# Round Three: Mozart's Porgi Amor: E. Schwarzkopf and M. Price



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492, Act II, Scene 1: No. 10, Cavatina. "Porgi, amor" (Contessa) · Elisabeth Schwarzkopf/Philharmonia Orchestra/Carlo Maria Giulini · Elisabeth Schwarzkopf





Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492, Act 2: "Porgi, amor" (Countess) · Riccardo Muti · Margaret Price


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Schwarzkopf is disadvantaged by a not so good recording. I'm not sure which this is, but the sound isn't great and the voice sounds uncharacteristically frail at the outset. I'd have gone for the one from the Giulini recording, now on Warner, my favourite recording of the complete opera, with Schwarkopf in patrician form.






Given that Schwarzkopf is not represented at her best in one of her best roles, I'm not sure which way to vote. Price is absolutely gorgeous, but not perhaps so interesting. I'm going to have to think about it. If we were voting on the Schwarzkopf/Giulini performance then I'd go for that.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Write in vote - Schwarzkopf - Giulini...


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Schwarzkopf is disadvantaged by a not so good recording. I'm not sure which this is, but the sound isn't great and the voice sounds uncharacteristically frail at the outset. I'd have gone for the one from the Giulini recording, now on Warner, my favourite recording of the complete opera, with Schwarkopf in patrician form.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Since you and Shaughnessy were the only ones to vote both for ES I changed it. I just look for record company submitted entries as the sound is better than fan-boys. I didn't know ES entries are so complicated. Perhaps I should check with you like I do with Callas experts before I post. There are a lot of things I am capable of doing pretty well like getting a good mix of singers for contests, but finding the optimal version by a singer I don't follow closely is not one of them


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Shaughnessy said:


> Write in vote - Schwarzkopf - Giulini...


It likely won't change your vote but I changed to the version TLondon preferred with an explanation below.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

The Giulini *Nozze *was my first, so I’m well acquainted with Schwarzkopf’s singing of this aria, but I absolutely adore Margaret Price (I listened to her Mozart album for a whole year), so she gets my vote.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

So yes I've now voted for Schwarzkopf. Price's singing is absolutely lovely and she too spins a beautiful, pure line, but Schwarzkopf gives me a bit more, an undercurrent of sadness and loneliness, which we can be sure Rosina would have been feeling at this point.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Since you and Shaughnessy were the only ones to vote both for ES I changed it. I just look for record company submitted entries as the sound is better than fan-boys. I didn't know ES entries are so complicated. Perhaps I should check with you like I do with Callas experts before I post. *There are a lot of things I am capable of doing pretty well like getting a good mix of singers for contests, but finding the optimal version by a singer I don't follow closely is not one of them*


You're doing superb work, John - Continue to do what you've done from the very beginning and trust your own instincts...Don't second guess yourself - Remember - _È davvero fottutamente difficile._

It's a tough gig - Using Schwarzkopf paired with "Porgi amor" brought up your selection (which was from a 1953 recital disc) 7th from the top

The ES / Karajan 1950 version was 15th from the top.

The ES / Karajan 1952 version was 16th from the top.

A remastered edition of the 53 recital was 17th.

An ES / Giulini version appears 59 places down from the top but it's not the one selected by Tsaraslondon - His is only available if you add "Giulini" to the Schwarzkopf - Porgi amor search term i.e. "Schwarzkopf - Porgi amor - Giulini" and so that would have resulted in 5 selections that you would have had to consider.If you didn't know that you were supposed to look specifically for Giulini, you would have only found that one selection 59 places down.

Someone else needs to wade in on the relative merits of the two different Giulini recordings as my science-based advanced algorithmic "Shaughnessy Method" doesn't seem to be quite working as advertised. One or more of the variables isn't functioning properly. Does anyone know if Schwarzkopf's ankles were thinner than her calves? If they weren't, an entirely different approach (like actually listening to the aria) is required to judge these recordings.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Very eager to hear how this one goes! Who to put up against Schwarzkopf? Excellent choice!

When I began here a year ago I felt like I came into a period of people speaking in defense of Schwarzkopf. However accurate, my take was that the legendary Schwarzkopf finickiness - what some of us call artistry - had led to more than a few objecors and that now there were those who were saying "....yeah there's some of that but she's a GREAT singer!" However accurate my take is, I couldn't help but think while listening that this can't possibly be an opportunity for the old complaint. To me, she sounds as direct as can be and her more compact beautiful sound weaves the Mozartian line just that bit finer than Price's luxurious, but slightly wider sound.

John, these renditions have just been a delight!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

ScottK said:


> Very eager to hear how this one goes! Who to put up against Schwarzkopf? Excellent choice!
> 
> When I began here a year ago I felt like I came into a period of people speaking in defense of Schwarzkopf. However accurate, my take was that the legendary Schwarzkopf finickiness - what some of us call artistry - had led to more than a few objecors and that now there were those who were saying "....yeah there's some of that but she's a GREAT singer!" However accurate my take is, I couldn't help but think while listening that this can't possibly be an opportunity for the old complaint. To me, she sounds as direct as can be and her more compact beautiful sound weaves the Mozartian line just that bit finer than Price's luxurious, but slightly wider sound.
> 
> John, these renditions have just been a delight!


'That is why I saved them for last. So glad you enjoyed them. This is such a gorgeous aria. Like a triple layer cake with buttercream icing!!! I thought all the ladies were noteworthy. and that is the sense I get from the voting.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Shaughnessy said:


> You're doing superb work, John - Continue to do what you've done from the very beginning and trust your own instincts...Don't second guess yourself - Remember - _È davvero fottutamente difficile._
> 
> It's a tough gig - Using Schwarzkopf paired with "Porgi amor" brought up your selection (which was from a 1953 recital disc) 7th from the top
> 
> ...


You are like a good big brother to me even though I am your father's age likely. Seeing it laid out like that is amazing! I wish all the other stuff you've been searching for would not pop up swelling the number of choices several times.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Seattleoperafan said:


> 'That is why I saved them for last. So glad you enjoyed them. This is such a gorgeous aria. Like a triple layer cake with buttercream icing!!! I thought all the ladies were noteworthy. and that is the sense I get from the voting.


I actually meant all of the entries, not just these two.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Shaughnessy said:


> You're doing superb work, John - Continue to do what you've done from the very beginning and trust your own instincts...Don't second guess yourself - Remember - _È davvero fottutamente difficile._
> 
> It's a tough gig - Using Schwarzkopf paired with "Porgi amor" brought up your selection (which was from a 1953 recital disc) 7th from the top
> 
> ...


The video above must be from the concert performances they gave at the Royal Festival Hall at about the same time they made the recording. I've never heard this one, so I have no idea what the sound is like. As it's live and unofficial, I can't imagine it will be as good as EMI's version.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Tsaraslondon said:


> The video above must be from the concert performances they gave at the Royal Festival Hall at about the same time they made the recording. I've never heard this one, so I have no idea what the sound is like. As it's live and unofficial, I can't imagine it will be as good as EMI's version.


It's an official licensed French release from _"Les Indispensables de Diapason"_ - The cover (pictured above in the video) was changed in 2020 from the 2019 BBC/ICA Classics release which is pictured below.

"This release has been sourced from the Richard Itter archive of ‘live’ BBC recordings. The collection is very important for collectors because it has never been on the market before. Following the archive’s launch in October 2017 with successive releases featuring Beecham, Böhm, Cantelli, Casadesus, Karajan, Menuhin, Monteux, du Pré, Klemperer, Rostropovich and Walter, it has received universal praise from both the classical media and record collectors for the excellent sound and performances."

" Carlo Maria Giulini’s celebrated studio recording of Le nozze di Figaro was recorded in September 1959 following a live performance at the Royal Festival Hall a few days earlier. Nearly 18 months later on 6th February 1961 there was another RFH performance but with a substantially different cast from that on disc. Only two roles – the Countess (Elisabeth Schwarzkopf) and Antonio (Piero Cappuccilli) – were sung by the same artists."

"This is a concert, not a theatre performance, and it is highly enjoyable. The BBC recording, in mono of course, is excellently balanced…Master and man are well matched Corena…is a fully rounded Figaro…[Blanc] sings out firmly in ‘Crudel! Perché finora’…Söderström is a charming Susanna…Berganza sings ‘Voi che sapete’ winningly"
- Gramophone

The sound is superb - bright and clear - I prefer the concert version to the staged production.

Link to complete recording - 





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