BaL 15.06.13 - Verdi's Rigoletto

[HighlandDougie]

Levine with Cheryl Studer, Vladimir Chernov, Pavarotti et al - and the Met forces on DG. Recorded in 1993, I think. I rather liked the Giulini excerpts he played.

[Barbirollians]

Callas , Gobbi and Serafin and then Muti were the runners up - Serafin failed to win on grounds of the cuts and sound quality.

Impeccable BAL as ever from RO .

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Delighted that RO agreed with me regarding a version on film. The performance which forms part of the Tutto Verdi set was one I awarded an IRR Outstanding in the May 2013 issue, describing it as 'definitely a performance for repeated viewing and now easily my Rigoletto of choice on film.'

An edited version of that review is here:
http://www.opera-britannia.com/index...3Advd&Itemid=1 (bottom of the page)

[Sir Velo]

RO still the nonpareil of BAL reviewers.

[BBMmk2]

Oh! Hmmmm.... Pavarotti!?!!? I do not like his voice at all!!

[amateur51]

RO still the nonpareil of BAL reviewers.

Oh come now; you're clearly forgetting the fabulously eccentric and erudite David Owen-Norris, the urbane Robert Philip, and fastidious French music specialist Roger Nichols, from whom we hear far too little these days.

[Karafan]

RO is a class act, isn't he?

Very interesting choice, which I shall have to sample. Listening again today to the 1996 BaL on this opera (is that really the last time it was reviewed for the Library?) and dear old (much-missed) J B Steane went for Giulini, another old favourite.

K.

[amateur51]

RO is a class act, isn't he?

Very interesting choice, which I shall have to sample. Listening again today to the 1996 BaL on this opera (is that really the last time it was reviewed for the Library?) and dear old (much-missed) J B Steane went for Giulini, another old favourite.

K.

Much-missed indeed Karafan, along with that other magnificently informative critic Alan Blyth

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... along with that other magnificently informative critic Alan Blyth

AB was among the most knowledgeable of critics, but I did find his idee fixes rather tiresome.

[Barbirollians]

I agree - RO is still the nonpareil of reviewers.

Now for crying out loud get him to do the Eroica !

[amateur51]

AB was among the most knowledgeable of critics, but I did find his idee fixes rather tiresome.

How many versions of your idée fixe do you own, EA ?

[verismissimo]

AB was among the most knowledgeable of critics, but I did find his idee fixes rather tiresome.

Over several decades Alan Blyth and John Steane introduced so many to important earlier performers, and for this we can be grateful.

For me, however, their writings are always de haute en bas, as though they had a clear handle on what was good and what not. There always seemed to be a Golden Ideal in their heads against which all performers and performances could be judged.

So someone who was different would usually be assessed as inadequate against that standard.

Take, for example, the German tenor Ernst Kraus. He was Bayreuth's Siegfried of choice throughout the 1900s, and has left several recordings of his work. He sounds quite different from the modern heldentenor. Following Bayreuth precepts - Cosima Wagner was the guardian of the flame at that time - he sang (amongst other things), as so many of the Germans did from that era, without a trace of vibrato.

It's not so easy on our ears. Yet Steane dismisses him in "The Grand Tradition" as simply producing "dreadful sounds".

[Barbirollians]

I am firmly of the view that RO should be offered a chance to make some Interpretations on Record and given a free hand with the repertoire ! Perhaps we should petition Radio 3 .

[Nick Armstrong]

I regret that I find it very difficult to get very excited about the work

.... the glorious RO ....

My feelings in a nutshell. I caught up with this edition this morning without much enthusiasm for the subject-matter, but was surprised how much I enjoyed it, thanks to RO's eloquence. I could listen to him all day.

I have a feeling that if I were going to invest in a recording, it would be the Giulini - like HighlandDougie, it appealed to me (interesting to learn that John Steane gave it the laurels in the 90s).

Interestingly diverse views about the selected Levine performance from punters, esp on amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Verdi-Rigoletto-Chernov-Pavarotti-Scandiuzzi/dp/B00000DBUY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371394493&sr=8-1&keywords=levine+studer+rigoletto

and just one (negative) on amazon.co.uk

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00000DBUY/ref=dm_dp_cdp?ie=UTF8&s=music

I am firmly of the view that RO should be offered a chance to make some Interpretations on Record and given a free hand with the repertoire ! Perhaps we should petition Radio 3 .

Second that, with knobs on!!

[BBMmk2]

I third that wioth knobs on and a pint of beer too! He would be absolutly great!