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Free Streaming Recordings
Every week we offer 12 new titles available to stream for free
Compilation: Giangiacomo Guelfi
Guglielmo Tell, Lucia, Cavalleria, Tosca, Fanciulla, Carmen, Vespri, Attila, Trovatore, Aida & Nabucco
Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande
Brooks, Quilico, Jobin, Bible, Smith; Rudel. New York, 1970
Donizetti: La Favorita
Verrett, Kraus, Elvira, Morris, Hendricks; Queler. 1975
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
Peters, Campora, Guarrera, Densen; Moresco. 1974
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
M. Price, Burrows, Deutekom, Bryn-Jones, Ward, Robinson; Wisch. London, 1968
Spotlight: Emanuel List
From Our Collectors
Five-Star Reviews
Opera lovers share their discoveries from the catalogue.
Ken Caswell
“Charles Craig was considered to be very much a singer with an Italian style in the 1950′s. His training with Dino Borgioli gave him that edge. You are correct it was not his by nature Not bad for an English man though. he was often mistaken for an Italian even in Italy! Great to hear this. His debut as a soloist at the Royal Opera House and with such a superb soprano as Jurinac.”
Exciting Performance in Very Good Sound!
“By 1972 Del Monaco was very near the end of his career; Ricciarelli, by contrast, was just beginning hers. I've heard many Del Monaco Otellos and this is one of his best. The voice is no longer in its freshest estate, but he still possesses ringing top notes that will drive you crazy: the top B-flat at "O gioia!" in Act Three is a case in point. All right, he's grandstanding for the crowd, but so what?Ricciarelli sounds like the proverbial angel. The voice is lovely from top to bottom. Moreover she is a passionate Desdemona, completely in love with her Otello. Protti is a very good Iago, not very individual, but he knows how the role is supposed to go and has that kind of dramatic Italian baritone that is no longer common. Anna di Stasio is an uncommonly strong Emilia. Franco Ferraris leads a very effective performance. The sound is probably taken from a house tape, but there's a good balance between orchestra and singers so the voices rarely sound muffled or recessed.”
Aida/Colon/1971
“Excellent broadcast sound, as the Teatro Colon's normally are, which finds the soloists in fine voice. James King may not be ideal as Radames but his musical intelligence wins out. Martina Arroyo left several broadcast documents of her well-known Aida, and each reminds us what a fluid verdiana she was in her heyday. Cossotto, a famous Amneris, is powerfully declamatory, as expected, and her husband is at her side, as Ramfis. Mastromei is a baritone not as well-known on this side of the Atlantic, but sings strongly. Highly recommended.”
Rock
“Great: sound, cast, opera. Deutekom could even handle dramatic roles likeAttila. Carreras had a voice of stunning beauty. Like so many tenors hedamaged it by singing heavy roles ala Pavarotti. Fioravanti was a fine baritonewho never became very famous. He sang Enrico on a filmed Lucia w/ Anna Moffo.”
Varnay gives a fearless star turn
“I bought this set for Astrid Varnay and she does not disappoint in this role. She is utterly fearless with her attack on the difficult arias and is wonderfully dramatic. Her co-stars are easy on the ear and I would like to give an honourable mention to Penno as Macduff, easily the most sympathetic character on stage. There is a patch in Act 2 which sounds like it might come from a different source and the sound is not as good here, but it's far from being a disaster. I played this recording to a group of friends who had never heard Macbeth before and they very much enjoyed it. An ideal starter recording might have been a comfortable sounding studio recording, but that would have robbed them of Varnay. Playing safe is not always the best way! This recording has now become their yard stick to measure all others by and hopefully I've created some more Varnay fans.”
A great, incisive, dramatic Parsifal
“One can’t have too many recordings of Parsifal sung by Jon Vickers. He gave extraordinarily intense and elemental performances of the title role, and this one is as interesting as those under Knappertsbusch and Goodall. This recording also provides a better ambience for Kurt Moll’s great Gurnemanz (the other main role) than does Karajan’s somewhat uneven and somnolent studio job. The French cast-members and the Paris Opera orchestra and chorus acquit themselves very well and help to make the overall sound warmer and less Germanic than usual. This superbly played, sung and conducted performance is considerably faster and more dramatic than the great Parsifal recordings conducted by Knappertsbusch, Goodall, Solti and Kempe, who focus more on incandescence and spirituality. It is closer to the approaches associated with Boulez and Armin Jordan, but is less hard-driven. To considerable degrees, like Barenboim and Philippe Jordan, Horst Stein manages to heighten both drama and spirituality. Although he was long underrated, videos and non-commercial recordings (including those on OD) have been gradually redressing that. This recording is well worth hearing for refreshing variety of sound and approach, and both the performance and the sound quality are excellent.”
Superb performance, highly recommended
“This is in every way a superb performance, definitely one of the best ever of a difficult and frequently misunderstood opera. The crowning glory is undoubtedly Vishnevskaya's historic Leonore. In 1957, her voice was quite a bit lighter than one usually expects in this role: compared to singers such as Flagstad, Nilsson, and Norman, she sounds much less like an Isolde and more like a Donna Anna, with all the top and bottom notes very firmly in place. The result is a performance of Fidelio that anchors the opera in the late 18th/early 19th centuries instead of turning it (wrongly, I think) into a proto-Wagnerian music drama. Vishnevskaya's interpretation is entirely convincing: the yearning, the anxiety, the heroic devotion to a just cause are all there, and the character comes to life as she rarely does elsewhere. The rest of the cast is also very good, if not quite on the same exalted level; in particular, Nelepp is an excellent Florestan. Melik-Pashayev's taut, dramatic reading is splendid. Unfortunately, the studio recording emphasizes the voices and doesn't do full justice to the orchestra, but this is a minor cavil. The Russian translation isn't a problem at all (I know the libretto more or less by heart anyway!) -- the drama is so vividly brought to life that you won't need to follow every word (I suspect that a Russian speaker probably could as the diction sounds excellent throughout, but I am not a very good judge of that). If this recording were in German, it would be universally recognized as a classic.”
Boyd Cathey
“A young Jose Carreras sang the lead tenor role in this 1974 Berlin performance, while Placido Domingo sang performances in Vienna. The Domingo performance has appeared in an official commercial CD release on Orfeo and is urgently recommended. This Berlin performance offers us Carreras , in stellar and plangent voice, with Agnes Baltsa, in equally fine voice. IL GIURAMENTO is perhaps Saverio Mercadante's finest stage work, and deserves more familiarity and more presentations in the world's opera houses. Despite a convoluted plot, the music and Mercadante's ability to make his characters come alive, places this work above others in his oeuvre. There are two remarkable arias for the lead tenor and a superb final denouement/scene that compares well with Verdi. The sound is good broadcast sound. The more I listen to IL GIURAMENTO the higher I value it. Recommended.”
A RECORDING WORTH CROWING ABOUT = 4 stars
“Le Coq d'Or (The Golden Cockerel) is Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov's most familiar opera, but that doesn't make it anyway as familiar as, say, Verdi's Aida. Nevertheless, the work, designed as a mocking portrayal of Czar Nicholas II, is jam-packed with musical orientalisms (or what R-K may have conceived as orientalisms) and contains one of the all-time great coloratura soprano showpieces. “The Hymn to the Sun.“ In this English-language 1971 production of the N. Y. City Opera capably led by Julius Rudel, the star of the performance is unquestionably Beverly Sills who nails the stratospheric role of the Queen of Shemakha. As King Dodon , we have bass Norman Treigle, who is ok, but not as memorable as Boris Christoff on an Italian recording of a decade earlier. Enrico di Giuseppe as the Astrologer does as well as anybody in the vocally high-flying role. An essential for fans of the late, great, Ms. Sills.”
One of the best Elektras on cd
“I saw this cast on tour in Birmingham and was completely overwhelmed by the quality and energy of the singing and the vivid characterisation in even the smallest of roles all of which comes across in the recording. Pauline Tinsley is phenomenal as Elektra and gives a truly magnificent account in both the big moments in the score but also full value to the more intimate encounters. Anne Evans is a strong and vibrant Chryostemis and Debria Brown an unhackneyed and powerful Klytemnestra. Sound is good throughout. Don't miss this!”
A worthy performance to add to your collection.
“McNeil is a very good Boccanegra, if not quite in the same class as Gobbi or Taddei. The men are all good, but the revelation for me was Cossutta: in this performance he sounds a bit like Bergonzi, but with easier high notes. I bought this for Ligabue and I find her the weakest of the performers here. Her voice is right for this Verdi role and her basic sound is big and round, but it tends to spread on high notes if she doesn't prepare for them. I was, frankly, disappointed, but Previtali's conducting, a superb performance by Carlo Cossutta, McNeil in a role he didn't record commercially and the excellent broadcast (?) sound make this a keeper.I commend Opera Depot for offering recordings by wonderful singers who were under-recorded. My favorites are: Labo, Olivero, Ligabue, Cerquetti, Viorica Cortez, Ilosfalvy, Prevedi, and the controversial James McCracken.”
Wonderful Meister
“This is a fantastic live Meistersinger from Vienna. From 1955, it is historic, celebrating the reopening of the State Opera after it was destroyed in the war. History aside, this is a great performance. Schoffler is at his best here and Kunz cannot be beat as Beckmesser. Seefried is a wonderful young Eva and Beirer is solid as Walter. The sound is also excellent for it's time. If you have an interest in this opera, this is a top live performance.”
Post war German Macbeth
“A mesmerizing performance with excellent sound for the period (1950). A must have for the Mödl fans (she is the embodiment of evil sought by Verdi) and Metternich is up to the task as well.”
INVALUABLE DRAMATIC BARITONE
“Famous latter-day Wotans included baritones with faulty upper extensions (Schorr), bassos who would never master that territory (Frantz, Edelmann), or bass-baritones who did but whose instruments soon deteriorated (Hotter, London). Yet much of the role needs potent high Fs and F#s (the outbursts in WALKUERE Act 3 sc. 2, the exchanges with Erda in SIEGFRIED), so Wagnerites grew used to hearing these passages badly sung.Until Thomas Stewart.Stewart was a true baritone, G to G. He sang Wotan in the big houses for 2 decades, offering many precious assets: unusual stamina, volatile temperament, handsome mid-range, ringing top, dexterous line readings, and a fire & security in the climaxes that weren't available to heavier voices--compare the Teldec WALKUERE where Tomlinson is strained and behind the beat. In his heyday Stewart was the closest thing to an all-embracing Wotan since the young Hotter.This collection features highlights from his Salzburg years, also from Stein's 1970 RING, offering the Texas baritone in his freshest, firmest mid-career voice. The 1967 Sachs solos are classic studio renditions, his 1965 Dutchman is white-hot, and his 1969 Amfortas even more intense, detailed, and gorgeously sung than his fine DG recording.2 entries are subpar: the SALOME snippet, which finds Stewart laboring on top, and a murkily recorded 1976 MEISTERSINGER. Otherwise this is a splendid memento of one of the most underappreciated yet invaluable singers of the last century.”
Historical Opera at its best
“This is a swift, dark and expressionistic performance, and one of the most exciting I’ve heard. Whilst the cast range from solid to stellar, the real star of the show is Thomas Beecham, who’s unfussy yet colourful conducting brings us a truly vital Electra that all Strauss fans should hear. Whilst the sound is okay, it is perfectly listenable and surprisingly good for 1947”
Davyd Booth
“My god this should be in every vocal lovers collection. Grob-Prandl is sensational!!! This is a great performance all around, but she is one of the greatest Elektras I have ever heard. Rather unusual is the fact that it is an enormous voice, very gleaming throughout her whole range and she always sounds like a soprano rather than a mezzo. Opera depot is to be commended for releasing her performances. She is a real treasure!!!”
*Sternstunde*
“Herbert von Karajan's years at the helm of the Vienna State Opera were known for their all-star casts and this Don Giovanni is no exception. The roster of singers is self-recommending, nearly all at or near the top of their class, whether we're speaking of Leontyne Price's Donna Anna (a role she never recorded commercially) or Rolando Panerai making something positive of the thankless Masetto. Hilde Gueden is a persuasive Donna Elvira, even if she veers close to Elisabeth Schwarzkopf territory at a couple of junctures, while Eberhard Waechter is a Don not to be denied, so manic are his appetites. If there is a headline performance it is Fritz Wunderlich's Don Ottavio, one of the great assumptions of the part and so excellent that the Viennese demand (and get) an encore of Il mio tesoro -- and darned if it isn't even better the second time through. Karajan conducts like a man possessed, although he gives the singers room when they need it, as in the case of his beloved Price. It only remains to be said that of the many souvenirs of Walter Berry's Leporello this is the best. If you love Don Giovanni you won't want to be without this recording.”
Still to be beaten
“Excellent performance all round and Vickers must be the best Floretan of the modern era and Leitner one of the most under rated conductor of opera in that period. The sound could have been a little better but was not a distraction in any way.”
Very good!
“I love it! Greindl as Wanderer is excellent, Parly much better kept as in Glasgow ... Lindholm very good. Stolze as Mime fabulous! And Erika Köth a brilliant Woodbird, certainly one of the best in the history of recording.”
My favorite brunnhilde
“My enthusiasm for this '71 Ring has only increased in the months since I wrote the review below. The overall sound quality is among the best of any of the Ring cycles I've purchased from Opera Depot (15 to date), the occasional patch of distortion nonwithstanding. Catarina Ligendza may now be my favorite Brunnhilde of all time, sweeter in tone than Nilsson with none of Varnay's unpleasant tendency to scoop up to notes (although she's still amazing). Ligendza and Cox have real chemistry together and their duets are simply gorgeous! Even Theo Adam, whom I bashed rather severely in my previous review, has become much more tolerable to the point that I now consider him an asset instead of a liability. This Ring deserves 6 stars out of 5. Thanks Andy!”
Sublime
“I just re-listened to this performance after several years and must say it's even better than I remembered. Vocally, Eileen Farrell is a sublime Ariadne, with her rich, powerful voice, but what I find most extraordinary in her performance is that she makes Ariadne funny. The character is clearly meant by Hofmannsthal as a send-up of the opera seria diva, and that is what Farrell gives us with her excellent treatment of the English text. Mattiwilda Dobbs is a delicious Zerbinetta, with a full, rounded tone, spirit, and technique for days--for once, one wishes she had more to sing. The three nymphs (singers otherwise unknown to me) do some quite virtuosic singing of their own. Jon Crain is a youthful-sounding god, not at all heroic, but sounding mostly quite comfortable with the impossible tessitura and matching Farrell in the duet. The only let-down is the four comedians, who perform gamely but sound anemic. The conducting and orchestra are as good as need be, and the sound is, too.”
John L.
“I enjoyed this performance very much. It is light, fleet, and transparent, with a very balanced cast. While I liked all of the singers, I was pleasantly surprised by Mariella Adani's Despina. I had only heard this singer as Musetta on the Boheme recording with Gedda and Freni. I would recommend this recording to anyone who likes Mozart that is crisp and clean and sung with much style and grace.”
Valuable record of historic performance
“I was delighted to find this release of the original Bayreuth centenary performance. Jones is thrilling, in better form than in the 1980 commercial release. It's also great to have Yvonne Minton's beautifully sung Waltraute - a role she didn't record commercially. I'm a fan of Karl Ridderbusch, although I find his Hagen a bit polite compared with some of the classic, villainous portrayals such as Salminen's or Frick's.Sound is very good - clear and spacious, successfully conveying the Festspielhaus acoustic. There is some tape hiss, but one acclimatises quickly and it doesn't impair enjoyment. Inevitably the Bayreuth prompter is much in evidence.”
Wonderful recording
“Klemperer was critical about most of Mahler's music. But he "believed"in his Second Symphony. We have 3 recordings of this symphony under Klemperer, one with Ferrier, one with Schwarzy, but this one is the best. To my opinion, no other Urlicht can match the Baker/Klemperer one.”
ANJA SILJA AS ALBAN BERG'S LULU ON HALLOWEEN
“Everything is as always with OPERA DEPOT: excellent! Anja Silja and Martha Moedl (sopranos), Waldemar Kmentt (tenor) and Hans Hotter (bass-baritone), Wiener Staatsoper, Karl Boehm (conductor), 1968. Another outstanding live! Thank you very much!”
A WONDROUS OCCASION FOR LOVERS OF ROSSINI AND “BELLISSIMO CANTO!”
“Imagine a time before a work like “La Donna” would be known to any of us. Caballe, Hamari, Bonisolli, Bottazzo, Washington are all youthful in tone, supple in line, sure in intonation, perfect in pitch and precision. This is a masterful and exuberant performance led by Bellugi. Sound excellent. Spoil yourself, add this to your library, and provide your own superlatives!”
Il Trittico London 1965
“Very happy with this ourchase and the performance. I taped it in 1965 but lost the tape and I am delighted the performance has been preserved. The quality of recording is excellent. The performance itself is a memorable for Tito Gobbi, a fine singing actor. The cast are all British singers and stalwarts of the London Opera scene of fifty years ago. Delighted with everything.”
Comment for David M., Oct. 1, 2020
“I want to thank you for your very positive review and your praise of the recording and singing. The stridency that you mentioin is wanted by Strauss I believe. This belongs to the "Truth" in the composition. Her frustration with Barak is coming to a climax of pent-up emotions and her pending agreement to forfeit her shadow. I must however, point out that I do observe all piano markings of Strauss that gives the role softness and tenderness and deep wishes and dreams. I do think that the 3rd Act will change your mind about "stridency" other than belongs to the interpretation. One more thing, in the beginning of the role, the Färberin does sing much on the F and G sharps. Isn't that the purpose of composition?”
David
“I enjoyed this performance of Rigoletto very much. The sound is rather recessed, but the ear adjusts quickly enough. Domingo sings very well and sings a different ending to “Parmi verder” that is quite lovely. Moser is excellent, interpolating the usual high options into Gilda’s music (though not a high E at the end of “Caro nome”). She makes a very assertive, positive Gilda. Anyone who likes her should get this. Poskalis is marvelous, an underrated artist. The other singers are fine. The performance here is on pitch, unlike another company’s release of this. Keep in mind that the diapason in Vienna is slightly higher and continues to be so today.”
Stellar cast, great performance
“There are no weak spots in this cast, and the conducting of Herbert von Karajan is superb. The audio quality is very very good, although the occasional stage noises are a bit distracting.”
EXCELLENT ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
“This recording preserves a classic 1962 Covent Garden production under Otto Klemperer’s direction. The stately Overture reading leads one to expect a slow, solemn rendering of the whole work, but the conductor (as he often did in his last years) surprises with a quick-moving pace to the vocal pieces, with tempos never lagging but appropriate to the singers and the fast-changing situations. Much of the opera is presented through two- and three-voiced ensembles, and here the company excels. Many of the cast had previously sung in contemporary British works in which it was crucial that words and action be put across clearly to the audience. Lewis and Sutherland had sung the leads in the 1955 premiere of Michael Tippetts’ “Midsummer Marriage,” (Carlyle took the soprano role in the 1968 revival.) Lewis also sang in Benjamin Britten’s operas, as did Carlyle and Geraint Evans. So the feel of this “Magic Flute” is clear and audience-focused, as indeed Mozart had wished in his day. As the fairy-tale couple Lewis brings a bright, expressive tenor, while Carlyle offers a crystal-clear vocal tone and considerable emotional depth. Evans is a great crowd-pleasing Papageno, getting huge laughs and performing his folksy songs with fluid expression. Even the Monostatos, Robert Brown, is excellent, with Klemperer keeping the orchestra so soft that (as Mozart directed) the music seems “coming from far away.”The only serious weak link is David Kelly (another regular in contemporary opera productions) as Sarastro. His warm upper voice gives the character likeable character, but Mozart wanted those deep basso profundo passages to count. Kelly has the notes, but they are soft and tentative when they need to be solid, even scary. By contrast, Hans Hotter does a superb job as “Der Sprecher” in a crucial Act 1 scene. Hotter, a legendary Wotan, richly inhabits this eerie advocate for Masonry, and he pronounces the deep descending final line, “So bald dich führt,” with total authority. One wishes that Covent Garden had cast him as Sarastro.Oh, Sutherland? She’s good, but, alas, the transpositions make her great aria into “Der Hölle Rache” Lite. She gets a warm hand from the crowd, but Carlyle soon gets more love for “Ach ich fühls” and Evans then brings the house down with “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen.” Perhaps such a second-tier fate is inevitable and good reason for famous sopranos to avoid the role. In the end, the value of hearing this performance is Covent Garden’s deep casting and ensemble work, plus Klemperer’s alert conducting.”
Tassilo
“What a wonderful conductor Franco Capuana was! There were so many underrated Italian conductors of Italian opera active in the second quarter of the 20th century, conductors dismissed as routiniers because they made their careers in the opera house conducting Italian opera, and Capuana was one of the finest. Moreover, he turns in a more lively and distinctive performance here than in the Urania studio recording from the early 1950’s. In this repertory, I’ll take the Capuana’s of the world over Karajan, Solti, Carlos Kleiber, Abbado, and Muti any day of the week. Capuana conducts with both the requisite energy and a consummate grasp of Boito’s style, phrasing beautifully at every turn. For me, the weak link here is Ghiaurov. Ghiaurov fans accustomed to his performances from the period will not be disappointed, and the basic instrument was magnificent, of course, but I dislike his over the top theatrics, and I find his approach excessively coarse and unsubtle. Fortunately, Tucci and Bergonzi more than make up for it. Bergonzi’s performance is everything you’d expect from this sensitive and passionate but essentially patrician musician during his best years, and Tucci proves to be a viable partner. She may not have had the smoothest technique or the most gorgeous instrument, but the rôle of Margherita is not all that demanding vocally, and unlike her contemporary, Tebaldi, Tucci consistently sang in tune. She doesn’t really sound like a young and ingenuous girl, which Tebaldi certainly did, but she turns in a very sensitive and expressive performance. The recorded sound is not quite as good as I had expected, but you can hear what’s going on well enough to discern that Tucci, Bergonzi, and Capuana were first rate musicians reared in the Italianate style necessary to project this piece.”
Great singers, great conductor
“Wonderful performance ingeniously conducted by Karajan who shows us also the lyrical side of Wagner. The protagonists are all in top form. Vickers is phenomenal. He is the only tenor who can match with Melchior the greatest Wagner tenor for ever. He is able to show us all nuances of his role. Janowith as Sieglinde is not the conventional hysterics but a young woman in love. Talvela is terrific as Hunding. The big surprise for me was Crespin. She has not a true Wagner voice but she handles with her lighter voice extremly well. Stewart is excellent as Wotan and Ludwig adds the authentic Wagner style to the performance.I think it was the last minute when singers, conductor and orchestra were able to produce a performance such quality.”
Not just another Tosca
“Any live performance of Steber's is to be treasured but she is not the only star of this show,the young Richard Cassily is the real surprise. His lyric timbre and musicality make for ayouthful and ardent Cavaradossi alongside the beautifully sung Scarpia of Walter Cassel.This is a very special trio of artists with conductor Robert Lamarchina an exciting and supportive presence on the podium. The sound is very good though the orchestraoccasionally dominates but not enough to detract from one's enjoyment of this memorableperformance.”
Richard Meads
“Excellent virile performance by the fiery Solti. Fine singing by a stellar cast. Wonderful to hear the true bass of Mike Langdon-a masterly Ochs, coached by Alfred Jerger in Vienna in 1960.”
Kurt Hofmann Dr
“attended that performance as student and am pleased to be able to listen to it again.Never witnessed a omparable Salome performance afterwards.Rysanek in top conditiion,Varnay superb and on top Dieskau and Solze!!!The audience went absolutely mad!!!”
Miguel Bernal
“Ya no se escucha a este tipo de cantantes que aparte de hacer justicia a una partitura bellísima y no muy interpretada de Donizetti, cantan con un sentido del legato, de la modulación de las intensidades y sin gritar todo el tiempo que es de agradecer. Caballé, en estos sus primeros años, hace lo que muchas soñaron y aunque abusa del pianissimo muchas veces, su sonido y su legato es legendario. Oncina, gran tenor, frasea, emite con facilidad y siempre con un gusto exquisito. Sin duda una grabación muy recomendable y a un precio insuperable.”
None of the other revewers have mentioned the amazing work here by......
“I agree with Andy's praises of Brenda Roberts, Jean Cox (although both Roberts and Cox are sweet and smart rather than forceful or overwhelming), Heinz Zednik, and Donald Mcintyre. Andy is certainly right that Heinz Zednik and the Big Mac are both even better here--more spontaneous and alive--than in some of their later recordings and performances. But none of the reviewers have mentioned one of the most powerful members of this cast: the gritty, sulfurous, imposing, frenzied, snarling, uniquely malevolent Franz Mazura as Alberich. May the gods forgive me for speaking blasphemy, but honesty compels me to say: Mazura's Alberich is the equal of--and may actually surpass--the many interpretations by Gustav Neidlinger himself (PeaceBeUponHim). Another feature which no one has mentioned so far: Horst Stein's conducting is masterful: as lively as Josef Keilberth, as muscular as Karl Böhm, and as sensitive as Rudolf Kempe, Stein is really one of the great Wagner-conductors, especially of the RING, and the more I hear of him, the more difficult it is for me to understand why he is not a household name like Böhm, Furtwangler, or Levine.”
Nilsson´s first Turandot
“Suzanne is right. Nilsson sang her first Turandot at the Stockholm Opera on febr 23th -57. I am a witness, I was there, Nilsson had already sung all heavy Wagner roles and an extraordinary Salome but the public was not prepared for her Turandot. We were chocked and overwhelmed. How could there be a a voice capable to be heard the whole act 2? Enormous sound without effort and when the lasertones met one´s body they provoked a thrilling physical feeling. The initiative was taken by Svanholm, the famous wagnertenor, chief of the opera since -56. The old production was by Dobrowen. Svanholm wanted to find a new role for her. She was glad as the role was so short! Ít has gone 60 years and such a voice will never be heard again.”
Martin Ramor
“This is a great Tristan. Glad to have it. Shuard is wonderful, her rendition is simply beautiful, her Liebestod almost brakes your heart. Perhaps for a moment or two she is shouting a bit, but it would be nice to die in arms of such Isolde. Dowd is with his light voiced Tristan very interesting and not bad at all. Others Veasey, Shirley Quirk (for me especially), Langdon and Tear are all great. It is also nice to hear BBC Symphony Orchestra and to to have SIr Colin Davis conducting them, since I am not used to listen to him in Wagner.”
Un Enlèvement de référence
“Magnifique interprétation, dominée par la merveilleuse Christiane Eda-Pierre, trop méconnue, et l'inusable Kurt Moll. Les autres rôles sont bien tenus et Karl Böhm fait jouer l'orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris comme des viennois ! Le son est excellent.”
complete cast
“This cast dates from September 29th 1963:Macbeth: William DooleyLady Macbeth: Gladys KuchtaMacduff: James KingBanco: Peter LaggerMalcolm: Loren DriscollDama: Marina TürkeMedico: Fritz HoppeDomestico: Franz PohlmannSicario: Leopold ClamApparizioni: Helmut Reppenhagen, Christa Willenberg, Erika BenadeChor und Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Chorus Master: Walter Hagen-GrollConductor: Mario Rossi”
John Stanton
“Debussy's opera is a work of unusual and distinctive beauty. The distinguished cast here serves it well. Victoria de Los Angeles is a wonderful Melisande, gentle,with a potent sense of a fey, other worldliness. Her Pallas, Pierre Mollet is expressive and gentle. Joseph Rouleau is a steady and dignified Arkel, his voice resonant even in the lowest reaches of the low tessiture of this role. Julian Hass is dramatically rough Goulard, though capable of softening his tone when needed.The sound is very good”
Karajan's live Ring
“The performances contained here are quite wonderful, more spontaneous and dramatic than the excellent studio recording. The sound is good, good enough anyway. Playing, singing, and especially conducting of the highest order.”
divino Corelli und Top Sound
“Ton Qualität ist ausgezeichnet gut.Interpretation-die Stimmen sind absolut, das Schauspiel ist vollkommen - man braucht und will keine andere Interpretation mehr, es kann nix besseres sein.”
Excellent Sound! Gwyneth Jones in her early years, already huge voice and excellent coloratura.
“When they said that Gwyneth Jones could have been a legendary Verdi singer if she did not go the path of Wagner/Strauss... documents like these prove it. I have the same performance, bought from another source, which sounded very bad and there were missing parts (eg. Jones' coloratura at the brindisi were missing) so I tell you this one is best. Thank you for this gem!”
James Mertins
“3 Brunnhilde’s plus 2 in the wings in Jones and Napier.=,would that this was the case today.Voigt ,Watson and Bullock don’t really cut it. Ligendza was a very good soprano but cancelled more times than not, she was scared of the big challenge and it showed.”
