BaL 14.03.14 - Bizet: Carmen

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

a copy popped through my letterbox yesterday morning, and I have been enjoying it very much .

Snap! It is good, isn't it!

Thanks for a good tip, Ferney

My pleasure - it's always a cause of minor anxiety when I recommend something and then wonder if it wan't as good as I'd remembered. No cause for concern here.

[vinteuil]

... but nothing beats the Carlos Saura film -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ycARD863E4

[verismissimo]

... but nothing beats the Carlos Saura film -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ycARD863E4

Loved it when I saw it in Sydney in the 1980s.

[underthecountertenor]

I was very impressed by Philene Wanelle - an extremely sultry Carmen, taking a quick drag on her cigarette while singing.

Since no one else has deigned to mention this - wicked Flossie! Happy memories of the GSOCdNY at the Bloomsbury Theatre...

[visualnickmos]

Quite looking forward to the 'Carmen' ....... I have Callas (EMI) sounds OK to me...... but the idea of Bernstein is rather attractive...... I reckon it's his kinda op'ra!

[underthecountertenor]

Quite looking forward to the 'Carmen' ....... I have Callas (EMI) sounds OK to me...... but the idea of Bernstein is rather attractive...... I reckon it's his kinda op'ra!

The Bernstein was my first Carmen and I have a very soft spot for it. Marilyn Horne is terrific and, as you rightly reckon, Lenny has a certain way with it that I like. It won't be the choice, of course, but it's worth a listen.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The Price/VPO/Karajan was a John Culshaw production, recorded for RCA by Decca. There's hardly a dud under this producer.

[Flosshilde]

wicked Flossie!

Indeed . But I really was impressed - (s)he was quite amazing - not in a freakish sense, but quite simply very good.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Hmm... not sure about the presenter's pronunciation of" Don Zhozay". I know Bizet was French, but presumably Don José was Spanish?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

She's gonna go for Maazel, isn't she? (Ladbrooke's still open?)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

She's gonna go for Maazel, isn't she? (Ladbrooke's still open?)

Who'd've thought so before the programme began?

[Beef Oven!]

A German language version conducted by Horst Stein!!??

[MickyD]

Oh goody, Maazel is the winner...the only version I have on my shelves, so more money saved for other purchases!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Who'd've thought so before the programme began?

Not as a "winner", no - but it was favourably mentioned in #22. It's a very good recording of a very good performance (and the film is worth seeing, too) - the "best currently available"?

[Nick Armstrong]

Oh goody, Maazel is the winner...the only version I have on my shelves, so more money saved for other purchases!

quick check suggests it isn't currently available in the UK.

... money saved all round then!!

.


And incidentally, isn't the French pronunciation of Don José perfectly acceptable, in relation to this French language piece by Messieurs Bizet, Meilhac & Halévy, (with a little help from Prosper Mérimée)?

I rather liked this reviewer. Was it her début on BaL?