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ANTHEMS FROM KING’S COLLEGE (“English Cathedral Anthems from 1890-1940”)

Bainton, Ernest: And I saw a new Heaven…

Bairstow, Edward: Let all Mortal Flesh…

Bullock, Ernest: Give us the Wings of Faith

Darke, Harold: O Gladsome Light!

Gardner, Henry Balfour: The Evening Hymn

Hadley, Patrick: My Beloved Spake

Harris, William: Faire is the Heaven…

Harwood, Basil: O, How Glorious…

Lay, Henry: A Prayer for King Henry VI.

Naylar, Edward: Vox Decentis: Clama…

Parry, Sir Hubert: I was glad…

Stanford, Sir Charles: Beati Quorum via.

Wood, Charles: Hail, Gladdening Light!

All performed by Sir David Willcox & the Choir of King’s College Church, Cambridge. Organist: James Lancelot

BAYREUTH, 1936 Season, Highlights from:

Lohengrin: Konigsgebet (Mein Herr Und Gott): Margarete Klose, alto; Maria Meuller, soprano; Franz Voelker, tenor; Jaro Prohaska, baritone; Josef von Manowarda, bass. Prelude to Act III. Bridal Chorus. Bridal Chamber Scene (Meuller, Voelker). Lohengrin’s Narrative (Franz Volker, tenor); Orchestra & Chorus of Bayreuth, conducted by Heinz Tietjen.

Siegfried: Forging Song (Max Lorentz, tenor); Hammer Song (Max Lorentz & Erich Zimmermann, tenors; Forest Murmurs (Lorentz). Heinz Tietjen, conductor; Bayreuth Orch and chorus.

Tannhauser: Rome Narrative. Max Lorentz, tenor; Schmidt-Isserstedt, cond.

** BOLSHOI THEATER COMMEMORATIVE EDITION **

This lavish, magnificently packaged collection achieved only minuscule distribution in the U.S. The excerpts and arias range from 1908 to the mid-Seventies and include performances of legendary rarity and artistic merit. Because of the sheer number of selections filling this 8-disc anthology, I’ve prepared a separate listing for it, so that collectors of vocal artists’ work can cherry-pick the individual items they especially want. Just email me and put “Bolshoi Collection” in the subject line and I will upload that catalogue for your delectation.

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SOLO OR DUET RECITALS

ARKIPOVA, Irina (Mezzo-Soprano):

Rimsky-Korsakov: “The Tsar’s Bride”: Duet of Lyubasha & Griyaznoi, Act 1. w/ Yevgeni Nechipallo as Gryzanoi; Melik-Pasheyev, con. Bolshoi Theater Orch. (T: 8:25)

“ “ : “ “ “ : Intermezzo & Scene w/ Bomelius & Lyubasha. Act 2. w/ Georgi Shchulpin as Bomelius & Yevgeni Nechicapllo as Gryaznoi. Melik-Pashayev, conductor. (T: 16:50)

Rimsky-Korsakov: “The Snow Maiden”, Prologue. Melik-Pashyev; Bolshoi O. (T:5:06)

“ “ “ “ “ :: Aria of Spring, Act 4..” “ “ (T: 4:48)

“ “ : “ “ “ : Lel’s First Song, Act 1. (T: 3:35)

“ “ : “ “ “ : Lel’s 2nd Song, Act 1 (Time: 2:25)

“ “ : “ “ “ : Lel’s 3rd Song, Act 3. (T: 3:25)

CHRITSOFF, Boris (Bass):

Gretchaninov: Liturgica Domestica. w/ Bulgarian Chamber Orchestra & Radio Chorus; soloists; conductor is Georgi Robev. [A sonic and spiritual spectacular; see description under “Compositions”]

FARRELL, Eileen (mezzo-soprano):

Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder. w/ STOKOWSKI; His Symphony Orch.

“HERE”: An anthology of classy, even torchy, ballads and pop songs that neither insult your intelligence nor seem to compromise the glories of Ms. Farrell’s remaining vocal powers. Off-beat, to be sure, but worth hearing if you’re a fan.



KIRSTEN FLAGSTAD’S FAREWELL

CONCERT IN ITS ENTIRETY!!







[Sometimes you get lucky. This limited-edition 3-LP set, apparently issued with Ms. Flagstad’s full cooperation and blessings, was pressed in an edition limited to, I think, 3000 copies (on a vanity label named “Orfeo-Sonic”, and was sold by mail-order for an exorbitant price. But nothing like the small fortune it commands today, should you be lucky enough to encounter one. Two weeks ago, I was lucky. Not only is the set complete, it’s in immaculate condition. The sound is so good that it almost HAS to be derived from an “official” tape, not a microphone-in-a-trench-coat. One might wish someone other than poor ol’ Ed McArthur was leading the band – he was Ms. Flagstad’s “special friend” (brave man, considering the soprano’s girth by this time!) and she insisted on having him conduct her one-woman recitals, despite the fact that some orchestral musicians laughed openly at his flailing, “wind-mill” style and his rhythmic uncertainties. Well, you can’t SEE him when playing this discs, and the NBC musicians could play this repertoire in their sleep, so the accompaniment isn’t a total mess (although McArthur’s traversal of the third Wesendonck Lied is so self-effacing it borders on cowardice). But, really, the reason this set is such a sought-after treasure is, of course, the refulgent, spine-shivering glory of Flagstad’s Krupp-Steel voice, a vocal instrument of incomparable power and authority. She could still hit the high notes in 1955,(and she had enough sense to retire while she still could!) and she does so with a lack of discernable effort that’s almost inhuman. By the time the program’s reached its finale (Brunnhilde’s “Immolation Scene”, naturlich!), even McArthur’s swept away with emotion, and when the audience bursts into frenzied “BRAVO!”s at the end, you’ll be tempted to join them. Please note: this boxed set consists of 3 LPs and requires two CDs, so the cost for the complete program (and I cannot imagine anyone wanting just a chunk or two of the event) is $27.00. If you think that’s steep, check out what’s being asked for a moldy, dinged-up copy on E-Bay! I’ll enclose a facsimile of the original concert program with each order.]

THE PROGRAM: (All Wagner)

Overture to “The Flying Dutchman”

“Die Walkure” (Sieglinde, Act I) “Schlafst du Gast” and “Du bist der Lenz”

“Parsifal”: Good Friday Spell

The “Wesendonck Lieder”

“Tristan und Isolde” – Prelude and Love-Death

“Die Gotterdammerung” – Dawn & Siegfried’s Rhine Journey

“ “ -- Brunnhilde’s Immolation

KRUYSEN, Bernard (Baritone):

DEBUSSY: Troi Chansons de France. w/ Felix de Nobel, piano. [5:59. [Very fine.]

ROTHENBERGER, Anneliese (Soprano):

Beethoven: Two Songs from “Egmont” – Die Trommel geruhret, Op. 84; No. 1 and Freudvoll und Leidvoll, Op. 84/ No. 4. w/ Gunther Weissenborn, piano.

Haydn: O seusser Ton…

Gluck: Endlich soli mir erblu’n (O del mio dolce ardor…) w/ Gunther Weissenborn, piano

Schubert: Seligkeit, D. 433. w/ Gunther Weissenborn, piano

“ : Nacht und Traume. D. 827. w/ Gunther W., piano

“ : Rastlose Liebe, D. 138. w. Gunther W., piano

Schumann: Der Nussbaum, Op. 25; No. 3. w/ Gunther hangin’ in there…

Schumann – Ruckert: Der Himmel hat eine Trante geweint, Op. 37, No. 1 w/ Gunther

Schumann – Eichendorff: Fruhlingsnacht, Op. 39, no 12/ w/ Gunther, still

Brahms: Ziegeunerlieder, Op. 103. Nr. 1-7 & No. [Amd if Gunther, here, is agreeable, I think I’ll skip typing out the English versions of eight songs, if it’s all the same to you too, dear reader. It’s 2:38 A.M., and, well…] [[I knew you’d understand.]]

STEBER, Eleanor (soprano):

>>>> CARNEGIE HALL RECITAL <<<<

[Issued on Ms. Steber’s own private label, ST/AND Records, this mint-condition LP offers a feast for her many fans, of whom I am one. The date was October 10, 1958, the accompanist was Edwin Biltcliffe, and the works issued on LP were:

BELLINI: “Quai la voce”, from “I Puritani”

BITCLIFFE, Edwin: “Poems by Christina Rosetti”

MOZART: “Allelujah” from the motet “Exultate, Jubilate”

“ : “Zefiretti, lusingieri” from “Idomeneo”

“ : “Marten aller Arten” from “Die Entfuhrung aus Dem Serail”

STRAUSS: Excerpts from “Die Frau Ohne Schatten”

VERDI: “Ernani, involami” from “Ernani”

TEBALDI, Renata (sop.):

“A 1956 Concert” – that’s all the information we’re given on this “private collectors edition” LP, so I can’t tell you anything except the names of the selections and the fact that there is an anonymous orchestra accompanying Ms. Tebaldi, who seems to be in very good voice. The sound is mono, of course, but it’s perfectly acceptable and free of either distortion or surface grunge. Tebaldi’s heart-wrenching delivery of “Si, mi chiamano Mimi…” is worth the price of admission alone! Here are the selections, which average about 6.5 minutes in length:]

MOZART: “Porgi amor” from NOZZE DI FIGARO

CHARPENTIER: “Da quell giorno…” from LOUISE

PUCCINI: “Si, mi chiamano Mimi” from LA BOHEME

“ : “O mio babbino caro…” from GIANNI SCHICCHI

“ : “In quelle trine morbide…” from MANON LESCAUT

MASCAGNI: “Son pochi fiori…” from L’AMICO FRITZ

PUCCINI: “Un bel di…” from MADAMA BUTTERFLY

CILEA: “Lo son l’umile ancella” from ADRIANA LECOUBREUR

OPERAS (OR PORTIONS THEREOF)

BARBER: “Vanessa”. World Premiere, Metropolitan opera under Mitropoulos (see listing under “Mitropoulos” for more details.

BEETHOVEN:

“Sanctus” from Missa Solemnis. Eugene Jochum; Netherlands Radio Symphony & Chorus [4:14]

BERG:

“Lulu”. Herbert Haefner; Vienna Symphony Orch; Ilona Steingruber; Otto Wiener; (FIRST complete recording, circa 1949. Source has patches of light wear; nothing major)

BERLIOZ:

Bevenuto Cellini, Act One Duet, “O Teresa, vous que j’aime”. Antoinette Thiemessen, sop.,

Nicolai Gedda, tenor; Georges Pretre; Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. [4:45]

BRITTEN, Benjamin:

Excerpt from “Missa Brevis”. De Nobel; Albert de Klerk, organ; Hague Boys Choir [3:00]

DEBUSSY: Pelleas et Melisande. Live. Rome Opera, Dec. 1954. Von Karajan; Schwarzkopf, Haeflinger, Roux, Petri, Gayraud, etc. (In my opinion, one of Von K’s finest achievements in the opera pit – very passionate yet elegant; soloists to die for.)

DELIUS: Fennimore and Gerda (complete). Cast: Fennimore by Sybil Michelow; Niels by John Cameron; Counciler Skinnerup by Rankin Busby; Gerda by Jeanette SINCLAIR. Conductor: Stanford Robinson. BBC Symphony Orch. And the Ambrosian Singers. Live broadcast, 1962. (Time: About 2 hours).

DELIUS: Koanga. Conductor: Paul Galloway. Other performers unknown. Provenance of recording: Live performance, Washington D.C., 1970 (stereo). (Time: Approx. two hours)

DELIUS: A Village Romero and Juliet. Conductor: Meredicth Davies. Soloists, chorus & Orchestra of Sadlers’ Wells (Live, April 10, 1962).

EGK, Werner:

Peer Gynt. Heinz Wallberg; Solosists, chorus & Orch. of the Bavarian Radio.

GLUCK: Orefeo ed Euridice. Furtwangler; La Scala, Milan, Live, 1951. w/ Fedora Barberi, mezzo, as Orfeo; Hilde Gueden as Euridice; Magda Gabory as Amore. 2 CDs, two hours approx.

HANDEL:

Samson. Raymond Leppard; Janet Baker; Helen Watts; Robert Tear; Benjamin Luxon; John Shirley-Quirk; English Chamber Orchestra. (Time: 212:38)

HENZE, Hans Werner:

“Ein Landartz”, Radio Opera After Franz Kafka. Sixten EHRLING; w/ Swedish R.S.O. (T: 24:49)

HERRMANN, Bernard:

Wuthering Heights. Composer; John Kitchener, bar; Pamela Bowden, mezzo; Pro Arte Orchestra

JANACEK:

From the House of the Dead. Superbly idiomatic performance by the forces of the Prague National Theater, conducted by Bohumil Gregor, circa 1971-74.

Cast includes baritone Vaclav Bednar; Helana Tattersmuschova, sop.; Beno Blachut, tenor; Jaroslav Striska, tenor; Hanus Thein, bass; and Antonin Votava, tenor. The “Prisoners Chorus” is awesome; Source has good stereo sound, with some sonic grit in the more congested loud passages.

KODALY, Zoltan:

The Spinning Room. Production of Budapest Radio, circa 1975. Conductor is Ferencsik, w/ Budapest Philharmonic and numerous unknown but delightfully idiomatic soloists. Approx time: 2 hours. Excellent sound.

LISZT:

Christus Oratorio. Miklos Ferrai; Hungarian State Orchestra, Choruses & Soloists. T. 66:59.

MAGNARD: “Guercoeur” – A Musical Tragedy. Unidentified Performers (obviously a live performance, presumably of French origin. (The more I hear of Magnard’s music, the more convinced I become that he ranks with the greatest of his generation. This is an opera in all but name, and his only vocal/orchestral work on an operatic scale. Wagner’s influence looms large, of course, but subsumed to Magnard’s Gallic sensibilities. An exquisite work; its rarity is inexplicable. I estimate the timing to be about 1.5 hours.)

MARTINU: The Greek Passion. Sir Charles Mackerras; the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra; the Czech Philharmonic Chrous; soloists of the Welsh National Opera: John Mitchinson as Manolos, the Peasant-Shepherd; Helen Field as Katerina, a young widow; John Tomlinson as Father Grigoris, the Orthodox priest. Two CDs

[Based faithfully on Nikos Kazantzakis’s earthy retelling of the Gospels, wherein a Greek shepherd becomes Christ reincarnate and is, inevitably, driven out of town on a rail and killed at the end of the show, this was Martinu’s last major work as well as his most ambitious by far; the composer died on August 28, 1959, but various complications (mainly a prolonged game of footsy played between Herbert von Karajan and the executors of Martinu’s estate over a possible premier at Salzburg – Karajan eventually lost interest, after wasting two years of everybody else’s time) prevented the opera from being performed until July, 1961 (in Zurich, under the baton of Martinu’s old friend and champion, Paul Sacher). When I decided to make this my next dubbing project, I hadn’t listened to the work in six or seven years, but I was so deeply moved upon re-hearing it that if you asked me today, I’d have to say The Greek Passion is one of the three or four greatest operas composed since the end of World War Two. I could scarcely breathe during the climactic tableau, wherein Jesus/The Peasant/Everyman is excommunicated by a narrow-minded village priest and driven into the stony wilderness to die, is one of Martinu’s most inspired creations: at once profoundly tragic and intensely life-affirming. I can’t imagine any half-way sentient audience not responding to this magnificent music, even on their first acquaintance with it – it sears your heart. And it sticks to your ribs, too – I’d sort of been afraid that the music wouldn’t life up to my memories of it.. When I first acquired this 2-LP set in 1977-78, I must have played it five or six times in as many days, finding more and more subtle beauties in the score with each exposure. This composer gave us plenty of delightful light-weight scores, yes, and there are times when his stylistic quirks out-stay their welcome, or just become too predictable, but the high points in his huge oeuvre are like Alpine peaks: this opera, the cantata Bouquet of Flowers, the orchestral threnody for the victims at Ledice, the near-psychedelic corruscations of the Sixth Symphony, and at least two of the string quartets – well, how many other recent composers showed such mastery of so many genres? One can’t imagine a better performance, either (despite the seemingly bizarre match-up of Czech and Welsh performers!); Mackerras studied in Prague with Vaclav Tallich, even speaks a bit of Czech, and has an instinctive, passionate identification with Czech meters, inflections, and that indefinable rhythmic “lift” that marks the difference between a very good Ma Vlast and a great Ma Vlast. It’s something that can’t be taught or instilled; it just has to be organic to a performer’s heart and soul. Mackerras has it in spades; generally speaking, he’s the finest non-Czech interpreter of Czech music and had been for the past half-century. In sum, a shatteringly powerful opera clothed in absolutely gorgeous orchestral raiment, by a master-composer who knew it would be his final offering to the world. If Martinu had not written another thing, The Greek Passion alone would be enough to bestow “greatness”. And the English libretto is very sensitive to the original Czech version, which hews very closely to the novelist’s original Greek! English renderings of non-English libretti usually sound abominable, but that’s not the case here; being able to follow the narrative without reading “super titles” or squinting at a printed libretto just lifts a veil between us and the music, and this Welsh chorus has exquisitely clear diction. If you think, as many do, that opera as a genre has been on life-support since the death of Richard Strauss, this may convince you otherwise. The only post-1950 operas that have made a comparably deep impression on me were Britten’s Peter Grimes and (perhaps) John Corrigliano’s Ghosts of Versailles (and I’ve only heard that once, on a Met broadcast, so I’m a bit uncertain of my judgment with regard to the latter; I just remember it knocked me arse-over-nosey when I heard that broadcast…). In sum, then, here’s a definitive performance of a genuine masterpiece.

In a 1956 letter to the Guggenheim Foundation, from whom Martinu hoped to obtain a grant to tide him over during the long compositional process, the composer described his fundamental approach to the Kazantzakis’ fable: “There are two main themes, which thicken and deepen and eventually merge in the opera’s climax. They are: the heritage of man’s Christian values and his concomitant obligations to Humanity; those who, from the deep reservoirs of Faith try to take the path to universal life, but find it blocked by those who refuse to give up their selfishness. Ultimately each man or woman gradually finds his or her way back to what they were born to do, for good or for evil. The tremendous forces within them, seething underground, must then explode, and sometimes in that explosion, everything around the antagonists gets swept away in a flood of nihilistic destruction.”

What a great sadness that Martinu did not live long enough to hear his greatest theatrical work!]

MENOTTI, Gian Carlo:

Goya. Steven Mercurio, conductor; Orchestra & Chorus of the Spoleto Festival. Live, 1991. [My Source tape doesn’t list the cast members, nor the date; so I can’t tell you if this is the premiere or a subsequent performance. What I can tell you is that Goya is Menotti’s best work in many years – intensely dramatic and splashed with castanets-and-guitars Spanish flavors. It’s sung in Italian, by the way, and times-out at roughly 110 minutes, so if you order it, you also have room on CD-2 for another 45-minute selection.]

MILHAUD:

“Christophe Colombe”. Manuel Rosenthal; soloists, chorus & Orchestra of the Theatre des Champs-Elysses, world premiere, May, 1956. (2 hours 12 minutes). Huge, sprawling, shaggy oratorio-cum-opera, both thrilling and exhausting, inspired and barren; gooey romantic and polytonally compex. When Mitropoulos gave it in NY, a year or two later, half the patrons walked out at intermission, and the stalwarts who remained broke into cheers when Columbus finally shouts: “Land Ho!” It’s neither as good as the composer hoped, nor nearly as awful as the critics said it was – judge for yourself!)

MOZART:

“La Nozze di Figaro”, excerpts from last act. Elizabeth Schwartzkopf, sop.’ Hermann Prey; Stefania Malaga, Grazielli Sciotti; Carlo Maria Giulini; Hague Philharmonic Orch & Chorus [7:09

]

MUSGRAVE. Thea:

Mary, Queen of Scots. Peter Mark, cond; Virginia Opera Association; Live, 1978, American Premiere. (Time: Appox. 2:30) This opera caused quite a stir when first performed – an old-fashioned costume epic, with moderately “modern” music. It does not seem to have had long legs, although when I replayed part of the tape while making this list, I found it mostly quite absorbing and appropriately dramatic, if not distinguished by any particularly ravishing arias or stirring choruses. One might, in time, come to like it.

MUSSORGSKY:

Kovanshchina. Complete live Bolshoi Theater production, c. 1971. Boris Khaikin, cond; Irina Arkipova, sop; Aleksei Krivchenya; Vladimir Pyavko; Viktor Nechipailo; Bolshoi Orchestra & Chorus. (Time approx. 3.5 hours)

PUCCINI:

Tosca. Dimitri Mitropoulos; Dorothy Kirsten as Tosca; Daniel Barioni as Scarpia; Frank Guarrera as Sciarrone; Salvatore Baccaloni as the Sacristan; Orchestra & Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera, live, 1955. [Opera fans still speak in reverence of this performance – the stellar cast, the brilliant conducting of Mitropoulos, the sense of Something Special taking place. I doubt you could find, today, a more perfect cast and conductor. The Source is an authorized, slightly abridged two-disc set issued by the Met; sound is good, original LPs in VG condition. A cornerstone of any Mitropoulos collection, and essential listening for anyone interested in the Metropolitan Opera during the prime years of Rudolf Bing’s administration.]

OFFENBACH, Jacques:

“Ba-ta-clan”, A Musical Chinoiserie in One Act. Marcel Couraud, conductor; Huguette Boulangeot, sop.; Raymond Amade, tenor; Remy Corazza, tenor; Rene Terrasson, bass; The Pailliard Chamber Orchestra & Chorus [Supposedly an elaborate musical satire on Meyerbeer (!), the jokes and musical parodies are largely unintelligible to anyone not a Meyerbeer specialist, but there’s plenty of Marx Brothers buffoonery that works even without the madcap stage action; great tunes, too!] No timings given on Source]

POUND, Ezra:

Le Testament de Villon. Robert Hughes, cond; Ensemble of the Western Opera Theater. (T. 49:55). Oh, boy, what does one make of this? One of America’s greatest poets turned loose in the composers’ toyshop to indulge his esoteric if not downright dotty theories of musical-poetics. This is Paris-in-the-Twenties experimentation at its most deliciously nutty. Composed 1920-21, but not performed professionally until 1958 (while Pound was residing in St. Elizabeth’s Asylum in Washington), and was lucky to be in a loony bin instead of being stood against a wall and shot because of his crypto-socialist, anti-semetic ravings on Fascist radio during the war, it sounds….um…like medieval French troubadour poetry as set to Spartan instrumental accompaniment by Harry Partch on Thorazene. Expect no Orffian neo-primitive rhythmic excitement, here, but on the other hand, it’s not unpleasant music, and Villon’s words are ever-ingratiating. It sounds like what it is: an amateur composer with a good ear and some novel, if peculiar ideas, about musical theory, laboring mightily to produce a work that would be utterly forgotten today if Ezra Pound hadn’t composed it. The performers are surely dedicated; the late-mono sound is clean and crisp; my Source is in near-mint condition. If you’ve ever been curious (this is a work much written-about but rarely performed), go ahead. There’s not likely to be an alternative recording any time soon, if ever. (Or Naxos could bring one out tomorrow…)

PROKOFIEV:

War and Peace. First recording of complete score; conducted by the enigmatic Werner Jensen; Belgrade Opera Forces, include Radmila Vasovic-Bokachevi as Natashia; Busan Popovic as Andrei; Djordje Djurdjevic as Kotousov. (Was issued in U.S. by that great old label MGM Records, in a lavish, cloth-bound, coffee-table album. The really grandiose scenes require stereo for full effect, of course, but otherwise, the sonics are quite decent. A genuine collectors’ item, then, but a thoroughly respectable performance, too, and the ONLY one any of us could buy, for about 10 years. Today, copies are unbelievably rare, and this Source is in near-mint condition.)

PUCCINI:

Madama Butterfly. Von Karajan; Maria CALLAS; Nicolai Gedda. (Live at La Scala, Milan, c. 1956)

Tosca. 2-disc highlights from famed Mitropoulos production at the Met in 1955. Cast includes Dorothy Kirsten; Danielle Barioni; Frank Guarerra.

Turandot. Complete live performance, 1961; Leopold STOKOWSKI; Birgit Nilson; Franco Corelli; Anna Moffo; Frank Guarrera, etc. (Rudolph Bing, in his bitchy and shamelessly self-promoting autobiography, makes much of Stokie’s “fussy” attempts to clarify Puccini’s scoring ambiguities, his amateurish way of cue-ing choruses – something Stokowski had been doing in London when Bing was being potty-trained – and his general aloofness (other observers reagarded it as “professionalism and discipline”), and disparagingly looks down his snooty aristocratic nose at the very IDEA of Stokowski being taken seriously as an opera conductor. Stokie’s amazing, though infrequent, triumphs in the opera pit give the life to that. What’s really infuriating is how proud Bing is to write: “We never invited him back”. As this unfortunately not-very-vivid in-house pirate tape reveals, it was everybody’s loss that he was NOT “invited back”, for this is as taut, dramatic, and sweeping a “Turandot” as you could wish; and, my God, look at the singers!)

RACHMANINOFF:

Francesca da Rimini, Op. 25. Mark Ermler conducting Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Bolshoi. (First complete performance ever, staged in 1975 or 76. Given the subject matter, it could hardly fail to have its moment – the young Rachmaninoff was completely turned on by this saga of illicit love and damnation and he labored on this one-act operatic treatment for five years, then sold all the rights to a shyster music publisher for about $40. At age nineteen, the romantic young composer was too above-the-clouds to pay attention such mundane matters as copyright laws.., Since it runs only about 65 minutes, and contains, in embryo, many examples of Rachmaninoff’s trademark Slavic gloom and passionate striving against the indifferent Fates, Francesca should be accorded a revival now and then. My (and probably your) chance of ever seeing it done live are as good as a snowball’s in Hell, but this Bolshoi in-performance reading is good enough , despite (or maybe because of) its occasional rawness, to give you an idea of what a fully-staged version might achieve. (Standing ovations for the soloists and conductor who had the cajones to pull it off, for one thing!)

Anyone listening to this opera blind, and clueless, would surely think: “This young firebrand has a great future writing…um…piano concertos, maybe?”

(Time: 65:38)

RESPIGHI:

La Fiamma (“The Flame”) w/ Lamberto Gardelli, conductor; Klara Takacs, mezzo; Ilona Tokody, soprano; Sandor Solyom-Nagy, baritone; Chorus of the Hungarian Radio & TV; Hungarian State Orchestra. {total time 134:39 – 3 CDs] [Respighi’s fling at a Meyerbeerian grand spectacle opera – as if Belkis, Queen of Sheeba wasn’t grand enough! I won’t even try to summarize the convoluted plot except to say it’s set in 7th-Century Ravenna, it’s full of intrigues, betrayals, pro-and-anti-Church rants, and concludes with a Ken-Russell style auto-da-fe. It was last revived in Budapest in 1982, and a tape of that performance is my Source. A huge orchestra is called for, but used sparingly and mostly for projecting dark, sensual colors of a distinctly Byzantine cast. The singers and chorus give it plenty of oomph – the revival; ran for 35 performances; pretty good for such an obscure and demanding work. You can order it either with a plot synopsis, which I’ll throw in for free, or a copy of the whole libretto, which will cost you an extra $6.00 for copying. Three CDs. All Respighi fans should at least hear this ambitious and, to my ears, rather successful excursion into Late Romantic Grand Opera. Opera-philes looking for something beyond La Triviata (and shame on you if you’re not!) won’t be disappointed.]

ROSSINI:

“La Petite Messe Solenelle” – Sanctus only. Mirella Freni, sop., Oralia Dominguez, mezzo; Angelo Bartoldi; Felix de Nobel, conducting; Netherlands Chamber Choir [4:48]

ROSSINI:

Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Excerpts. Teresa Berganza, mezzo; Renato Capecchi, baritone; Giulini; Hague Philharmonic Orchestra. [6”20]

SCHMIDT, Franz:

Notre Dame. Hans Altman; Bavarian R.S.O. Soloists: Wilhelm Schlichting; Hans Hopf; Hilde Scheppan; Max Probst. Live, Munich, 1949; time approx. 2 hours, 35 minutes. [I’ve never been let down yet by hearing a new – new to me, that is – Franz Schmidt composition; amazing that one composer can sound so German AND so French at the same time, but he managed. I heard no single aria or chorus that burned into memory a la Turandot, but I did hear page after page of engaging, richly orchestrated music and my attention seldom wandered. However – big turn-off alert – the date and provenance of the Source strongly suggests it was taped off-the-air using one of those marvelous new-fangled German Magnetophone tape machines (which were about the size of an Omaha Beach pillbox and apparently almost as portable). In other words, acceptable, fairly well-defined mono; the characters evidently declaim a lot in-place, for there’s little fade-in/fade-out; the orchestral sound is a bit woolly but you can hear most of what’s going on… HOWEVER: the person making this valuable document was evidently flustered, or unfamiliar with the controls, or got called away to sign for a telegram…something. Because half-way through Act One, the volume suddenly drops off from 9 to 2 (on a 1-10 loudness scale) and stays that way until the start of Act Two. I was astounded (and disgusted that this hadn’t been corrected before the set was released!), but if you know it’s coming, and goose your volume control to compensate (and of course to de-compensate before Act Two begins, unless you want to watch your woofers disintegrate), it works out tolerably well. And if you share my enthusiasm for Schmidt’s music, you may find it worth the aggravation, since it’s the only recording of this fascinating almost-but-not-quite-great score. You take this one or go to bed hungry. Every listener has a tolerance threshold when it comes to this kind of fluff; for me, the appeal of the music, and the rarity of subsequent performances, slides this one in just under the wire. If you purchase a dub, though, and find you just can’t abide it, no problem; I’ll dub another 2 CDs of your choice and you can use the original ones for Frisbees.]

SHOSTAKOVICH, Dimitri:

The Nose.

STRAUSS, Richard:

Salome – complete opera. Dimitri Mitropoulos conducting; Metropolitan Opera broadcast of 2/8/56. [Comes on 1.5 CDs, so if you want a 35-minute filler, you’re entitled to one. The cast is to die for: Inge Borkh as Salome; Blanche Thebom as Herodias; Ramon Varnay; Herod; Mack Harrell as John the Baptist. A deservedly legendary “Salome”, with Borkh singing less like a serpentine ingénue than the Leather Goddess from Judea and Dimitri whipping everyone into an orgiastic frenzy during the loud parts and a slithering, oozing decadence during the rest. Damnedest performance of the “Seven Veils Dance” you’ll ever hear! When that section’s whirlwind coda begins, you suddenly hear a wild rhythmic whap! Whap! Whap! sound that doesn’t resemble any ordinary percussion instrument. I’ve been told by some who performed in this production that at this point in the score, on a couple of nights, Mitropoulos just got so carried away he started clapping his hands to the beat! True or not, it’s a frisson of electricity you won’t hear elsewhere. No wonder the capacity audience comes roaring to its feet even before the final chords get hammered down! Source tape has good sound, with plenty of raw impact and decent balances between soloists and the snarling hyenas in the pit. One of Mitropoulos’s greatest triumphs in the opera house.]

Von SUPPE:

Beautiful Galatea. Elizabeth Roon, sop; Kurt Preger, bar.; Waldemar Kmentt, tenor; Otto Weiner, bass; conductor is Anton Paulik, w/ Vienna State Opera Orch & Chorus. (Not many recordings of this one – quite charming. T:47:31)

SZYMANOWSKI:

King Roger. Orchestra & Chorus of the Warsaw State Opera; conducted by Mieczyslaw Mierzejewski; Andrjez Hiolski, baritone (King Roger); Hanna Rumowska, soprano (Roxana, his beloved). ( Time. 78:09) [I won’t even TRY to summarize the plot, which will make little sense to anyone not already familiar with the Norman dynasty that ruled Sicily during the 12th Century, and its vicissitudes via-a-vis the Vatican… don’t clutter your brain with that stuff. From the music alone, you can imagine any kind of plot you like: it’s rapturous, soaring, opulently orchestrated, and blessedly short (for an opera). It’s so damned beautiful (and thrilling, too, in some of the big choral scenes), that the plot inevitably sounds a little goofy and contrived compared to the music inspired by it. Think of a cross between Boris Gudonov and Debussy’s Pelleas et Melisande! Recordings – commercial ones that is – have been no more than three; although only the conductor and two lead soloists are identified on my Source tape, I suspect this is the same cast and venue as the briefly-available “Legend” LP set from the early Seventies. The sound is rich and widespread (not much sense of stage action, but then there really isn’t any; just two principles and the chorus declaiming and serenading one another for 78-77 minutes. Just fits on one CD. If you’ve ever heard anything you liked by this curious Polish composer, you’ll find an even higher level of inspiration here – as intense as his Stabat Mater, only lush and melodic instead of austere and aloof. Hands down, this is my favorite Szymanowski work; hell, it’s one of my favorite 20th Century operas, period. A fascinating and gorgeous work!]

TCHAIKOVSKY:

“Iolanthe”. Mark Ermler; Tamara Sorokina; Yevgeny Nesterenko; Vladimir Stlantov; Yuri Mazurok; Orchestra & Chorus of the Bolshoi Theater. (Time: 88:51

VERDI:

Othello. FURTWANGLER; Vienna Philharmonic; Live, Salzburg Festival, 1951. (See comments under “Furtwangler”)

VERDI:

La Forza del Destino. MITROPOULOS W/ Tebaldi, Del Monaco, Siepi!;

Florence Festival, 1953. What a cast! What a HOT performance!

VERDI:

Rigoletto (complete) conductor: Francesco Molinari-Pradelli; Richard Tucker, baritone; Gianna d’Angelo, soprano; Renato Capecchil, baritone; Orchestra & Chorus of the Teatro di San Marco, Naples; recorded in 1958.

VERDI:

Simon Boccanegra, Finale Act III. Antoinette Tienessen; Ugo Trama; Angelo Bartoli; Antal Dorati; Orchestra & Chorus, Netherlands Opera Co. [6:30]

VERDI:

La Forza del Destino – Aria, Act II, “Madre pietessa Vergine”. Alberto Frede;Gre Brouwenstein, sop.; Chorus & Orchestra of the Netherlands Opera. [6:32]

WAGNER:

“Die Walkure”: Abridgement comprising about one-third of the whole; Metropolitan Opera Live, 1956-57 season. Superlative cast including Blanche Thebom, Ramon Virnay, Hermann Uhde, and Marthat Lipton; Dimitri’s conducting is a bit, um, unorthodox at some places, but always fiercely intense.

WAGNER:

“Die Walkure”, complete opera. Wilhelm FURTWANGLER; Vienna Philharmonic and State Opera Chorus; Ludwig Suthaus…Sigmund; Gottlob Frick…Hunding; Ferdinand Franz…Wotan; Leonie Resanek…Sieglinde; Marthat Modl…Brunnhilde; Margarete Klose…Fricka…etc., etc. [Furtwangler had contracted to record a first-class Ring Cycle (the now-famous Italian Radio version only hints sporadically at the grandeur of his conception), but died shortly after this first volume was taped, in 1954. Just look at the cast: as close to Heaven, or Valhalla, as any Wagnerian could want; and the Vienna Phil playing its collective heart out; and really good, atmospheric recorded sound (I swear to you: you won’t miss the stereo effects at all, after the first five minutes! I’ve not finished burning the master CDs, yet, but it looks like the whole bloody opera will requires 4.5 – 5.5 CDs, so I’ll work out some kind of bargain price for anybody who orders it. Needless to say, Furtwangler’s conducting here is sublime; and the vocal talent? Let’s just say it would be almost impossible to assemble such a cast today. All the performers are giving 110 % to this recording – they knew they were making musical history and they could also see, day after day, how frail and shaky their beloved Maestro was. How sad he did not live to finish the entire Ring Cycle; but what a glorious swan-song this set comprises – what a stupendous, “final word” from this very great, but tragically flawed, artist.]

“Twilight of the Gods” (Gotterdammerung) – Last two scenes only. Reginald GOODALL; Sadler’s Wells Orch. % Chours; Rita Hunter as Brunnhilde. This grand-finale excerpt presents some of the best of Goodall’s fabled English version. The massive deliberation, and clean delineation of part-writing, creates a truly majestic closing, one that ranks Goodall, if not a seat on the Mt. Olympus of conductors, but at least a visiting pass!)

“Gotterdammerung” (Complete). Hans Swarovsky; Nadezda Kniplova (Brunnhilde); Otto von Rohr (Hagen); Gerald McKee (Siegfried); Ditha Sommer (Gutrune), etc; Seuddeutsche Philharmonic and Chorus of the Vienna State Opera (Broadcast performance from 1972, far as I can figure. Soloists not exactly legends, but it’s one of the only full operas conducted by Swarovsky and it’s pretty darn good. Decent stereo)

von WEBER:

Der Freisheutz. Lovro von MATACIC; Berlin State Opera; Live, circa late Sixties. Terrifically dramatic, even melodramatic, version (spooky wolf calls!) with a stellar cast, including Gottlob Frick, Claire Watson, Lotte Schadle, Klaus Lang, & Claudio Nicolai. Only example I have of von Matacic as an opera conductor, and more’s the pity. Decent stereo sound, though rather lacking in depth.

Der Frieschuetz: Furtwangler; Salzburg Festival, 1954. Vienna Philharmonic & Vienna State Opera Chorus. Alfred Poell; Oskar Czerwenka; Hans Hopf; Kurt Boehme; Rita Streich; Otto Edelmann. (Probably his finest opera recording outside of Wagner and the legendary Salzbug “Don Giovanni”. Essential collectors’ item. Mono sound, of course, and it sometimes strays off-mike, but what the hell?)

WEILL: The Three-Penny Opera. w/ Lotte Lenya & Berlin State Opera forces, rec. 1932. [Once-famous “hi-lights” album doesn’t seem readily obtainable now in the U.S., so here’s a better-than-decent transfer on to tape from a British source. About 38 minutes altogether. :Lenya, of course, is incomparable; Klemperer captures the Weimar Republic zeitgeist better than anyone before or since.]