A disc fit for the gods
As we lurch into the month of July, La Cieca (not pictured, one hopes) wants quietly but firmly to draw the attention of her cher public to some of the more interesting releases on audio and video newly available on Amazon.com.
  Puccini: Il Trittico. Eva-Maria Westbroek, Ermonela Jaho, Lucio Gallo, Elenza Zilio, Francesco Demuro, Royal Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Richard Jones / Antonio Pappano. |
  Verdi: Falstaff. Ambrogio Maestri (Falstaff), Barbara Frittoli (Alice Ford), Meg Page (Judith Schmid), Mistress Quickly (Yvonne Naef), Massimo Cavalletti (Ford), Eva Liebau (Nannetta), Javier Camarena (Fenton), Peter Straka (Dr. Cajus), Martin Zysset (Bardolfo), Davide Fersini (Pistola). Orchester der Oper Zürich and Chor der Oper Zürich, Daniele Gatti. Staged by Sven-Eric Bechtolf |
  Wagner: Lohengrin. Recorded live at the Bayreuth Festival, August 2011. Georg Zeppenfeld (König Heinrich), Klaus Florian Vogt (Lohengrin), Annette Dasch (Elsa Von Brabant), Jukka Rasilainen (Friedrich Von Telramund) and Samuel Youn (Der Heerrufer Des Königs). Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and Chorus, Andris Nelsons (conductor) and Hans Neuenfels (director). |
  Strauss: Elektra. Jeanne-Michele Charbonnet, Angela Denoke, Dame Felicity Palmer, Matthias Goerne, London Symphony Orchestra / Valery Gergiev. |
  Placido Domingo and Katia Riccarelli: Great Love Duets. Scenes from Otello, Madama Butterfly, Un ballo in maschera and Francesca da Rimini. |
  Leontyne Price and Placido Domingo: Verdi and Puccini Duets. Duets from Otello, Un ballo in maschera, Manon Lescaut and Madama Butterfly. |
  Renata Scotto and Placido Domingo: Romantic Opera Duets. Scenes from Manon, Romeo et Juliette, Fedora and I Rantzau. |
  Janacek: Jenufa. Karita Mattila (Jenufa), Anja Silja (Kostelnicka), Eva Randova (Starenka Buryjovka), Jorma Silvasti (Laca Klemen) and Jerry Hadley (Steva Buryja). Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Bernard Haitink. |
  Mayr: Demetrio, Re Di Siria. Live Aufnahme vom Moutier Festival, Schweiz. Bénédicte Tauran, Amaya Dominguez, Piotr Friebe, Lisandro Abadie, Elizabeth Bailey, Matteo Mezzaro. Orchestre Symphonique du Jura; Opera Obliqua Stand de Moutier. Facundo Agudin, conductor. |
I LOVE the Domingo-Scotto duet CD -- but why is the repertory on the Ricciarelli-Domingo and the Price-Domingo CD 75 per cent identical???
Is this yet another opportunity to post the video of those precious pink rats? Well, I think I will, since I have purchased this Lohengrin DVD, through Parterre, of course. It is a marvelous piece of staging, capturing long forgotten joy for this too oft heard as trite piece of music, followed by such longing in the singing of Klaus Florian Vogt who refreshes with gloriously bright singing. Feel the love:
What’s not to love about the pink rats! Esp. the littlest one who gets confused about which side he’s supposed to break to.
I remember those three duet LPs so well, owning them as a teen, loving them and studying the shiny covers at length. Oh to be young again, and to be not 100% familiar with the core répertoire. If two good singers of today, say Anna and Jonas, recorded such a CD, I’m not sure I would even bother listening to it on Spotify… although I like those two. But there comes a point when you’ve heard those selections too many times. At least for me.
Even ‘I Rantzau’?
No, the I Rantzau duet was sure the exception, wasn’t it. In my mind I classified it more with the Scotto solo album, along the Lodoletta and Edgar selections, he he he.
Jeanne-Michele Charbonnet was the Aida in my first opera production I saw at the Fair Park Music Hall in Dallas Texas (along with Irina Mishura as Amneris). I was psyched when she came out and I think I should pick up her Elektra for old times sake.
I think CK was at those ELEKTRA concerts, so he may be able to sway your decision one way or the other.
For my part, I would recommend the ROH TRITTICO to anyone- a very special production with some very special performances.
I was indeed at the Elektra and I thought it was terrible. I agree with Krunoslav’s comments below. Charbonnet seemed plain over-parted as Elektra and the whole thing was an undignified struggle for her, definitely not in a good way. And yes, the experience left me with a very negative view of Denoke which I’m going to have to reconsider at some point I suspect, because I keep reading so many favourable things about other performances she has given -- safe to say she was not displayed to her best advantage here.
Charbonnet- witness her Dallas Isolde- is very compelling in the theatre, but the sounds she makes on that ELEKTRA recording are God-awful, and that applies to 90% of Angele Denoke’s singing as well. Palmer and , less so, Goerne are the only reasons to hear ( NOT buy) it.
A bigger problem with those Elektra performances was the Maestro’s somewhat imperfect acquaintanceship with the score… And as the orhestra were not especially familiar with it of course they played too loudly much of the time…
Ok, you’ve recommended the Mayr, and I WANT IT. But it’s not listed as an available choice anywhere on the Parterre site. Does Parterre still get credit if I click on the “Turandot” DVD, say, to get to Amazon, but BUY only the “Demetrio” CD? Naughty children like me who did not pay attention the first time need reminding on how Parterre gets credit. Thanks.
Mariella Devia’s new recording of “Lucrezia Borgia” has also just been released:
http://www.amazon.com/Lucrezia-Borgia-Donizetti/dp/B007Z8I390/ref=sr_1_9?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1341226445&sr=1-9&keywords=lucrezia+borgia