tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post691933948689227762..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: Heavenly SophieDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-36637027310510287392009-12-19T10:19:27.198+00:002009-12-19T10:19:27.198+00:00Well, I suppose it's possible for an undercook...Well, I suppose it's possible for an undercooked revival to warm up as some of the singers find their ways into interpreting as they go along.<br /><br />It struck me that Rose and Crowe had both 'done' the McVicar, so had human characterisations already to hand. Maybe the others just evolved. But Allen would have had a VERY long way to go from not knowing his part at all well. And miracles must have happened with Isokoski and 'mein liebe Hippolyte'...there wasn't a wet eye in the house on the first night.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-83209971558087046302009-12-19T09:12:04.799+00:002009-12-19T09:12:04.799+00:00Rosenkavalier was far from half-cooked last night....Rosenkavalier was far from half-cooked last night... from "Mein lieber Hippolyte, heut haben Sie ein altes Weib aus mir gemacht!" onwards, I was incredibly moved by Isokoski. Crowe and Koch on terrific form and, being sat above the pit, it was a thrill to watch Petrenko's lavish care for each detail in the score... still allowing great sweep.Gavin Plumleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08367649538228383713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-85154588211439143162009-12-12T12:04:35.544+00:002009-12-12T12:04:35.544+00:00The E Kleiber is still the best, I reckon, all thi...The E Kleiber is still the best, I reckon, all things considered. No orchestra can do the sugary glissandi in the waltz like the VPO here. And I like Reining's Marschallin, molta simpatica.<br /><br />Whereas one of the greatest turkeys of all time has to be Karajan's lumpy Philharmonia version (cut, unlike Kleiber's), with the unbearable tight-lipped Marschallin of that Schwarzkopf woman.<br /><br />C Kleiber sweeps the board of trad Rosenkavs on DVD with Gwyneth, Fassbaender (best Octavian ever?) and Popplet.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-67377248970465567932009-12-12T11:54:27.471+00:002009-12-12T11:54:27.471+00:00Greetings!:
I have only heard a little of Miss Cr...Greetings!:<br /><br />I have only heard a little of Miss Crowe thus far, but like what I have heard, notably in a broadcast of Handel's _Alexander's_ _Feast_. I would like to become better acquainted with her art. <br /><br />As I may have told you, _Rosenkavalier_ only entered my collection relatively-few years ago, in the apparently-famous E. Kleiber recording from the 50's. I especially like the VPO's playing in that, with all those apt audible shifts in the Strings! Yet I sometimes wish for a bit more sensuality from some of the singers, though could that just be due to an older singing style than that which we usually hear now? <br /><br />Hoping that this finds all of you well, and with renewed best wishes,<br /><br />J. V.<br /><br />p.s. As I may have previously told you, I think that either _Don_ _Carlo_ or _Forza_ would be the next Verdi opera I would like to experience.JVaughanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07468133975019785693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-70633267720829068702009-12-11T09:23:09.596+00:002009-12-11T09:23:09.596+00:00Saw the clip of Jonas's Italieniesches Tenor -...Saw the clip of Jonas's Italieniesches Tenor - impressive in its way, but far too dark. Must see the rest of that. I think it's Beczala on the Carsen, who is exactly right. In fact, he sang it at the Zurich Opera concert performance and a friend of a friend who'd never seen it before was bitterly disappointed to hear that the tenor wasn't going to come back.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-44994667310622522632009-12-11T07:44:44.830+00:002009-12-11T07:44:44.830+00:00Gianni Schicchi is our other opera! We have sat a ...Gianni Schicchi is our other opera! We have sat a couple of times on the steps of San Miniato al Monte and listened to it... " Firenze da lontano ci parve il Paradiso!" gets us every time. <br /><br />Must get the Carsen production on DVD, though on the Facebook page for my blog there is a certain push for the new Theilemann DVD (with Jonas Kaufmann as the tenor, no less).Gavin Plumleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08367649538228383713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-72062169121319907932009-12-10T17:13:34.122+00:002009-12-10T17:13:34.122+00:00Actually I had a feeling this was going to conjure...Actually I had a feeling this was going to conjure the Persson-lover. Yes, that's a good one, and the Carsen production brings it all alive. Also rather interesting on DVD is Maki Mori, though she's overshadowed by the superlatively gorgeous Schwanewilms's Marschallin.<br /><br />But you should see Crowe - see how the Parterreists scream anti-Brit nonsense without even having heard her - and marvel.<br /><br />Guess you saw that your adored Miah is singing Anne Trulove at Glyndebourne next year? That should fit her lovely personality like a glove.<br /><br />Enjoy NY. I only hope Fleming has discarded some of the vulgarities which used to make her Marschallin (especially with Thielemann) so intolerable.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-6982347024635950232009-12-10T16:46:21.729+00:002009-12-10T16:46:21.729+00:00For me, the best recorded Sophie, at least as far ...For me, the best recorded Sophie, at least as far as the presentation of the rose is concerned, is Persson on DVD.<br /><br />I'm having a tiny holiday in New York in the new year which will include Rosenkav at the Met, with Fleming and Graham but Schafer- a lovely singer but surely not a Sophie.jondrytayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07014577384156823525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-29404427677353848442009-12-09T12:31:58.910+00:002009-12-09T12:31:58.910+00:00Our is Gianni Schicchi - sang in a performance tog...Our is Gianni Schicchi - sang in a performance together up in Edinburgh 21 years ago where it all began.<br /><br />You also need genuine Persian attar of roses to sprinkle around your guests - I still have a little left from a $5 bottle bought in Kashan, city of rose-oil and dyers (very Straussian). None of the Iranian shops in London seems to stock it, so I'd love to know if anyone does.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-15620254781617555382009-12-09T12:19:07.457+00:002009-12-09T12:19:07.457+00:00I am going twice... and am willing to believe that...I am going twice... and am willing to believe that the gaping hole may close up a little during the run. In any event, I can't miss the opportunity. Am going once with a bunch of Vienna freaks and then once with 'im indoors. It is 'our' opera... we had silver roses at our bash in May.Gavin Plumleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08367649538228383713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-6284038064203404832009-12-09T11:20:50.662+00:002009-12-09T11:20:50.662+00:00Saperdidix, Gavin, you're not going twice? Eve...Saperdidix, Gavin, you're not going twice? Even though Rosenkav is my favourite opera in the whole world (followed closely by Don Carlo/s), I couldn't put up with the shortcoming of a gaping hole where the heart of the piece should be.<br /><br />Bernstein - lightness of touch? No - best in that respect, I think, is Edo de Waart on my personal favourite (Philips, with Flicka). But you know Lenny, he can always pull out something extraordinary, and the psychological detail is so amazingly exposed at slow but intense tempi. Ochs especially comes over as a very three-dimensional character.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-20928436470653245402009-12-09T11:11:40.609+00:002009-12-09T11:11:40.609+00:00Good to read your thoughts on Rosenkav (which I...Good to read your thoughts on Rosenkav (which I'm seeing on the 18th and 22nd), but particularly about the Bernstein recording. Does he have the lightness of touch for so much of it...?Gavin Plumleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08367649538228383713noreply@blogger.com