Follow me and climb the stairs
La Cieca was hoping for an official announcement from the New York Times before she posted this, but it looks like she’s going to have to grit her teeth and link to Norman Lebrecht after all. As you probably have heard, veteran critic Allan Kozinn is about to go though one of those NYT lateral moves, away from criticism and toward culture reporting, and the blogosphere is in a state of high dither. [Slipped Disc]
Hi gang --
A few questions for your collective wisdom:
1. Does anyone know of a discography for Elisabeth Rethberg?
2. Trying to decide which performance of DON GIOVANNI (D’Arcangelo is the Don) to see here at LA Opera. Donna Annas are either: a) Angela Meade or b) Julianna DiGiacomo. Thoughts?
3. All of the talk about ELEKTRA and Resnik made me realize I’d never seen this work. How would you recommend approaching it — via a recording or DVD?
Thanks! I look forward to the collective wisdom of the Parterre community.
Todd
3.
No 3 the greatest Elektra hands down of course:
can be found at Met Opera Shop or Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Strauss-Elektra-Levine-Metropolitan-Exclusive/dp/B0064SBBA0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346877501&sr=8-1&keywords=elektra+behrens+dvd
Whilst not wishing in any way to detract from marshie’s choice, I will just point out that youtube is a wondrous thing -- you can see the fabulous Leonie Rysanek in complete performances as Elektra, Chrysothemis and Clytemnestra at the moment ( I say at the moment as youtube clips come and go a lot).
Rysanek in the title role, 1982 studio film conducted Karl Bohm, with Astrid Varnay Clytemnestra, Caterina Ligendza Chysothemis, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Orestes -- but it has Italian subtitles here
Met late 70′s I think, Birgit Nilsson Elektra, Rysanek Chrysothemis, Mignon Dunn Clytemnestra,Donald McIntyre Orest, cond James Levine -- English subtitles
From Orange 1992,Rysanek as Clytemnestra, Gwyneth Jones Elektra, Elizabeth Connell Chrysothemis, Oreste Simon Estes, cond Marek Janowski, French surtitles
That’s my favourite one, yes Nerva/Vicar, TWO horrible Brits in leading roles. I have been censoring myself on this site for years, not wanting to say something that would cause that whoever it is to come along and leave some STUPID, snarky comment after me but now I don’t care anymore.
Anyway there are three great performances of Strauss’s greatest opera which I enjoy very much and hope others may too.
My carisssssimo Grimo, first you would never detract from anything I do, becasue you are too nice and polite, plus I really like you
Second and more importantly, we should all live by an old Spanish saying: “para el gusto las flores, para escoger los colores” roughly translated as “for enjoyment the flowers, for choice the colors” which also has an equivalent in Latin, the very old De Gustibus….
But I do want to clarify some details (annal Marshie here
)
The Boehm Elektra and the Levine/Nilsson are both from the same year, 1980!
The Levine I saw all four performances in the theater, including the last, a televized matinee, so I know the dates very well, and Liebe Dr Karl died in August 1981, and the Elektra film was edited until the very end and released in 1985 for the first time, but was filmed in 1980 I believe, so 1980 give or take a few months.
Poor, *poor* put-upon Grim!
Elizabeth Connell was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and described herself (at least at the time of her Met debut as Vitellia, which I witnessed) as Irish.
I also saw her NY debut at Carnegie as Lady M. with Muti, Bruson and the Philadelphia--and in many other fine performances (Ortrud, Leonore and Odabella come to mind). Very fine artist gallant lady.
Nervissima!
Do you recall the year of that debut Lady? I saw her as same w/Bruson in anout ’86-87. She was excellent.
Camille--
October 11, 1983. The other leads--certainly highly adequate but not in the league of Bruson (who provoked not only shouts of ‘Bravo’ but the unfurling of banners reading “Viva Italia!”) and Connell--were Simon Estes and Luis Lima.
Oh thank you very much, Nerva. That would perhaps explain how and why she wended her way to Rome, after the débacle with Shirl and Dimitrova’s short stay. She knew what she was about and so would have Bruson, the Macbeth in that production (yes he was a very big deal during those years).
A worthy artist, and, yes I believe she was Irish in heritage. I am so sad she died so youngish but so glas for her late career success as Turandot. What an Ortrud. I am still glad I saw her Isolde, even if she was ill that day.
Thank you again, Nerva.
Personally I would steer clear of the Met DVD with Nilsson and Rysanek -- I bought it once but found Nilsson in particular to be such a huge disappointment -- very little lustre or colour left in the voice and wayward intonation, without much with which to compensate for these drawbacks. I returned it to the shop straight away.
Not to Gramex, Cocky?
Talking of which, Janice Baird seems to have disappeared from the schedules.
Why to Gramex? I wanted all my money back immediately, not an afternoon spending hours trying to find a load of stuff I only half wanted to exchange it for.
I’m a bit late getting to this inquiry of decotodd’s, but I agree with Cocky Kurwenal on Met I with Nilsson. Best approached as something for the Nilsson/Rysanek completists, or for those who want to have all the ELEKTRAs out there. It has been superseded by several more recent video ELEKTRAs.
Met II: This would not be in my win/place/show either, although I was glad for its release. I love Behrens’s exuberant physicality, especially in the last 10 or 15 minutes (none of the others makes more of the dance), and one really gets a sense of what the early fuss about Voigt was about — luscious and gleamy. But the sound mix makes Levine’s orchestra too loud relative to the singers, Behrens goes hoarse in the later scenes, the men are nothing to write home about, and Fassbaender is way beyond good sense, good taste, or good singing. A great artist, a terribly misjudged and tacky performance, both vocally and histrionically.
Here are the three I like best, in ascending order.
Show: Friedrich’s film is very fine; there was a point a few years ago when it was my top recommendation, because one of the below was between licenses and the other had not taken place. If you can live with the artificial quality of post-synched opera films, this is one of the better such things, as is the SALOME with Stratas and the same conductor/director combo. Its one of Dr. Boehm’s most gripping late-in-life accounts of anything — deliberately paced but there’s a lot of muscle and bone holding it up. The only principal I’m not wild about here is the Chryosthemis, Ligendza, who is blowsy and much bettered elsewhere. Fi-Di is very eloquent in Orest’s scene.
Place: Harry Kupfer’s production at Vienna is striking and highly combative (everyone is wrestling around among some ropes hanging from a statue of Agamemnon that the Aegisth crowd is in the process of destroying). Abbado’s conducting has a wonderful continuity, beautiful textures, and lively gait. There’s a good cast down the line, though Marton is a more monotonous stage actress than others mentioned here, and Fassbaender is already on the way here to what she does at the Met (but here I think the production can absorb it better; Schenk’s at the Met is cooler of temperature, squarer of notions, so she really sticks out badly).
Win: My top pick would be the recent (2010) Salzburg, which really does not have anything I’d want to change: Theorin, Westbroek, Meier, Pape…you even get an Aegisth who is still singing Tannhaeuser and Tristan (Gambill). I do not like Lehnhoff’s production *more* than Kupfer’s, but he has a lot of interesting ideas of his own, for example, Klytaemnstra not as a grotesquerie but as a glamorous queen who may be coming apart but is keeping up appearances (Meier gets to suggest Norma Desmond a bit early in her scene). And I like what he does with the closing moments, which I do not want to spoil. Gatti’s shaping from the pit isn’t as distinctive as Abbado’s or Boehm’s, but he doesn’t get in the way of that magnificent orchestra. And of course this one benefits from all the latest audio and visual advantages, if you care about that.
I have not seen Thielemann’s with Watson.
No 1 for the glorious Rethberg the best sound is on the two (two-fers) Romophone. Don’t know if it is still available but the sound is incredible!
Rethberg discography here:
http://www.cantabile-subito.de/Sopranos/Rethberg__Elisabeth/rethberg__elisabeth.html
I hail from the LP era so for Elektra I’d recommend first getting an audio recording, the best in good stereo sound + uncut + good cast is probably the Sawallisch. I’m not saying it’s the best recording ever (people keep your calm) but it’s a very good recording to get to know the opera through.
There’s a complete score over here
http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/1/19/IMSLP24779-PMLP55122-Strauss_-_Elektra__Op._58__orch._score_.pdf
Full translation over here
http://www.archive.org/stream/elektratragedyin00strauoft/elektratragedyin00strauoft_djvu.txt
There are many fine videotaped performances of the opera. My favourite are the 1994 Levine / Met, the 1989 Abbado / Vienna, the 1990 Janowski / Orange and the 1981 Unitel film conducted by Bohm.
Another great Rethberg moment:
1. http://www.cantabile-subito.de/Sopranos/Rethberg__Elisabeth/hauptteil_rethberg__elisabeth.html
3. Here are the ones (audio) that I like the best:
i) SIR GEORGE SOLTI / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Birgit Nilsson (Elektra); Marie Collier (Chrysothemis); Regina Resnik (Klytämnestra); Gerhard Stolze (Aegisth); Tom Krause (Orest)
(recorded 1967)
ii) EUGEN JOCHUM / Hamburg State Orchestra
Erna Schlüter (Elektra); Annelies Kupper (Chrysothemis); Gusta Hammer (Klytämnestra); Peter Markwort (Aegisth); Robert Hager (Orest).
ACANTA 442 129/130 (rec. June 1944)
[This is especially important for fans of Gusta Hammer, whose Klytemnestra, regal, pathetic, and yet menacing, is one of the best that I have ever heard.]
iii) DIMITRI MITROPOULOS / VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Inge Borkh (Elektra); Lisa della Casa (Chrysothemis); Jean Madeira (Klytämnestra); Max Lorenz (Aegisth); Kurt Böhme (Orest)
ORFEO C 456 972 1 (Salzburg Festival August 7, 1957)
Also, some fans of Ljuba Welitsch tend to go for the recordings where she played Chrysothemis, fans of Regina Resnik prefer her Klytemnestra with Nilsson’s Elektra, and so on.
Here, BTW, is a little Gusta Hammer for you:
I would also seek out her live performance as Desdemona on a MET broadcast on Naxos. You can order from Amazon UK. Martinelli and Tibbett round out a stunning cast. Panizza’s Verdi is always compelling.
Luvt, Desdemona is a specially glorious role for her so thanks for the tip! I didn’t know of a complete Otello!!!! my poor Visa card :-
WOW CF!!!!!! You know I LOVE ME some Ballo!!! I think Teco io sto is up there with Wagner (except now we know the qual soave brivido is from Poliuto!). Anyway I think I’d heard the Morro with her, but *never* the complete opera (especially if it is Met stuff, hard to find in NYC stores, etc). I wonder what label I can find it, as I am a big CD-hog queen, the very old fashioned way. No mp3 (I LOATH it) for me, and YT is really for illustration purposes only. I’d never rely on any net-based stuff for my music. I MUST have this CDs!
But it is the Genovese ball, not the Bostonian one, LOL! Dear MMII, you got your Amelias mixed up
Yes for the record I absolutely adore the ballo act 2 duet. The opera was premiered the same year as T&I, so perhaps not completely surprising… ?
CF!!!! MMII needs to go to reading comprehension remedial school
Yes Yes Yes the Boccanegra is a particularly famous performance that was available to rich donors for a while. Anyway famous indeed! did she even sing the “other” woman?
Just for you however, here’s the Ballo 2nd act with Rethberg and Bjorling!
WOW!!! AWESOME!!!!
I’ll listen to it right away and tell tell tomorrow. I am sure it is GLORIOUS with that pair! Mille mille grazie!
Here are a couple of unusual Ballo couplings:
1. ljuba welitsch and mirto picci
2. inge borkh and jess thomas
finally, the best Amelia ever in terms of textual interpretation, vocal acting etc. i always think of Amelia as one of those immensely disempowered women who need scheming and slyness to get out of situations, and Caniglia does this to a T!
….AW SHITE YT HAS REMOVED THE VIDEO….BLAST AND CURSE….
Yeah but how about legato, line, melismas (there are still a few of the in Ballo) and top? For me Caniglia sings outside the style. IMO back in the 40s Milanov had everything the role requires,.and M Price runs her a close second.
Thanks, CF! Can’t wait to listen to this. I know Rethberg mostly by name.
Speaking of Milanov, much (if not all) of the legendary 1940 Ballo broadcast with Bjoerling and Milanov is on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bjorling+-+ballo+in+maschera+-+met+1940+&oq=bjorling+-+ballo+in+maschera+-+met+1940+&gs_l=youtube.3…23348.23891.0.24613.2.2.0.0.0.0.48.94.2.2.0…0.0…1ac.1.y9wlHYhSUDA
Here’s the duet:
kashie, if you don’t know much Rethberg, don’t start with this BALLO duet. I once had to convince a friend that she wasn’t laughably bad, because this was all he’d heard of her: it’s late in her career, she’s a bit post-vocal, and she comes out with some pretty comic squawks and chirps.
AJ: You’re quite right. She didn’t really make a good impression in that clip. I have the famous Met Simon B broadcast with Tibbet and a young Warren as Paolo. It’s just that while I like that opera very much, I’m rarely in the mood to listen to it.
Yes Carissssimo CF it is true what they say, K and AJ that is. It did not make me dimenticar la divine Regine, let alone the ONLY Maria! Sublime as she is as Desdemona, this may be more dramatic? and of course the lateness, the Morro I heard is beyond sublime (in an aria that has a lot of sublime exponents, Renata, Regine and the OM) but it is from much earlier. Anyway the Jussi one is beyond words though (and I love me my Franco here) Many thanks!
@CF: ah, but then we’d also have to bring in Tebaldi, Martina Arroyo, Charlotte Berthold, Gilda Cruz Romo, Caballe,…..the list would go on!
However, if you like tops….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVd0RU6dpF0
let’s see if the link works this time…
Do you know her Amelia Boccanegra? The cast is the same as on that Panizza Otello + Pinza thrown in for good measure
Thanks for the suggestions! Tibbet is another favorite of mine with that glorious dark voice, so the two together is a treat!
I don’t understand who the “opinion formers” are, those whom Tommasini failed to convince. Are they the other critics? Or the audience? I just don’t understand this expression.
Off-topic, but…
Calixto Bieito’s vision is a uniquely visceral response to Shakespeare:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/sep/05/forests-review
…and here is the entertaining view of Quentin Letts
http://tinyurl.com/bubws9w
in the Daily Mail, unsurprisingly.
Unless things have changed the two performances which feature Angela Meade will be conducted by Placido Domingo. James Conlan conducts the earlier ones.
I am at Millenniun Park for LOC’s concert. Act I of Traviiata with Sussana Phillips. Goerke will sing O don fatale and Amber Wagner sings Inneggiamo from Cav. Act 4 of Carmen with Brandon Jovanivitch and J’nai Bridges??? + Va pensiero and chorus from Tannhauser.
The don fatale will apparently be in French.
We had a nice picnic with lots of wine!!