You, Midgette
Adroit, awesome, autononomous Anne Midgette nominates her Top 10 Classical and Opera Releases of 2010 over at Soundcheck, and, La Cieca thinks to herself, why should Anne have all the fun? What are your favorite opera CDs and DVDs of the year, cher public? (Here are a few reviews to jog your memory.)
Have you guys seen the clip about the young 25 year older (and homeless) opera singer who rides the 6 train in NYC and sings? I thought I’d share it with you all. You can watch it here
If he’s making 60-70 an hour he’s not homeless. In fact, an interesting tidbit, many “homeless” people in NYC actually make an absurd amount of money for what they do.
I wish him the best, especially b/c he clearly loves singing. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to hear opera on the train a couple times once from (i believe) him, and another older man.
How boring.
Some 2010 CDs I listened to more than once
Alan Curtis’ “Berenice” by Handel
JDF’s imperfect but intriguing “Orphee”
Netrebko’s “In the Still of the Night”
Radvanovsky’s “Verdi Arias”
Lemieux’s “Ne Me Refuse Pas”
And just think. Midgette get all of them, and many others no doubt, for free.
Now that’s a good gig.
I’ll stick with a vocal top 10 for 2010 (in no particular order), all CDs--I don’t buy DVDs.
Hayes. The Passions. Glossa. (A superb Handelian oratorio by a pretty unknown--to me at least--English composer.)
Vivaldi. Armida al campo d’Egitto. Naïve / Opus 111. (One of the best of the Naive series--an opera partly reconstructed/composed by its conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini.)
G.B. Bononcini. Barbara ninfa ingrata. Ramée. (The fine French tenor Cyril Auvity does four Bononcini cantatas.)
Handel. Berenice, regina d’Egitto. Virgin. (Among Curtis’ best Handel recordings, better than the Alcina which was, by the way, released in mid-2009.)
Handel. Italian Cantatas vol. 7 -- Apollo & Dafne. Glossa. (The final volume of Bonizzoni’s revelatory series of Handel’s early cantatas.)
Handel. Giulio Cesare in Egitto. MDG. (Probably the best — and most complete — Cesare available with the unjustly neglected Kristina Hammarstrom particularly fine in the title role.)
Cesti. Le Disgrazie d’Amore. Hyperion. (The most important opera set of the year — the first Cesti recording in ages and a great one.)
Handel. Mezzo-soprano Opera Arias. Virgin. (Perhaps the best countertenor out there these days: Max Emanuel Cencic.)
Vivaldi. Ottone in Villa. Brilliant. (A nearly simultaneous release with the new recording on Naive --which isn’t yet released in the US — super-cheap and very well done.)
Colori D’Amore -- Opera Arias. dhm. (Simone Kermes’ best solo recording so far, the least mannered and all the better for it.)
I see verismo’s your thing, Hippolyte.
Oh, lucky you. That production and Kent Stowell’s for Ballet Northwest are the two that are truest to Hofmann’s original tale.
Camille, that was meant for you.
These are my favorites:
6) La fanciulla del West, DVD from Torre del Lago with Dessì and Armiliato.
5) Pyrotechnics, Vivaldi CD by Vivica Genaux
4) Il trittico from Modena DVD with Amarilli Nizza as the three heroines
3) Il trittico from the MET with Scotto DVD
2) The Muse, CD, arias for Colbran by Rossini, Joyce di Donato
1) Ermione, CD by Opera Rara with what was for me the biggest surprise of the year, Carmen Giannattasio’s fierce and well sung Ermione.
I see Baroque’s your thing, Ercole. [Hey, anything Monty can do... see 13.1 above].
But yes, I want to echo your pick of the DiDonato/ANSC/Mueller CD, Colbran the Muse. In particular I have Parterre to thank for this -- JDD has many fans on this site and thanks to you I was alerted to her gifts in the first place.
I was on to the Kaufmann/Mahler CO/C Abbado Sehnsucht CD before it was reviewed (glowingly) here; it is my male-voice pick of the year.
Indeed the Opera Rara Ermione is fabulous. Another fine example of what Rossini singing should be.
My own favorites from the year (in order of most played):
1. Yuja Wang: Transformation (Stravinsky/Scarlatti/Brahms)
2. Higdon Violin Concerto
3. Adès: Tevot/Violin Concerto
4. Sondra Radvanovsky: Verdi Arias
5. Adams: The Dharma at Big Sur (Josefowicz/L.A. Philharmonic)
6. James Lentini: Chamber Music
If we’re going to include Joyce DiDonato’s “Colbran: The Muse” in 2010, then this disc would come in at #1 for me.
I did buy at least 30 full-length opera recordings in 2010, but all of the recordings pre-date this year so I disqualified them.
This is a Finnish Christmas song. Title: ‘Varpunen jouluaamuna -- Sparrow on Christmas morning’, Finnish composer Otto Kotilainen (1868-1936), Swedish writer Zacharias Topelius (1818-1898). I would like to recommend you even more beautiful (IMO) -- ‘Sylvia’s Christmas Song -- Sylvian joululaulu, Finnish composer Karl Collan (1828-1871), text Z. Topelius.
Sorry, belonged to ‘CL in DC’
These are some that springs to mind:
DVD
Cavalli -- Ercole Amante. Stunning production and singing
CD
Caldara Arias -- Jarousky
Three Baroque Tenors -- Bostridge
Meyerbeer -- Il crociato (Maniaci)
Vivaldi -- La fida ninfa
Kermes -- Colori
Sullivan’s The Golden Legend: Janice Watson, Jean Rigby, Mark Wilde, Jeffrey Black with the New London Orchestra and The London Chorus, cond. Ronald Corp. I‘d heard excerpts before, but this was my first hearing of the entire score and it’s gorgeous! (Musical Heritage Society/Hyperion)
Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande: Natalie Dessay, Stephane Degout, Laurent Nelly, Theater an der Wien/Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, cond., Bertrand de Billy. Not perfect, but a fascinating performance in many ways and highly theatrical. (Virgin Classics DVD).
Jonas Kaufmann’s German Aria Recital: Claudio Abbado/Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Amazing. Cannoto wait to hear his Parsifal! (Decca)
Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glen Gould. Film directed by Peter Raymont. Fascinating look at Gould’s troubled but interesting life and his musicmaking.
Jessye Norman: “Roots” (Sony Classical). Simply one of the most fun experiences I had listening to any album all year. Love this (though not for all tastes, certainly!).
Sacrificium: Cecilia Bartoli. This disc about blew the top of my head off. Bartoli lets loose and wild and the results are often electrifying. Though this came out late last year, it’s remained one of my most played discs of 2010.