RoR: Forum

Thanks Matthew for posting this. It is my favorite music and recording. Mehta, Sutherland, Pavorotti, and Caballe!

Michael

Post 1

Thursday, May 6, 2004 - 1:57pm

Thanks Michael. Its actually the only recording of it that I have heard, and I bought it after a certain someone recommended it in this article :-)

MH

Post 2

Sunday, May 9, 2004 - 1:17am

Actually, guys, from a vocal perspective, there's a *much* better recording of this opera available from EMI. Recorded in 1977, it features the fabulous Jose' Carreras in his prime, Caballe as a touchingly vulnerable Turandot, and Mirella Freni perfectly cast as Liu.

I don't care for Sutherland at all. She has no feeling for the words, and what's more, can't pronounce them. Let's not forget that she's the soprano who supposedly said, "If people want drama in their operas, they should go and see a play!"

As for Pavarotti, he may have had a better top than Jose' (though on this recording, at least, Carreras doesn't shirk from tackling the optional high C), but like Sutherland he cares infinitely more about notes than words.

(Edited by Derek McGovern on 5/09, 1:34am)

Post 3

Sunday, May 9, 2004 - 1:52am

Thanks Derek. I may check out that version as well at some point - there are a few other operas I'd like to get hold of first :-)

MH

Post 4

Sunday, May 9, 2004 - 5:46pm

Matt: Other Puccini operas I'd recommend for starters are Tosca, La Fanciulla del West, Madama Butterfly, and of course La Boheme. There's a wonderful 1976 recording of Tosca available with Carreras, Caballe, and Wixell on the Philips label (Colin Davis, cond.), and fine versions of the other three around as well.

For something a little different, Tschaikovsky's Eugene Onegin is a quiet, brooding, melodic masterpiece.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000004162/qid=1084149770/sr=1-14/ref=sr_1_14/102-7008623-0896161?v=glance&s=classical

(Edited by Derek McGovern on 5/09, 6:37pm)

Post 5

Monday, May 10, 2004 - 3:27am

MH - I strongly endorse Derek's Tosca recommendation. That recording in my opinion surpasses even the Callas-di Stefano-Gobbi one from the fifties, which was remarkable. And I'd *definitely* recommend the alternative Turandot to Pav/Sutherland. They're a pair of bores! Singers of notes, not of words. Bah! :-)

Post 6

Monday, May 10, 2004 - 11:46am

Thanks for the recommendations. I went to two music stores today (both of them branches of major UK chains) intending to buy Tosca. One had only a couple of opera recordings that I could see, the other didn't even seem to have any kind of classical section! Ugh!

At this rate I will be doing all my music shopping on Amazon.

(Edited by Matthew Humphreys on 5/10, 11:47am)

Post 7

Monday, May 10, 2004 - 6:46pm

Mathew,

There used to be a fabulously comprehensive classical music store in Holborn, with knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff.

As I recall, it was in Holborn High Street, near the Chancery Lane tube. I would say that if they ain't got it, then they'd know whether it was worth getting. They wouldn't for example (or at least didn't) have any versions of songs by Queen, either with orchestra, or without. :-)

And they might well have the 'Tosca' with Leontyne Price and Giuseppe di Stefano, with Karajan conducting - superior I have to say to those others recommended. (I have to say in all fairness that apart from the echo on the voices, the Carreras/Monster Rat production that Derek endorses is very good as well - but that echo does annoy me.)

:-)

Post 8

Monday, May 10, 2004 - 8:41pm

What a coincidence! I'm going to hear Turandot live tomorrow night performed by the Houston Grand Opera. And I heard Tosca in November in the same venue.

Thanks for this thread, Matthew.

-Bill

Post 9

Wednesday, May 12, 2004 - 7:39am

Having drawn a blank in yet another branch of a major music chain, I will probably buy the stuff on Amazon. Sad commentary on the state of British music retailing huh?

Post 10

Wednesday, June 2, 2004 - 3:18am