Here are the items that we found.
40% Off
The Divas of Sadler's Wells
Josephine Barstow
Margaret Curphey
Anne Evans
Lorna Haywood
Rita Hunter
Ava June
Rosalind Plowright
Amy Shuard
Pauline Tinsley
Elizabeth Vaughan
In Memoriam
Martina Arroyo
This week we say goodbye to the great Martina Arroyo.
Born and raised in Harlem, Arroyo won the Metropolitan Opera's Auditions of the Air in 1958 and made her Met debut the following year. Her breakthrough came in 1965 when she stepped in for Birgit Nilsson as Aida, establishing herself as one of the great Verdi sopranos of her generation. Her illustrious career took her to La Scala, Covent Garden, the Paris Opéra, and many of the world's leading opera houses. In later years, she devoted herself to nurturing young singers through the Martina Arroyo Foundation, which she established in 2003.
She possessed a voice of unparalleled beauty and power, as well as a razor-sharp wit that allowed her to move effortlessly from the Metropolitan Opera to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
In commemoration, all recordings featuring Arroyo are 40% off. I am also making many available as part of our Free Streaming series.
Martina Arroyo
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Britten: War Requiem
Jones, Pears, Shirley-Quirk; Kubelik. München, 1976
Compilation: Martina Arroyo in Concert
Amsterdam, 1967. BONUS: Martina Arroyo Sings Verdi
Handel: Samson
Vickers, Carlyle, Sutherland, Rouleau; Leppard. London, 1959
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas (In German)
Mödl, Prey; Schmidt-Isserstedt. Hamburg, 1955
Schoenberg: Gurre-Lieder
Arroyo, Baker, Young, Patzak; Ferencsik. Copenhagen, 1974
Spotlight: Hilde Güden
From Our Collectors
Five-Star Reviews
Opera lovers share their discoveries from the catalogue.
One of the golden trio of Knappertsbusch Parsifals
“A lot of serious listening work has been done by Parsifal lovers to rank the top three recordings of all time, and many agree with the listing Kna1952, Kna1954, and Kna1951 in decreasing order. Some would put Kna1954 first. All three performances have the advantage of the genuine Bayreuth Bells (in fact, bass piano strings struck with a hammer) that Wieland Wagner unwisely replaced in 1955 with an electronic synthesizer that sounds odd. Here in 1954 Josef Greindl is a brilliant and sensitive Gurnemanz. Greindl was typecast as a "baddie" to sing Hagen or one of the Giants in Das Rheingold, which is a shame. His present interpretation is beyond wonderful. As a bonus Hans Hotter sings a fantastic Amfortas, without wobble (!!). The Klingsor is Gustav Neidlinger who in other years and other nights could sound bored or tired, but here he is in top form. A wonderful recording all around with acceptably fine sound.”
Superb Performance in Excellent Sound!
“This Rheingold was part of my first Bayreuth Ring cycle on Discocorps LPS. It (and the rest of the cycle) was reissued on CD on various labels over the years, but most of those have gone out of print. Andy is to be commended for resurrecting this cycle at such an affordable price and in such excellent sound.We all know Hotter, Neidlinger, and Suthaus are superb, but just as great are all the other singers around them. The three Rhinedaughters make one of the best trios I've heard with Schartel's rich voice on the bottom and Siebert's shining timbre on the top. In the middle is American soprano Paula Lenchner who sang at the Met for years, mostly in comprimario roles. The three of them provide lots of coquettish laughter throughout the first scene. Milinkovic is a righteous, loving Fricka. Andy singles out Grummer for special mention above and rightly so. Traxel sings Froh's brief role so beautifully you wish his part was bigger. Blankenheim thunders effectively as Donner and the two giants are well-contrasted vocally and dramatically. Ilosvay is a wonderfully mysterious Erda. It should be noted that Paul Kuen sings Mime here, not Gerhard Stolze as listed (this has been a recurring error in past editions of this performance).Knappertsbusch's tempi are slower than some other conductors, but he knows how to tell a story without getting too bogged down in the details.Again, the sound is terrific as is the performance.”
long awaited on CD
“Back in the stone ages I purchased this recording on VHS. Back then VHS recordings of live performances were just getting started. Needless to say the video quality was dreadful. The sound quality however was not. I am delighted to now have this performance on CD in excellent sound quality. Granted Tebaldi and Corelli were nearing the end of their prime but hey! They are who they are! One big reason I was glad to have a CD of this was I adored the way Corelli sang "O BEL OCCHI DI FATA!" by Denza. This is NOT available on any CD of his whether studio or live until now. Thanks Opera Depot for making an old lady very happy.”
Fritz Lorber
“Two corrections: Brunoro is William Wu (not: Win), the date of the performance is Sept. 21 (not: 23), 1974. It was a marvellous performance corresponging to “La Gioconda”, given also 1974 at Deutsche Oper Berlin (West) – not: Deutsche Staatsoper (that time the opera house of Berlin-East).”
Sublime!
“One of the best performances I have ever heard. Great communication from all the principals; they are not just singing but acting their roles to the hilt! In his aria, Bacquier -despite an ill-judged "demon-King" laugh at the end- is really chilling and emphasises the sheer, selfish nastiness of the Count.In the main I agree with Andy's summary but do not find Janowitz in any way 'cold'; perhaps that's in Mozart's writing, laying open to scrutiny the Countess's feelings of rejection and mistrust. Solti I find very satisfying; unlike in his starry but too-fast commercial recording, here he varies his tempi. He knows exactly when to speed up but still allows the music to breathe - exquisite!By the way, the rest of the cast comprises:Curzio: Jacques LoreauBarbarina: Danielle PerriersAntonio: Carl Schultz.”
Theodore Shulman
“1. The only flaw--no not even a flaw, only perhaps a weakness--is Claire Watson, who is not a great Marschallin like Eliz Schwarzkopf or Kiri Te-Kanawa. Her ordinaryness is more than compensated for by world-history-class deliveries by the other three perfectly-cast principals, Topper, Koth, and Bohme, and by an impressive lineup of superstars in minor roles: the Divine Fritz as the Italian Singer, Gerhard Stolze as Valzacchi, Brigitte Fassbaender as Anina, Otto Wiener as Faninal, even Faninal's Haushofmeister is a very distinguished tenor from the preceding generation, Karl Ostertag. 2. Keilberth deserves special mention: he's the best conductor of this piece I have ever heard. Lively, precise, together, deep-feeling but also sensible, no trace of the gooeyness which insinuates itself into too many other performances of ROSENKAVALIER.”
Eine legendäre Aufnahme
“Kleibers Dirigat ist elektrisierend.Ligendza eine jugendlich tönende Isolde.So ganz kann Wenkoff da nicht mithalten. Bewältigt aber, mitgerissen von seiner Partnerin, gut die mörderische Partie.Alle anderen Singen ebenfalls auf höchstem Festspielniveau. Neben der Aufnahme aus der 60ern mit Böhm, Nilsson Windgassen das Beste was ich kenne!”
Elektra - an Outside
“I am honored to have my Hamburg Elektra included in Opera Depot. Thank you! I never “stood” and sang the role. Acting is almost as important as singing. In the first scene with Chrysothemis, I ran across the stage and threw myself at her hugging her knees. In the scene towards the end “Ob ich nicht hore...” I sat down on the stage in a “Barlach the Singer” position and sang until “Ich kann mich nicht heben...” then I was on my hands and knees actually singing into the boards! What an interesting life!Not to mention that I always sang piano when marked. And Horst Stein was magnificent.”
Mefistofele with Alfredo Kraus
“All of the CDs I ordered were absolutely perfect. Of course a tape of 1969 has not the same quality as on of 1999. So I was and am very happy to posses this recording. As a personal friend of the late Alfredo Kraus I love his singing in an opera he did only a few times. Also Agostino Ferrin is wonderfull as Mefistofele - a much underestimated bass. Kind regardsMarkus Roth”
Celine Papizewska
“This is a fantastic recording of two great Wagnerians. I literally fell in love with the Tristan of this recording. Oh! In ACT III, I wanted to cradle his suffering self in my arms! And Moedl is a force of nature on this. No, this is not a recording of vocal purity, but of untrammeled passion. Me? I like the passion.”
Donald Honan
“I’m older than I thought! …and a fanatical record collector since age 12 in 1948, especially of the Golden Age singers. Although I prefer the original language, I have heard this thing so often in Italian that it was only jarring to hear you say it was so! …and make no mistake, that’s Italian style and word emphasis here. Kraus, like Bergonzi, just got better and sounded more gorgeous over the years, so it’s good to be reminded that he was pretty darn good to begin with! It will be a hoot to have this performance in my collection along with Simoneau & Legay…”
Joseph Brand
“The withdrawal of Vickers from Tannhauser had nothing to do with this 1973 production. It was a revised revival in 1977 specially mounted for him (and which he was to repeat at the Met in the 77/78 season) which was the occasion for the controversial cancellation (he also cancelled the Met). Vickers had never sung Tannhauser before and in 1977 it may have been beyond his then vocal powers (though I doubt it) but heWAS a deeply religious man and he found the plot offended his religious beliefs. This might seem odd to many but live and let live. Nothing can take away his position as the supreme tenor of his age: the tenor equivalent of Callas – and I saw them together at Covent Garden in Medea!Nevertheless the 1973 production which I saw twice – once with Cassily and once with Kassel was a very fine one. I think it had been dogged by trouble in the production department which caused a lot of negative comment at the time. The great Josef Svoboda’s design for act two was dominated by an immense and beautiful stained glass window which stretched the width of the backstage. When Tannhauser revealed his secret and was condemned by the company all the colour drained out of the window – a tremendous visual psychological insight which I’ve never forgotten.”
Raves for this production in the theatre
“Opera Depot is offering the 1977 broadcast of a production that opened in 1975. Here are some comments culled from a discussion elsewhere of the 1975 opening: —“This was the first non-Wieland Wagner Parsifal at Bayreuth since the re-opening in 1951. This production was filmed for Video release in 1981.”— “I saw this production the following year. As a piece of stagecraft, it was stunning—I still cannot get over (or work out) how they achieved the scenic transformations, all in full view of the audience. I did work out the spear throw by free-framing the video—it was still pure magic in the theatre!”—“A good old Wolfgang Wagner production. Those were the days when the Bayreuth Festival was still worth its name and fame.”In other words Bayreuth hadn’t yet sunk as low as the 2004 production of Parsifal directed by Christoph Schlingensief. Suffice it to say that, during the final pages of the opera, a video of maggots feasting on carrion was projected on a screen for all to see. Tenor Endrik Wottrich, the Parsifal that year, was so revolted by the production—and by Bayreuth’s willingness to sponsor it—that he refused to return for the second season in 2005. (I’ve always been amazed that Boulez, who was the conductor in 2004 & 2005, would consent to work with a mountebank like Schlingensief after working on opera productions staged by Wieland Wagner, Patrice Chéreau, and Peter Stein.)”
VERISMO AT ITS BEST
“This is certainly the "luxe' performance of this fabulously focused opera. Nothing's wrong here. They even have part of the dress rehearsal from Scala on "You Tube" on the actual La Scala set.”
Erstaunlich gut!
“Diese Aufnahme ist interpretatorisch und aufnahmetechnisch erstaunlich gut. Auf jeden Fall der CD-Einspielung vorzuziehen und eine ideale Ergänzung zur DVD mit dem Soundtrack von 1973.”
John
“Hian excellent memorial to Marie Collier who died tragically when she was 44.As they are not credited on the label there are extensive excerpts from Manon Lescaut from (I think) a Covent Garden production in the late 60s with the Hungarian Robert Ilosfalvy as Des Grieux and Kertesz conducting proving he was no Puccini conductor. Also the Tosca Act 1 duet with Andre Turp(?) from Covent Garden.The “marziale” is not included but as there is an abrupt cut am I missing a track?”
Charlie Edwards
“Pretty amazing how consistent Böhm is in Bayreuth 15 years after the Buenos Aires performances - his direction was always so intense and driven, the only caveat being thet the Todesverkündigung scene is too fast and perfunctory (1965). I wish there was more of the glorious Grob-Prandl - I've actually never heard anything to compare with her combination of athletic,tireless singing and warmth of expression - a cross between Nilsson and Flagstad! And any recording with Suthaus is worth hearing - such virility and tragic utterance. By the way it's definitely NOT Greindl as Hunding in Buenos Aires - doesn't even sound like a native German speaker. King, Rysanek and Nilsson in 1965 are pretty astonishing too.... though better known from the 1966/7 recordings - here it's a little more hectic and messy but pretty exciting. King is SO much better here than in Solti's studio-bound effort the same year.”
Excellent, but....
“This performance is wonderful; however, the dating is suspect. The Glyndebourne and BBC websites indicate that this cast performed the work on September 28, 1965, for a special telecast over BBC2. In 1966, the Glyndebourne Festival staged this opera for 13 performances with Baker, Hemsley, and a supporting cast which featured some of the same singers as in the 1965 telecast. Again, info from the Glyndebourne website.”
A REMARKABLE DOCUMENT
“Sadly, one of the few recorded examples of Previtali conducting German opera. It seems he was a master of ALL opera. The whole interpretation is soaked with experience and knowledge of the score, but if I had to pick out ONE detail that proves this point is his broading out the tempo at Kurvenal's entrance after T & I have taken the potion, which allows one to hear the beautiful and striking orchestral accompaniment for once. There is even an ELEKTRA available with him conducting.”
Richard Evans
“I heard many performances by Welsh National Opera led by Armstrong, including two of Jenufa. Barstow was a fine singing actress, also Tinsley. Armstrong is an inspired conductor of opera, overlooked here despite his excellence in Verdi, Wager, Janacek and others.”
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.”
Martin Ramor
“Nice conducting, very good singers. Kmentt, Dernesh, Bailey and Ridderbusch really excellent. There are some interesting singers and known names also in small roles: Rundgren as Nightwatchman, Esser as David, Kollo as Vogelgesang, Johns as Moser, Nienstedt as Kothner and Feiersinger as Zorn.”
Nilsson's first Salome
“Despite somewhat muffled sound (give it a volume boost and everything's OK), this Stockholm broadcast makes a persuasive case for opera in the vernacular. How does "Salome" sound in Swedish? Pretty darn suave. The central element of interest will be Birgit Nilsson's maiden voyage as Salome. Age 36 would normally be a bit early for tackling the Judean princess but Nilsson was no ordinary singer. Interestingly, her performance is more contained and intimate than it would later become, and -- to mix idioms, there's an *innigkeit* that derives from singing in her mother tongue. The young Kerstin Meyer (Page) is obviously on the way to greater things, Sigurd Bjoerling is a formidable Jochanaan, with or without cistern amplification, and the royal pair is especially intriguing. Margareta Bergstroem is a Herodias not to be taken lightly and Arne Hendriksen's fascinating, sweet-toned Herod is a playboy sort of tetrach of Judea. Berislav Klobucar conducts expertly but ...... the subtle lilt of Joseph Keilberth in a lengthy excerpt from a 1955 Munich performance is just that much more convincing. This is an example of the 'international style' of performing Strauss and mostly focuses on Herod and Herodias (Jean Madeira). Bernd Aldenhoff's tetrach is always riveting, if not as unique as Hendriksen's. Nilsson's inflections don't have quite the hand-in-glove specificity of her Swedish ones, so Andy is to be thanked for including this most informative comparison piece. (And, is my ear deceiving me or is that Paul Kuen as First Jew.) Josef Metternich, by the way, is an impressive a Jochanaan as Bjoerling. Would that the entirety of this performance were available. 1955 was a banner year for Nilsson in Munich: She and Aldenhoff also headlined a Hans Knappertsbusch-led "Gotterdammerung" that deserves Opera Depot reissue.”
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.”
francesco tranquilli
“What CONTES D’HOFFMANN used to sound like before the original score(s) were rediscovered. Italian version makes it sound a bit like Ponchielli or Catalani, but the singing goes from very good (Lazzari) to astounding (Freni & Bruscantini). The conductor is a first-rate interpreter. Not to be missed, unless you are of the strictly philological kind.”
Pleasant surprise
“To be honest I bought the set for Ernst Kozub (and he made me wish Siegmund was a longer role). I’d never heard of Dvorakova, or of Fliether—and I was pleasantly surprised with both of them. Sound is fine.”
Wonderful Rhinegold!
“This was the opening night of Goodall's complete Ring cycles that were played together for the first time in summer 1973, and the recording here captures the special excitement of these first cycles which swept over us at that time (as was also evidenced by EMI's taping of Siegfried from the same cycles).It would be interesting to know the provenance of this recording - broadcast? in-house recording? - but whatever the source it has fine presence and stereo spread even if it lacks the clarity of the later 1975 commercial recording. Dare we hope that recordings of the Valkyrie and Twilight from these 1973 performances may emerge from the same source? The Rhinegold performance itself shows Goodall and his singers (especially Norman Bailey) on peak form in the conductor's notably expansive interpretation. Thanks to Opera Depot for unearthing this!”
Thomas Newby
“I have had this performance for more than thirty years from many soources, but the sound has never been this good. I purchased ten albums, but this was the best of all. I would say that the recordings was worth a great deal more than I paid.”
BEL CANTO ‘DUTCHMAN’
“When this opera was heard by its first audiences in 1843, the genre was dominated by the bel canto movement: ‘Wagnerian’ singers, male or female, did not exist. The first Senta was a success in Bellini roles, and her first Dutchman was a notable Mozartian. This ’L'Olandese volante,’ sung in Italian with an interesting cast, makes a case for hearing the work without the usual Bayreuth expectations. Virginia Zeani, who’d made a European career singing the bel canto repertory, makes an excellent Senta, using her mezza voce to sweeten the gentler parts of her Ballad. More volume produces a wide vibrato at times, but high notes are on the button. Overall, Zeani humanizes the character, and as Senta is, truth to say, living in a dream world, playing her as a heroic Lucia makes perfect sense. Giorgio [Casellato-] Lamberti turns Erik into a robust Latin rival for Senta’s love. The singer finds and sets humming the arioso quality in his part of the Act 2 duet with Senta and makes a bel canto treat out of Erik’s Act 3 cavatina. The ending, in which Lamberti “leans into” the melody, then tosses off the then-customary cadenza with flourishes of coloratura, could well have graced one of the lesser-known Verdi operas that the tenor helped revive. The Helmsman is also good in his high-flying Act 1 sailor’s song: other sources credit this role to Bruno Sebastian, who like Lamberti went on to have a substantial international tenor career.Antonio Boyer is quite a surprise as the Dutchman. He had a longish but undistinguished European career, mainly surfacing in rarities and 20th-century works, with a few secondary parts in more familiar operas (he sang Ford in Verdi’s ‘Falstaff’ at Glyndebourne). Here he is in especially good voice and anxious to make an impression. His lower range is stronger than most baritones in this role, giving the openings of his major scenes the proper dark ominousness (Verdi’s ‘cupo’ quality), But his voice has both depth and expansiveness, and he has the strength to put across the big climaxes. One would have loved to hear him as King Philip in Verdi’s ‘Don Carlo.’ A young Francesco Cristofoli (Danish despite his name) conducts well, keeping the action going but giving the singers room to color their lines. This musician went back to the Danish Royal Opera to a successful career as a Wagnerian. Sadly, the overture is the murkiest part of the recording, with the horn section masking the rest of the instruments. (One suspects that microphone was placed on the stage and the curtain was down during the overture, muffling the sound.) My copy does not show any of the sonic flaws mentioned below by Jim Martin, showing that the remastering has been a success. I would have liked a better balance of singers and orchestra, but this recording is well worth having, showing how Wagner’s mix of novelty and nods to bel canto traditions won him audiences in the beginning of his career.”
Cologne 1972, not far away from Bayreuth
“The performance from the Ring des Nibelungen in Cologne in 1972 is in no way inferior to that of the Green Hill in Bayreuth, which was created there at same time.Zoltan Kelemen gives a naive Alberich, which the Rhine daughters in the Rheingold do nicely, Jef Vermeersch gives a deeply believable Wotan and Wanderer in parts of the ring, especially to be emphasized in the Valkyrie scene with Br�nnhilde, which Helga Dernesch excellently portrayed in parts except the Rheingold and was a hit. Neither the conducting by Hans Wallat nor the performance of the G�rzenich Orchestra Cologne allow any flaws at any time. The conducting is stringent and both the singing and the orchestral music merge without dominating, which means that the singing can be heard without any problems.Now to the CD production by OperaDepot, it is my 3 ring production by you, I already have the two Buenos Aires rings from 1962 under Wallberg, as well as the ring from 1967 under Leitner, and you can hardly tell whether the pressings of a CD manufacturer or you were pressed onto CD, and I believe I can form an opinion, because the K�lner Ring is my 55 complete edition of the work.It is always a pleasure to do business with you, the delivery from the USA to Germany was made within 8 working days.”
John Querns
“Lovely performance of this wonderful work. Beautiful orchestral colours. Lilian Sukis sings beautifully with youthful tone and attention to the text and also sustains very successfully a very slow "Song to the Moon".Peter Hofmann, Theo Adam and Rose Wagemann also deliver fine performances. The only thing I am unsure about is the role of the Kitchen Boy - I thought at first it was a boy but now feel it must be a mezzo, though trying to sound too young and boyish for my taste. But this is a minor role in this opera so it's hardly a deal-breaker.”
David Fletcher
“I was at this performance(Caballe cancelled the rest of the run,all were in top form,Archipova was a frightening Azucena,but vocally fantastic,Cossutta(a fantastic Manrico,Milnes gave a wonderful performance,as has been noted,he interpolates a high Bflat at the end,now for Caballe,why she cancelled after this performance I do not know,everything was in place,high Pianissimi et al.”
Mary Costa at last!
“Thank you for this performance from Portland Opera. I think the correct date is June, 1968. Miss Costa is glorious. A favorite of mine since her SF Opera debut as Musetta (1959?). This is a superb representation of why she was so popular on the West Coast. Please, if you could find a recording of her Violetta, Gilda, Manon, anything, please share it. The sound is good, solid FM broadcast. The supporting cast is great. More Costa please!”
Hans Kuschinsky
“I have already had my tape recording of the opening night of the Munich Opera Festival since its broadcast on 7/10/1977 on radio, but I wanted to have it on CD. That proves how much I appreciate this performance in spite of all the others which have been released since then, e.g. Böhm, Haitink, Bychkov.Why? It is all about two singers rarely recorded: Lilian Sukis and Peter Lindroos. Even after listening to them after some time I am again deeply emotionally touched by their rendering. Lindroos gives lies to the wide-spread opinion that Strauss did not write well for tenors, because he sings Apollo effortlessly with a belcanto-like approach. His god is heroic and vulnerable at the same time. Sukis is pleasantly natural with a beautiful tone in all registers. The rest of the cast shows the high standard of the Munich Opera with Schreier, Wenkel and the orchestra, also present in Haitink's studio recording five years later, Nikolaus Hillebrand (Peneios), Nöcker, Orth and even Erika Köth. And there is Wolfgang Sawallisch - the outstanding conductor, not only for Strauss.So treat yourself to a great listening experience of bucolic tragedy.”
Gorgeous recording
“Of course, Renata is the real star, but the whole thing is a delight. I had not known the piece prior to listening to this recording and now I'm convinced I need to know it better.”
Wonderful Magic Flute
“This is a wonderful live performance of MF. As usual, Prey is a great Papageno. I love his voice in any role but especially this one. Suitner is a great Mozart conductor and moves the performance quite nicely. Schreier and Carlyle are well suited and Mesple is an exciting Queen of the Night. The sound is also excellent. I only wish the dialogue was independently tracked but that may be asking too much for a live performance. For anyone who loves Magic Flute, you can't go wrong with this performance.”
Store Owner
“This complete Act II of TRISTAN from Geneve, 1953, boasts not only the familiar and very accomplished vocalism of Wolfgang Windgassen, Gottlob Frick, and Margarate Klose, but a simply earth-shattering performance by Gertrude Grob-Prandl. Alas! Why, O, why did not the record companies record her more than they did? Here she is in voice that in many ways outdoes Nilsson, or for that matter, anyone since. The voice is huge, but always exactly placed, radiant and secure, slightly plangent (even a bit wistful), but truly glorious. Shades of meaning and characterization are wonderfully conveyed. I can imagine that everyone at that performance in Geneve could hear and relish every detail!Of course, she is partnered by Windgassen, exemplary as Tristan, and in this case, a worthy successor of Melchior. And, then, we have the added casting de luxe of Frick as Konig Marke, and Klose as a superb Brangane. After listening to this Act II, it must enter the elite group of TRISTANS and TRISTAN excerpts that I treasure (including the famous MET performances of 1935-1941 with Flagstad, and the Beecham, Reiner, Knappertsbusch, Solti, Bohm, von Karajan issues).And I must earnestly hope, like another reviewer, that the rest of that 1953 performance shows up eventually.And, lastly, as Grob-Prandl sang in Vienna and Berlin (mostly), is there any chance that additional broadcasts of performances from those venues might be available? Also, she performed, I think, in San Francisco in the 1950s...I wonder if anything from there has survived?It is remarkable that such a superb hochdramatische sopran is so widely unknown by the opera public. Let us hope that this recording, and others, can remedy that.”
Exquisite Gwyneth Jones
“This performance has an especial meaning for me as I attended this performance on my very first visit to Bayreuth as a teenager. Seeing Wieland Wagner’s production was truly life changing. And I am not erring in my senescence to call Jones’s Kundry exquisite. Amazingly fresh voiced and vulnerable rather than a raddled temptress. Coupled the tonal beauty and verbal acuity of Crass and Stewart with the eager insight of James King this casting could hardly be bettered. The conducting of Horst Stein is not especially insightful but in the good Kapellmeister tradition. The sound is good for the era and I would recommend FLAC format.”
dr.Francesco Mosca
“In the 25th anniversary of the death of the master von Karajan, this is a performance that does full justice to its autocratic executive teaching; everything here, absolutely responds to the call, starting from the top-quality in sound recording (really hi-fi) that magically makes the acoustics of the great hall of the Festival and its very wide stage. The items then - although it varied the meter we use to assess - in this live boast that their natural roundness hardly emitted elsewhere. Today, therefore, a \""Don Carlo\"" so you do not listen any more neither indoors nor outdoors theater. So a dutiful thanks to OperaDepot: good price and fantastic files!”
Corelli fantastic!!!!!!
“I was there. I had heard Franco in Fanciulla, Chenier, and the Verdi Requiem. I also had most of his recordings. But this Tosca was even more intense. I had wanted to stand up and scream, "Bravo" at the "Vittoria." But I seem to have melted. And later in E Lucevan le Stelle I was held on a vocal tightrope at the incredible PPP. My most awesome opera experience. I had seen Lucia with Sutherland, Faust with Trigle and Domingo and more”
RICHARD WAGNER'S "LOHENGRIN"
“One of the greatest live recordings of Richard Wagner's "Lohengrin", featuring and starring some of the greatest artists and singers of the time... THE Wagner singers and artists! Strongly recommended! A must!”
Rapturous, funny, moving
“This rapturous, funny, moving performance is sparked by marvelous performances in the leading roles and the maestro's unexpectedly protean realization of the score. Ludwig at her absolute peak outdoes her own reference performance on the legendary Karajan set, other than some overacting as Mariandl in Act III. I always wondered whether Rysanek's instrument was too heavy for the Marschallin. She does some glorious singing and is absolutely inside the part, and when she lets the power out in anger at Ochs in Act III, the effect is unique and tremendous. I never before encountered the Sophie, but her singing is absolutely assured and lovely, and her characterization is apt. Jungwirth is marvelous. But ultimately, Krips is the hero, showing the listener the many facets of this marvelous work.”
"Immenso Ftah"
“This “live” performance of “Aida” from the Philadelphia Lyric Opera of November 11, 1960, starring Leontyne Price, Carlo Bergonzi, and Irene Dalis, as well as Anselmo Colzani (replacing Louis Quilico), Norman Treigle (as the High Priest, Ramfis), and John Macurdy (as the King of Egypt) is terrifically exciting. (Interesting to have Treigle and Macurdy in the same performance, since they shared the same voice teacher, Elisabeth Wood.) All these artists are heard at their considerable best, especially Miss Price, who is heard only weeks before her Metropolitan Opera debut.”
Excellent performance tidy sound
“I bought this record beacuse of Gianna Pederzini, because she was the most famous Rosa Mamai in the history of this opera. Though she was a little bit far from her prime she can create an extraordinary atmosphere in her emblematic role. Emma Tegai an unremembered but excellent sopran sings Vivetta with full of passion. Juan Oncina, a tenor I'm not always happy to see in the cast makes here a very good job. In the role of Federico he can combine beauty and elegance with passion. Aldo Protti's voice seems me a little bit lighter than usual but he is radiant as Baldassare. Federico del Cupolo gives a very dramatic reading of this verismo opera. Unfortunately the sound is not the best but acceptable and the singing is enjoyable. Highly recommanded it for the lovers of the verismo.”
