What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[Number Six]

Callas IS moving in Violetta, there's no doubt about that. It's the whole work that I fail to enjoy. I find nothing to like in the characters. I just don't root for them (including Violetta). And that has nothing to do with who sings the title role - I've heard all of these Callas performances. And Sutherland, Scotto, Cotrubas, Lorengar... I'm nothing if not perseverant. For many years I thought there was something I didn't 'get'. Turned out this particular blind spot is very obstinate...

I get a lot more musical and dramatic thrills from Rigoletto and Il Trovatore - operas in which Callas gave some of her best portrayals, by the way.

Your problem is you've never heard Netrebko in the role. I mean, all those gals are good, but they're not La Netrebko.
 

[André]

Your problem is you've never heard Netrebko in the role. I mean, all those gals are good, but they're not La Netrebko.
 

Thank you for pointing out my problem. I feel so enlightened...

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Speaking of Verdi, I've got A LOT of catching up to do as I haven't cracked the seal on this box set yet:



Although, I have been enjoying the Muti set I must say. So much opera, so little time.

[San Antone]

I haven't cracked the seal on this box set yet:

Which box set is that?

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Which box set is that?

This one:

Verdi: The Complete Works (Decca, DG)

[ChamberNut]

Speaking of Verdi, I've got A LOT of catching up to do as I haven't cracked the seal on this box set yet:



Although, I have been enjoying the Muti set I must say. So much opera, so little time.

Hopefully you have obtained your Class 1 drivers license, because this box set is nearly the dimensions of a semi trailer.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Hopefully you have obtained your Class 1 drivers license, because this box set is nearly the dimensions of a semi trailer.

 

[André]

Speaking of Verdi, I've got A LOT of catching up to do as I haven't cracked the seal on this box set yet:



Although, I have been enjoying the Muti set I must say. So much opera, so little time.

I listened to only 1/4 of it since I bought it.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

I listened to only 1/4 of it since I bought it.

Well, you're doing much better than me that's for sure!

[nico1616]

A classic Magic Flute I have missed until now. Without dialogue (which is fine) and one of those unforgettable 50s cast.

[ritter]

A candidate for one of the "perfect operas" of all time, in its first ever recording (from 1949). Ernest Bour conducts vocal soloists and the forces of the French Radio in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges....

[Roasted Swan]

A candidate for one of the "perfect operas" of all time, in its first ever recording (from 1949). Ernest Bour conducts vocal soloists and the forces of the French Radio in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges....

I'm not saying its not(!) but what criteria make an opera "perfect"......

[ritter]

I'm not saying its not(!) but what criteria make an opera "perfect"......

Everyone seems to have their own criteria... 

[Christo]

A beauty, as are all 'late' operas by this composer: Maria Egiziaca, 'Mary of Egypt', here in La Scala, last year:

[ritter]

A beauty, as are all 'late' operas by this composer: Maria Egiziaca, 'Mary of Egypt', here in La Scala, last year:

Watched that just some weeks ago. Very enjoyable. But it's from La Fenice in Venice (actually, from the company's "second house", the Teatro Malibran), not Las Scala IIRC.

[Christo]

Many thanks, Rafael, for pointing this out. The only opera I witnessed in La Scala, was Alban Berg's Wozzeck, back in 2015, when lecturing there at the university. Another beauty.

[nico1616]

There is no such thing as the perfect Otello recording. This one has fine conducting, a superb Desdemona in Margaret Price and a decent Otello in Cossutta. Alas, Bacquier is a total miscast as Jago. Still, a lot to enjoy here.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Act I from this recording:

Handel
Orlando, HMV 30
Various soloists
Harry van der Kamp (bass), Rosa Mannion (soprano), Rosemary Joshua (soprano), Hilary Summers (contralto), Patricia Bardon (mezzo-soprano)
Les Arts Florissants
William Christie




About Handel's Orlando:

Orlando is one of Handel's magic operas. Based on Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, its poetry and visual spectacle appealed to Handel's imagination. This opera includes Handel's first attempt to depict human madness in music, which he was to do again in his oratorio Saul. The part of Zoroastre is sumptuous, solemn, grand, and imposing. This noble magician seeks to protect Orlando and the rest of the characters from the consequences of their actions. His music, written for the fabulous bass voice of Antonio Montagnana, holds the opera together, and imbues it with mystery and life. As the opera progresses, passions of the heart tear Orlando to pieces, and as his emotional state becomes wilder and frenzied, the magic of Zoroastre saves him from complete insanity. In order to create this impression of emotional instability, the music becomes rhythmically complex and contains the first instance of the use of quintuple time. It is contained in a rondo-like structure at the end of Act II, during which Orlando raves.

Woven throughout the passions of Orlando's music is the pastoral music of the shepherdess Dorinda, the love music of Angelica and Medoro, and the magical and spectacular music for the special effects. Orlando has often been compared with Mozart's Magic Flute and not unfavorably. It is also thought that the madness of Orlando influenced the creation of the character of Orfeo by Gluck. The music shows the influence of Henry Purcell, and harks back to the time before the Academy when Handel composed the magic operas Rinaldo and Teseo.

The musical forms used in the opera are developed to suit the dramatic and emotional situations. Rigid adherence to da capo forms and the exit convention is dispensed with entirely. Ariosos, modified da capo forms, interrupted arias, elaborately orchestrated recitatives, together with dramatic scenic construction and visual spectacle, help this opera completely transcend the restrictions of opera seria style. There is a marked increase in the use of vocal ensembles as well; there are three duets, and a concerted trio. The duets have completely original forms adapted to the demands of the text and the emotions of the characters. At the climax of Act III, Orlando grabs Angelica physically and throws her bodily into the cave. They alternate singing, and the phrases of each become shorter and shorter. The contrast between the insane Orlando and the despairing Angelica is heightened by a contrast in their accompaniments. She is accompanied only by the basses playing pianissimo, while he has the full complement of the continuo section plus bassoons at a fortissimo dynamic level. The resolution of the drama is built around one of Handel's finest sleep scenes, written for the hero Orlando, and is finished with a concerted vocal ensemble.

[Article taken from All Music Guide]