[CanadianMaestro]

Hi Christer,

Which Ring Cycle?

1. Karajan
2. Solti/Vienna Phil

cheers
P.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

Maybe this box:

Or this:

 

[castleofargh]

the entire Nibelungen, then Hamlet in one play. old school binge like it's before internet again.

Hi Christer,

I fully empathize with you: I'm saturated for Beethoven and Mahler. No more symphs or chamber (LvB) from them for me. Might get the hi-res of Anda/Brahms Cto 2/Grieg Pf Cto/Karajan + Kubelik BPO. Not the finest versions of these two warhorses, but always interesting to hear Geza Anda. He did a marvelous Mozart cto box set with the Salzburg Acad (a student orch!). One of my two ref cycles of Moz pf ctos (the other is Perahia/Engl Cham/Sony).

I might also start getting some fun operas, like Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment and L'Elisir d'Amore (Sutherland and Pavarotti, 96/24). Maybe some Bel Canto from Bellini and company.

Will be offline for two weeks. Hope you get some more concertizing/listening.

cheers
P.

I kid you not, I came to the topic right now to ask if you guys had a favorite for L'elisir d'amore.
when I start hearing the intro to "una furtiva lacryma", I get such massive goose bumps(I get some now just playing it in my mind). same stuff with Pagliacci and the "vesti la giubba" moment. the rest of those operas seem dull to me because I'm always just waiting for those specific moments.

oh sorry but I could also do with suggestions for Beethoven symphony n°7 if there are some opinions on that. I'm sure I had a version of it, I can remember a cover with the Deutsche Grammophon logo and some dude acting all wizardly with his wand(for once it wasn't Karajan). but I couldn't find it in my library the other day. damn gremlins! eating my songs and stealing my CDs.

 

[Christer]

Maybe this box:



Or this:

Hi Pete,
I have both Rings ,Solti has Birgit Nilsson and for the period,early to mid 60s, spectacular but exaggerated sound balance with lots of shifting balances. Karajan's for DGG is less spectacular on most systems. But more realistically balanced and interpretatively more refined and "beautiful" than Solti's.
I can sit spellbound through a whole Opera with Karajan but not with Solti.
Karajan was a master of "the long line" but Solti was not imho.
The two Solti versions you quote are actually the same recordings but packed differently and probably priced accordingly?
Cheers Christer for a few nights more,mainly listening to the Proms.
Some of the Proms concerts are now up on youtube in quite decent SQ and good visual quality for those of us who live outside the UK.
A good Sibelius 5th and a stunning Grieg Piano Concerto with Katia Buniatisvili can be heartily recommended.

 

[Christer]

the entire Nibelungen, then Hamlet in one play. old school binge like it's before internet again.

I kid you not, I came to the topic right now to ask if you guys had a favorite for L'elisir d'amore.
when I start hearing the intro to "una furtiva lacryma", I get such massive goose bumps(I get some now just playing it in my mind). same stuff with Pagliacci and the "vesti la giubba" moment. the rest of those operas seem dull to me because I'm always just waiting for those specific moments.

oh sorry but I could also do with suggestions for Beethoven symphony n°7 if there are some opinions on that. I'm sure I had a version of it, I can remember a cover with the Deutsche Grammophon logo and some dude acting all wizardly with his wand(for once it wasn't Karajan). but I couldn't find it in my library the other day. damn gremlins! eating my songs and stealing my CDs.

Sorry but I can't really help you regarding Bellini. But I suspect you may be looking for the famous Carlos Kleiber/Beethoven 7th with the Vienna Philharmonic?
There was actually imho, quite an intriguing version of the 7th last night at the Proms played by the BPO under their new chief conductor Kirill Petrenko.
Cheers Christer.
PS yes Pagliacci can make you reach for the hanky ,can't it?

 

[CanadianMaestro]

Hi Pete,
I have both Rings ,Solti has Birgit Nilsson and for the period,early to mid 60s, spectacular but exaggerated sound balance with lots of shifting balances. Karajan's for DGG is less spectacular on most systems. But more realistically balanced and interpretatively more refined and "beautiful" than Solti's.
I can sit spellbound through a whole Opera with Karajan but not with Solti.
Karajan was a master of "the long line" but Solti was not imho.
The two Solti versions you quote are actually the same recordings but packed differently and probably priced accordingly?
Cheers Christer

Hi Christer, Thanks. Will check out the sets. As always, no such thing as a "perfect" Ring cycle by a single conductor. May mix them up.
cheers
P.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

the entire Nibelungen, then Hamlet in one play. old school binge like it's before internet again.

I kid you not, I came to the topic right now to ask if you guys had a favorite for L'elisir d'amore.
when I start hearing the intro to "una furtiva lacryma", I get such massive goose bumps(I get some now just playing it in my mind). same stuff with Pagliacci and the "vesti la giubba" moment. the rest of those operas seem dull to me because I'm always just waiting for those specific moments.

oh sorry but I could also do with suggestions for Beethoven symphony n°7 if there are some opinions on that.

Not sure yet about L'Elisir....I've heard only one -- Pavarotti and Battle. I liked it.
Beethoven 7th: I gravitate towards Kleiber/Vienna Phil (or Bavarian State Orch with him too).
cheers

p.s. did you get your Prize yet?

 

[CanadianMaestro]

Sorry but I can't really help you regarding Bellini. But I suspect you may be looking for the famous Carlos Kleiber/Beethoven 7th with the Vienna Philharmonic?
There was actually imho, quite an intriguing version of the 7th last night at the Proms played by the BPO under their new chief conductor Kirill Petrenko.
Cheers Christer.
PS yes Pagliacci can make you reach for the hanky ,can't it?

Bellini? You mean Donizetti (L'Elisir).

 

[Christer]

Bellini? You mean Donizetti (L'Elisir).

Mea culpa.
Bel canto Operas are not on my main menue.

 

[castleofargh]

you both get a cookie for Kleiber, that's what I had indeed, thanks.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

Ah...the boredom of many operas. I concur with this:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/01/nothing-wrong-bored-by-opera

There should be a max time limit but there isn't. Except for Mozart's great operas, I find many operas way too long. Like Wagner....he never learned the art of brevity. Much of his Parsifal, for example, could have been cut out without sacrificing musicality. Other Wagner operas too, could use some good editing. 5 hrs + ? Instant hemorrhoidal shock in the opera house LOL.

Alas, only Mozart was the master of operatic toe-tapping goodness. imho.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

The more I think about it, I am more inclined to listen to the Highlight discs of Wagner's Ring Cycle. I have Karajan, Solti, and Jurowski (Dresden) for highlight discs. And just ordered the Bohm/Bayreuth two-fer highlight set. Each > 2hrs. Can't really sit through full Wagner operas, even on DVD video. Don't care for much of the recitatives and shrieking melodrama.

Mozart, on the other hand, I can sit through, because of the humour and of course, the sublime TUNES.

 

[gerelmx1986]

The more I think about it, I am more inclined to listen to the Highlight discs of Wagner's Ring Cycle. I have Karajan, Solti, and Jurowski (Dresden) for highlight discs. And just ordered the Bohm/Bayreuth two-fer highlight set. Each > 2hrs. Can't really sit through full Wagner operas, even on DVD video. Don't care for much of the recitatives and shrieking melodrama.

Mozart, on the other hand, I can sit through, because of the humour and of course, the sublime TUNES.

Reason I don't have any Wagner on my music. Mozart has very nice tunes on his operas esp se viver non'deggio

 

[FullBright1]

 

[gerelmx1986]