BaL 18.10.14 - Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail

[Barbirollians]

I don't quibble with the result at all - the Christie is tremendous but I agree there was rather too much of examples she did not like rather than those she did like . I could not quite understand her obsession with Edita Gruberova she sounded pretty squally to me .

[vinteuil]

... and surely some mention shd have been made of the various approaches to the spoken bits - some performances use actors other than the singers, some just have abbreviated excerpts, some drop them altogether. And this cd make quite a difference to the set you wd wish to acquire.

[Bert Coules]

The BaL format was established at a time when the number of alternative recordings of even a popular work was almost always far smaller than today: perhaps it's time for a rethink of the basic approach, though I've no idea what new form the feature could usefully take.

[DracoM]

The point about the dialogue is well made, and somewhat tilted the whole slot. I mean......and anyway, not sure I'll be searching very hard for a performance any time soon.

[Bert Coules]

Not to discuss the dialogue is to dismiss a hefty percentage of the work and a massive part of the piece as a dramatic experience.

[amateur51]

... and surely some mention shd have been made of the various approaches to the spoken bits - some performances use actors other than the singers, some just have abbreviated excerpts, some drop them altogether. And this cd make quite a difference to the set you wd wish to acquire.

Hmmm has vints got Irritable Vowel Syndrome?

That's what Bletchley Park has suggested

[hedgehog]

Hmmm has vints got Irritable Vowel Syndrome?

(my uncouth sense of humour I guess)

[verismissimo]

... there was rather too much of examples she did not like rather than those she did like...

Fraid that's Professor Joncus in my experience. Not sure she connects with (or even recognises) stuff to like...

[BBMmk2]

Never heard this piece, though I think I once played the overture in an arrangement for concert band...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've just listened to this BaL. I must say I share some of the reservations about the presentation. I thought she began well, but then went on to dwell on what she considered to be negative aspects until it became almost depressing.

[Nick Armstrong]

I thought this was a really disappointing BaL.

I'm glad it wasn't just me. It's done nothing to displace my feeling that the piece is one I neither care for nor care about. I heard lots of singing that didn't sound very good, some of it approved of by the reviewer, and music that left me pretty cold. I do have an innate antipathy to the 'turquoiserie' fashion of that period (occasionally, a 'Jingling Johnny' on stage for a live performance is fun, but ... bof... ) - rather as I do about pastiche 'chinoiserie' or 'japonaiserie' of a later period (save in the hands of Ravel or Mahler).

Also, what was Ms (or Dr. or Prof. or whatever) Joncus's tic about, referring to "The Entfürung"... it has the whiff of pretentious 'opera speak' to mix an English definite article with a word in the original language from the title... ... "The Nozze" ... "The Frau" ... ugh...

[aeolium]

I'm glad it wasn't just me. It's done nothing to displace my feeling that the piece is one I neither care for nor care about.

Although in my case I was disappointed with the review because the piece is one I care for, and I do care about how it is performed. I didn't agree with the reviewer's examples of singing she praised (except that of Wunderlich), and there were rather too many examples of singing she criticised.

[Nick Armstrong]

Although in my case I was disappointed with the review because the piece is one I care for, and I do care about how it is performed. I didn't agree with the reviewer's examples of singing she praised (except that of Wunderlich), and there were rather too many examples of singing she criticised.

Yes, certainly good to hear Wunderlich, any time, singing anything. That was the highlight!

[gurnemanz]

Yes, certainly good to hear Wunderlich, any time, singing anything. That was the highlight!

Having just returned from a two week holiday trip, I'm catching up. I have skipped through this thread and decided that the BaL might not be essential listening. There are some good bits but overall it is not a particular favourite. My only recording is 1966 Jochum with the marvellous Wunderlich mentioned above and a hilarious Kurt Böhme as Osmin. I don't feel the need to own more than one version. The only time I have seen it live was unintentionally when we had booked for Rosenkavalier at the Staatsoper in East Berlin and they substituted Entführung at the last minute - admittedly with Schreier as Belmonte and the very good Reiner Süß doing a turn as Osmin.

[Lento]

Did she really not mention the Gardiner? From what I have heard of it on Spotify it seems very good indeed. But, to play devil's advocate, with so many good recordings available, perhaps it is more important to know which to avoid rather than wallow too long in the good ones.