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Opera
Jun 19, 2017 17:09:22 GMT -5
Post by William Smith on Jun 19, 2017 17:09:22 GMT -5
We have a few opera buffs around--what shall we discuss?
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Opera
Oct 27, 2017 1:17:36 GMT -5
Post by cavaradossi on Oct 27, 2017 1:17:36 GMT -5
William Smith
A few words about music tonight... I have recently surprised myself by becoming suddenly interested in the music of a composer whose output used to drive me up the wall, C. P. E. Bach. His manic/depressive music always seemed to me to be the musical equivalent of nail scratching on a blackboard, and I literally couldn't tolerate it. But a chance encounter on the radio with one of his cello concertos got me intrigued, and I' enjoyed been buying several CDs of his works since, and, I can scarcely believe it, actually enjoying his strange music. Who'd a thunk it?!
On the other hand, I've always enjoyed Telemann when I heard something of his on the radio, but never owned any recordings of his vast output. I've been remedying that, too, also to my delight.
Well, on the operatic front, a star soprano who never really appealed to me, has pricked my interest lately. I've added her La Boheme with Pavarotti and Karajan to my collection, as well as the Turandot in which she sang Liu. Caballe is the Turandot and Carreras the California, and I have no doubt I will enjoy them, as I usually do. The fly in the ointment, as I understand, is that Alain Lombard's conducting in that set is not of the highest order. Turandot is pretty hard to ruin, though, so I have few fears about that. This evening I ordered the Forza del destino in which Freni was joined by Domingo and Zancanaro, Muti conducting. The Forza Leonora seems an odd choice for Freni as her voice, to my way of thinking, hasn't the weight the role requires. I vividly remember her struggling with the soprano lead in Ernani, and surely if that role taxed her resources, Forza certainly would. We shall see.
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Opera
Oct 27, 2017 1:21:20 GMT -5
Post by cavaradossi on Oct 27, 2017 1:21:20 GMT -5
William Smith
I see I neglected to mention the soprano's name in a timely fashion. It's Mirella Freni. I noticed one of my early sentences is garbled, but there doesn't seem to be any way of getting back into one after a note has been posted.
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hikari
New Member
I am the Stormy Petrel of crime.
Posts: 45 
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Opera
Oct 28, 2017 10:40:43 GMT -5
Post by hikari on Oct 28, 2017 10:40:43 GMT -5
Hi, Cav,
I don't know my opera like you and William know your opera . . but I like to think I am much more conversant with this art form than the average slob. I saw "Tosca" live onstage at the Chautauqua Institute, along with 'Daughter of the Regiment'. I was steeped in "Madama Butterfly" long before I went to Japan personally. I've seen a number of works on PBS or on DVD. "Eugene Onegin" is probably the least conventional one. Puccini works and Verdi. Have not yet attempted any Wagner in performance, only the music. (I can't really enter into the 'To Kna or not to Kna?' debate as I don't have any frame of reference for this composer, good or bad. 'Ride of the Valkyries' is certainly popular at the cinema, that I do know.
So if you had to choose one favorite opera, which would it be? Favorite performers?
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Opera
Oct 28, 2017 13:30:00 GMT -5
Post by William Smith on Oct 28, 2017 13:30:00 GMT -5
Favorite opera and favorite performers. Short question, long answer.
Here's the short answer for favorite opera: Die Meistersinger. And very, very favorite singer: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. And very, very favorite conductor: Georg Solti.
And the full answer: When it comes to favorite operas, for me it's more like a list. In roughly chronological order--and every one of these is worth a listen, although you may not find all of them equally enticing:
Monteverdi: All three of his surviving complete operas, Orfeo, Il Ritorno di Ulisse in Patria, and L'Incoronozatione di Poppea, are flat out wonderful. Particularly Poppea. Numerous recordings; the Harnoncourt versions are standards. I've seen all three, two of them in Leppard's performing editions, which are also worth hearing.
Handel: Many operas. Try Guilio Cesare.
Mozart: The Big Three: Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, and best of all Die Zauberflote. I particularly like the Klemperer and Solti recordings.
Rossini: A lot to like but Il Barbiare di Seviglia is an indispensable work.
I am not a tremendous fan of bel canto, but in that repertoire I like Bellini's Norma and Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. The Met broadcasts recently had the Donizetti operas based on queens--Maria Stuarda, Anna Bolena, and Roberto Devereux. Fille du Regiment, which you have heard, is also quite charming. I remember a wonderful performance of Lucrezia Borgia with Beverly Sills--a favorite.
A lot to like in Verdi--for me, the best are Aida, Don Carlo (probably my favorite), and Otello.
I've had the good fortune to see most of Wagner's operas live, and I've listened to all of them except his first--Die Feen, based on A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Ring, of course. My single favorite in Wagner, however, is Die Meistersinger. My German drama professor in my undergraduate days used to say that there were only three comedies in German drama--Leonce und Lena, Die Meistersinger, and Der Zerbrochne Krug. Meistersinger is just plain perfect in every way, with arguably the best closing scene for any opera--as one friend who was a violinist said, "How can you not like everyone on stage dressed in white in C-Major?" It also exhibits one of Wagner's skills particularly well--the orchestral bridge. There are many instances of this in Wagner, like the descent into Nibelheim in Rheingold or the transformation music in Parsifal. The passage bridging the two scenes of Act III in Meistersinger, however, is particularly magical. Conductors, as well as singers matter greatly in Wagner. For me, it's Bohm and Solti.
Berlioz, Les Troyens, one of the grandest of all grand operas. Go for the first of Colin Davis' recordings.
Who doesn't like Carmen? And who shouldn't like Bizet's other opera, Les Pecheurs de Perles? One of the two best tenor and baritone duets in any opera--the other being in Don Carlo.
I am not at all of fan of Puccini, except for Tosca and Turandot.
This is a bit of an eccentric choice, but Bartok's only opera, Bluebeard's Castle, is a stunner. If you have any liking for Bartok, you should like it.
And then there is another of my particular favorites--Richard Strauss. It's hard for me to name a Strauss opera I don't like. The Big Five, I think, would be Elektra, Salome--Wilde's text is even creepier in German than in either French or English-Der Rosenkavalier, Ariande auf Naxos, and best of all, Die Frau ohne Schatten, an opera that almost out-Wagners Wagner. Think of a kind of cross between The Ring and Die Zauberflote, and you have a fair idea.
Favorite conductors: obviously, that will vary as to the composer, but I would put Solti, Bohm, Klemperer, Guilini, and Davis at the top. Karajan made a number of fine recordings. The long-time partnership between Richard Bonynge and Joan Sutherland produced many remarkable recordings.
In thinking about favorite performers, for me it's dominated by those I first loved when I started being an opera buff. That did correspond to a notable period for opera. By type, and in no particular order, and off the top of my head:
Sopranos: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf; Birgit Nillson; Beverly Sills; Joan Sutherland; Leonie Rysanek
Mezzos: Christa Ludwig; Janet Baker;Irene Dalis
Tenors: Nicolai Gedda; Placido Domingo; Jose Carreras; Rene Kollo; Wolfgang Windgassen; James King; Ian Partridge
Baritones: Hermann Prey; Eberhard Wachter; John Shirley-Quirk; Håkan Hagegård
Basses: George London; Marti Talvela; Han Hotter; James Morris; Walter Berry
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Opera
Oct 28, 2017 13:33:49 GMT -5
Post by William Smith on Oct 28, 2017 13:33:49 GMT -5
Never expect a short answer about opera from an opera buff. 
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