I was sorely tempted to stop in Paris on my way to Germany, but I opted to head directly to Halle where I’m currently reveling in its native son’s annual Händel-Festspiele.
But before I got here, I was cursing myself for missing out on the rapturously received Parisian revival of Salome featuring Lise Davidsen‘s first Judean princess. However, in my email over the weekend, I found an in-house recording of Davidsen and company. I listened to it with delight and am now offering it for an unexpected episode of Chris’s Cache.
Today’s parterre box scoop inevitably lacks the extraordinary visceral impact that Davidsen’s voice always makes in the opera house or concert hall. And anyone expecting high-tech studio sound quality will be disappointed. This covert recording strikes me as readily listenable, but then I’ve been consorting with pirates for nearly my entire life. It far surpasses the Callas Armida, for example.
Perhaps the Paris Opéra has done the right thing and recorded it during the run which ended last night and a broadcast will appear on France-Musique. But in the meantime, enjoy one of this season’s most talked-about role debuts.
Thanks to Harry Rose for doing the necessary technical massage to the file and assembling the cast information. And many thanks to my secret Strauss-source.