# Greatest single Act(s) (or incomplete) recordings



## nospoonboy (Jan 27, 2016)

Hello,

I have been getting deeper into opera as of late and while I very much love complete recordings, I have come to realize that there are many truly great INCOMPLETE recordings of operas. 

My point of reference is Wagner: Walter's Walkure Act I, Furtwanglers Walkure Act III, etc.

I would like some ideas about other recordings you have heard that you WISH would have been been completed because the remanant(s) we have are just so good!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I think immediately of some snippets of live recordings, although that may not be exactly what you have in mind. I regret not having the complete _Tristan_ from the Met from March 11, 1933, in which Frida Leider sang this magnificent "Liebestod" (and her Tristan was Melchior):






Another seemingly superb _Tristan_ took place at La Scala, conducted by Victor de Sabata, sung in Italian by the following cast:

Tristan - Renato Zanelli
Isolde - Giuseppina Cobelli
Brangäne - Ebe Stignani
König Marke - Antonio Righetti
Kurwenal - Luigi Rossi-Morelli
Melot - Aristide Baracchi

The remnants we have sound marvelous:






We have far too little of de Sabata's work on recordings. He seems to have been as fine in Wagner as in Italian opera.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

There is also Klemperer's Walkure act 1 along with the Wotan's Farewell and the Magic Fire Music from act 3.

Then there was Decca's precursor to the complete Ring where they did Walkure act 1 with Knappertsbusch and act 3 with Solti, both with Kirsten Flagstad. There was also a Solti/Flagstad act 2 Todesverkündigung.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Just go onto You tube and look up 8 minutes from the 1970 Poker Scene in _La Fanciulla del West_ with Renata Tebaldi and Anselmo Colzani and treat yourself to a scene you will never forget. When she yells "tre assi e un paio" the audience goes absolutely wild.
And the way he says, "Buona notte!" sends chills up your spine.
Unforgettable scene.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

If only they'd recorded the complete opera!

On the other hand, maybe this is all I need of the opera anyway.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

*Tosca* Act II with Callas and Gobbi.

Why nobody had the foresight to tape the whole opera is beyond me. The greatest single act ever televised.


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## Lensky (May 8, 2016)




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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Lensky said:


>


Though of course this was recorded complete, only with Del Monaco instead of Di Stefano, who apparently (allegedly?) fell ill during the recording sessions. All the bits that don't feature Faust in this recording are the same as the ones on the Del Monaco complete recording.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Though of course this was recorded complete, only with Del Monaco instead of Di Stefano, who apparently (allegedly?) fell ill during the recording sessions. All the bits that don't feature Faust in this recording are the same as the ones on the Del Monaco complete recording.


However, the Di Stefano/Tebaldi version of the duet is supposed to be far superior compared to the one with Del Monaco. I have been tempted to get that disc for a while, but haven't gone for it yet.

N.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> *Tosca* Act II with Callas and Gobbi.
> 
> Why nobody had the foresight to tape the whole opera is beyond me. The greatest single act ever televised.


Her entire career should have been taped. It's the greatest single artistic oversight in human history. We've all been forced to fill our time with poor substitutes such as careers, sports, travel, sex, eating, and sleeping.


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Though of course this was recorded complete, only with Del Monaco instead of Di Stefano, who apparently (allegedly?) fell ill during the recording sessions. All the bits that don't feature Faust in this recording are the same as the ones on the Del Monaco complete recording.


https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-09-25-ca-3796-story.html

Here is an article that I think makes sense. Di Stefano didn't like it so he just left. The whole interview seemed so like Di Stefano. He certainly had his own way of living. Sad thing for me is the bit about Del Monaco. You could so clearly see it in one of the last interviews about him available on YouTube, in which he said that he isn't happy anymore, because he can't sing anymore.


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

The Conte said:


> However, the Di Stefano/Tebaldi version of the duet is supposed to be far superior compared to the one with Del Monaco. I have been tempted to get that disc for a while, but haven't gone for it yet.
> 
> N.


It is better. I love Del Monaco, but Di Stefano is clearly so much better in this case. Especially the Lontano,Lontano,Lontano part. Del Monaco tries to sing softly and restrained, but compared to Di Stefano it's just not that great. Del Monaco can do softly for a bit, but if it's like in this case longer, then it doesn't really work. With Di Stefano it's sounds natural and with Del Monaco you get the feeling like he is doing his best. I think that Tebaldi and Del Monaco were a great pairing in general, but in this case Di Stefano is jsut better. Both versions can be found on Youtube.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I think Eileen Farrell does some of her finest singing in the last act of Siegfried with Svanholm here. Her middle and lower registers have never been fuller or creamier and she still had a high C at this point ( though of course no match for Nilsson). Still, I think the singing richness in the lower and middle passages sets this apart from her rivals.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I think Eileen Farrell does some of her finest singing in the last act of Siegfried with Svanholm here. Her middle and lower registers have never been fuller or creamier and she still had a high C at this point ( though of course no match for Nilsson). Still, I think the singing richness in the lower and middle passages sets this apart from her rivals.


Thanks! I haven't heard that since high school. Farrell was actually my first Brunnhilde, both here and in her splendid recording, with Bernstein, of the Immolation Scene.






For my money she makes more of that music than any other soprano on records, and on the flip side of the LP was as fine a performance of the Wesendonck Lieder as I've ever heard. Farrell never sang the big Wagner roles complete or in the opera house. Too busy singin' the blues, I guess.


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