The best opera recordings...in the world!

Posted by: EJS on 22 October 2015

Given the wild popularity of opera on this forum (ahem...), why no separate thread?

I'll kick off with probably the most popular of all time: Puccini's La Boheme. Technically, I wouldn't call this his best (that distinction goes to the first of his Trittico: Il Tabarro) but it is one of his most accessible works, short in length and with a cute and emotional story full of sympathetic characters. And of course, someone dies at the end.

Too many recordings exist to list (I have around seven, I believe), but rather than the overestimated Beecham with Jussi Bjoerling and Victoria de los Angeles, or Karajan with Pavarotti and Freni, I'd suggest the recording that secured Antonio Pappano's long term relationship with EMI, and was the first full opera recording by Roberto Alagna, still in his 20s, in his freshest voice, and still inclined to sing mezza voce. The rest of the cast, also young, prove a fantastic ensemble and the ending, with the huge drum, is unparalleled in its intensity. Recorded sound is ideal.

Posted on: 02 December 2015 by sharik

Strauss - Die Fledermaus (Schwarzkopf, Gedda, cond. Karajan)

Posted on: 08 December 2015 by EJS

In 1600, months before Caccini and Peri wrote what are commonly interpreted as the world's first (preserved) operas, Cavalieri came with the Rappresentatione, a renaissance version of Pixar's Inside Out. Rappresentatione is not quite opera, also not quite an oratorio, but a mix of both, however from a time that neither existed yet. For me, Rappresentatione is by far the most interesting work of these three; the Orpheus legend had to wait under nine years before it became the plot of the first operatic masterpiece: Monteverdi's Orfeo.

Note: available as discounted download from eclassical, today.

Cheers

Posted on: 08 December 2015 by R.K

EJS posted:
In 1600, months before Caccini and Peri wrote what are commonly interpreted as the world's first (preserved) operas, Cavalieri came with the Rappresentatione, a renaissance version of Pixar's Inside Out. Rappresentatione is not quite opera, also not quite an oratorio, but a mix of both, however from a time that neither existed yet. For me, Rappresentatione is by far the most interesting work of these three; the Orpheus legend had to wait under nine years before it became the plot of the first operatic masterpiece: Monteverdi's Orfeo.
Note: available as discounted download from eclassical, today.
Cheers
EJ

Also available for streaming on Qobuz. Listening now.

Posted on: 09 January 2016 by EJS

Mozart's Nozze has already been mentioned - with recordings from Giulini, Böhm, Marriner, Levine, Solti, Abbado and many others, Haitink's set from the 80s may not be on anyone's top 3. However, as a performance, it comes together better than most. Haitink's direction is natural, long breathed, and subtle, and all singers, notably Claudio Desderi (Figaro) and Felicity Lott (Countess) are fully the equal of most of their better known colleagues on disc. EMI's recording is like all their opera recordings at the time, as if you're in a good seat in the house. Recommended - if you can find a good copy.

Cheers,

Posted on: 09 January 2016 by mudwolf

I am not an opera buff but have seen quite a few in LA, tho they have also put out so many duds I quit going. Far more interesting are the Met Broadcasts, I used to go to with friends, certainly the seating is better than the high balcony in LA. Best visuals, great singers, you're right up on the stage. But alas, I haven't seen one in several years.

2 operas I do remember in LA were JENUFA by Janacek, and LADY MACBETH FROM METINSK by Shostakovich. Jenufa had this huge boulder in each act which really disturbed the audience and reviewer, I loved the music and staging. Lady Macbeth was a touring Russian company, the stage scenery was held up from shipping by a strike, so a really quick job of sets was produced. Then the costumes were old, but the cast were more plump, so the women just put shawls on to hide disasters. I think it was appropriate because it was tough times for Russia. However, the music was so incredible with the singers, I was totally lost into the production.

Posted on: 14 February 2016 by EJS

Donizetti wrote some 78 operas, including reworkings; all but a few of these have fallen into obscurity - some deservedly so, some not. Parisina d'Este is based on Byron's poem; true to opera's convention, Parisina, whose fate remains unknown in the poem, drops dead by the end of the opera. Musically it is top tier Donizetti; story-wise it starts off convoluted but the ending remains a shocker.

This Opera Rara production is one of their best, IMO.

Posted on: 14 February 2016 by EJS

Sinopoli's first Puccini opera for DG has gone on to become a classic - despite a few obvious flaws: for all his mood painting, Sinopoli barely holds to score together; the recording puts the singers at a distance where some of the immediacy is lost (DG were still figuring out how to record Domingo's voice), and Freni doesn't sound all that comfortable with the more dramatic parts. Nevertheless, the whole is much more than the sum of its parts, and Sinopoli compensates with a subtle reading that gives class to an opera that can come across as a dramatic but monochromatic series of tableaux.

Years later, Freni - in her late prime - improved on her earlier self in a fantastic reading for Decca (with Pavarotti and Levine another good, but slightly more routine, version).

Cheers,