BaL 7.06.14 - Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier

[Dave2002]

I think this Warner box was also mentioned in the BAL today - http://www.amazon.co.uk/R-Strauss-Gr...strauss+operas

Currently £36.45.

Seems possibly worth having to me, though there are other Strauss boxes.

[Richard Tarleton]

I'm allergic to her voice

I saw her once at the end of her career in the late 90s singing Ortrud at the ROH. Squally didn't begin to describe it, but as a witch it didn't really matter. Hugh Canning described her curtain call as like the completely irrelevant lady who used to come on at the end of the Morecombe and Wise show.

Anyway I'm happy with Karajan, Solti on LP, and (just arrived) the Solti/RFH on DVD. An outstanding BAL, lots of fascinating stuff eg re cuts.

[Nick Armstrong]

I saw her once at the end of her career in the late 90s singing Ortrud at the ROH. Squally didn't begin to describe it,

I saw her once at the ROH early in my opera going career! It was so awful that when the crowd acclaimed her singing to the rafters, it nearly put me off opera - I thought if these people think that was so great, this isn't the place for me.

[visualnickmos]

I just cannot abide Elisabeth Schwarzkopf's voice. It seems to give me a headache - goes right through the brain. I used to have one or two of the ubiquitous stuff that she did that I must have purchased very early in my "classical journey" barely before I'd got out of first gear, I suppose - namely 4 Last songs, plus Brahms Deutsche Requiem/Klemperer, but I gave up on them once I came across far more beautiful and illuminating recordings, and heard a much greater range of singers, generally, after which, ES just sounded plain 'orrible!

As far as RosenK goes, (which is by no means one of my fav operas - too much screeching for my taste) I have Solti with Crespin, et al, which is lovely; Crespin is pure magic in pretty much any recordings I've heard her in, in any case. In this, she sounds so well-in control, if I can put it that way.

Well, that's only my own hat in the ring :rolleyes: !!! Nothing more...

[Dave2002]

I have a few operas i9n my collection but not many and not this one in particular. I seem to get more enjoyment from the other genres more, than opera. Or is it because hmmm I just don't know, really. I do like this one, so hopefully I may get a good idea from this BaL!

Not really on topic (Rosenkavalier), but I remembered a few other operas which I have really enjoyed in live performances - Rossini - Barber of Seville and also La Cenerentola. Verdi's Aida also made a big impression many years ago, both at the ROH and in Verona. Briefly back (almost) on topic, surely many of us have enjoyed the orchestral suite(s) based on Rosenkavalier - with brilliant orchestration. Excerpts, highlights and suites have their place, and can get one into the operas from which they are taken, but they provide a different experience. Watching opera can deliver sublime and exhilarating moments, but also, as noted by some eminent musicians, some very long hours.

[mikealdren]

Yes,but he preferred this to the 'stuffy' Lott/Kleiber DVD which was dismissed in one sentence.
Heaven help us if we relied solely on such reviewers in making our choices!

On the other had he did similarly dismiss Renee Fleming and saved us from having to hear her bland swooping and swooning.
Mike

[underthecountertenor]

I just cannot abide Elisabeth Schwarzkopf's voice. It seems to give me a headache - goes right through the brain. I used to have one or two of the ubiquitous stuff that she did that I must have purchased very early in my "classical journey" barely before I'd got out of first gear, I suppose - namely 4 Last songs, plus Brahms Deutsche Requiem/Klemperer, but I gave up on them once I came across far more beautiful and illuminating recordings, and heard a much greater range of singers, generally, after which, ES just sounded plain 'orrible!

As far as RosenK goes, (which is by no means one of my fav operas - too much screeching for my taste) I have Solti with Crespin, et al, which is lovely; Crespin is pure magic in pretty much any recordings I've heard her in, in any case. In this, she sounds so well-in control, if I can put it that way.

Well, that's only my own hat in the ring :rolleyes: !!! Nothing more...

Thank goodness for you, visualnickmos. Hearing ES once again being lauded to the heavens made me doubt my sanity. I absolutely agree with you. Crespin any day for me.

[tigajen]

For those who can receive Sky Arts 2 there is a performance of Rosenkavalier at 2pm thursday 12/6 (no details given in Radio Times) The Ring also on this week.

[Lordgeous]

I've been listening to the CD set of the SNO production; Glasgow King's Theatre, 1971, conducted by Alexander Gibson. I saw this production and later acquired the LP highlights recording. I only became aware of its CD format several decades later when a regular contributor to the old R3 boards brought its release, circa 2005, to my attention. A real curiosity; a 4 CD set issued under licence from Mitridate on the Czech label, Ponto PO1039

CD 1-3 is a complete recording of Rosenkavalier with Helga Dernesch (Marschallin), Janet Baker (Octavian), Noel Mangin (Baron Ochs), Thomas Hemsley (Faninal) and the much lamented Elizabeth Harwood (Sophie). I don't know whether the tapes were remastered from a radio broadcast but there is a spatial feel of being in a theatre although I had to alter the sound level occasionally and a sense of the audience being thoroughly engaged in the performance. The fourth CD is a real surprise. Extracts from a 1977 production of Ariadne auf Naxos, SCO/Norman del Mar. Janet Baker as the Composer, Helga Dernesch, (Primadonna), Nan Christie (Zerbinetta) and Iain Cuthbertson, (Haushofmeister).

CD4 concludes with a 1979 performance of Schumann's, Frauenliebe Und-Leben, Janet Baker, accompanied by Graham Johnson. A fine recording.

Finally, I recall Sena Jurinac in her final recital at the Wigmore Hall, late 80s. She'd given her last performance as the Marschallin on-stage at Vienna State Opera in 1983. As an encore, she sang the Marschallin's Act 1 monologue with a stage presence which indicated the quality of 'that little something extra' which compels an intense silence in the auditorium. The rapturous applause as she concluded fully expressed our feelings of excitement and appreciation of a fine career. Unforgettable.

I believe I still have that live broadcast on tape (reel to reel) and remember the end trio, and lead up, to be sublime, far superior to the Karajan that RO played. I shall have to dig it out and see how well my memory serves me!

[vinteuil]

I've been listening to the CD set of the SNO production; Glasgow King's Theatre, 1971, conducted by Alexander Gibson. I saw this production and later acquired the LP highlights recording. I only became aware of its CD format several decades later when a regular contributor to the old R3 boards brought its release, circa 2005, to my attention. A real curiosity; a 4 CD set issued under licence from Mitridate on the Czech label, Ponto PO1039

CD 1-3 is a complete recording of Rosenkavalier with Helga Dernesch (Marschallin), Janet Baker (Octavian), Noel Mangin (Baron Ochs), Thomas Hemsley (Faninal) and the much lamented Elizabeth Harwood (Sophie). I don't know whether the tapes were remastered from a radio broadcast but there is a spatial feel of being in a theatre although I had to alter the sound level occasionally and a sense of the audience being thoroughly engaged in the performance. The fourth CD is a real surprise. Extracts from a 1977 production of Ariadne auf Naxos, SCO/Norman del Mar. Janet Baker as the Composer, Helga Dernesch, (Primadonna), Nan Christie (Zerbinetta) and Iain Cuthbertson, (Haushofmeister).

CD4 concludes with a 1979 performance of Schumann's, Frauenliebe Und-Leben, Janet Baker, accompanied by Graham Johnson. A fine recording.

.

... still available - and on this recommendation have ordered - even tho' sung in English . Various amazon sites have it - ASIN: B000BZDGEQ . And there is (amazon.com, I think) a rave review from one - "Stanley Stewart" -

"Scottish Opera's 1971 production of "Der Rosenkavalier", conducted by Alexander Gibson, was previously only available as a 1 LP issue; later released as a 2 CD set with "Don Giovanni" highlights. Janet Baker, presumably due to contractual obligations, was replaced by Anne Howells as Octavian in these recordings. More than 3 decades later, we now have an off-air recording of the whole opera, in quite acceptable sound, too, with Dame Janet in her original role. This 4 CD set on the Ponto label, also has Janet Baker in the Prologue to Strauss's "Ariadne auf Naxos" and a further bonus; her later recording of Schumann's Frauenliebe und-leben with Graham Johnson's piano accompaniment. I'm astonished that this mouth-watering CD set is such a well kept secret. It now has a pride-of-place on my shelves."

.


,

[Richard Tarleton]

For those who can receive Sky Arts 2 there is a performance of Rosenkavalier at 2pm thursday 12/6 (no details given in Radio Times) The Ring also on this week.

The on-screen programme planner says it is Opera Australia's Rosenkavalier - a google search gives this

[tigajen]

Thank you.Worth a watch I think

[CallMePaul]

If I'd been made to put a bet on the winner, I think I would have got it right.

I'm late coming to this - I cannot often post at weekends - but for those who are unaware, RO is Karajan's authorised English Language biographer and knew the conductor well. He was in the vanguard of those who in the 1970s turned Gramophone into the unofficial magazine of the Herbert von Karajan fan club.
I agree that Rosenkavalier is a difficult opera to bring off. There have been few successful Marschillinen on disc or in the theatre; I heard a Covent Garden production on R3 a few years ago and felt that Renee Fleming was upstaged by Christine Schaefer as Sophie (a role she has not recorded and is unlikely to record). CS limits her operatic performances but for my ear is the outstanding Lieder soprano of the current generation. It's hard to realise that she will be 50 this year! Of recorded versions, my favourites are the Solti and E Kleiber but wish that Carlos Kleiber had been able to make an audio recording with an ideal cast!

[mikealdren]

I agree about Christine Schäfer, coincidentally I was watching her as Cherubino last night in a Figaro that I recorded recently from Sky 2, she acted and sang with such character.

Mike

[amateur51]

Isn't taste odd... since I first heard it, not really understanding its iconic status, the HvK recording always seemed to me to be 'just right'... in particular, the part of the Marschallin fitting ES like a fine silk glove - the mature, aristocratic passionate woman - refined style but with a heart beating underneath. She just delivers the nuanced poignancy perfectly to my ears, plus Karajan's pacing underpins it ideally.

I've just read this out of context and found myself astonished at the prospect of Ed Seckerson's singing as Marie Therese