo.

[JBS]

Finishing up the Decca Erich Kleiber set with his 1955 Nozze di Figaro.
It's received a number of re-issues over the years.









Cast listing

Sonics btw are excellent. I think this mastering was done specifically for this set, although the credits aren't specific. (The only dates they give are 1955 and 2021.)

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Finishing up the Decca Erich Kleiber set with his 1955 Nozze di Figaro.
It's received a number of re-issues over the years.









Cast listing

Sonics btw are excellent. I think this mastering was done specifically for this set, although the credits aren't specific. (The only dates they give are 1955 and 2021.)

Looking at all of those different covers over the years of the same recording reminded me of why it can be hard to remember which specific operatic recordings I own!  It hasn't happened often, but once in a blue moon I'll accidentally buy a duplicate recording. 

PD

[Florestan]

Adelson & Salvini is Bellini's first opera, his graduation work from the Naples Conservatory. It was first performed in-house with an all-male student cast. It reminded me of Haydn of all people, not because of any musical resemblance but because of its mixture of serious and comic (there is a basso buffo singing in Neapolitan dialect which would have not been out of place in Cimarosa or Paisiello). It's as if Bellini couldn't decide whether he wanted to specialize in opera seria or opera buffa so he left all options on the table. The music, while influenced heavily by Rossini both in his serious and comic vein, nevertheless clearly adumbrates Bellini's later style, sensuous, mellifluous and mesmerizing. The first performance was so successful that the opera was subsequently performed every Sunday for the whole following year.

I have two recordings: the first, contained within the Dynamic Complete Opera box, is live. And very bad live, for that matter. I could listen to the first disc only. The stage sounds are so intrusive and the voices so recessed that at times it's hard to follow who sings what. The turning of pages in the orchestral pit is more clearly audible at times than the voices, go figure! The only thing that is relatively well recorded is the orchestra. Not recommended, actually one to avoid.

The Opera Rara is quite another story altogether, superb studio recording both vocally and orchestrally --- and it has one more advantage over the other: the bass role is sung in the original Neapolitan dialect while in the other it's sung in modern Italian, thus depriving the role of all charm and significance. The main protagonists are all Italian so the diction is (almost) perfect and the understanding rate, at least for me, is 100% in the spoken dialogues (which are unaccompanied) and 80% in the sung numbers. Highly recommended.

Curiously, I noticed slight differences between the overture in the Dynamic recording and the one in the Opera Rara and I must say that the former sounded better than the latter to my ears. This is probably due to the fact that Opera Rara uses the original score, whereas the Dynamic probably uses one of the several revisions that Bellini made later. There are 4 appendix tracks with such alternative numbers on the Opera Rara recording.

All in all, a very enjoyable musical experience, showing that, while between this and I Puritani Bellini made huge steps forward, yet A & S contains unmistakable germs of his unmistakable mature style.

[Florestan]

There are 4 appendix tracks with such alternative numbers on the Opera Rara recording.

Forgot to mention a funny factoid. In one of these numbers, Salvini sings the following lines:

Son' vittima infelice
D'un disperato amor!

(I am the unhappy victim of a desperate love)

This in itself is schmaltzy enough but when translated in Romanian as "Sunt victima nefericită a unui amor disperat" it sounds almost word by word as what a famous character from a classical Romanian comedy says, so the effect for me was quite incongruous with poor Salvini's lament: laughter. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Stormy_Night

[JBS]

Tonight's main feature

A new arrival.  I have two other recordings (the Sutherland/Wunderlich and Alan Curtis's recording with Joyce DiDonato), more than I have of any other Handel opera (Ariodante and Semele have two).

[Florestan]

Interview with conductor Daniele Rustioni about the recording:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/articles/1675--interview-daniele-rustioni-on-bellinis-adelson-e-salvini

[ritter]

First listen to this historic recording of Rossini's La Donna del lago.



The seventh of Rossini's nine Neapolitan serious operas, the work, based on Walter Scott, prefigures the romanticism of Guillaume Tell, and sounds almost Biedermeierish at some points (even if it is unmistakably by Rossini and IMHO is one of his best scores).

This 1958 production in Florence was apparently the first performance in over a century, and since then the work has gained a (shaky) foothold in the repertoire. The cast varies from the good (Carteri, Companez) to the excellent (Valletti), and Tullio Serafin leads everything with panache and expertise (even if there's a moment in Act I in which stage and pit are clearly uncoordinated).

But, as was usual in those pioneering days of the bel canto revival, the score is butchered. Most irritatingly, the final rondò  of Elena, "Tanti affetti in tal momento", one of Rossini's most beautiful arias, was eliminated (perhaps Rosanna Carteri was not up to the coloratura demands of the piece) and is substituted by a quartet from Bianca e Fernando and a reprise of an earlier duet from the opera.

So, it's nice listening to this as a historical document (in so-so but acceptable sound), but the performing edition disqualifies it from becoming anything more than that. In no way does it displace the wonderful recording from Pesaro with Katia Ricciarelli and Lucia Valentini-Terrani (both in top form) under the baton of —surprisingly- Maurizio Pollini.

[Papy Oli]

One of this month's Naxos Free albums downloads is Smetana's opera Dalibor (with Urbanova and Popov).

Very few mentions about this opera here but they seemed positive. Downloaded and added to the high listening pile. 

 

[Tsaraslondon]

First listen to this historic recording of Rossini's La Donna del lago.



The seventh of Rossini's nine Neapolitan serious operas, the work, based on Walter Scott, prefigures the romanticism of Guillaume Tell, and sounds almost Biedermeierish at some points (even if it is unmistakably by Rossini and IMHO is one of his best scores).

This 1958 production in Florence was apparently the first performance in over a century, and since then the work has gained a (shaky) foothold in the repertoire. The cast varies from the good (Carteri, Companez) to the excellent (Valletti), and Tullio Serafin leads everything with panache and expertise (even if there's a moment in Act I in which stage and pit are clearly uncoordinated).

But, as was usual in those pioneering days of the bel canto revival, the score is butchered. Most irritatingly, the final rondò  of Elena, "Tanti affetti in tal momento", one of Rossini's most beautiful arias, was eliminated (perhaps Rosanna Carteri was not up to the coloratura demands of the piece) and is substituted by a quartet from Bianca e Fernando and a reprise of an earlier duet from the opera.

So, it's nice listening to this as a historical document (in so-so but acceptable sound), but the performing edition disqualifies it from becoming anything more than that. In no way does it displace the wonderful recording from Pesaro with Katia Ricciarelli and Lucia Valentini-Terrani (both in top form) under the baton of —surprisingly- Maurizio Pollini.

I used to have that version on LP and remember liking it. I haven't heard it for ages though.

[Lisztianwagner]

Finishing Götterdämmerung, from Brünnhilde's entrance in the Hall of the Gibichungs:

Richard Wagner
Götterdämmerung

Herbert von Karajan & Berliner Philharmoniker

[ritter]

Richard Wagner: Parsifal (Act I).



Jonas Kaufmann, Elīna Garanča, Ludovic Tézier, Georg Zeppenfeld, Wolfgang Koch. Vienna State Opera, Philippe Jordan (cond.).

It's not often that one gets to have recordings of a major work like Parsifal by father and son in one's collection^*. Armin recorded the work in the early 80s in Monte Carlo for Erato (as the soundtrack of Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's beautiful film), and now we have Philippe in this sumptuous release on Sony, made live —composite of several performances— in Vienna in 2021.

So far, the prelude is sounding gorgeous, and Zeppenfeld is —not unexpectedly— very convincing as Gurnemanz.

I attended a performance of Parsifal conducted by Philippe Jordan in Bayreuth in August 2012 (the last year of the legendary Stefan Herheim production), and it was outstanding.

* Only Kleiber père et fils (Erich and Carlos) come to mind as a precedent.