# Muti or Abbado?



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Of the two, who's your favorite opera conductor and why?


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Abbado. He's made at least three reference recordings of Verdi (_Macbeth_, _Simon Boccanegra_, the French _Don Carlos_). Off hand, I'm not sure the same can be said of Muti, for any opera.


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

I haven't heard Muti yet, I don't think. What is considered Muti's best opera recording?


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

opus55 said:


> I haven't heard Muti yet, I don't think. What is considered Muti's best opera recording?


Maybe either Macbeth or Aida.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Yes... Aida. But also Verdi's Requiem... and Cherubini.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

opus55 said:


> I haven't heard Muti yet, I don't think. What is considered Muti's best opera recording?





Itullian said:


> Maybe either Macbeth or Aida.


I'm currently acquiring/listening to as many versions of _Macbeth_ as I can and at the moment I find the Muti the best.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Itullian said:


> Of the two, who's your favorite opera conductor and why?


That's a hard one. I can trace a direct line from my first hearing Abbado's _Simon Boccanegra_ to my total enjoyment of the art form today. If I'd heard a different version, then who knows.

But it was Muti's _Macbeth_ which inspired me to explore an opera in depth. And I can trace a direct line from hearing it to my current state of penury.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Yes... Aida. But also Verdi's Requiem...


But Abbado's Berlin Requiem is right up there as well.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Muti because he could replace Ron Moss as new Ridge Forrester in The Bold & The Beautiful and because I hate technical aspects of sound on Abbado's studio recordings.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

amfortas said:


> Abbado. He's made at least three reference recordings of Verdi (_Macbeth_, _Simon Boccanegra_, the French _Don Carlos_). Off hand, I'm not sure the same can be said of Muti, for any opera.


His *Aida* is one of the best in the catalogue, and I rather like his earlier recording of the Requiem.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

GregMitchell said:


> His *Aida* is one of the best in the catalogue, and I rather like his earlier recording of the Requiem.


I'm not sure Muti's Aida leads its respective field to quite the same extent as the Abbado recordings I mentioned; I also think Abbado is at least as distinguished as Muti in his Requiem recordings.

But it's very much a judgment call, especially since the OP asked for our *favorite* conductor.


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## Valeria (Jul 12, 2014)

Abbado. I'd add his beautiful Carmen with Teresa Berganza and Plácido Domingo. Still the reference for me.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

amfortas said:


> I'm not sure Muti's Aida leads its respective field to quite the same extent as the Abbado recordings I mentioned; I also think Abbado is at least as distinguished as Muti in his Requiem recordings.
> 
> But it's very much a judgment call, especially since the OP asked for our *favorite* conductor.


Whereas, on CD, I think the *Aida* is as close to a reference recording as we are likely to get (if such a thing actually existed, of course). The cast doesn't have a weak link, the conducting is in the best tradition of the Italian style, dramatic and lyric, and the analogue sound still very good.

There are of course individual elements preferable on other recordings, but none that adds up to such a convincing whole. It's the one I'd choose as a library choice, whilst pointing out it wouldn't be my only choice.

I certainly wouldn't want to be without Callas and Gobbi's blisteringly hot Nile Scene, nor would I readily part with Karajan II, which I prefer to Karajan I, which has a bit of a marmoreal feel about it. Solti is out for me, because I can't stand his barnstorming over emphatic way with the score (or with Verdi in general, to be honest), though I admire both Vickers and Price. Abbado's cast, apart from Domingo, is a liability on his recording.

Then there are the older recordings, Toscanini and Perlea, but recording quality precludes them from becoming library choices, and, personally I've never quite understood why people go misty eyed over Milanov.

There are a few others I've missed out, none of much interest, but, by and large, I come back to Muti as the reference point.

Incidentally, for *Macbeth*, my preference would be Abbado, though the Muti is also very good. Abbado's *Simon Boccanegra* I think one of the greatest opera recordings of all time, and his *Don Carlos* essential for its scholarly re-appraisal of the French score, though Giulini's is the greater performance.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

GregMitchell said:


> Incidentally, for *Macbeth*, my preference would be Abbado, though the Muti is also very good. Abbado's *Simon Boccanegra* I think one of the greatest opera recordings of all time, and his *Don Carlos* essential for its scholarly re-appraisal of the French score, though Giulini's is the greater performance.


So we're not far apart in our assessment of Abbado; we just differ somewhat on Muti. But like you, I'm sure, I'm happy to have them both.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

GregMitchell said:


> Whereas, on CD, I think the *Aida* is as close to a reference recording as we are likely to get (if such a thing actually existed, of course). The cast doesn't have a weak link, the conducting is in the best tradition of the Italian style, dramatic and lyric, and the analogue sound still very good.
> 
> There are of course individual elements preferable on other recordings, but none that adds up to such a convincing whole. It's the one I'd choose as a library choice, whilst pointing out it wouldn't be my only choice.
> 
> ...


Stellar exegesis. Thanks.


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