# Traditional Productions



## tenoredigrazia (Feb 3, 2013)

Hey everyone,

I'm studying to sing classical music, and I want to become familiar with the operatic repertory. I've been able to attend several performances in person, but since tickets are expensive it's more practical for me to watch performances on video. I already made a thread here asking for recommendations of operas in the "standard" repertoire, and I got a lot of positive and helpful responses. I was hoping you could help me out again!

I'm vaguely aware of the trend of _Regietheater_. Some reinterpretations of the bread-and-butter operas seem harmless to me (my first Rigoletto in the theater was set in Fascist Italy instead of the original time period...it didn't seem like such a stretch to me.) Other productions I've read about make me nervous, like an _Abduction from the Seraglio_ where Belmonte cuts off a woman's nipples while he sings, make me...nervous. When I see an opera for the first time, I would prefer for it to be a more or less "traditional" production, so that I get a clear sense of what the composer and librettist (or composer-librettist) had in mind. Maybe after that I'll feel comfortable engaging with more abstract stagings. Anyway, this is what I'm looking for: recommendations of traditional productions of various operas captured on VHS, DVD, or Blu-Ray. It would probably help to give some kind of list of operas for you to pick from...any help I could get would be just fantastic!

Let's start here:

Beethoven, _Fidelio_
Bizet, _Carmen_
Mascagni, _Cavalleria rusticana_
Mozart, _Don Giovanni_
Puccini, _Tosca_
Verdi, _Aïda_
Wagner, _Die Fliegende Holländer_

I hope this isn't too much trouble. Thanks in advance for your patience and assistance!


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

*Don Giovanni* - my favourite production; it's as traditional as it gets.


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## Ritter (Apr 11, 2013)

I will try to help by recommending you tradicional productions, but also by taking into account my musical tastes:

Beethoven, _Fidelio_ - Bernstein, Wiener Staatsoper (1978- Deustche Grammophon) - Janowitz, Kollo, Popp, Sotin, et al.
Bizet, _Carmen_ - Dervaux, Paris Garnier (1980 - Arthaus) - Berganza, Domingo, Ricciarelli, Raimondi, et al. 
Mascagni, _Cavalleria rusticana_ -Levine, Metropolitan Opera (1978 - Metropolitan Opera) -Troyanos, Domingo, Shinall, et al.
Mozart, _Don Giovanni_- Muti, Teatro alla Scala (1987, Opus Arte)- Allen, Gruberova, Araiza, Murray, et al. 
Puccini, _Tosca_- Sinopoli, Metropolitan Opera (1985, Pioneer)- Behrens, Domingo, MacNeil, et al.
Verdi, _Aïda_- Levine, Metropolitan Opera (1989- Deutsche Grammophon)- Millo, Zajick, Domingo, Milnes, et al.
Wagner, _Die Fliegende Holländer_ - Sawallisch (1974, Deutsche Grammophon)- McIntyre, Ligendza, Winkler, et al.

The cast of Fliegende is not the best possible at all, I'd recommend 1985 recording from Bayreuth with Kupfer's production instead, but this production is much more controversial.

You can try out some highlights at youtube.com, in order to check image and sound quality, and don't get disappointed with them. They are not recent recordings, so don't expect HD!


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

deggial said:


> *Don Giovanni* - my favourite production; it's as traditional as it gets.


Not once the idiots get hold of it,wasn't there a modern production recently with him naked or something equally boring.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Here are a couple more recommendations:

*Fidelio* -- Zürich Opera/Nikolaus Harnoncourt (2004): Camilla Nylund, Jonas Kaufmann, Laszlo Polgar, Alfred Muff, Elizabeth Rae Magnusson, Christoph Strehl










*Tosca* -- Royal Opera House/Sir Antonio Pappano (2011): Angela Gheorghiu, Jonas Kaufmann, Bryn Terfel, Lukas Jakobski, Hubert Francis, et. al.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

moody said:


> Not once the idiots get hold of it,wasn't there a modern production recently with him naked or something equally boring.


true, I meant that particular production is very traditional.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

How could I have forgotten this one??

*Carmen*: Royal Opera House/Sir Antonio Pappano (2008) -- Anna Caterina Antonacci, Jonas Kaufmann, Ildebrando d'Archangelo, Norah Amsellem, et. al.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

^ he looks like he's about to bite her  sorry for the tangent, I'm always amused by that picture.


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## Volve (Apr 14, 2013)

1989 James Levine production of Carmen, with Agnes Baltsa, José Carreras, Leona Mitchell and Samuel Ramey. I would upload a picture of the cover if i knew how . I think that the best possible set of Die Fliegende Holländer has already been mentioned by Ritter. Be aware that it was in a movie set, during a studio recording. But the staging is about precisely what Wagner intended it to be. Can't help with the other ones though, sorry.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

My favouite Camen (film) with beautiful Spanish sets and a real bullfight at the beginning - not for the faint of heart.










I have to respectfully disagree with Ritter about his Don Giovanni choice. I have watched over 20 DOn Giovannis and I have yet to get to the end of that one. It is spectacularly lacklustre and dull. A good very traditional DG is this:










Although my favourite, in modern clothes but with not one whiff of regie, is this, for the singing and acting (the cast spent a year together doing this production and they positively inhabit their characters):


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## msegers (Oct 17, 2008)

Check Youtube for an amazing number of full-length productions. Earlier in this thread, there is a reference to_ Tosca_ with Gheorghiu, Kaufmann, and Terfel. It is available on Youtube - 



.

Fascinating question and responses.


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## dismrwonderful (May 5, 2013)

If you plan to make a career of opera singing, then you are going to end up in Europe. You will end up in non-traditional productions and will have to be flexible in your choice of work in order for your career to survive.

Continue your video studies and see an opera when you can. Most colleges with music programs have performance venues that will be of more help to your career than watching or attending an opera.


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