BaL 14.03.14 - Bizet: Carmen

[Roehre]

0930
Building a Library
Flora Wilson tackles one of the most popular operas in the repertoire - Carmen by Bizet. It's a potent brew of sex, violence, jealousy and passion with an intoxicating score filled to the brim with romantic tunes and colourful orchestration. As the heroine herself sings in the famous habanera, Love is a bird that no one can tame.

And one of the most impossible parts for a female singer inmaginable - Carmen.
A sure recipe to damage a voice if she's not careful enough in her singing.

Teresa Berganza (Carmen), Plácido Domingo (Don Jose), Ambrosian Singers, George Watson`s College Boys` Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado

The one I listened to recently and which I found very attractive.
But: Opera is not my forte, I'm afraid [/quote]

[umslopogaas]

I have the original LP set with Bumbry and Vickers and Freni, dated 1970. The cover tells me it is "the first performance version 1875 with dialogue." As I recall, it is indeed very good.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Freni is, for me, the perfect Micaela. The fact that she sang the role for so many conductors seems to confirm this.

[Flosshilde]

And one of the most impossible parts for a female singer inmaginable - Carmen.
A sure recipe to damage a voice if she's not careful enough in her singing.

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

[Barbirollians]

It's available vis the river people at a reasonable ... ahem ... price.

As is the Grace Bumbry/Fruhbeck de Burgos ... rather a good performance & recording: the cheapest available back in the day when funds had to be carefully managed. As the financial aspect hasn't changed, I'm hoping my affection for the recording remains the same, too - just bought it for pennies.

Indeed , remember its black cover on CfP clearly in my two cassette box . Excellent as it is despite a very grey voiced Zuniga my affection remains for the Abbado -Berganza is magnificent and Domingo not bad either .

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

For me, the F d B recording is compromised by having actors reading the dialogue who sound nothing like their equivalent singers.

Yes - I can see why that would be a problem (as it so often is with Fidelio and The Magic Flute. I tend to let my attention wander during the dialogue, anyway.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Indeed , remember its black cover on CfP clearly in my two cassette box . Excellent as it is despite a very grey voiced Zuniga my affection remains for the Abbado -Berganza is magnificent and Domingo not bad either .

Yes, I'd probably share your opinion if I heard the Abbado again (I can't remember hearing it since it came out around 1978-79) - the Beecham is splendid, too (VdlA perhaps surprisingly cast "against type" with remarkable success), Karajan - and one of the very few recordings post-1980 by Maazel. The work has been very well served on record - so much so that I don't think I've heard any since Karajan's DG recording of about 30 years ago!

(I had the cassette version, too: played many-a-time whilst on long drives through the Sussex Downs in the late '80s.)

[Madame Suggia]

I wish the complete Lombard/Crespin Carmen was available.

[Radames]

The two Carmens that I have enjoyed at most are the Abbado and the Bernstein recordings. Abbado's is natural and lively, beautifully sung and played. Bernstein's is - as always with his opera recordings - fascinating. Probably not as well sung as Abbado's but the conducting is superb. Both Karajan recordings aren't very good in my opinion, and neither did I enjoy much the recent Rattle recording.

But, as always, everyone will have a different opinion.

[LeMartinPecheur]

There's also a ballet version, and... Erm...Carmen Jones.

What, is the ice-ballet version with Katerina Witt nla? One of Mrs LMP's favourites!

(Sadly, I think it's had more plays than the De Los Angeles/ Beecham LP set I bought her when we were engaged...)

[Nick Armstrong]

What, is the ice-ballet version with Katerina Witt nla? One of Mrs LMP's favourites!

(Sadly, I think it's had more plays than the De Los Angeles/ Beecham LP set I bought her when we were engaged...)

[BBMmk2]

Oh no..............

[verismissimo]

I've been listening to Emma Calve, Sigrid Arnoldson and Blanche Arral, all famous in their day in Carmen (and all pupils of Mathilde Marchesi), recorded in the years between 1902 and 1919, but they only made discs of chunks of it.

So now I'm turning to the 'complete' recording from 1908 with Emmy Destinn as Carmen, Minnie Nast as Micaela, Karl Jorn as Don Jose, conducted by Seidler-Winkler.

Wonder how it will do tomorrow?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

So now I'm turning to the 'complete' recording from 1908 with Emmy Destinn as Carmen, Minnie Nast as Micaela, Karl Jorn as Don Jose, conducted by Seidler-Winkler.

I didn't include this on the list as appears only to be be available as an import.

However - http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...album_id=62985

[teamsaint]

.

As is the Grace Bumbry/Fruhbeck de Burgos ... rather a good performance & recording: the cheapest available back in the day when funds had to be carefully managed. As the financial aspect hasn't changed, I'm hoping my affection for the recording remains the same, too - just bought it for pennies.

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

the Carmen, obviously not the letter box.
Thanks for a good tip, Ferney