maandag 15 juni 2009

Mozart - Così fan tutte



Karl Böhm - Wiener Philharmoniker

Lisa della Casa: Fiordiligi
Christa Ludwig: Dorabella
Anton Dermota: Ferrando
Erich Kunz: Guglielmo
Paul Schoeffler: Don Alfonso
Emmy Loose: Despina

Lossless: Ape (img + cue + log) = 717 mb
Lossy: Mp3 (lame "preset standard") = 210 mb
Artwork @ 300dpi = 24 mb

Total playing time: 74:37 + 71:45 = 146:22
Recorded 1955 | Released 1999

Recording: Redoutensaal, Vienna, 1955

Decca 455 476-2


Track listing:
1. Ouvertura
2. Atto I - La mia Dorabella capace non è
3. E' la fede delle femmine
4. Una bella serenata
5. Ah guarda, sorella
6. Vorrei dir, e cor non ho
7. Sento, o Dio, che questo piede
8. Bella vita militar!
9. Di scrivermi... ogni giorno
10. Soave sia il vento
11. Che vita maledetta
12. Ah! scostati! ... Smanie implacabili
13. In uomini, in soldati sperare fedeltà?
14. Che silenzio! ... Poverette!
15. Alla bella Despinetta
16. Temerari! Sortite ... Come scoglio
17. Non siate ritrosi
18. E voi ridete?
19. Un'aura amorosa del nostro tesoro
20. Ah, che tutta in un momento si cangiò la sorte mia!
21. Si mora, sì, si mora
22. Eccovi il medico, signore belle!
23. Dove son? Che loco è questo?
24. Dammi un bacio, o mio tesoro
25. Atto II - Madame, trattar l'amore en bagatelle
26. Una donna a quindici anni
27. Prenderò quel brunettino
28. Secondate, aurette amiche
29. La mano a me date
30. Il core vi dono
31. Barbara! Perché fuggi?
32. Ei parte ... Per pietà, ben mio, perdona
33. Amico, abbiamo vinto!
34. Donne mie, la fate a tanti, a tanti
35. Ora vedo che siete una donna di garbo
36. Fra gli amplessi in pochi istanti
37. Tutti accusan le donne
38. Fate presto, o cari amici
39. Benedetti i doppi coniugi
40. Miei signori, tutto è fatto
41. Richiamati da regio contrordine

Review:
Amazon.com customer review:
Sound: This was a state-of-the-art recording at the very beginning of the stereo era. As stereo players were still few and far between in 1955, it was originally issued on Lp in two versions, mono and stereo. The old Lp mono version--in what was then called "high fidelity"--easily held its own against stereo versions of the 1960s and 70s. The digital remastering of this stereo version appears to have taken place in 1999 and, so far as I am concerned, was highly successful.

Cast: Fiordiligi - Lisa della Casa; Dorabella - Christa Ludwig; Ferrando - Anton Dermota; Guglielmo - Erich Kunz; Don Alfonso - Paul Schoeffler; Despina - Emmy Loose. Conductor: Karl Boehm with the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Wiener Staatsopernchor.

Text: This performance reflects the standard performing edition in use at the time it was recorded. Subsequent recordings have restored most cuts and frankly, in my opinion, have not been substantially enhanced by the restorations. Those of you who take a completist stance, feel free to disagree vehemently.

Documentation: Barebones. No libretto. Summary of the plot keyed to the track listings. A "fact file" presents odds and ends about the history of the opera. Track list with timings.

Format: Disk 1 - Act I, tracks 1-22; 74:30. Disk 2 - Act I (continued), tracks 1-2; Act II, tracks 3-19; 68:24.

A casual look at the catalogue suggests that Karl Boehm devoted every alternate weekend to recording yet another Mozart opera. This is the first of his recorded versions of "Cosi fan tutte." For all intents and purposes it is his forgotten Mozart opera. That is a shame because in many ways it is the best of the bunch. It so happens that a mono Lp version of this performance was the first "Cosi" that I ever heard. To this day I have never discovered a performance to match it.

The festival-quality cast is a perfect microcosm of the post-WWII golden age of the Vienna State Opera. The wonderful pairing of Lisa della Casa and Christa Ludwig is simply not to be matched elsewhere. Their big opening duet, "Ah, guarda sorella" is perfect--just perfect. Anton Dermota's voice is a bit heavier than those of the subsequent generation of Mozart tenors. It is not especially beautiful. He is not long of breath, so he doesn't astound us with long passages on a single gulp of air. He certainly does not add elaborate and picturesque decoration to Mozart's written vocal runs. All he does is sing the music exactly right. He is simply the best Mozart tenor ever to be recorded, that's all. Paul Schoeffler was a great master. Here he sounds just fine as someone a generation older than the rest of the cast, smarter, too, and more than a little vicious. Emmy Loose, now largely forgotten, was always a treat in character roles. I can't think of a better Despinetta. Ordinarily, I have no use whatsoever for Erich Kunz but here, for once, he turns in a respectable performance as Guglielmo.

Boehm was a great master of the old school. He keeps the show moving briskly and on point. The Vienna Philharmonic sounds terrific, as it certainly should in music that is at the very core of its repertory.

The date of the recording makes it clear that it long precedes any scholarly re-evaluations or piffling desires to return to period instruments and performing practices. Everybody concerned was simply attempting to serve up the very best "Cosi fan tutte" of which they were capable. And succeeding.

Grab this one while you still can!

Five stars.


Click here to download

Geen opmerkingen:

Een reactie posten