Theo [Import]

1. Angola

2. Aquele Carinho

3. Aguapés

4. Natureza

5. Amor de Poeta

6. Zé Menino

7. Meu Retrato

8. Marinheira Morena

9. Minhoquento

10. Cinema

11. Embolador

12. Remanso

13. Festa de Touros

14. Filha Minha

15. Vôo da Muriçoca

16. Sete Violas

Tracks:

The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Introduction
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Prologue - 1. Marche
The Sleeping Beauty: 2. The Sleeping Beauty: Sc ne dansante
The Sleeping Beauty: 3. The Sleeping Beauty: Pas de six
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Variations I - VI - Coda
The Sleeping Beauty: 4. The Sleeping Beauty: Final
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Act 1 - 5. Sc ne
The Sleeping Beauty: 6. The Sleeping Beauty: Valse
The Sleeping Beauty: 7. The Sleeping Beauty: Sc ne
The Sleeping Beauty: 8. The Sleeping Beauty: Pas d'action
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Danse dees demoiselles d'honneur et des pages
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Variation d'Aurore
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Coda
The Sleeping Beauty: 9. The Sleeping Beauty: Final
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Act 2 - 10. Entracte et sc ne
The Sleeping Beauty: 11. The Sleeping Beauty: Colin-maillard
The Sleeping Beauty: 12. The Sleeping Beauty: Sc ne
The Sleeping Beauty: 13. The Sleeping Beauty: Farandole

Tracks:

The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Act 2 (concl.) - 14. Sc ne
The Sleeping Beauty: 15. The Sleeping Beauty: Pas d'action
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Variation d'Aurore
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Coda
The Sleeping Beauty: 16. The Sleeping Beauty: Sc ne
The Sleeping Beauty: 17. The Sleeping Beauty: Panorama
The Sleeping Beauty: 19. The Sleeping Beauty: Entracte symphonique
The Sleeping Beauty: 20. The Sleeping Beauty: Final
The Sleeping Beauty: Act 3 - 21. The Sleeping Beauty: Marche
The Sleeping Beauty: 22. The Sleeping Beauty: Polacca
The Sleeping Beauty: 23. The Sleeping Beauty: Pas de quatre
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Variations I - IV - Coda
The Sleeping Beauty: 24. The Sleeping Beauty: Pas de caract re
The Sleeping Beauty: 25. The Sleeping Beauty: Pas de quatre
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Variations I - II - Coda
The Sleeping Beauty: 26. The Sleeping Beauty: Pas de caract re
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Cendrillon et le prince Fortune
The Sleeping Beauty: 27. The Sleeping Beauty: Pas berrichon - 28. Pas de deux
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Entr e
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Adagio
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Variations I - II - Coda
The Sleeping Beauty: 29. The Sleeping Beauty: Sarabande
The Sleeping Beauty: 30. The Sleeping Beauty: Final
The Sleeping Beauty: The Sleeping Beauty: Apoth ose

Amazon.com

Antal Dorati was the Tchaikovsky Ballet pioneer. For Mercury Living Presence, he made the first-ever recordings of the complete versions of the Russian composer's three great ballets. But Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty were mono recordings; he did two versions of Nutcracker, one mono and one stereo. So this stereo remake of Tchaikovsky's greatest ballet was highly anticipated, particularly as it features the incomparable Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. True to form, the performance is magnificently played and warmly recorded. Originally issued on three LPs (and CDs), it's now available on two well-filled discs for the price of one. A no-brainer. -- David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

BEAUTIFUL........2007-02-26

It's the only word.
The Sleeping Beauty is the best of Tchaikovsky's works. Antal Dorati really knew how it had to be played.
The music is royal, noble, rococo, (the introduction, the march of the prologue, the introduction and the dances of the second act for example) but also enchanting, heavenly, and even frivolous (the "Danse des Demoiselles d'Honneur et des Pages", the "Danse des Marquises", the "Variations de la Princesse Florine et de l'Oiseau Bleu" or the "Colin-Maillard").
I fell in love with the music.

Dorati at his best, which is pretty good.......2005-09-27

Dorati was a veteran ballet conductor, and it shows in the light-footed, bouncy rhythms he prefers. But Sleeping Beauty is the most searching music Tchiakovsky ever wrote for the dance, and Dorati doesn't have it in him to find that extra depth and poignant melancholy. The main reason that his set remains competitive derives from the lovely, warm recording (better than Gergiev's with the Kirov, also on Philips) and gorgeous orchestral playing (also better than Gergiev.)

Among complete recordings it comes down basically to either Dorati or Gergiev, with the classic Ansermet out of print. I own both, depending on whether I want to hear the gorgeousness of the music or a bit of interpretation. I also listen to Mogrelia on Naxos, despite his second-rate orchestra, because he is such a talented condcutor--often better than his two rivals here.

We are still waiting for the great conductor who will plumb this score to its depths.

Very good, but............2005-09-25

At a bargain price, this is a very good version of this spectacular score for beginners. Nobody mentioned this in their reviews, so I would like to pose this question: why do the cellos play IN THE WRONG CLEF during the march!? Listen to any other recording and you know something is dreadfully wrong here.
Thankfully -- or not -- the torture lasts for only 16 bars, and the rest of the recording is fine. But in the words of the late Yul Brynner: "Is a puzzlement!"

The Dorati Legend Continues Spectacularly.......2005-08-21

After purchasing Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, also conducted by Antal Dorati, I was VERY excited to buy this album. He didn't let me down. This is the most emotoinal and personal musical account of the Sleeping Beauty I have heard. Period. The Lilac fairy themes struck me as being expecially lovely and deep. If one listens to the background in the No. 9 Final the moment the Lilac fairy come it is truly awe inspiring.
One or two of the tempi could have been faster (in the No. 21 Marche, for example), but otherwise this is truly the ultimate goal for the Tchaikovsky lover (like me).
If you buy this wonderful album, I suggest going right to the No. 30 Finale, probably the most unmatched recording on either of the two disks. Listen to it, Love it, Enjoy it.

Tchaikovsky's Masterpiece On A Great Recording.......2005-07-27

While there are many fine renditions of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty on disc, this has got to be my choice for trophy winner. Antal Dorat was no stranger to ballet conducting (he conducted all three Tchaikovsky ballets - Swan Lake and Nutcracker included as well as Adolphe Adam's Giselle). Dorati's legacy lives on through many remastered LP recordings on CD- he conducted Tchaikovsky repertoire with the most passionate musicianship. Sleeping Beauty was Tchaikovsky's ballet masterpiece, a work full of noble music, enchanted melodies, timelessness, a score tinged with yearning for lost magic, for chivalry, for romance. It's a mystery sometimes the nature of this music. For one thing, it's not entirely balletic. While choreographers can work with Tchaikovsky's music, there is something transcendent about the music that doesn't seem entirely balletic. There's a concerto quality to it, as well as a symphonic quality, operatic (opera) quality to it. Dorati was masterful at capturing all these different aspects. Eventhough this recording was made in the early 80's and Dorati was approaching his death, its crisp, beautiful and dynamic. Do yourself a favor, listen to the following and you'll understand why Sleeping Beauty is the best ballet ever made:

1)The Christening: Prologue, March, Carabosses's Entrance. The mood here is one of courtly romance. Many of the dances seem stately and fairy-like (after all many of the guests at the Christening are fairies and angelic beings). The original production was modeled after the court of Louis XIV, and Tchaikovsky loved old French pageantry. It appealed to his sense of aesthetics- flowing, eleaborate Roccoco as he used in Mozartiana and Roccoco Variations. He used an aria from Richard Cour De Leon in Eugene Onegin the opera. Honoring the ancient "Ballet" of Louis XIV, where ballet really began, the music for the first part of Sleeping Beauty is full of this classical throwback. When Carabosse enters, the mood changes to one that is diabolical in a very "quiet", subtle way, it's haunting and a tad intense, but I figure the music for this evil entity is not too powerful to emphasize her femininity. Carabosse (or in the Disney film Maleficent) is the evil fairy who was not invited to Aurora's Christening. As despairing and dark as the mood is, light and hope returns when in a brilliant coda the Lilac Fairy's Theme is heard.

2:Rose Adagio, Waltz and Death Scene: This is Tchaikovsky at his best as a composer. The music is both jovial, triumphant, ecstatic, orgasmic, thunderous but melancholy and tragic. Somehow, somehow, he was able to write music that not only describes the well-known fate of Sleeping Beauty- she pricks her finger and dies- but expressed something deeper, something more philosophical. Tchaikovsky was a gay man or perhaps (and this is just my theory) he was a man who longed to be a woman. Because he could never be himself in the austere Catholic Imperial Russia, he became himself or became female in his music. And even then he wrote music which was extremely heartbreaking and tragic, and his despair and crisis is clearly evident. In the Rose Adagio, Aurora becomes a woman (she starts menstruating) and is courted by different princes who each offer her a rose. In a series of demanding turns, she accepts their roses. The music for this seemingly trivial scene is incredibly powerful and spiritually, the music escalates to heavenly heights. The Waltz is well known for its lilting familiar melody that Disney put words to - "I know you I waltzed with you once upon a dream". The Death Scene is so well-composed that one even sees Aurora dizzy, bleeding, sick and dying in a few minutes of music. Then we hear the evil laugh of Carabosse when she reveals herself and once again we despair. But then comes hope in the form of, that's right, the Lilac Fairy Theme. "Not in death but in sleep" she could well be saying as in the Disney film, "she will awake with true love's kiss. For true love conquers all."

3: Skip to the final track. That Apotheosis! It's climatic, it's melancholy, it's spiritual. It belittles the audience and seems to be about something other than a happy ending for Aurora and her Prince. This is a moment of climax, or rather anticlimax since to many people the Rose Adagio is more powerful. But the Apotheosis is equally as transcendent. One cannot help but feel something. Enjoy this recording, it was meant to be appreciated by ballet fans and Dorati fans and fans of great music.

Average customer rating:

Perfect recording of perfect music
I wept
Paying Homage To Bach's Spirituality
beautiful Bach
Excellent Stuff

Bach: Cantatas Nos. 80, 140, 147; Motet

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Sutherland, Joan | Divas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Christmas Cantatas

ASIN: B000002SD8
Release Date: 1997-01-21

Tracks:

Cantata No. 147: Part I: Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben: I: Chorus: Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben
Cantata No. 147: Part I: Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben: II: Recitative (tenor): Gebenedeiter Mund!
Cantata No. 147: Part I: Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben: III: Aria (alto): Schame dich, o Seele, nicht
Cantata No. 147: Part I: Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben: IV: Recitative (Bass): Verstockung kann Gewaltige verblenden
Cantata No. 147: Part I: Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben: V: Aria (Soprano): Bereite dir, Jesu
Cantata No. 147: Part I: Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben: VI: Chorus: Wohl mir, dass ich Jesum habe ('Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring')
Cantata No. 147: Part II: Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben: VII: Aria (Tenor): Hilf, Jesu Hilf
Cantata No. 147: Part II: Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben: VIII: Recitative (Alto): Der hochsten Allmacht Wunderhand
Cantata No. 147: Part II: Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben: IX: Aria (Bass): Ich will von Jesu Wunern singen
Cantata No. 147: Part II: Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben: X: Chorale: Jesus bleibet meine freude ('Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring')
Jesu Meine Freude, BWV 227: I: Jesu, meine Freude
Jesu Meine Freude, BWV 227: II: Es ist nun nichts
Jesu Meine Freude, BWV 227: III: Unter deinem Schirmen
Jesu Meine Freude, BWV 227: IV: Denn das Gesetz des Geistes
Jesu Meine Freude, BWV 227: V: Trotz dem alten Drachen
Jesu Meine Freude, BWV 227: VI: Ihr aber seid nicht fleischlich
Jesu Meine Freude, BWV 227: VII: Weg mit allen Schatzen
Jesu Meine Freude, BWV 227: VIII: So aber Christus in euch ist
Jesu Meine Freude, BWV 227: IX: Gute Nacht, o Wesen
Jesu Meine Freude, BWV 227: X: So nun der Geist
Jesu Meine Freude, BWV 227: XI: Weicht, ihr Trauergeister

Tracks:

Cantata No.140: Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimme: I: Chorus: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
Cantata No.140: Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimme: II: Recitative (Tenor): Er Kommt, der Braut'gam kommt
Cantata No.140: Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimme: III: Duet (Soprano-Bass): Wann kommst du, mein Heil?
Cantata No.140: Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimme: IV: Chorale (Tenor): Zion hort die Wachter singen
Cantata No.140: Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimme: V: Recitative (Bass): So geh' herein zu mir
Cantata No.140: Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimme: VI: Duet (Soprano-Bass): Mein Freund ist mein!
Cantata No.140: Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimm: VII: Chorus: Gloria sei dir gesungen
Cantata No.80: Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott: I: Chorus: Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott
Cantata No.80: Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott: II: Duet (Soprano-Bass): Mit unsrer Macht
Cantata No.80: Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott: III: Recitative (Bass): Erwage doch, Kind Gottes
Cantata No.80: Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott: IV: Aria (Bass): Komm in mein Herzenshaus
Cantata No.80: Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott: V: Chorus: Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel war
Cantata No.80: Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott: VI: Recitative (Tenor): So stehe denn bei Christi blutgefarbter Fahne
Cantata No.80: Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott: VII: Duet (Alto-Tenor): Wie selig sind doch sie
Cantata No.80: Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott: VIII: Chorus: Das Wort Sie Sollen lassen strahn

Amazon.com

In two classic recordings from 1957 and 1967, conductors Geraint Jones and Wolfgang Gonnenwein, two first-rate choirs, and some of the century's top soloists combine to give performances that exemplify the ideal of modern, pre-period-revival Bach. But even period-performance enthusiasts will appreciate these full-blooded, passionate, yet well balanced, elegantly shaped interpretations, which simply remind us that Bach's music can brilliantly shine in different contexts. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

Perfect recording of perfect music.......2006-07-07

Makes you wonder why Charles Murray in his book "Human Accomplishment" does not rate Bach higher. I would not recommend listening to anything that brings tears to your eyes while driving! It could cause an accident.

I wept.......2006-01-11

Although I bought this CD for the Cantata 140, the entire CD has been a powerful source of pleasure and joy. The chorale prelude version of Cantata 140 was used as the bridesmaids' music at our wedding, and our best man sang the "Zion hoert" movement--so I already had a sentimental attachment to the music. But I'd heard it off and on for several decades before purchasing this CD. And my initial (as well as current) feeling was that 140 on these discs was almost obscenely too slow. And yet, on at least two occasions, I sat in traffic while tears filled my eyes as I listened to it. It's a magical performance, even if it is too slow.

And the other cantatas (there are two sets of performers on the discs) are nearly as inspired. I especially like the "Ein Feste Burg," one of whose sort of Vivaldi-esque movement is so thrilling that, in spite of my moral objections to such practices (if you've read C. S. Lewis's "Perelandra," you'll know what I'm referring to), I've been known to play over and over and over again.

I have bought this disc for several of my grown children. I recommend it without reserve.

Paying Homage To Bach's Spirituality.......2005-09-27

Tempo is vital to excellent Bach Cantatas, and here Jones directs fine group of vocalists, choirs and orchestra in solid, stable yet passionate account of four cantatas as well as Jesu, Meine Freude.

This is excellent balanced two CD recording, which is sensitive, informed and lively as needed.

Especially attracted to dignififed offering of Cantata 80, with superb vocals by Emeling and Sotin.

Nice price, combination and performance at reasonable price.

beautiful Bach.......2005-08-18

These somewhat older recordings of three of Bach's greatest cantatas deliver superb music making! Cantata 147 features memorably articulate, vibrant and focused singing by a young Joan Sutherland; the performance of the famous chorale, though taken perhaps a tad slow, richly serves the incumbent spirituality of Bach's music. Better the understatement found here than the racing tempi that ruin at least four other major versions I have. Gardner's tempi are acceptable, but the playing is not as focused as it is under these conductors. The orchestras here are pliant and attentive, partnering splendid singing with a devoted sense of intimacy. Altmeyer, Baker & Ameling are especially fine soloists in the other two cantatas. I've heard many performances of Bach's cantatas and consider these among the very best recorded versions. With so many recordings of the cantatas available, one would think there should be many musically fine editions from which to choose and be content, but memorable performances are rare enough indeed. Music making of this kind quashes an already notoriously thin controversy with respect to period instruments and style. This is music verily from the inside out, nothing less. It's a delight to experience from beginning to end. A separate chorale version of 'Jesu, meine Freude' (with slightly altered melodic cadence) is an unexpected additional treat. Don't hesitate, for Bach's sake!

Excellent Stuff.......2005-02-06

I am a relative newcomer to Bach's cantatas, so this review might not carry much gravitas but anyone's free to contradict me. I thought this was an excellent recording of some of Bach's most loved and well known cantatas, and this double-disc offers excellent value for money. Cantata 147 was superb, and thankfully was not sung in English as I have heard before but in German obviously as it should be -I go crazy hearing "Jesu Joy of Man's Desire" in english the German sounds so much better and this version is a case in point, with a really vibrant orchestral accompaniment instead of a laboured organ which I have heard before. This chorus is so good, Bach included it twice in BWV 147 and it really is a joy.

The second cantata on the first disc is BWV 227, the motet "Jesu meine Freude". I knew nothing of this beforehand and was delighted to find out that it contains all choruses and corales with no recititatives which I find to be a bit boring (queue sound of purists turning in their graves).The choir here is uniformly excellent

The second disc begins with BWV 140 "Wachet Auf, ruft uns die Stimme". I have a particular love and interest for this cantata having sung it recently and this is how it's meant to be sung- the South German Madrigal Choir's execution is far better than our unbalanced amatuer one! The tricky "Wachet Auf" chorus is handled effortlessly and perfectly with the "alleluia" bit toward the end absolutley superb. The two soprano/bass duets are also brillaint but the undoubted highlight of this cantata comes with the final corale "Gloria sie dir gesungen". This contains such joy and sheer beauty it must be heard to be believed. Translated, one of the lines reads "With men's and angel's tongues" and this sounds like choirs of angels. The finale with the sopranos hitting strong soaring high notes is hairs on the back of the neck stuff.

I know nothing about BWV 80 but to this amatuer it sounded excellent with the opening chorus a joy, punctuated with triumphant french horn throughout.The cantata is routinely excellent throughout.

I would definitely reccomend this cd to classical lovers in general and to Bach lovers in particular

Average customer rating:

Kleiber's genius is the key here
A safe choice for a recording of "Der Freischutz"
brava, Janowitz, brava, Mathis
Es ist gut...
GOTHIC GLORY

Weber: Der Freischütz

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000006145
Release Date: 1998-04-14

Tracks:

Der Freischiitz: Overture
Der Freischiitz: No. 1 Introduktion
Der Freischiitz: Was Gibt's Hier?
Der Freischiitz: No. 2 Terzett Mit Chor
Der Freischiitz: Ein Braver Mann
Der Freischiitz: No. 3 Walzer
Der Freischiitz: Rezitativ Und Arie
Der Freischiitz: Kamerad
Der Freischiitz: No. 4 Lied
Der Freischiitz: Bruderherz!
Der Freischiitz: No. 5 Arie
Der Freischiitz: No. 6 Duett
Der Freischiitz: So! Da Oben Mag Ich Den Herrn Uraltervater
Der Freischiitz: No. 7 Ariette
Der Freischiitz: Und Der Bursch Nicht Minder Schon!
Der Freischiitz: No. 8 Szene Und Arie
Der Freischiitz: Meine Agathe!
Der Freischiitz: No. 9 Terzett

Tracks:

Der Freischutz: No. 10 Finale
Der Freischutz: No11 Entr'acte
Der Freischutz: Herrliches Jagdwetter!
Der Freischutz: No. 12 Kavatine
Der Freischutz: Du Hast Dich Dazugehalten!
Der Freischutz: No13 Romanze, Razitativ Und Arie
Der Freischutz: Nun Mub Ich Aber Den Kranz Holen!
Der Freischutz: No. 14 Volkslied
Der Freischutz: No. 15 Jagerchor
Der Freischutz: Genug Der Freuden Des Mahles
Der Freischutz: No. 16 Finale
Der Freischutz: Wer Legt Auf Ihn So Strengen Bann?

Amazon.com

Der Freischütz is one of the great milestones in the history of opera. The resounding success of its premiere in 1821 practically made it a manifesto for German Romantic opera, one that would become a significant formative influence on Wagner. Although it has its roots in the Singspiel tradition exemplified by Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Der Freischütz cut new ground with its potent mixture of supernatural elements, dreams, folk melodies, evocations of nature, and symphonic tone painting. Here, von Weber exploited his brilliant orchestral imagination--using, for example, carefully divided string tremolos and a gleaming choir of four horns--to maximum effect. This legendary recording from 1973 was Carlos Kleiber's first studio project, and the scrupulous attention he lavished on the score resulted in an interpretation that continues to sound bold, fresh, and authoritative. The Dresden Staatskapelle plays in top form, whether in tenderly sprung wind solos or in the truly spooky atmospherics of the famous Wolf's Glen scene. Peter Schreier's dark, pungent tenor is something of an acquired taste, but he gives fervent voice to the despair of hunter/protagonist Max. Gundula Janowitz sings with stirring beauty and enriches the two-dimensional character of Max's beloved Agathe with remarkable depth, revealing both her innocence and her agonized foreboding. And Theo Adam delivers a thoroughly spiteful, loathesome vocal portrait of the nefarious Kaspar, whose pact with the devil Samiel goes awry. For a work that is not performed nearly as often as it deserves to be, this recording is essential. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews:

Kleiber's genius is the key here.......2006-08-19

For most listeners, taking on faith that this legendary recording really is great, there's nothing to be disappointed by. Before Carlos Kleiber came to the score, Der Freischutz was a comfortable staple in German opera houses, to be absorbed along with strudel and beer as an accepted thing. Kleiber set the music on fire, and it's due to him that every moment is riveting. DG's 1973 sonics, to tell the truth, are a bit edgy and thin, but the new remastering is a step forward.

The detractors at Amazon have a point about the singing. If you aren't tuned in to Kleiber as the opera's driving force, picking at Peter Schreier (too thin and screechy for the role of Max), Gundula Janowitz (cool and a bit hooty as Agathe), and Theo Adam (curdled tone, dull portrayal) comes easily enough. But no rival Freischutz is perfeclty cast, and the fiendishly difficult role of Max never found its perfect exponent in Fritz Wunderlich, who died before he could record it.

Taking all the minuses into account, the singers are imperfect but very fine, and by subsuming themselves to Kleiber's vision, they give us a Freischutz unmatched on records.

A safe choice for a recording of "Der Freischutz".......2005-12-15

Source: 1973 studio recording made at VEB Deutsche Schallplaten, Berlin (in what was then very carefully designated as the DDR or German Democratic Republic.)

Sound: Good 1970s Deutsche Grammophon stereo.

Cast: Agathe - Gundula Janowitz; Annchen - Edith Mathis; Max - Peter Schreier; Kaspar - Theo Adam; Ottokar - Bernd Weikl; Kuno - Siegfried Vogel; Hermit - Franz Crass; Kilian - Gunther Leib; First Bridesmaid - Renate Hoff, Second Bridesmaid - Brigitte Pfretzschner; Third Bridesmaid - Renate Krahmer; Fourth Bridesmaid - Ingeborg Springer. Conductor - Carlos Kleiber with the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Rundfunkchor Leipzig.

Dialogue cast: Agathe - Regine Jeske; Annchen - Ingrid Hille; Max - Hans Jorn Weber; Kaspar / Samiel - Gerhard Paul; Ottokar - Otto Mellies; Kuno - Gerd Biewer; Hermit - Franz Crass; Kilian - Günther Leib; Royal Huntsman - Friedrich Wilhelm Junge; Royal Bodyguard - Achim Schmidtchen; Gamekeeper - August Hutten.

Reading Amazon reviews can sometimes be quite revelatory. In this case, before one listens to a single bar of the performance it is clear that there is something odd about the conducting. There is an air of protesting too much about the praise accorded to it. On the other hand, the singers seem to have attracted relatively little comment--potentially an ominous portent for an opera.

Well, on listening to the opera, I find that the singers aren't worth much in the way of comment. Janowitz and Adam are the best of the bunch and, truth to tell, that isn't particularly high praise. Peter Schreier is one of those acquired tastes that I have no intention of acquiring. He's not bad, not really, but who would go out of their way to hear him? He makes the egregious Hans Hopf on the old recordings conducted by Furtwangler and Erich Kleiber sound positively ... musical by comparison. The rest of the singing cast is appropriately competent, neither more nor less.

I specifically mention the singing cast because this is one of those lame productions in which some fool of a producer has decided that singers are incapable of speaking. Voice actors do the dialogue passages, a practice that virtually guarantees disaster, for the voices of the actors never match those of the singers and because such actors invariably overdo it by performing in what they fondly imagine to be an operatic style. Such casting costs this recording one star, all by itself. And the casting of a single voice actor to hold conversations with himself as Kaspar AND Samiel is simply perverse!

This, we are informed, is Kleiber Minor's first big-time recording, and it shows it. There are passages which are indisputably very good. There are passages which are just plain strange. What there unquestionably is not is a self-consistent and convincing vision of what "Der Freischutz"is all about, the sort of thing that is so clear in the ultra-Romantic version of Wilhelm Furtwängler and in the more restrained but equally brilliant version conducted by Carlos Kleiber's father, Erich. The elder Kleiber's "Freischutz" had been broadcast in 1955. It must have been one of the older man's last major projects before his sudden death in January 1956. Carlos Kleiber must have been familiar with his father's version of the opera, leading me to speculate that at least some of the peculiarities of this recording owe their existence to generational rivalry between father and son.

"Der Freischutz" is a far better opera than its current spotty performance frequency in North America might suggest. It has a fine overture that is followed by a slightly ponderous, scenario-establishing First Scene. The opera truly takes off in the vocally spectacular Second Scene of Act I. If two really first class sopranos from the German school of singing are present, the sequence of solos and duets make it is as good as anything written anywhere by anybody. Janowitz and Mathis are good but not great, making this scene less than it might be. The heart of the opera is the ensuing Wolf's Glen scene. Here, Weber pulled out all the stops to create the first Romantic opera. A very young Richard Wagner was bowled over by this opera. It set him on his chosen career. And we all know where that led....

The Wolf's Glen scene is jolly good fun, brilliantly constructed and it certainly had enormous impact on audiences for decades after its premiere in 1821. Its lineal descendants include Fafner's den in "Siegfried," both "Salome" and Elektra," "Wozzeck" and the musical scores of every other horror movie made in Hollywood or anywhere else. That being the case, it strikes me that the Amazon reviewers who inform us "that after 200 years the Wolf's Glen scene can still make a person shudder" and of "the really terrific sense of eerie menace" are being a bit hyperbolic. For the opera as a whole, I find myself more in agreement with this comment from the discerning Amazon reviewer, Sean Coxen: "If a record collector were to purchase only one 'Freischutz' for his library, this would be a safe enough choice". A safe choice, for the sound is (more or less) modern and the singers are (more or less) acceptable. Yes, quite safe. If, however, someone out there is looking for a GOOD performance, not just a safe one, I suggest you grab a copy of either the Furtwängler version or the Erich Kleiber. Heck, they're both cheap and they're both excellent, so buy both!

A COMMENT ON CASTING: An earlier reviewer rhetorically asked where a perfect Agathe is to be found. There is a simple answer to that: Elizabeth Grummer. She was a gloriously shining star of the post-WWII era, equally brilliant as Donna Anna in "Don Giovanni" and Eva in "Die Meistersinger." As Agathe for both Furtwangler and Kleiber, she was wonderful--there is no other word for it.

A COMMENT ON IMAGERY: A complaint from an Amazon reviewer about the most recent published state of this recording, "Even the excellent (menacing!) cover art is placed askew", leads me to ask this: Can't anybody see that the cover shows a side-by-side shotgun? This is an opera about riflemen, for Pete's sake. The most famous scene in the opera involves casting seven magic rifle bullets! So, why the shotgun?

brava, Janowitz, brava, Mathis.......2005-10-20

I can't add anything that will give you more insight that the wonderful reviews already written about this recording. I simply would like to state that I am grateful that Gundula Janowita and Edith Mathis were chosen to sing the roles of Agathe and Annchen.

The critics will say that Janowitz is not an ideal Agathe. Who, then, is an ideal Agathe? This is a role that is seemingly contradictory in itself, in terms of singing. It sometimes requires pure, limpid note-spinning; at other times, Wagnerian steel. The quandary is: Whom best to choose? Do you opt for a more lyrical voice, or a dramatic one? I vote for the lyrical one. Birgit Nilsson also sang this role on record. But, evidently, she was too rough for the role. Janowitz, of course, doesn't have Nilsson's steel, but she acquits herself in the more dramatic moments. There is no ugly spread on top, as you would expect out of lyrical soprano who is "pushing." To my ears, she remains in tune. For someone who is celebrated as an interpreter of Mozart, it is incredible that she could excel, at least on record, as Agathe.

Edith Mathis is also a joy to hear. She is ideally paired with Janowitz. Too bad, though, that the woman whom they chose for the speaking voice of Annchen sounds like a wenchy barmaid.

Es ist gut..........2005-09-29

The whole opera is well done, but I felt that Agatha's arias could have been a little faster. The end of "Leise, Leise" lacked excitement.

GOTHIC GLORY.......2005-04-01

Balancing brilliant value in performance and recording against infuriating lack of commentary in the liner, I still have to give this great set the full 5 stars.

The performance is 30 years old now, but the recording at its frequent best would draw high praise even today. The quality is not quite 100% consistent - now and again passages for full orchestra lack the spaciousness and depth that are so remarkable at many other points, and there is just a hint of distortion on Janowitz's high notes in her big scena in Act II, but these are quibbles. Far more representative of the general proficiency in the recording is the wonderful romantic aura round the even more wonderful horn playing near the start, the really terrific sense of eerie menace in the wolves' glen (with the full terror of Samiel reserved for the end) and the perfect fidelity given in general to the singing, both solo and chorus. Both Janowitz and Mathis sing like angels from on high, the huntsmen in chorus are the nimblest and most accomplished such a body that I ever heard, and the orchestral tone is gorgeous too. All this demanded full justice from the recording staff, and they have done it proud.

I personally go along with Kleiber's handling of the score in practically every way. When steadiness and calm are called for we get them - the slow start to the overture could hardly be better, nor could Agathe's great cavatina in Act III, sublimely done by Janowitz. However this reading has a spring in its step, and that as much as anything is what I love about it. It helps, obviously, to have virtuoso performers, and I have already drawn attention to the chorus in that respect. For all the Gothic shivers and goings-on, this opera is full of joie de vivre, or whatever the German is for that. Like Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Bizet, Weber was taken away from us too soon, another sacrifice to consumption. No composer's music could be less suggestive of approaching death that his. His orchestral scoring alone, deeply admired by no less a master of that art than Berlioz, is a celebration of life by itself. His melodic gift is one of the greatest there has ever been, stronger in my view than Mendelssohn's and up there with that of Berlioz and that of Verdi himself. This is what an adequate realisation of this work must bring out, not just the picturesque horrors. On this set you will hear some genuinely spontaneous-sounding laughter for one thing, and the true and vital gusto from the peasants, huntsmen and the rest of them. Obviously `characterisation' in a lightweight and fairy-tale parallel like this to the Faust theme is broad-brush, but where this score excels is in its varied and intensely dramatic delineation of situations. This is something else the conductor must present with the utmost clarity and vividness, and I can hardly imagine it done better than it is done here. And a special mention must be made of the magnificent realisation of the scene with the hermit (der fromme Klausner for initiates) -- credit even-handedly to Kleiber and to Franz Crass.

I love dear Schumann and I love his Manfred, especially in the realisation by Beecham, but I could only sigh to think of what Weber might have done with that theme. We should be grateful for what we've got, I suppose. The entire cast cover themselves with glory, but pride of place goes to the two sopranos. Peter Schreier is what I sometimes think of as a `mezzo-tenor', something like Mark Padmore. Theo Adam is a Wotan and a Sachs that I particularly like because of my own personal interpretation of those roles, but even those who think him lightweight in Wagner surely must have no such reservations about his Kaspar. The men are all fine, but it's the women here who make the really big impression - them and the orchestra. Not to mention the chorus and the conductor. Nor do I overlook the recording personnel.

Average customer rating:

Poor Senta gets a disc change!
A "Dutchman" without a Dutchman--serious problem
A Stunning "Dutchman"
A minority view
Best Flying Dutchman

Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B00004VW0J
Release Date: 2000-08-15

Tracks:

Ov - New Philharmonia Orch/Otto Klemperer
Act One, Scene One. I. Intro: Hojohe! Hallojo! - BBC Chor/Peter Gellhorn/Martti Talvela/Gerhard Unger
Act One, Scene One. Lied Des Steuermanns: Mit Gewitter Und Sturm Aus Fernem Meer - Gerhard Unger
Act One, Scene Two. II. Rezitativ & Arie: Die Frist Ist Um - Theo Adam
Act One, Scene Two. II. Rezitativ & Arie: Wie Oft In Meeres Tiefsten Schlund - Theo Adam
Act One, Scene Two. II. Rezitativ & Arie: Dich Frage Ich, Gepries'ner Engel Gottes - Theo Adam
Act One, Scene Two. II. Rezitativ & Arie: Nur Eine Hoffnung Soll Mir Bleiben - Theo Adam/BBC Chor/Peter Gellhorn
Act One, Scene Three. III. Szene, Duett & Chor: He! Holla! Steuermann! - Martti Talvela/Gerhard Unger
Act One, Scene Three. III. Szene, Duett & Chor: Weit Komm' Ich Her - Theo Adam/Martti Talvela
Act One, Scene Three. III. Szene, Duett & Chor: Durch Sturm Und Bosen Wind Verschlagen - Theo Adam
Act One, Scene Three. III. Szene, Duett & Chor: Wie Wunderbar! Soll Deinem Wort Ich Glauben? - Martti Talvela/Theo Adam
Act One, Scene Three. III. Szene, Duett & Chor: Was Muss Ich Horen?...Hast Du Eine Tochter? - Martti Talvela/Theo Adam
Act One, Scene Three. III. Szene, Duett & Chor: Wohl, Fremdling, Hab' Ich Eine Schone Tochter - Martti Talvela/Theo Adam
Act One, Scene Three. III. Szene, Duett & Chor: Wenn Aus Der Qualen Schreckgewalten - Martti Talvela/Theo Adam
Act One, Scene Three. III. Szene, Duett & Chor: Sudwind! Sudwind! - Gerhard Unger/BBC Chor/Peter Gellhorn/Martti Talvela/Theo Adam
Act One, Scene Three. III. Szene, Duett & Chor: Mit Gewitter Und Sturm Aus Fernem Meer - BBC Chor/Peter Gellhorn
Act Two: Intro - New Philharmonia Orch/Otto Klemperer
Act Two, Scene One. IV. Lied (Chor Der Spinnerinnen), Szene, Ballade & Chor: Summ Und Brumm, Du... - BBC Chor/Peter Gellhorn/Annelies Burmeister
Act Two, Scene One. IV. Lied (Chor Der Spinnerinnen), Szene, Ballade & Chor: Du Boses Kind... - Annelies Burmeister/BBC Chor/Peter Gellhorn/Anja Silja
Act Two, Scene One. IV. Lied (Chor Der Spinnerinnen), Szene, Ballade & Chor: O Macht Dem... - Annelies Burmeister/BBC Chor/Peter Gellhorn/Anja Silja
Act Two, Scene One. Sentas Ballade. I: Johohoe! ...Traft Ihr Das Schiff Im Meere An - Anja Silja
Act Two, Scene One. Sentas Ballade. II: Bei Bosem Wind Und Sturmes Wut - Anja Silja/BBC Chor/Peter Gellhorn
Act Two, Scene One. Sentas Ballade. III: Vor Anker Alle Sieben Jahr' - Anja Silja

Tracks:

Act Two, Scene One. Sentas Ballade: Ach! Wo Weilt Sie - BBC Chor/Peter Gellhorn/Anja Silja/Annelies Burmeister/Ernst Kozub
Act Two, Scene Two. V. Duett: Bleib, Senta! Bleib Nur Einen Augenblick! - Ernst Kozub/Anja Silja
Act Two, Scene Two. V. Duett: Mein Herz, Voll Treue Bis Zum Sterben - Ernst Kozub/Anja Silja
Act Two, Scene Two. V. Duett: Wie? Zweifelst Du An Meinem Herzen? - Ernst Kozub/Anja Silja
Act Two, Scene Two. V. Duett: Fuhlst Du Den Schmerz, Den Tiefen Gram - Ernst Kozub/Anja Silja
Act Two, Scene Two. V. Duett: Auf Hohem Felsen Lag Ich Traumend - Ernst Kozub/Anja Silja
Act Two, Scene Two. V. Duett: Ach Mochtest Du, Bleicher Seemann - Anja Silja
Act Two, Scene Three. VI. Finale: Mein Kind, Du Siehst Mich Auf Der Schwelle - Martti Talvela/Anja Silja
Act Two, Scene Three. VI. Finale. Arie: Mogst Du, Mein Kind, Den Fremden Mann - Martti Talvela
Act Two, Scene Three. VI. Finale. Arie: Doch Keines Spricht - Martti Talvela
Act Two, Scene Three. VI. Finale. Duett: Wie Aus Der Ferne Langst Vergangner Zeiten - Theo Adam
Act Two, Scene Three. VI. Finale. Duett: Versank Ich Jetzt In Wunderbares Traumen - Anja Silja/Theo Adam
Act Two, Scene Three. VI. Finale. Duett: Wirst Du Des Vaters Wahl Nicht Schelten? - Anja Silja/Theo Adam
Act Two, Scene Three. VI. Finale. Duett: Du Bist Ein Engel! - Anja Silja/Theo Adam
Act Two, Scene Three. VI. Finale. Duett: Ein Heil'ger Balsam Meinen Wunden - Anja Silja/Theo Adam
Act Two, Scene Three. VI. Finale. Terzett: Verzeiht! Mein Volk Halt Draussen Sich Nicht Mehr - Martti Talvela/Anja Silja/Theo Adam
Act Three, Scene One. VII. Chor Der Norwegischen & Ensemble: Zwischenspiel/Steuermann, Lass Die... - New Philharmonia Orch/Otto Klemperer/BBC Chor/Peter Gellhorn
Act Three, Scene One. VII. Chor Der Norwegischen & Ensemble: Mein! Seht Doch An! Sie Tanzen Gar! - BBC Chor/Peter Gellhorn/Gerhard Unger
Act Three, Scene One. VII. Chor Der Norwegischen & Ensemble: Juchhe! Juchhe! Da Gibt's Die Fulle! - BBC Chor/Peter Gellhorn/Gerhard Unger
Act Three, Scene One. VII. Chor Der Norwegischen & Ensemble: Johohoe! Johohoe! - BBC Chor/Peter Gellhorn
Act Three, Scene Two. VIII. Finale. Duett: Was Muss Ich Horen! Gott, Was Muss Ich Sehn! - Ernst Kozub/Anja Silja
Act Three, Scene Two. VIII. Finale. Cavatine: Willst Jenes Tags Du Nicht Dich Mehr Entsinnen - Ernst Kozub
Act Three, Scene Two. VIII. Finale. Cavatine: Verloren! Ach, Verloren! - Theo Adam/Ernst Kozub/Anja Silja
Act Three, Scene Two. VIII. Finale. Cavatine: Erfahre Das Geschick, Vor Dem Ich Dich Bewahr'! - Theo Adam
Act Three, Scene Two. VIII. Finale. Cavatine: Zu Hilfe! Rettet, Rettet Sie! - Ernst Kozub/Anja Silja/Martti Talvela/Annelies Burmeister/BBC Chor/Peter Gellhorn/Theo Adam

Amazon.com essential recording

Recorded evidence preserves a regretfully skewed view of Otto Klemperer's Wagner. Happily, this 1968 recording of Der fliegende Holländer captures the aged Otto Klemperer at his inspired and disciplined best. The vivid detail and expressive intensity of the orchestra playing begs description, and Suvi Raj Grubb's resplendent production sounds as fresh as today's best digital engineering, especially in EMI's 20-bit remastering. Anja Silja's Senta is arguably her most absorbing major Wagnerian portrayal on disc, in terms of both singing and acting. Likewise, Theo Adam, in excellent form, inflects the title role with unusual care for words. Ernst Kozub is as brash and brazen an Erik as they come (which is good!), and Martti Talvela's weighty yet flexible Daland hardly has been bettered, past or present. Yet the individual contributions yield to the remarkable sense of ensemble give and take--not just between the singers themselves, but in the way the orchestra leads, supports, and comments upon the sung text. Full texts and translations plus excellent annotations clinch this set's essential status as both the basic Flying Dutchman on disc and Otto Klemperer's finest recording of an opera. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews:

Poor Senta gets a disc change!.......2006-12-20

I do like this recording and agree with the other reviews. But, there is a major editing mistake. Senta's aria is interrupted by a disc change. What a mistake! Still, I would recommend this recording despite this unfortunate break in dramatic flow.

A "Dutchman" without a Dutchman--serious problem.......2005-09-28

EMI brought out two Flying Dutchman recordings that went to the top of the list, this one under Klemperer and a later one under Karajan. Both had excellent sound, orchestral playing, and ocnducting, along with outstanding choruses (Klemperer, however, had the edge here with the masterful Wilhelm Pitz as his choral director).

Unfortunately, both sets had a serious flaw, and as it happened they were opposites. Karajan's Senta is the harsh-voiced, rather fierce Slavic soprano Dunja Vejkovic, Klemperer's Dutchman is the faceless, dry-voiced workman Theo Adam. Over the years neither defect has improved, so either you listen to these classic sets and skirt around the flaws--hard to do, given how much music Senta and the Dutchman sing together--or you go elsewhere. Personally, I went to the recent Sinopoli on DG and a live performance under Sawallisch on super-budget Opera d'Oro

A Stunning "Dutchman".......2005-06-14

Written in 1840, Der Fliegende Hollander was Wagner's second opera, (and after the 6-hour Rienzi, his shortest opera), and it is often considered his most "Italiante" in feel and lyrical quality. It's also extremely Romantic in style--you can feel the wind on your face and taste the salt spray.
It makes for an excellent introduction to Wagner's operas, and while there really are no bad recordings of this opera, this recording is one of the best. The great conductor Otto Klemperer was 82 when he made this recording, and although he made a couple of more recordings, this is generally considered his last great recording. His tempi are slow, but intense and purposeful and the opera never drags.
His cast is also excellent. Theo Adams makes a powerful, poignant Dutchman, with an edge to his voice that I found very moving. Many critics consider Anja Silja's performance of Senta to be the definitive interpretation, and while Leonie Rysanek or Astrid Varnay are also in the top flight, Silja is a superb singing actress who clearly convey's Senta's almost frightening intensity. Martti Talvela has got to have one of the richest bass voices of the 20th century, Ernst Kozub is ardent and in-your-face as Eric, and Gerhard Unger brings wonderful musicality to the role of the Steersman. Mention should be made of the chorus, which sings its large role with tremendous excitement. This recording is an excellent addition to any opera collection.

A minority view.......2004-09-28

I'm afraid I just don't get the enthusiasm others have for this recording. My principal problem is with Klemperer's speed, or rather the lack thereof. He's the only conductor I know who can make *everything* sound as long as Parsifal (even when the actual minutes aren't that different from other recordings). Here the Dutchman can barely sail, much less fly. I don't remember my dates well enough to know if this recording was made before or after Karajan did his best to ruin Silja's voice, but the top notes are pretty harsh here, though some of the role is nicely done. There are other recordings of this opera that have much to offer; check out the Konwitschny on Koch/Berlin with Fischer-Dieskau and Wunderlich, or the RCA with Dorati.

Best Flying Dutchman.......2004-01-29

This is the best Flying Dutchman ever!! The fantastically intense Otto Klemperer brings his famed intensity to this masterpiece. Klemperer was performing the Flying Dutchman at Convent Garden at about the same time this recording was made. The stage experience and intensity of the 'live' performances has obviously carried over into this recording. This is the top recommended version by Gramophone, and it is indeed worthy of the Great Recording of the Century series. The Philharmonia plays superbly intense. Wind, sea and storm all come across vividly. Anja Silja is the personification of Senta's obsession with the Dutchman. From her entry, you KNOW what is the conclusion of the story - that she is so obsessed about the Dutchman that she will finally jump over the cliff for him. That last high B is fantastic!! Ernst Kozub as Erik is interesting for 2 reasons. One is that he really makes a great Heldentenor in the freakishly difficult role of Erik. The second reason is that he was the original Siegfried for Solti's Ring. So this recordings is valuable in preserving a 'what-might-have-been' for us to hear. Marti Talvela as usual is never less than fantastic - I need say no further. Theo Adam is the Dutchman to the core!!

Tracks:

Prelude
Act One, Scene One: Da Zu Dir Der Heiland Kam
Act One, Scene One: Verweilt! -Ein Wort!
Act One, Scene One: Da Bin Ich!
Act One, Scene Two: David, Was Stehst?
Act One, Scene Three: Fanget An!
Act One, Scene Three: Seid Ihr Nun Fertig?
Act One, Scene Three: Halt! Meister! Nicht So Geeilt!
Act Two, Scene One: Johannistag! Johannistag!
Act Two, Scene Two LaB Seh'n, Ob Meister Sachs Zu Haus?
Prelude
Act Three, Scene One: Gleich Meister! Hier!
Act Three, Scene One: Am Jordan Sankt Johannes Stand
Act Three, Scene One: Wahn! Wahn! Uberall Wahn!
Act Three, Scene Two GruB Gott, Mein Junker!
Act Three Scene Four: Die Selige Morgentraum-Deutweise
Act Three Scene Five: Sankt Crispin, Lobet Ihn!
Act Three Scene Five: Ihr Tanzt? Was Werden Die Meister Sagen?
Act Three Scene Five: Silentium! Silentium!
Act Three Scene Five: Euch Macht Ihr's Leicht

Tracks:

Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 1 Scene 3 - Fanget an ! (Sixtus Beckmesser, Wallther von Stolzing)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 1 Scene 3 - Seid ihr nun fertig ? (Wallther von Stolzing, Veit Pogner)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 1 Scene 3 - Halt ! Meister ! Nicht so geeilt ! (Hans Sachs, Sixtus Beckmesser, Veit Pogner, Wallther von Stolzing)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 2 Scene 1 - Johannistag ! Johannistag ! (David, Magdalene, Hans Sachs)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 2 Scene 2 - Lab seh'n, ob Meister Sachs zo Haus ? (Veit Pogner, Eva, Magdalene)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 2 Scene 3 - Zeig her! S ist gut (Hans Sachs, David)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 2 Scene 3 - Was duftet doch der flieder (Hans Sachs)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 2 Scene 4 - Gut'n abend, Meister !
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 2 Scene 4 - Hilf, Gott ! Wo bliebst du nur so spat ? (Magdalene, Eva, Veit Pogner)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 2 Scene 5 - Da ist er ! (Eva, Magdalene, Walther von Stolzing)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 2 Scene 5 - Geliebter, spare den Zorn ! (Eva, Magdalene, Walther von Stolzing)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 2 Scene 5 - Uble Dinge, die ich da merk (Hans Sachs, Wallther von Stolzing, Eva)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 2 Scene 6 - Tu's nicht ! Doch horcht ! (Hans Sachs, Wallther von Stolzing, Eva)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 2 Scene 6 - Jerum ! Jerum !
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 2 Scene 6 - Das Fenster geft auf (Hans Sachs, Sixtus Beckmesser, Wallther von Stolzing, Eva)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 2 Scene 6 - Den Tag seh'ich erscheinen (Sixtus Beckmesser, Hans Sachs)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Acte 2 Scene 6 - Mit den Schuhen ward ich fertig schier ! (Hans Sachs, Sixtus Beckmesser, David, Magdalene, Veit Pogner, Wallther von Stolzing)

Tracks:

Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene One - Prelude
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene One - Gleich, Meister! Hier!
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene One - Am Jordan Sankt Johannes stand (David, Hans Sachs)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene One - Wahn! Wahn! Uberall Wahn! (Hans Sachs)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Two - Gruss Gott, mein Junker!
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Two - Mein Freund! In holder Jugendzeit
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Two - Morgendlich leuchtend in rosigem schein (Hans Sachs, Wallther von Stolzing)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Three - Ein Werbelied! Von Sachs? - Ist's wahr?
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Three - Das Gedicht? Hier liess ich's (Sixtus Beckmesser, Hans Sachs)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Four - Sieh, Evchen! (Hans Sachs, Eva, Wallther von Stolzing)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Four - Hat man mit dem Schuhwerk nicht seine Not! (Hans Sachs, Eva)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Four - Ein Kind ward hier geboren (Hans Sachs)

Tracks:

Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Four - 'Die selige Morgentraum-Deutweise' (Hans Sachs, Eva, Wallther von Stolzing, David, Magdalene)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Five - Sankt Crispin, Iobet ihn!
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Five - Ihr tanzt? Was werden die Meister sagen? (David)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Five - Silentium! Silentium!
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Five - Euch macht Ihr's leicht, mir macht Ihr's schwer (Hans Sachs, Veit Pogner, Sixtus Beckmesser)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Five - Nun denn, wenn's Meistern und Volk beliebt (Hans Sachs, Sixtus Beckmesser)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Five - Das lied, furwahr, ist nicht von mir (Hans Sachs)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Five - Morgendlich leuchtend im rosigen Schein (Wallther von Stolzing, Hans Sachs, Veit Pogner, Eva)
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Act Three: Scene Five - Verachtet mir die Meister nicht (Hans Sachs)

Amazon.com essential recording

Despite his disdain for some of the sillier aspects of grand opera, H.L. Mencken once said that Die Meistersinger was the greatest single work of art in Western civilization--and, to many, his hyperbole is forgivable when one contemplates the well-crafted structure of this most human of Wagner's music dramas. Of all recordings of his sole comedy, this one under the baton of Karajan in his prime has perhaps the best-balanced cast. The clear, youthful tones of Donath in the role of Eva must be close to Wagner's ideal for the role, while Adam makes a compassionate Sachs--though not quite as resonant as one would wish. Kollo's impetuous style is appropriate to the character of the love-struck Walther. The orchestral playing has the clarity and transparency that is the trademark of the Karajan approach, perhaps most appropriate in this, Wagner's happiest work. --Christian C. Rix

Customer Reviews:

excellent recording.......2007-01-10

"I tried very hard to like Solti latter version or even Barenboim's but this recording never fails to leave me overwhelm by Wagner genius."

Another superb Wagner Opera!.......2006-08-14

I am relatively new to opera, however I am finding myself strongly drawn to the operas of Richard Wagner, not to mention his fantastic overtures and preludes to his operas! I think, I have ordered every opera that Wagner wrote as well as numerous cds on his opera overtures, etc. "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg" conducted by the great von Karajan! Right now I am listening to "Siegfried" conducted by Solti and the Vienna Philharmoniker. Unbelievable!!
Peter, Richmond, BC, Canada

Great for Karajan and the orchestra, but where are Sachs and Walther?.......2005-09-05

EMI had high hopes for this recording, having already caught Karajan at Bayreuth in the early Fifties in a classic live Meistesinger with Schwarzkopf in glorious form as Eva. Karajan was eager enough to take the assignment that he traveled to Dresden to work with the Staatskepelle, one of his few ventures beyond Berlin and Vienna. The final result was not a complete success, however, the fault lying with the two main male characters.

The Hans Sachs of Theo Adam is so gritty and dry, so lacking in every human quality that this great chatacter should have, that I lament every time I put this Mesitersinger on. Kollo is no great shakes as Walther, either, with his absence of legato, total lack of poetry, and general charmlessness. Donath is a wonderful Eva, the minor roles are fine, and Karajan's conducting is miles ahead of competitors like Jochum on DG and Solti on Decca. If you are primarily interested in him, this Meistersinger has some lasting value.

All in all, despite the bawling Walther of Hans Hopf in the earlier live Bayreuth performance, I prefer that reading over this one.

Great, but could certainly be better.......2005-07-30

This is very difficult to review. First, I should say this is a totally satisfactory recording. All of the basic elements of the score (the joy, nobility, pathos and humor) are here in abundance, and it is beautifully performed (by the wonderfully enthusiastic players from Dresden, aided by Donath's lovely Eva and Ridderbusch's amazingly good Pogner) and recorded. However, this Meistersinger always seems restrained, as if Karajan was afraid of being too emotionally connected to the score. Also some of the singing leaves something to be desired. In particular, Theo Adam as Sachs is, for me, totally unimpressive. To me, Sachs is not just a cobbler with musical talent, he is the moral center of this work, one of the wisest characters created for the stage. What makes him especially impressive for me is that Sachs is wise not because he has spent his life in an armchair thinking about philosophical problems, but because he has seen all of life, and is humble enough to see the world as it is. Almost as disturbing, Evans just creates a caricature of Beckmesser. Certainly this is a very common interpretation of the role and is a very safe one, but I really don't see where this comes from. Of course Beckmesser is the essence of a pedant, and a pretty nasty one at that, but he is a human being, not a monster. As I see it, Beckmesser is stuck on the rules of the past because he thinks they are really important in preserving the tradition of the Meistersingers, not because he has some weird hang-up on textbooks. Also, who could doubt that he really has feelings for Eva? Unfortunately, Evans just takes the humanity out of the role by playing him as a prototype for Mime. I realize he was playing it for laughs, but trying to be funny is the surest way of not getting a laugh. The best comedy is when you can't quite decide whether you should laugh because of the absurdity of the situation, or cry because it's so pathetic. To me, Evans' Beckmesser is the clearest example that this recording doesn't really delve into the essence of the work. As in the Ring and Parsifal, Wagner is imagining the youth redeeming their elders who are too conflicted to resolve their issues. Unlike those dramas, Die Meistersinger has the redemption taking place through continuation and rejuvenation of tradition, rather than through renouncing desire. Seen from this perspective, the work is much more serious and philosophically important than when it is seen as a simple comedy, but it is also more joyous, since the triumph comes from the depths of the soul, rather than from a eat, drink, and be merry kind of attitude. Again, none of this subtlety is to be found here.

DEUTSCH UND WAHR...DEUTSCH UND ECHT.......2004-09-02

The Mastersingers is a tribute to popular German art. Folk-art of this kind was probably a romantic illusion of Wagner's own, but he took seriously the idea that each culture should be true to itself, and one reason behind the particular vocal style he adopted in his music-dramas (The Rhinegold and later) was that performances outwith Germany should be able to give them in their own language, something not so easy to achieve with traditional operatic arias. Whether any of this made Wagner the socialist that Shaw liked to think he was I very much doubt. It also seems to me that attempts to find proto-nazism in Die Meistersinger are not only stuff, but also nonsense. It is quite true that towards the end of the work Sachs voices fears for the survival of the German identity, but so far as it goes I can see nothing at all wrong with that. Insofar as the musical tradition was concerned, it was by no means limited to Wagner in any case. Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn were thoroughly imbued in their musical idiom with the influence of Italy, but the music of Schumann and Brahms is as completely, consciously and exclusively German as Wagner's own, and as Bach's had been a century and a half earlier.

The Mastersingers is a 'comedy', in something like the sense that that term applies in Shakespeare. It is not rolling-in-the-aisles stuff, and its basic message is deeply thoughtful and serious. There are actually a couple of incidents that I personally find rather amusing. One is the interminable list of rules for composition, and the other is Sachs's explanation to Beckmesser of why the latter's shoes have rather thin soles. Typically, Wagner is at pains to point out his own jokes in case we missed them. The pillorying of Beckmesser, usually identified with the eminent Vienna critic Eduard Hanslick, may be funny to some. It is certainly rather clever. Wagner neatly puts into Beckmesser's mouth some of the tin-eared rubbish that Hanslick had turned out by way of criticism of himself, although without any of Hanslick's wit and turn of phrase which must have been what really wounded Wagner. Where Wagner seems to me to take a really breathtaking risk is in writing a drama round the theme of awarding a prize to a tune of his own composition. It is very hard indeed even to imagine Handel, Mozart or Verdi or anyone else with a more developed sense of humour than Wagner walking into a trap like that. I am reacquainting myself with The Mastersingers after many years, and when young I was inclined to think that I would have withheld the prize in the competition. Wagner's tune bears a faint resemblance to one by Brahms in his 'Mastersingers' violin sonata, and I still think it suffers a little from the comparison. Whether time has mellowed my opinion or just because Wagner gives us the tune quite so often, I think better of it now, and if the resemblance is not coincidence it can only be a deliberate tribute by Brahms, bursting with melodic inspiration himself, to his great polar opposite.

The Mastersingers is described in this set as an opera. I suppose it is, in one sense, but it is still a music-drama first and foremost. Goetterdaemmerung is a bit of an opera too, but not for the best of reasons as here, more of a partial relapse into the unreformed early style of Tannhaeuser. As one expects, Karajan is completely in charge of what he is doing, and there is never a hint of a stylistic lapse, not even, in my view, the way Evans handles the part of Beckmesser. There is a touch of Mime about it, but this is a work dominated by baritone voices, and the differentiation is welcome to my ears. In general, I'm inclined to argue in support of all the male casting. I go a bundle on the voice of Rene Kollo, and have done since I first heard him in the marvellous Brahms Rinaldo that he did with Sinopoli (now there is a work that gives a fascinating glimpse into another direction that German opera might have taken if the composer had found the libretto he was purportedly searching for), and when Kollo sings 'Parnass und Paradies' it was all I could do to concentrate on what I was listening to as Brahms's celestial cadence at 'Paradiese noch einmal', sung by the same voice, came into my head. I like Theo Adam as Sachs, just as I like him as Wotan. I grew up thinking of Hotter as the type of the Wagnerian bass, but Sachs is a modest craftsman, not the prophet Isaiah, and the bemused and futile Wotan is no Zeus, and I have come to prefer a lighter voice in both roles. The Eva and Magdalene seem to me good though not outstanding, although Donath produces a superb final trill at 'so hold zu werben weiss'. The big effects are big indeed here. The tradesmen process like the gods entering Valhalla in The Rhinegold, but in my own view we should think of that comparison the other way round - Wagner's gods are a wretched lot and their Valhalla a miserable tabernacle of delusion, which they enter like the cobblers bakers and tailors of Nuremberg. There is a lot of choral work here, Wagner was no Handel in that regard to put it mildly, but Karajan rightly plays the effect up.

As always with Karajan, there's nothing much to criticise. However in all my life I'm not sure I can remember anything I would rather hear done by him than by anyone else. I have come back to The Mastersingers after a long time and with no other performance in my head, but I had wistful thoughts of how Fuertwaengler or Toscanini or Beecham might have done it. To that 'Silentium! Silentium!', to quote the apprentices. This is a fine issue, this is a great work, and I feel a better man for just having listened to it.

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At Night
Theo Bleckmann , and Ben Monder
Manufacturer: Songlines
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Prezens

ASIN: B000OZ2CL6
Release Date: 2007-05-08

Tracks:

Late, By Myself
Sunny Sunday
Carbon
Hymenium
Animal Planet
Swarm
Orchard
Norwegian Wood
At Night
Apocryphon

Album Description

"Ben Monder has played nearly unsurpassable jazz guitar with any number of actual jazz groups. But what he plays with his own group comes from another planet." -- New York Times

Tracks:

Erster Aufzug - Act One: Ouvertuere
Erster Aufzug - Act One: No 1: Zu hilfe! Zu hilfe
Erster Aufzug - Act One: No 2: Der Vogelfaenger bin ich ja
Erster Aufzug - Act One: No 3: Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schoen
Erster Aufzug - Act One: No 4: O zittre nicht
Erster Aufzug - Act One: No 5: Hm! hm! hm! hm!
Erster Aufzug - Act One: No 6: Du feines Taebchen, nur herein
Erster Aufzug - Act One: No 7: Bei Maennern, welche Liebe fuehlen
Erster Aufzug - Act One: No 8: Zum ziel fuehrt dich diese Bahn
Erster Aufzug - Act One: Die weisheitslehre dieser knaben
Erster Aufzug - Act One: Wie stark ist nicht dein zauberton
Erster Aufzug - Act One: Schnelle fuesse, rascher mut
Erster Aufzug - Act One: Es lebe Sarasto, sarastro soll leben

Tracks:

Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: No 9: March der Priester
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: No 10: O Isis und Osiris
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: No 11: Bewahret euch vor Weibertuecken
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: No 12: Wie? wie? wie?
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: No 13: Alles Fuehlt der Liebe Freunden
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: No 14: Der Hoelle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: No 15: In diesen heil'gen Hallen
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: No 16: Seid uns zum zweiten Mal willkommen
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: No 17: Ach, ich fuehl's
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: No 18: O Isis und Osiris, welche Wonne!
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: No 19: Soll ich dich, Teurer, nicht mehr sehn?
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: No 20: Ein Maedchen oder Weibchen
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: No 21: Bald prangt, den Morgen zu verkuenden
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: Der, welcher wandert diese Starsse voll Beschwerden
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: Wir wandelten durch Feuersgluten
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: Papageno! Papageno! Papageno!
Zweiter Aufzug - Act Two: Nur stille, stille, stille, stille

Amazon.com

The Magic Flute is, for many, the embodiment of musical perfection, as dazzlingly perfect as the esoteric pyramids and symmetries that populate the composer's paean to Masonic philosophy. As so often with Mozart, beneath the sublime lurk darker subtexts--here, themes of sexuality, slavery, and vengeance. Colin Davis conducts the incomparable Staatskapelle Dresden, with Peter Schreier's charming Tamina rescuing Margaret Price's lovely Pamina. --Joshua Cody

Customer Reviews:

Mozart's Ultimate Masterpiece.......2007-03-10

Die Zauberflote is in my mind Mozart's greatest creation, of all the remarkable music that he produced. Mozart used this opera as vehicle to express many of the Masonic ideals he believed in, and bring to life his utopian vision of a world where love, virtue, and light would triumph over hatred, vengeance, and darkness. In this way, the Magic Flute remains today one of the most beloved and enduring products of the 18th century Enlightenment. There are more recordings of this famous opera than one could ever hear, but I adore this particular version, for its warmth, clarity, and vivacity. This recording features the reknowned Luciana Serra ( as Queen of the Night) and Dame Margaret Price (as Pamina), who are both undeniably brilliant, as is Kurt Moll (Sarastro), one of the most acclaimed baritones of all time. It doesn't hurt to have hightly respected Mozartian Colin Davis at the helm of the Staatskapelle Dresden either, who perform Mozart's score with tremendous precision and elegance. While this may not be the definitive version of The Magic Flute for some, it is undoubtedly one of the very finest available today. In one of the most moving arias in all opera, Tamino and Pamina sing, "By the power of music we walk cheerfully through the dark night of death." Although Mozart sadly left this world only a few months after completing the Magic Flute in 1791, he achieved an immortality of sorts, for Mozart's spirit lives on in the hearts and minds of all who cherish his glorious music. A terrific buy!

Must be a best buy.......2006-07-19

very good value CD - a good recording at a very cheap price.

Mozart - The Magic Flute/ Sir Colin Davis.......2006-06-24

OOOPS! Amazon.com, the one-star is for your poor product information. This CD (wonderful as Sir Colin is!) turned out to be the incomplete opera! You need to publish that the $66. Sir Colin one includes the libretto and is "complete"; "incomplete" includes all arias, but no libretto or recitatives; "highlights" include only the popular arias or greatest hits of that opera.

Right now your website is confusing, with the multiple recordings of a given work.

Thank you.
Cynthia DeCuir

brilliant!!!!.......2006-06-05

This version of Mozart's Die Zauberflote is excellent. A well-known cast of singers and a renowned orchestra and conductor make this recording one of the best I have ever seen. When I first started to dabble into this opera this was the 1st one I ever heard. Kurt Moll as Sarastro is good but he has sung it so many times it feels like he is sick of doing it but nonetheless he's excellent. Peter Schreier as Tamino is brilliant and full-toned as the best Tamino I have every seen. Margaret Price as Pamina is also very good. Luciana Serra as the Queen of the Night is the best I have ever seen. Her coloratura is sung effortlessly and she pulls the role off very well. The rest of the cast is good but are pretty much unknown (except: Marie McLaughlin as the 1st lady, Ann Murray as the 2nd lady and Robert Tear as Monostatos.) My 2 peeves of this recording is: no dialogue (which most recordings lately don't) and the rather slow tempos of Colin Davis. My verdict: buy this version over its overly expensive counterpart (the one w/ the dialogue and libretto) which can cost an upward of 80$ used.

Nothing special.......2006-02-14

This recording is acceptable, but the only performer to stand out to any degree is Margaret Price as Pamina. For the casual listener who wants to try out this opera, it works just fine. For someone looking for a quality recording, I would suggest investing elsewhere.

Tamino is generally blaring, without any great musicality. On this recording is also the weepiest Papageno I have ever heard, bending pitches left and right, even in brighter moments in the music, to the point at which it becomes irritating and even detracts from the music. Sarastro is disappointingly stony, his two beautiful arias sung as though they were a rather boring routine he would as soon abandon as not.

On the other hand, the three ladies blend well and are one of the better aspects of the recording. The silken lines of the quartet just prior to the trials are executed with a degree of elegance. However, I cannot bring myself to recommend this recording to anyone interested in an exceptional Zauberflote. Do what my grandmother did for me--buy it for one of your children, if they would like a recording of it and the better versions are pricier than you should like.

Average customer rating:

Wonderful original recording, plenty extras.
This one is really fine.

Die Dreigroschenoper: Berlin 1930

Manufacturer: Teldec
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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The Threepenny Opera

ASIN: B00005Y34P
Release Date: 2003-02-18

Tracks:

Ouvertd Moritat Von Mackie Messer
Seererjenny
Kanonensong [Cannon Song]
Liebeslied
Barbara Song
Erstes Dreigroschen-Finale
Abschied
Zuherbassatle
Ballade Von Angenehmen Leben
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Lied Von Der Unzullichkeit des Menschlichen Strebens
Moritat und Schlusschoral - Marlene Dietrich
Wie Man Sich Bettet - Curt Bois
Alabama Song - Marlene Dietrich
Nachtgespenst
Peter - Lotte Lenya, Theo Mackeben & his Jazz Orchestra
Guck Doch Nicht Immer Nach Dem Tangogeiger Hin
Jonny
Vom Seemann Kuttel Daddeldu
Chant des Canons
Chant d'Amour
Tangoballade
Ballade de la Vie Agrle
Die Seererjenny
Barbara Song
Die Moritat Von Mackie-Messer
Lied Von Der Unzullichkeit des Menschlichen Strebens
Alabama Song [Alternate Take]

Amazon.com

Performed in 1930 by the cast and orchestra of the 1928 Berlin premiere (except for Willi Trenk-Trebitsch, the Mackie of the 1929 Prague premiere), this extraordinary recording must be the last word in genuine, unvarnished "authenticity." Even the remastered sound is amazingly good and life-like. The half-spoken, half-sung delivery captures the biting sarcasm of Brecht's text as well as the abrasive bitterness and sinuous lyricism of Weill's melodies, underlined by the punchy, swinging rhythms and indigenously jazzy sound of the orchestra. The result is an uncanny evocation of a historical period and its atmosphere. One can smell the smoky nightclub air, see the garish colors, and feel the unbridled sensuousness. This "abridged" version offers 13 familiar numbers, with most strophic repeats omitted, but includes alternate versions of several songs--four in French, two sung by Brecht himself. There are also two songs from Mahagonny, a long "scene" by Wilhelm Grosz, and two songs each by Rudolf Nelson and Friedrich Hollaender (who wrote the music for the film "The Blue Angel), two of them sung by Marlene Dietrich with her inimitable lascivious sensuality. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful original recording, plenty extras. .......2006-09-11

In quick summary:
- If you're at all familiar with the Dreigroschenoper and all its incarnations, be sure to buy this album. It's the closest you could get to an 'original'.
- If you're completely new to the Threepenny story, I would recommend starting with the 1999 Nina Hagen concert version instead. It's got all the songs left out here, better recording quality, and a more modern approach to the music.

This is not a complete collection of original cast Dreigroschen songs. Rather, it's a selection of the best tracks from the play, often censored and cut short (in all the usual ways), and filled up with seemingly random extras in the genre.

The performers are all quite brilliant, and it's refreshing to hear a 3P without all the screaming and biting from recent versions. Though the songs are by no means slow, they're much more relaxed, more saccharine I would say, than what they've later evolved into. I love both type interpretations, but I often prefer this one.

One very nice bonus is the inclusion of a handful Threepenny songs in French. Otherwise pretty hard to come by. Also, the famous final lines of the movie version (Moritat reprise) are present, which I've only seen in one other recording (the 1981, also led by Miss Lotte Lenya). All in all, an essential CD for Brecht/Weill fans.

This one is really fine. .......2006-03-03

I've been a three-penny freak ever since I was a hanger-on at a Stanford production 40 years ago directed by a Brecht associate from Berlin. It's wonderful to get the authentic original cast records. I really like the added Berlin Chansons, too. "Don't Goggle at that Tango Dancer, Keep Your Eyes on the Guy You Came with!" Or Marlene Dietrich, with "Jonny, When it's Your Birthday, I'll Be Your Guest for a Night."

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Passionate Drama in a Passionate Performance

Schoeck: Penthesilea

Manufacturer: Orfeo D'or
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B0000044WJ
Release Date: 1995-11-17

Tracks:

Was Gilt's? Dort Naht Die Unheilkunde Schon - Marjana Lipovsek/ORF Chor/Mechthild Gessendorf
Hetzt Alle Hund' Auf Ihn! - Helga Dernesch/Jane Marsh/Mechthild Gessendorf/Marjana Lipovsek/ORF Chor
Hier, Meine Wackeren Aetolier, Heran! - Horst Hiestermann/ORF Chor/Jane Marsh
Der Weicht, Ein Schatten, Vom Platz - Theo Adam/Horst Hiestermann/ORF Chor/Jane Marsh
Sie Lebt Nicht Mehr - Theo Adam/Jane Marsh
Penthesilea! O Du Traumerin - Jane Marsh/Helga Dernesch
Er War' Gefangen Mir? - Helga Dernesch/Jane Marsh/Theo Adam
Komm Jetzt, Du Susser Nereidensohn - Helga Dernesch/Theo Adam
Wir Treten Jetzt Die Reise Gleich Nach Themiscyra An - Helga Dernesch/Theo Adam/Jane Marsh
Argiver Nah'n, Erhebt Euch! - Helga Dernesch/Theo Adam
Triumph, Triumph! - ORF Chor/Helga Dernesch/Mechthild Gessendorf/Marjana Lipovsek
Ein Herold Naht Dir, Konigin - Mechthild Gessendorf/Jane Marsh/Peter Weber/Helga Dernesch/ORF Chor
Ha! Stellt Sie Sich? - Theo Adam/Horst Hiestermann/ORF Chor
Entsetzen! O Entsetzen! - Marjana Lipovsek/Mechthild Gessendorf/ORF Chor
Trauermarsch- Seht! Seht Ihr Frau'n - ORF Chor/Marjana Lipovsek/Jane Marsh
Ach, Prothoe - Helga Dernesch/Jane Marsh/Marjana Lipovsek/ORF Chor
Was Brutet Sie, Die Schreckliche Wohl Jetzt? - ORF Chor/Mechthild Gessendorf/Jane Marsh/Helga Dernesch

Customer Reviews:

Passionate Drama in a Passionate Performance.......1998-10-29

Schoeck's Penthesilea is an opera about gender / role conficts. The heroine Penthesilea is bound to her duties as queen of the amazones, a tribe of women warriors that woe a man by defeating him in battle. She falls in love with Archilleus, thinking she has struck him on the battle fields of Troy. When she realizes that he, not she, fell in the strive and fainted, she hunts him down in despair of never being his mate and eats him alive. Sounds very gory, however the focus of the drama is on the characters and the result of her conflict is very remote and off stage. The language of the drama by Kleist, one of the geniuses of German language is so wonderful and intriguing, that I feel drawn in immediately into the conflict. It is one of the few operas that uses the original drama without much interference by the composer. Music and text compliment each other so well, that there is no moment of uneasyness or embarassement. I wish there would be more recordings of this opera than the two I know and love. This live performance is done by one of the masters of 20th century conductors, but no fear, composition and performance is passionate and high energy. It is one of my favorate recordings.

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