This review is dedicated to the memory of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Franz Crass and Evelyn Lear.

Die Zauberflöte

1964, Deutsche Grammophon

(Fritz Wunderlich, Evelyn Lear, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Roberta Peters, Franz Crass, Friedrich Lenz; RIAS-Kammerchor; Berliner Philharmoniker, cond. Karl Böhm)

Of the two classic Zauberflötes released in 1964, my personal preference is for Otto Klemperer’s EMI recording. But this Flute is excellent as well and I understand why it’s often labeled definitive. Like Klemperer, Karl Böhm takes a Romantic approach to the score, with slow tempos and the luxurious modern sound of the Berlin Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t know whether this will be successful or not, but I’d like to start a discussion. A character discussion of one of the greatest, most complex of all opera protagonists, Verdi’s Rigoletto. There’s no question that the iconic hunchback is neither fully good nor fully bad; that he has both a light side and a very dark side. I’ve always been

Read the rest of this entry »

Madama Butterfly

1962, RCA Victor

(Leontyne Price, Richard Tucker, Rosalind Elias, Philip Maero, Piero de Palma; RCA Italiana Chorus; RCA Italiana Orchestra, cond. Erich Leinsdorf)

Erich Leinsdorf’s second Butterfly recording is in some ways very different from the first. Chiefly, he foregoes the light lyricism of his 1957 recording with Anna Moffo and Cesare Valetti, in favor of a more powerful performance via the spinto voices of Leontyne Price and Richard Tucker. But his approach to the score remains Read the rest of this entry »

Don Giovanni

 1966, EMI

(Nicolai Ghiaurov, Walter Berry, Claire Watson, Nicolai Gedda, Christa Ludwig, Mirella Freni, Paolo Montarsolo, Franz Crass; New Philharmonia Chorus; New Philharmonia Orchestra, cond. Otto Klemperer)

This quintessential example of Romantic Mozart is a mixed bag. Otto Klemperer is unquestionably a great conductor, but his interpretation of Giovanni is slow and solemn enough to make that of fellow Romantic specialist Herbert von Karajan sound positively zippy. Granted, this approach contains moments of genius – e.g. the elegant, dance-like interpretation of “Finch’han dal vino,” or they way Read the rest of this entry »

Cast

Tamino: Alek Shrader

The Three Ladies: Melody Moore, Lauren McNeese, Renée Tatum

Papageno: Nathan Gunn Read the rest of this entry »

Rigoletto

1984, Philips/Decca

(Renato Bruson, Neil Shicoff, Edita Gruberova, Robert Lloyd, Brigitte Fassbaender, Kurt Rydl; Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, cond. Giuseppe Sinopoli)

This Rigoletto, though hardly perfect, would make a good, solid introduction to the work for a newcomer. The sound is excellent, both voices and orchestra are bright, strong and clear, and Giuseppe Sinopoli conducts with passion and panache. True, several of his tempos are idiosyncratically slow, but the score’s blood-and-thunder drama is never lost. Furthermore, Verdi purists will be happy that the score is performed strictly as written, with no cuts, no Read the rest of this entry »

There is a legend of far-away China which tells of the beauty and the treachery of the siren Sea – – whose favors are a mortgage upon the soul – – who gives gifts of joy and love, but demands double payment in disappointment and loneliness.” Read the rest of this entry »