Weill - Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera)

Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg - Sender Freies Berlin

Moritatensänger: Wolfgang Neuss
Herr Peachum: Willy Trenk-Trebitsch
Frau Peachum: Trude Hesterburg
Macheath: Erich Schellow
Polly Peachum: Johanna von Kóczián
Jenny: Lotte Lenya
Tiger Brown: Wolfgang Grunert
Lucy: Inge Wolffberg
Gangster 1: Kurt Helling
Gangster 2: Paul Otto Kuster
Gangster 3: Joseph Hausmann
Gangster 4: Martin Hoeppner

Music by Kurt Weill
Text by Bertolt Brecht

Lossless: Ape (img + cue + log) = 342 mb
Lossy: Mp3 (lame "preset standard") = 99 mb
Full libretto @ 300dpi = 20 mb (pdf) or 51 mb (jpg)

Total playing time: 68:25

Recorded: Afifo Studio, Tempelhof, Berlin 1958

Released: 1982, CBS MK 42637

Track listing:
1. Ouvertüre
2. Die Moritat von Mackie Messer
3. Der Morgenchoral des Peachum
4. Anstatt-daß-Song
5. Hochzeitslied für ärmere Leute
6. Kanonensong
7. Liebeslied
8. Der Song vom Nein und Ja (barbara-Song)
9. Die Unsicherheit menschlicher Verhältnisse
10. Der Pferdestall
11. Pollys Abschiedslied
12. Zwischenspiel
13. Die Ballade von der sexuellen Hörigkeit
14. Die Seeräuber-Jenny oder Träume eines Küchenmädchens
15. Die Zuhälterballade
16. Die Ballade vom angenehmen Leben
17. Das Eifersichtsduett
18. Kampf um das Eigentum
19. Ballade über die Frage: "Wovon lebt der Mensch?"
20. Das Lied von der Unzulänglichkeit
21. Salomon-Song
22. Ruf aus der Gruft
23. Ballade in der Macheath jedermann Abbitte leistet
24. Der reitende Bote
25. Dreigroschen-Finale
26. Die Schluß-Strophen der Moritat

Reviews:
Amazon.com (customer review)
Kurt Weill was once quoted as saying "there are only two kinds of music - good music and bad music". This is great music whipped into a frenzy - the Threepenny Opera as true opera and not as a musical play. The casting is superb, a direct reflection of Lotte Lenya's musical supervision of the project. It is one of the few complete recordings of the work, including both the "Jealousy Duet", often omitted because of the vocal demands placed on the performers, and the Ballad of Sexual Dependency, usually omitted because of its frank content.

Lotte Lenya steals the show. Pirate Jenny has an almost maniacal lilt in the final verse. The Tango Ballade hits its full stride only after Lenya's voice takes over the lead. Her delivery of, perhaps, Brecht's most famous line; "erst kommt das fressen, dann kommt die moral" in the Ballad "What Keeps Mankind Alive" is as authoritative as Brecht could ever hope it to be. Lenya's exploitation of the musical interval of a tritone at "Rocke heben" adds a lifetime of experience and conviction to the work.

Not to be overlooked is the excellent musical direction of Wilhelm Bruckner-Ruggeberg of the musicians and singers. Trude Hesterburg as Frau Peachum delivers a delightful performance of the Ballad of Sexual Dependency, and the Peachum family triumphs in the finale to Act I, the Uncertainty of Human Conditions. A true virtuoso performance all around.

Kurt Weill suceeded beyond his wildest dreams - he truly was the poor man's Verdi.

Gramophone:

This is, of course, the classic 1958 recording (first issued in the UK in mono in 1961) of Die Dreigroschenoper, featuring the composer's widow, Lotte Lenya, in the role of Jenny that she created back in 1928. Though 30 years on Lenya's voice had lost its youthful characteristics, no other recording of the work has approached this for bringing out, on the one hand, the pungency of its satire and, on the other, the catchiness of the dance-band rhythm. Probably none ever will.
It is also the only absolutely complete version there has been, since it includes not only Mrs Peachum's "Ballad of Sexual Dependency" but even Lucy's rarely heard "Jealousy Song".
Originally the recording was on four LP sides, and then reissued on three. Now it finds its ideal format on a single CD, in which form it should be in every record collection. The sound is very good early stereo.

Gramophone (1961 review - click to enlarge):




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Verdi - Rigoletto

Georg Solti - RCA Italiano Opera Orchestra & Chorus

Robert Merrill: Rigoletto
Anna Moffo: Gilda
Alfredo Kraus: Duke of Mantua
Rosalind Elias: Maddalena
Ezio Flagello: Sparafucile


Lossless: Ape (img + cue + log) = 474 mb
Lossy: Mp3 (lame "preset standard") = 155 mb
Artwork (full libretto) @ 300dpi = 46 mb

Total playing time: 53:37 + 59:35

Recorded:
June 1963, RCA Italiana Studios, Rome

Released: 1987, RCA GD86506

Track listing:
Preludio
Della mia bella incognita borghese
Questa o quella
Partite? Crudele!
Gran nuova!
Ch'io gli parli
Quel vecchio maledivami!
Pari siamo! io la lingua lui il pugnal
Figlia! Mio padre!
Ah! veglia, o donna
Giovanna, ho dei rimorsi
Che m'ami, deh! ripetimi
Gualtier Malde'; caro nome
Riedo! perche?
Zitti, Zitti, moviamo a vendetta
Ella mi fu rapita
Duca, Duca?
Possente amor mi chiama
Povero Rigoletto
Cortigiani, vil razza dannata!
Mio padre!
Tutte le feste al tempio
Schiudete!
Si, vendetta, tremenda vendetta
E L'ami?
La donna è mobile
è là il vostr'uomo
Un dì, se ben rammentomi
Bella figlia dell'amore
Venti scudi hai detto?
Ah, più non ragiono
Ancor c'è mezz'ora
Dalla vendetta alfin
Chi è mai?
V'ho ingannato, colpevole fui
Lassù in cielo

Reviews:
Gramophone
This has always been a competitive set, and it remains so at mid price on CD. Solti may drive hard at times but there's no doubting the vivid, histrionic quality of his conducting. Alfredo Kraus, as RO commented on this set's last LP appearance, is a ''fine, fiery Duke'', in every way distinguished; he is certainly preferable to his older self elsewhere. Merrill isn't such a compelling artist but he is a strong honest interpreter of the role, who never does much wrong without quite impressing himself on the mind's eye and ear as does Gobbi for Serafin (EMI). Moffo is quite a touching Gilda, but not so individual, to say the least, as Callas (Serafin) or indeed Cotrubas (Giulini on DG), and vocally Sutherland's inferior (Bonynge on Decca), but in some ways her simple reading of the role is preferable to any of these. Support is variable.

This set is not only complete but also gives the score exactly as Verdi wrote it, which allows us to hear Verdi's cadenzas rather than nineteenth- century amendments. The recording is rather boomy and blatant. In absolute terms I couldn't recommend this above the full-price Serafin, Giulini or indeed Sinopoli (Philips) versions, but for a bargain it has much to offer.'

Classicstoday
This complete performance of Rigoletto from 1964 includes not only the Duke's second-act cabaletta, but more gloriously, the cadenza that Verdi composed (and not an abbreviation or ad libitum) for the Duke and Gilda before the "Addio" duet, a lovely moment that sounds like the joyous intertwining of a flute and an oboe. Georg Solti's leadership is very in-your-face, with the brass blaring and tempos generally fast, and while this attitude tends to underplay the opera's pathos, it does make for great excitement. Robert Merrill's Rigoletto is pretty much by-the-numbers with no deep insights, but it's well sung, with exactly the type of Italianate sound Verdi wanted. Alfredo Kraus was in peak form in 1964 and his Duke is by turns elegant, amorous, and biting. He caps "Possente amor" with a brain-splitting high-D. Anna Moffo has some bad habits--she scoops her way into notes in a manner that's supposed to be girlish, but is in fact irritating--but she sings with great warmth and attention to the text when Solti's tempos allow. And in the end, she's very touching. Despite Solti's somewhat brutal approach and Merrill's generic rendering of the title role, this is recommended.

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Caruso - Opera Arias and Songs - Milano 1902-1904

Enrico Caruso - tenor

Salvatore Cottone - piano (1-10, 18)
Francesco Cilèa - piano (17)
Ruggero Leoncavallo - piano (21)

Lossless: Ape (img + cue + log) = 165 mb
Lossy: Mp3 (lame "preset standard") = 59 mb
Artwork @ 300dpi = 13 mb

Total playing time: 59:33

Recorded:
Milan, Italy

1-10: 11.IV.1902
11-15: 30.XI.1902
16-18: 1, 2 or 3.XII.1902
19: IV.1903
20-21: 1904
22-23: X.1903

Released:
1988 EMI 7 61046 2

Track listing:
1. Franchetti: GERMANIA "Studenti, udite" (Prologue)
2. Verdi: RIGOLETTO "Questa o quella" (Act I)
3. Verdi: AIDA "Celeste Aida" (Act I)
4. Massenet: MANON "O Dolce incanto" (Act II)
5. Donizetti: L'ELISIR D'AMORE "Una furtiva lagrima" (Act II)
6. Boïto: MEFISTOFELE "Giunto sul paso estremo" (Epilogue)
7. Franchetti: GERMANIA "Ah, Vieni qui...No, no chiuder gli occhi"
8. Boïto: MEFISTOFELE "Dai campi, dai prati"
9. Puccini: TOSCA "E lucevan le stelle" (Act III)
10. Mascagni: IRIS "Apri la tua finestra" (Serenata)
11. Giordano: FEDORA "Amor ti vieta" (Act II)
12. Ponchielli: LA GIOCONDA "Cielo e mar" (Act II)
13. Leoncavallo: I PAGLIACCI "Recitar!...Vesti la giubba"
14. Mascagni: CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA "O Lola" (Siciliana)
15. Denza: "Non t'amo piu"
16. Tosti: "La mia canzone"
17. Cilèa: ADRIANA LECOUVREUR "No, piu nobile" (Act IV)
18. Zardo: "Luna fedel"
19. Trimarchi: "Un bacio ancora"
20. Bizet: LES PECHEURS DE PERLES "Mi par d'udir ancor" (Act I)
21. Leoncavallo: "Mattinata"
22. Meyerbeer: LES HUGUENOTS "Qui sotto il ciel" (Act I)
23. Pini-Corsi: "Tu non mi vuoi più bene"

Reviews:
Musicweb
Caruso ‘is, typically, “the legendary tenor”, and these are his “legendary” records’. The words are John Steane’s in his typically personal and perspective-building liner-notes. Being “legendary” himself nowadays he immediately qualifies this verdict by stating that they are ‘nothing of the kind’. The danger with myths is that we tend to take quality for granted and listen uncritically. On the other hand we may end up taking out the red pen and becoming fault-finders to dissolve the myth. Steane dissolves a couple of myths himself, concerning the historical importance of these recordings. However, these, Caruso’s very first recordings, are Great Recordings Of the Century with intrinsic musical and interpretative value. I could end the review here. It is a self-recommending issue. Buy it, listen and learn!

But – and there are buts – this sweeping advice is of little value unless I clarify a few things. There are, I hope, two categories of music-lover who read this review:-

Those who are already familiar with ‘legendary’ recordings: scratchy and dimly recorded discs with narrow dynamics and frequency range. These readers need no encouragement to get this issue. In all probability they already have them. Some may own the original shellacs and play them on an ancient mechanical gramophone with a horn. Stop reading! You probably know more about this than I do.

Those who are familiar with ‘modern’ recordings – some of them ‘legendary’. They may be potential consumers of historical recordings provided they are not scratchy and dimly recorded with narrow dynamics and frequency range. What pleasure is there in listening to inferior sound and unsophisticated singing? I can sympathize with this attitude. I felt that way once too. However my advice is: Give it a try. It takes some time to adjust to this new sound-world. One has to learn. I didn’t like red wine the first time I tasted it either. If you are slightly curious: Go on reading!

My first reaction to these recordings, about forty years ago, was one of disappointment. The piano accompaniments – orchestras were not yet in use for recordings – were clangy and wobbly and lacked nuance. There was a disturbing background noise - bacon-frying is my adopted name for it – and the tone of the singer was undernourished. He seemed to shout at forte and there was a sameness to the readings that felt uninspired. Gradually I got used to them, could disregard the accompaniments and mentally filtered the bacon-frying. When that was done I was able to concentrate on the singing. Step by step I realized that here was a voice of exceptional quality. It was darkish but considerably less so than it became during his later career. Here he was around thirty and in early bloom. The tone was even from top to bottom, rounded in a way that is supposed to be typically Italian. He had a fast vibrato that I only noticed, it wasn’t disturbing. His breath-control was amazing and he could sing soft pianissimo tones that sent shivers along the spine. That ability has always appealed more to me than braying fortissimos – however impressive those can be. Finally I also found that it wasn’t only great singing I was treated to. This was a singer with insight into the characters and who adjusted his singing to meet interpretative needs.

I have written this overview in the past tense but returning to the recordings for this review I could establish that my old judgements are valid in the present tense as well. Let me give some comments to some of the arias and songs to clarify what I mean.

The first aria, from the nowadays little known Franchetti’s forgotten opera Germania, is not the track I would recommend beginners to start with. The voice is healthy and strong but he sings at an almost constant forte. In Questa o quella he lightens the voice, however, and there is a naughty swagger in his singing that mirrors the raucous nobleman’s personality. Celeste Aida is superb, built up from a soft, loving opening via a heroic climax down to a ravishing pianissimo final note. He sings with fine legato in the Manon aria and Una furtive lagrima is lyric and restrained. E lucevan le stele is another masterly interpretation, marred by a mawkish gulp towards the end.

Cielo e mar has glow and brilliance and the intensity of Vesti la giubba – after an inward, resigned opening of the preceding recitative – is tangibly emotional, but controlled. Not all the songs are as lovely as those heard in Tito Schipa’s best efforts. However, Mattinata, with it use of heavy rubato, is glorious. It lends an extra patina of authenticity to have the composer at the piano. The two final tracks are technically noisy. Not everything is perfect, but too much perfection can often result in dullness and nothing here is dull. There are even a couple of false entries (tr. 8 and 18), but with the historical perspective this is charming rather than embarrassing. There was no such thing as editing and the producer was reluctant to spend time and money on a second take when the singing was alright. There is however a defect – if that’s the word – that I have not yet come fully to terms with. Sometimes at forte and in the upper register the voice loses quality, sounds undernourished and flat, just when one wants it to expand and assume that excitingly full and shining tone. I still don’t know why but I believe that it has something to do with the primitive recording technique. Certain frequencies just didn’t register well and there were no equalizers. It can be annoying but I like to think it isn’t Caruso who is at fault.

The transfers are excellent, all except two of the tracks (tr. 3 and 14) were digitally re-mastered in 2008, according to EMI. The voice leaps out of the speakers with amazing clarity and volume. On the downside, the documentation in the booklet isn’t up to EMI’s previous standards in this series. There are no recording dates, no matrix numbers, no original catalogue numbers. All of this was on the sleeve for the LP that used the same material and which I bought almost forty years ago.

From a quite different historic perspective it is astounding to note that at the time of recording almost all the composers represented were still alive and active. Two of them – besides Leoncavallo also Cilea – accompanied Caruso. Franchetti’s Germania was premiered at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 11 March 1902, conducted by Toscanini and with Caruso in the role of Federico Loewe. The two extracts from the opera (tr. 1 and 7) were recorded exactly a month later. The same year, on 6 November, Adriana Lecouvreur was first performed, also in Milan but at Teatro Lirico with Caruso singing Maurizio. As early as 17 November 1898 at the same theatre, a 25-year-old Caruso had premiered Fedora with the composer Giordano conducting. Though he didn’t take part in the premiere of Tosca in 1900 that was also just a couple of years before his first recording sessions. In other words: what we regard as ‘historical’ works were absolutely fresh to Caruso. He had no tradition to fall back on. He created the tradition. This is another reason to hail these recordings as ‘legendary’.

Anyone converted? A last word to those still hesitant: Give it a chance and the odds are good that you will be hooked. If you are not: feel satisfied that you at least are the owner of a disc with ‘the legendary tenor’ with his first and most ‘legendary recordings’.

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Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia

Silvio Varviso - Orchestra e coro Rossini di Napoli

Teresa Berganza: Rosina
Ugo Benelli: Count Almaviva
Fernando Corena: Dr. Bartolo
Manuel Ausensi: Figaro
Nicolai Ghiaurov: Don Basilio

Lossless: Ape (img + cue + log) = 717 mb
Lossy: Mp3 (lame "preset standard") = 206 mb
Artwork @ 300dpi = 24 mb

Total playing time: 66:49 + 68:04 = 144:53
Recorded 1964 | Released 1999

Recording: Conservatorio, Naples, July & August 1964

Decca 455 591-2


Track listing:
1. Sinfonia
2. Atto 1 - Piano, pianissimo
3. Atto 1 - Ecco, ridente in cielo
4. Atto 1 - Gente indiscreta
5. Atto 1 - Largo al factotum
6. Atto 1 - E' desso, o pur m'inganno?
7. Atto 1 - All'idea di quel metallo
8. Atto 1 - Una voce poco fa
9. Atto 1 - Qua, Don Basilio; giungete a tempo!
10. Atto 1 - La calunnia è un venticello
11. Atto 1 - Ah! Che ne dite?
12. Atto 1 - Dunque io son... tu non m'inganni?
13. Atto 1 - Ora mi sento meglio
14. Atto 1 - A un dottor della mia sorte
15. Ato 1, cena 2- Ehi, di casa! ... buona gente!
16. Ato 1, cena 2- Che cosa accadde
17. Ato 1, cena 2- Questa bestia di soldato
18. Ato 1, cena 2- Fredda ed immobile
19. Ato 1, cena 2- Mi par d'essere con la testa
20. Ato 2- Ma vedi il mio destino!
21. Ato 2- Insomma, mio signore, chi lei
22. Ato 2- Contro un cor che accende amore
23. Ato 2- Bella voce! Bravissima!
24. Ato 2- Don Basilio! Cosa veggo!
25. Ato 2- Che vecchio sospettoso!
26. Ato 2- Dunque voi Don Alonso
27. Ato 2- Alfine, eccoci qua
28. Ato 2- Ah! qual colpo inaspettato!
29. Ato 2- Ah! dizgraziati noi!
30. Di sì felice innesto

Reviews:
Gramophone:
Ultimately what makes the set a pleasure is the sheer 'go' of these climaxes. My experience at length makes me feel that here is a Barber which you will go on playing for the accumulating high spirits which conclude scene 2 of Act I and both big finales of Act 2.

Full review (click to enlarge):


Amazon.com (customer review):
I love lower voices. This one has heroic voices in the roles of Figaro (Ausensi), Bartolo (Corena), and Basilio (Ghiaurov). Ausensi lacks the humor I love to hear in Barbiere, though he has a beautiful, full voice. I'd have liked it far better used with imagination and a greater variety of dynamics. The problem seems to be with imagination- Stracciari, Milnes, and Merrill all had more heroic voices than Ausensi, but the sheer fun they had with Figaro bubbles out of their recordings. Still, Ausensi sings fine and certainly does not spoil the recording for me.

Fernando Corena is Bartolo and I doubt if a finer voice ever tried this curmudgeonly role out- and I am thinking of Kipnis as well when I say this. Corena gets across how funny this character is, but never lets us lose sight of one fact- Bartolo takes himself VERY seriously, and he never lets us forget Bartolo's pride. Bartolo is a man, very human, with many foibles and frailties. I do not see him as a villain, just grouchy and irrascible- with a fine seasoning of greed laced in with all the rest.

Nicolai Ghiaurov romps through the role of Don Basilio with elan and an incredible voice. He is one of the reasons I never even mentioned Varviso as a possible cause for Ausensi's over serious approach to Figaro. The big Bulgarian bass was in fine voice during these recording sessions and the sheer fun he had with Basilio (His pomposity, his `clever' villainies, and his friendship for Doctor Bartolo.) is infectious. As much of a fool as Basilio is, one can't help but feel affection for him. I don't think even he feels he is anything but an unscrupulous man, in love with his own cleverness. He's willing to lie, cheat, steal, and so on, but he's kind of honest about it...

...unlike Almaviva, who sees himself as a gift to the world. He's just as willing to use lying to get his way as Basilio, and physical threats (He points a gun at Basilio...), but he sees himself as a morally pristine hero. Almaviva's music is fun to listen to, and his duets with Figaro are priceless Rossini gems, but Almaviva is a man I'm glad never to have met. Benelli does a fine job with a funny part and I doubt if he'll disappoint very many opera buffs. The voice is small and agile, with a sweet tone often missing in leggiero tenors.

Teresa Berganza- a beautiful lady with a fine, mellow mezzo voice. What can I say? She sings Rosina in the original range Rossini wrote it for. Berganza handles the coloratura with confidence, bringing depths to the character many other fine ladies miss. This set is worth it for her alone, if you like mezzo Rosinas. She pulls out a shining, bell-clear pianissimo high note worth dying to hear, in her duet with Ausensi.

The conducting sparkles, making this a must-have Barbiere for those who love a grand approach to this music. The sound is excellent.


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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.


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Vivaldi - Bajazet

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) - Bajazet
Europa Galante - Fabio Biondi

BAJAZET: Ildebrando D'Arcangelo bass-baritone
TAMERLANO: David Daniels countertenor
ASTERIA: Marijana Mijanovic mezzo-soprano
ANDRONICO: Elina Garanca mezzo-soprano
IRENE: Vivica Genaux mezzo-soprano
IDASPE: Patrizia Ciofi soprano

Europa Galante
dir: Fabio Biondi

Virgin Classics - 724354567629
Recording: Musica Numeris, Flagey Studio 4, Brussels, Belgium, 10-15 April 2004

Eac / Ape (img+cue+log) / Mp3 (lame vbr --alt preset)
Total playing time: 73:37 (cd 1) + 72:49 (cd 2)
Full covers & booklet (scan @ 300dpi)

This stunner of an opera involves the proud sultan Bajazet (bass) and his battle with his bloodthirsty rival-tyrant Tamerlane (counter-tenor). More than 50 operas were composed on the subject. Here Vivaldi has composed all the recitatives and marvelous arias for the dignified, fine characters and used arias by other composers--Hasse, Giacomelli, Carlo Broschi--for Tamerlano and the nasties. The music is energetic and virtuosic throughout. Fabio Biondi leads Europa Galante and soloists with urgent, theatrical precision, making the story come to life. The singing could not be better: Ildebrando d'Arcangelo is a remarkably sympathetic Bajazet, singing with fluency and power; David Daniels amazes as Tamerlano; Marijana Mijanovic sings the role of Asteria (Bajazet's daughter) with love and precision; and Viveca Genaux dazzles with her perfect coloratura as Irene. This is a treasure trove of singing. Highly recommended.

Reviews:
Classicstoday.com

This stunning work is one of the 50 operas composed on the subject of the bloody rivalry between the Tartar tyrant Tamerlano, whose methods of intimidation included constructing towers made up of his enemies heads (120 towers of 750 heads in Baghdad alone), and the proud Ottoman sultan, Bajazet, who after being imprisoned by Tamerlano opted for suicide rather than submission. In the opera, Tamerlano, though promised to the selfish princess Irene, loves Bajazet's daughter Asteria, who tries to kill Tamerlano twice. Asteria loves and is loved by Andronico, a confederate of Tamerlano's; Idaspe is a confidante of Andronico. Believe it or not, after Bajazet's suicide, Tamerlano is satisfied, and he pardons Asteria and Andronico.

The opera is a pastiche: It contains music by Vivaldi, some original, some adapted from earlier operas (all the recitatives and arias for Bajazet and Asteria); arias by Hasse, Giocomelli, and Carlo Broschi (brother of the famous castrato, Farinelli) reworked by Vivaldi; and three (also by Vivaldi) that have been chosen by conductor Fabio Biondi where they were missing from the score. With the exception of the last three mentioned, though, it must be remembered that the work was entirely overseen by Vivaldi; it is assuredly "his".

Conductor and cast throw themselves into this recording with a theatrical passion rarely encountered on CD: only René Jacobs' recent Cosi and Figaro come to mind, and by nature those operas are more stageworthy. Recits are spat out in this vicious story, and the arias--many of the simile type (I'm a turtledove; I'm like a ship on a storm-tossed sea)--actually are put across as if they were relevant. Bajazet, here sung and acted to perfection by Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, touches the heart with his desperate, second-act "Dov'è la figlia", in which he thinks his daughter has betrayed him by marrying Tamerlano; elsewhere, he sings with noble mien and fluent coloratura.

David Daniels may have too beautiful a voice for the role of Tamerlano, but his delivery is forceful, grand-mannered, and tough, and the singing itself is ravishing. Marijana Mijanovic sings the role of Asteria forcefully and with great dignity, her dark, lower register as stunning as her free middle and top. Vivica Genaux dazzles with her perfect coloratura as Irene in two arias composed for Farinelli; you wish the part were larger. Patrizia Ciofi's Idaspe contains the opera's highest-lying music; she handles it with ease, a pinched very high note aside. And Elina Garanca makes the most of Andronico's music, delivering it with princely abandon.
Praise cannot be high enough for Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante, who play with such verve and such smooth tone that all issues about "early music performance" are moot. The horns, although they don't appear often (most arias are accompanied by strings in various formations), are played with great security and genuinely grand tone. The sonics are ideal, a slightly different acoustic for the recits aside. A bonus DVD featuring each of the singers performing an entire aria (and two for Bajazet) in rehearsal is great fun. What are you waiting for?

This stunning work is one of the 50 operas composed on the subject of the bloody rivalry between the Tartar tyrant Tamerlano, whose methods of intimidation included constructing towers made up of his enemies heads (120 towers of 750 heads in Baghdad alone), and the proud Ottoman sultan, Bajazet, who after being imprisoned by Tamerlano opted for suicide rather than submission. In the opera, Tamerlano, though promised to the selfish princess Irene, loves Bajazet's daughter Asteria, who tries to kill Tamerlano twice. Asteria loves and is loved by Andronico, a confederate of Tamerlano's; Idaspe is a confidante of Andronico. Believe it or not, after Bajazet's suicide, Tamerlano is satisfied, and he pardons Asteria and Andronico.

The opera is a pastiche: It contains music by Vivaldi, some original, some adapted from earlier operas (all the recitatives and arias for Bajazet and Asteria); arias by Hasse, Giocomelli, and Carlo Broschi (brother of the famous castrato, Farinelli) reworked by Vivaldi; and three (also by Vivaldi) that have been chosen by conductor Fabio Biondi where they were missing from the score. With the exception of the last three mentioned, though, it must be remembered that the work was entirely overseen by Vivaldi; it is assuredly "his".

Conductor and cast throw themselves into this recording with a theatrical passion rarely encountered on CD: only René Jacobs' recent Cosi and Figaro come to mind, and by nature those operas are more stageworthy. Recits are spat out in this vicious story, and the arias--many of the simile type (I'm a turtledove; I'm like a ship on a storm-tossed sea)--actually are put across as if they were relevant. Bajazet, here sung and acted to perfection by Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, touches the heart with his desperate, second-act "Dov'è la figlia", in which he thinks his daughter has betrayed him by marrying Tamerlano; elsewhere, he sings with noble mien and fluent coloratura.

David Daniels may have too beautiful a voice for the role of Tamerlano, but his delivery is forceful, grand-mannered, and tough, and the singing itself is ravishing. Marijana Mijanovic sings the role of Asteria forcefully and with great dignity, her dark, lower register as stunning as her free middle and top. Vivica Genaux dazzles with her perfect coloratura as Irene in two arias composed for Farinelli; you wish the part were larger. Patrizia Ciofi's Idaspe contains the opera's highest-lying music; she handles it with ease, a pinched very high note aside. And Elina Garanca makes the most of Andronico's music, delivering it with princely abandon.
Praise cannot be high enough for Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante, who play with such verve and such smooth tone that all issues about "early music performance" are moot. The horns, although they don't appear often (most arias are accompanied by strings in various formations), are played with great security and genuinely grand tone. The sonics are ideal, a slightly different acoustic for the recits aside. A bonus DVD featuring each of the singers performing an entire aria (and two for Bajazet) in rehearsal is great fun. What are you waiting for?


Gramophone

Strong cast and imaginative playing bring this strong Vivaldi opera to life

The time when recordings of Vivaldi operas were almost unheard of is absurdly recent, yet in the past couple of years they have been coming thick and fast, the suddenness of their acceptance and perceived marketability threatening to make even the past decade’s rise of Handel operas seem slow. Whether Vivaldi can match up to his contemporary’s heavyweight reputation as a musical dramatist is no doubt too early to judge – though in truth it seems unlikely – but, hey, so what? Lovers of Vivaldi and Baroque opera will certainly not be complaining at the appearance on disc of so much ‘new’ music.

Bajazet was Vivaldi’s opera for the 1735 Carnival season at Verona, and is based on the same libretto as Handel’s Tamerlano. The Ottoman sultan Bajazet has been defeated and taken captive by the ruthless Tartar emperor Tamerlano, but defiantly refuses to submit to him. Tamerlano wishes to marry Bajazet’s daughter Asteria, for whom he is prepared to ditch his fiancée Irene, but Asteria, after some confusions, remains loyal to her true love Andronico, one of Tamerlano’s allies. Just as the furious Tamerlano is promising all manner of dire punishments, Bajazet’s suicide brings him to his senses and the original relationships are restored.

This is strong stuff and Vivaldi responds with sound dramatic sense. His recitatives especially show a conversational realism that allows them to be more than just a functional advancement of the plot, and indeed Bajazet’s biggest moment – his bitter denouncement of the daughter he believes unfaithful – is a powerful accompanied recitative.

Vivaldi also works harder at characterisation than is often the case, if by unusual means: Bajazet is partly a pasticcio, which is to say that it borrows and adapts arias from other operas, and in this case, while the arias for ‘conquered’ characters such as Bajazet and Asteria are by Vivaldi, those for the conquerors – Tamerlano, Andronico and Irene – are other men’s work. What is more, these men are exponents of the fashionable and suave Neapolitan style, composers such as Hasse and Giacomelli who by the 1730s were beginning to dominate the operatic world. In his booklet-note, Frédéric Deleméa suggests a conscious allusion by Vivaldi to proud old Venetian opera succumbing to an arrogant Neapolitan new order. That is as maybe, but it cannot be denied that Vivaldi chose his arias well. A composer with his penchant for spectacular vocal writing would, of course, have appreciated the crowd-pleasing virtuosity of an aria such as ‘Qual guerriero in campo armato’, originally written for Farinelli by his brother Riccardo Broschi; but here it aptly expresses Irene’s near-deranged indignation at being dumped by Tamerlano. Clever choices such as this make Bajazet a real opera, not just a hotch-potch.

The same can be said for the performers here. The cast has hardly a weak link: David Daniels is in typically beautiful voice as Tamerlano, yet at the same time manages enough hardness to suggest the spiteful anger of the man; Elina Garanca conveys a suitable measure of weakness as the indecisive Andronico; and Marijana Mijanovic’s moving and dignified Asteria never looks like losing her moral high ground. Vivica Genaux gives a show-stopping display as Irene (not least in that ‘Farinelli’ aria) and Patrizia Ciofi proves no less equal to the tough technical challenges set by the role of Andronico’s friend Idaspe. Only Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Bajazet disappoints slightly, failing to reach to the Sultan’s defiant heart, and rushing at his big recitative – a major missed opportunity.

The orchestra’s contribution, on the other hand, is a major bonus. Fabio Biondi has never been one to miss details and he and his players bring out countless nuances in the score with their usual array of interpretative devices ranging from gentle cello chords in recitative to sparky off-beat accents and pizzicati, and even some acid sul ponticello. There could hardly be a better way to bring this opera to life.

Tracklisting:

Disc 1
1. Sinfonia : Allegro
2. Sinfonia : Andante Molto
3. Sinfonia : Allegro
4. Acte 1, Scène 1 : Prence Lo So, Vi Devo
5. Acte 1, Scène 1 : Del Destin Non Dee Lagnarsi
6. Acte 1, Scène 2 : Non Si Perda Di Vista
7. Acte 1, Scène 2 : Nasce Rosa Lusinghiera
8. Acte 1, Scène 3 : Principe, Or Ora I Greci
9. Acte 1, Scène 3 : In Si Torbida Procella
10. Acte 1, Scène 4 : Il Tartaro Ama Asteria
11. Acte 1, Scène 4 : Quel Ciglio Vezzosetto
12. Acte 1, Scène 5-6 : Or Si, Fiero Destino
13. Acte 1, Scène 5-6 : Vedeste Mai Sul Prato
14. Acte 1, Scène 7-8 : Non Ascolto Piu Nulla
15. Acte 1, Scène 7-8 : Amare Un'Alma Ingrata
16. Acte 1, Scène 9 : Cosi La Sposa Il Tamerlano Accoglie?
17. Acte 1, Scène 9 : Qual Guerriero In Campo Armato
18. Acte 1, Scène 10 : E Bella Irene
19. Acte 1, Scène 10 : Non Ho Nel Sen Costanza
20. Acte 2, Scène 1 : Amico, Tengo Un Testimon Fedele
21. Acte 2, Scène 2 : Sarete Or Ostinato
22. Acte 2, Scène 2 : Anche Il Mar Par Che Sommerga
23. Acte 2, Scène 3 : Gloria, Sdegno Ed Amore
24. Acte 2, Scène 3 : Stringi Le Mie Catene

Disc 2
1. Acte 2, Scène 4 : Ah, Disperato Andronico!
2. Acte 2, Scène 4 : La Sorte Mia Spietata
3. Acte 2, Scène 5 : Signor, Vergine Illustre
4. Acte 2, Scène 5 : Cruda Sorte, Avverso Fato!
5. Acte 2, Scène 6 : Senti, Chiunque Tu Sia
6. Acte 2, Scène 6 : La Cervetta Timidetta
7. Acte 2, Scène 7 : Gran Cose Espone Asteria
8. Acte 2, Scène 7 : Sposa, Son Disprezzata
9. Acte 2, Scène 8 : Dov'E Mia Figlia, Andronico?
10. Acte 2, Scène 8 : Dov'E La Figlia?
11. Acte 2, Scène 9 : Asteria, Siamo Al Soglio
12. Acte 2, Scène 9 : Si Crudel! Questo E L'Amore
13. Acte 3, Scène 1 : Figlia, Siam Rei
14. Acte 3, Scène 1 : Veder Parmi, Or Che Nel Fondo
15. Acte 3, Scène 2-3 : Andronico, Il Mio Amore
16. Acte 3, Scène 2-3 : Barbaro Traditor
17. Acte 3, Scène 4 : Lascero Di Regnare
18. Acte 3, Scène 4 : Spesso Tra Vaghe Rose
19. Acte 3, Scène 5-7 : Eccoti, Bajazette
20. Acte 3, Scène 5-7 : Verro Crudel, Spietato
21. Acte 3, Scène 8 : Signor, Fra Tante Cure
22. Acte 3, Scène 8 : Son Tortorella
23. Acte 3, Scène 9 : Signore, Bajazette
24. Acte 3, Scène 10 : E Morto, Si, Tiranno
25. Acte 3, Scène 10 : Svena, Uccidi, Abbatti, Atterra
26. Acte 3, Scène Finale : Deh, Tu Cauto La Segui
27. Acte 3, Scène Finale : Coronata Di Gigli E Rose

Interview with Fabio Biondi (click to enlarge):



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