What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[André]

Thank you Amazon for letting me know that I bought this set in May 2021. I unwrapped it yesterday.

Midway through the second Act I can already tell I won't return to it often, if at all. It's just not funny. Everything is shipshape in a very english way (sorry for the stereotype), but with little sense of real, unbridled enjoyment from the performers. It's very precise in a Swiss, clockwork way - you can almost hear the singers count the beats in the ensembles, very musical (pianoforte continuo, good voices and superfine orchestral playing all around).

Baltsa is in excellent voice, but her Rosina is unsmiling. Her conspiration meant to teach a lesson, not to have fun. Araiza is in fine voice, but not honeyed enough. He and Rosina should be (and sound) in their twenties, not their mid-thirties. Allen's Figaro superb of voice but a tad too buttoned up. And so on. Marriner's Academy plays splendidly and the sound is pristine.

[Tsaraslondon]

Thank you Amazon for letting me know that I bought this set in May 2021. I unwrapped it yesterday.

Midway through the second Act I can already tell I won't return to it often, if at all. It's just not funny. Everything is shipshape in a very english way (sorry for the stereotype), but with little sense of real, unbridled enjoyment from the performers. It's very precise in a Swiss, clockwork way - you can almost hear the singers count the beats in the ensembles, very musical (pianoforte continuo, good voices and superfine orchestral playing all around).

Baltsa is in excellent voice, but her Rosina is unsmiling. Her conspiration meant to teach a lesson, not to have fun. Araiza is in fine voice, but not honeyed enough. He and Rosina should be (and sound) in their twenties, not their mid-thirties. Allen's Figaro superb of voice but a tad too buttoned up. And so on. Marriner's Academy plays splendidly and the sound is pristine.

I used to have this set on cassette (remember them?), but I didn't listen to it that often. No replacement for the Galliera set with Callas, Gobbi et al, which exudes a sense of fun from beginning to end. Yes, I know it's cut, but it fizzes and pops like a good champagne.

[Lisztianwagner]

Arnold Schönberg
Moses und Aron

Hans Rosbaud & NDR Sinfonieorchester

[Iota]

Replete with thrilling arias, fantastic orchestral playing from Les Accents under the Noally's brilliant direction, and peppered with dazzling technical vocal displays, I found this irresistible. I did have one quibble, which was that the first half though full of great music, was all high-powered, with no real moments of calm or contrast, and with it being an all high-voiced male cast (including one female soprano), that lack of variety became wearing after a while. At the halfway mark however all was forgiven, when contrast did arrive and in winningly appealing fashion, and further unbridled pleasure ensued.
Anyway, bravo to all, including J.A Hasse the creator, the whole thing is seriously enjoyable and I'd certainly recommend giving it a go.

[Duke Bluebeard]

Arnold Schönberg
Moses und Aron

Hans Rosbaud & NDR Sinfonieorchester

You've got to give this Cambreling recording a listen!



I've heard several Moses und Aron recordings through the years: Kegel (Berlin Classics), Boulez (Columbia/Sony) and Solti (Decca), but this Cambreling performance truly is spellbinding.

[ritter]

You've got to give this Cambreling recording a listen!



I've heard several Moses und Aron recordings through the years: Kegel (Berlin Classics), Boulez (Columbia/Sony) and Solti (Decca), but this Cambreling performance truly is spellbinding.

Indeed... I had the chance to see the same forces perform it live here in Madrid in concert, and it was memorable.

[Duke Bluebeard]

Indeed... I had the chance to see the same forces perform it live here in Madrid in concert, and it was memorable.

Wow! I bet that was stunning, Rafael.

[Lisztianwagner]

You've got to give this Cambreling recording a listen!



I've heard several Moses und Aron recordings through the years: Kegel (Berlin Classics), Boulez (Columbia/Sony) and Solti (Decca), but this Cambreling performance truly is spellbinding.

I've listened to Boulez and Solti too, both are terrific performances, though so far my favourite remains Rosbaud. Suggestion noted about Cambreling, I've seen there's on youtube and I'm looking forward to checking it out.

[Duke Bluebeard]

I've listened to Boulez and Solti too, both are terrific performances, though so far my favourite remains Rosbaud. Suggestion noted about Cambreling, I've seen there's on youtube and I'm looking forward to checking it out.

I also own the Boulez Concertgebouw recording on DG, but I don't remember it. Looking forward to what you make of the Cambreling --- it has become my favorite recording of this opera.

[Lisztianwagner]

On youtube:
Arnold Schönberg
Moses und Aron

Sylvain Cambreling & SWR Sinfonieorchester des Südwestrundfunks



Schönberg's Moses und Aron again, but now a new recording I've never listened to before...

[nico1616]

Another Cosi, conducted by the great Colin Davis. The big asset of this one is Montserrat Caballé's Fiordiligi. Quite surprisingly, cause I never thought her to be an ideal Mozart singer, but she is here. She dominates all the ensembles and floats effortlessly through the most difficult arias. On the other hand we have Nicolai Gedda. Even in his prime his tone was never really attractive but here he is horrendous, especially in 'Un aura amoroso'. One of the worst Ferrando's I have heard. Baker and Cotrubas are cast in unexpected roles but I like them. The other male roles are a bit anonymous to me.
I will keep this one for Caballé!

[Tsaraslondon]

Baker and Cotrubas are cast in unexpected roles but I like them.

Why so? Baker sang Dorabella with great success for Scottish Opera (with Elizabeth Harwood as Fiordiligi) and Cotrubas's Despina is surely a cousin to her wonderful Susanna, a role she sang at Glyndebourne to great acclaim.

I like this set too, but mostly for the ladies - all of them. There is another Davis recording out there, live from Covent Garden, on which the men, Stuart Burrows and Thomas Allen, improve on their studio counterparts and with Te Kanawa and Baltsa at least the equal of theirs. The weak link here is the Despina of Daniela Mazzucato, who is somewhat generic and less interesting than Cotrubas. I actually saw one of the series of performances this recording was taken from (though I don't think it was the same one) and it was one of my most memorable evenings in the theatre.

[Que]

I used to have this set on cassette (remember them?), but I didn't listen to it that often. No replacement for the Galliera set with Callas, Gobbi et al, which exudes a sense of fun from beginning to end. Yes, I know it's cut, but it fizzes and pops like a good champagne.

It's not perfect, but I always had a weak spot for this recording:

[JBS]

It's not perfect, but I always had a weak spot for this recording:

Oh signore!
That was one of the first operas I bought on CD. The Metropolitan Opera in its glory days.

But before that there was this on LP

Still available on CD


I think both have more than enough fizz and pop.

[Que]

Oh signore!
That was one of the first operas I bought on CD. The Metropolitan Opera in its glory days.

Still available on CD


I think both have more than enough fizz and pop.

Didn't know that one ! Looks very good, actually. 

[Florestan]

Didn't know that one ! Looks very good, actually. 

One of my favorite moments of that is not even sung: the way Bastianini utters "Un non so che nell'occhio!" produced in me a volcanic and lengthy burst of laughter. I feel good simply by remembering it. Highly recommended.

[nico1616]

Don Giovanni may be my favorite opera, and over the years I have collected a dozen recordings. The EMI Giulini was the first of those and will always be on top of the list. I did not expect a lot from this Mackerras since I was underwhelmed by his Cosi. To my surprise this Don Giovanni is great: conducting, orchestral detail and the ensembles are all top.

[Wendell_E]

Most days, I listen to an opera on the Met's Sirius/XM channel, but instead of the 1975 Götterdämmerung they were playing Tuesday, I listened to Böhm's Bayreuth recording, which I've never heard before, on Amazon Music. I liked it a lot, and decided to continue the cycle, listening to the operas in reverse order. I finished up with Rheingold yesterday.

[ritter]

Bellini: I puritani. Lisette Oropesa, Lawrence Brownlee, Anthony Clark Evans, Riccardo Zanellato, et al. Dresden Philharmonie and MDR-Rundfunkchor, conducted by Riccardo Frizza.



Superb! 

[Florestan]

Bellini: I puritani. Lisette Oropesa, Lawrence Brownlee, Anthony Clark Evans, Riccardo Zanellato, et al. Dresden Philharmonie and MDR-Rundfunkchor, conducted by Riccardo Frizza.



Superb! 

Buona sera, vossignoria illustrissima!

I listened to A te, o cara from this box just yesterday and my reaction was: WTF! Too nazalised, as if he's either ironic or drunk. Am I mad?