Interesting to see I was at three of the performances in Caliban's original list of six (the Bernstein Mahler 5, and Elektra and Ariadne at Covent Garden).
I'd certainly include the Bernstein Mahler in my list, and I'd be tempted to include the Ariadne as it was the one occasion I heard Jessye Norman in the flesh and I have never forgotten the utter, overwhelming magnificence of that voice. That crescendo through Es gibt ein Reich ...
I'd include a different Covent Garden Elektra - with Gwyneth Jones in her pomp in the title role. Dame Gwyneth had good and bad evenings, but this was utterly magnificent - a performance of total histrionic and vocal power, which even triumphed over conductor Gerd Albrecht's tendency to encourage the brass
Another Dame Gwyneth evening - Tristan und Isolde at the ROH in May 1982, with Jon Vickers, Donald McIntyre, Yvonne Minton and Gwynne Howell, and Colin Davis in the pit. They don't make casts like that any more ... Jones gave a masterclass in operatic acting, demonstrating in the first act in particular how an Isolde can dominate the stage through sheer stillness.
Also with Vickers and Davis - Fidelio at Covent Garden in June 1983, with the great and much-lamented Linda Esther Gray as Leonore in one of her last performances before her career met its premature end. It was the last outing for the old Klemperer production and frankly was little more than a costumed concert-performance. But the intensity with which Vickers sang and acted was unique.
Finally, Peter Stein's Otello for WNO. A fine cast (Jeffrey Lawton, Helen Field, Donald Maxwell), playing out the drama against Stein's astonishingly beautiful stage-pictures, lit in the style of Italian old masters but never static or tableau-esque - Maxwell especially as a cheerily cynical Iago whose mask only slipped occasionally, but to devastating effect, was unforgettable.
I'd certainly include the Bernstein Mahler in my list, and I'd be tempted to include the Ariadne as it was the one occasion I heard Jessye Norman in the flesh and I have never forgotten the utter, overwhelming magnificence of that voice. That crescendo through Es gibt ein Reich ...
I'd include a different Covent Garden Elektra - with Gwyneth Jones in her pomp in the title role. Dame Gwyneth had good and bad evenings, but this was utterly magnificent - a performance of total histrionic and vocal power, which even triumphed over conductor Gerd Albrecht's tendency to encourage the brass
Another Dame Gwyneth evening - Tristan und Isolde at the ROH in May 1982, with Jon Vickers, Donald McIntyre, Yvonne Minton and Gwynne Howell, and Colin Davis in the pit. They don't make casts like that any more ... Jones gave a masterclass in operatic acting, demonstrating in the first act in particular how an Isolde can dominate the stage through sheer stillness.
Also with Vickers and Davis - Fidelio at Covent Garden in June 1983, with the great and much-lamented Linda Esther Gray as Leonore in one of her last performances before her career met its premature end. It was the last outing for the old Klemperer production and frankly was little more than a costumed concert-performance. But the intensity with which Vickers sang and acted was unique.
Finally, Peter Stein's Otello for WNO. A fine cast (Jeffrey Lawton, Helen Field, Donald Maxwell), playing out the drama against Stein's astonishingly beautiful stage-pictures, lit in the style of Italian old masters but never static or tableau-esque - Maxwell especially as a cheerily cynical Iago whose mask only slipped occasionally, but to devastating effect, was unforgettable.
I know! One reason it was so good is that the concert started nearly an hour late, as there had been cargo delays. Some of the players were in casual clothes even then, as the trucks had been delayed coming from Dover. We didn't know until it happened whether the concert would go ahead at all. When it did, it was as if the energy of anxiety and tension released itself in the music. The Brahms especially seemed really raw and edgy and ... well, angry, I remember thinking at the time.
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