BaL 23.04.16 - Verdi: Falstaff

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

0900 Building a Library on Verdi's opera Falstaff
Andrew McGregor is joined by Verdi expert Roger Parker to discuss the best recordings of Verdi's final opera, Falstaff, in which the giant of Italian opera pays tribute to the giant of world drama in a humane and genial comedy. Verdi admired Shakespeare all his life. He turned Macbeth and Othello into lyric dramas which are great in their own terms. Despite a burning desire to turn King Lear into an opera, that was not to be. But for the final fruit of his Indian summer, Verdi teamed up with the great librettist Arrigo Boito to create a work full of wit, dashing orchestral sonorities and quick-silver melodies. And he forged a musical language which responds the to ebb and flow of the drama in a way comparable to expressive and flexible verse of Shakespeare's greatest masterpieces.


Available versions:

Berliner Philharmoniker, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Claudio Abbado

Giacomo Rimini, Pia Tassinari, Salvatore Baccaloni

Orchestra Teatro Regio di Parma, Coro Teatro Regio di Parma, Andrea Battistoni

Wiener Philharmoniker, Leonard Bernstein

New Orleans Opera Orchestra & Chorus, Renato Cellini

English National Opera Chorus, English National Opera Orchestra, Paul Daniel (download)

London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Colin Davis
Symphonieorchester Und Chor Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Sir Colin Davis

Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner (download)

Glyndebourne Opera Chorus & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini (download)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vittorio Gui

Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, Hungarian State Opera Chorus, Will Humburg

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Wiener Philharmoniker & Wiener Staatsopernchor, Herbert von Karajan
Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, Herbert von Karajan (BaL choice 2002 & 2016)

Chorus & Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, Lorin Maazel

Milan Symphony Orchestra, Lorenzo Molajoli
La Scala Milan Orchestra & Chorus, Lorenzo Molajoli (download)

Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, Fritz Reiner

Teatro San Carlo Napoli, Mario Rossi
RAI Torino, Mario Rossi
Torino Teatro Regio Chorus, Torino Symphony Orchestra, Mario Rossi (download)
Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro di Roma della RAI, Mario Rossi

Teatro alla Scala, Victor de Sabata
Mariano Stabile, Renata Tebaldi, Cesare Valletti, Victor de Sabata

Geraint Evans, RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Georg Solti
Hans Reinmar, Maud Cunitz, Rez Fischer & Wilma Lipp, Sir Georg Solti
Rundfunkchor Berlin & Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti

Metropolitan Opera, Arturo Toscanini
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Corale Robert Shaw, Arturo Toscanini
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna State Opera Ballet and Chorus, Arturo Toscanini

Chor und Orchester des Reichsenders Königsberg, Rother , Weisbach


DVD


Orchestra & Chorus de l’Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Paolo Arrivabeni

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma, Andrea Battistoni (+ Blu-ray)

Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Sylvain Cambreling

Orchester der Oper Zürich & Chor der Oper Zürich, Daniele Gatti (+ Blu-ray)

Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Carlo Maria Giulini

Orchestra & Chorus of Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bernard Haitink

London Philharmonic Orchestra & The Glyndebourne Chorus, Vladimir Jurowski (+ Blu-ray)

Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, James Levine (+ Blu-ray)

Orchestre de Paris, Enrique Mazzola

Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Zubin Mehta
Wiener Philharmoniker, Zubin Mehta (+ Blu-ray)

GlyndebourneLondon Philharmonic Orchestra, John Pritchard

Orchestra of The Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern, Uwe Sandner

Wiener Symphoniker, Nello Santi

Orchestra and Chorus of Radiotelevisione Italiana, Milan, Tullio Serafin

Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti

[visualnickmos]

I have on vinyl, Solti (the Geraint Evans) recording... haven't spun it in years...

[umslopogaas]

I was about to announce I had five versions on vinyl, but on closer inspection it turns out I only have three: the Solti version with Geraint Evans was issued on both RCA Victor and Decca, and the Toscanini version was on both RCA Victor and HMV. I also have the Karajan version on Columbia, with Tito Gobbi, probably my top choice.

Its odd that the same version appears on two different labels, does anyone know why the companies did this? Obviously for the money, but they must have had to balance the cash they got for the licence with the loss of sales to a rival company. Or perhaps they made the recording as a joint venture?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I have on vinyl, Solti (the Geraint Evans) recording... haven't spun it in years...

That's the version (and format) I have. Superb playing and singing.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

That's the version (and format) I have. Superb playing and singing.

As is so often the case, several recordings are either downloads, or part of mega box sets.

[gradus]

Karajan/Gobbi won it last time out iirc.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Karajan/Gobbi won it last time out iirc.

I think I mentioned that on the list.

[LeMartinPecheur]

Would now be the time to supplement (NOT replace!) my Toscanini LPs, one of my first opera sets as a student in the 70s?

Nah, that would just be senseless extravagance

[LHC]

I was about to announce I had five versions on vinyl, but on closer inspection it turns out I only have three: the Solti version with Geraint Evans was issued on both RCA Victor and Decca, and the Toscanini version was on both RCA Victor and HMV. I also have the Karajan version on Columbia, with Tito Gobbi, probably my top choice.

Its odd that the same version appears on two different labels, does anyone know why the companies did this? Obviously for the money, but they must have had to balance the cash they got for the licence with the loss of sales to a rival company. Or perhaps they made the recording as a joint venture?

For many years DECCA couldn't release records in the US on its own label because there was another company called American DECCA. Many records were released on the London label in the US, and DECCA also had distribution deals with MCA and RCA. That was why Elvis Presley's RCA records were distributed in the UK by DECCA. I think RCA and DECCA also agreed to share artists for a while.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

For many years DECCA couldn't release records in the US on its own label because there was another company called American DECCA. Many records were released on the London label in the US, and DECCA also had distribution deals with MCA and RCA. That was why Elvis Presley's RCA records were distributed in the UK by DECCA. I think RCA and DECCA also agreed to share artists for a while.

- RCA also had rights to the HMV "Nipper" logo, so there was some crossover of releases between HMV UK and RCA USA - some Toscanini releases first appeared in the UK under the HMV label. (And just as DECCA releases were renamed LONDON for USA release, EMI HMV releases appeared in the US under the ANGEL label.)

[umslopogaas]

Thanks folks, its just as complicated as I expected it to be! To make things even more confusing, HMV in the UK also had an Angel series with the SAN code: eg SAN 107, Faure's Requiem conducted by Cluytens.

[Richard Tarleton]

The Toscanini/NBCSO on Naxos a great performance but I find the boxy sound a bit trying. For contrast I have the Giulini/LAP, with the maestro modelling a beautiful charcoal pinstripe suit and artfully draped overcoat on the cover - my God that man was a snappy dresser.

[verismissimo]

I appear to have five recordings. (Toscanini, Rossi, Solti, Karajan and Muti.) Why that is, I'm not at all clear.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I appear to have five recordings. (Toscanini, Rossi, Solti, Karajan and Muti.) Why that is, I'm not at all clear.

Well, it's a wonderful work - one which merits hearing in multiple performances?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

- RCA also had rights to the HMV "Nipper" logo, so there was some crossover of releases between HMV UK and RCA USA - some Toscanini releases first appeared in the UK under the HMV label. (And just as DECCA releases were renamed LONDON for USA release, EMI HMV releases appeared in the US under the ANGEL label.)

Some of the finest RCA recordings were made by the Decca team, including the VW/Previn symphony cycle (and my no. 1 Alpine Symphony - RPO/Kempe).