# My Opera Project



## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

I decided to take the recommendations of this board from the Top 100 Operas thread and familiarize myself with more operas from the list.

Pardon me if I don't start with Wagner. You can understand that, can't you? 

So, I'm going to start with:

3. Le Nozze di Figaro

I already own a version of this in the Brilliant Complete Mozart box set, but since the set does not contain libretti, I am going to search my local library system for another version.

Online recommendations for CDs seem to favor von Karajan, Gardiner and Giulini. What do you people recommend?

And, how about a DVD version while you're at it? 

Thanks


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Vesteralen said:


> And, how about a DVD version while you're at it?


Haitink, Finley, Hagley, Fleming, Glyndebourne Festival Opera was my first DVD of Nozze and though I checked few more since then, I didn't find any other that would be both as great musically and fun to watch as this one.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

I am with Aramis on this for the DVD. For CD try the Giulini version and then graduate to his Don Giovanni. It's one of my favourite opera CDs ever.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

CD: I'm partial to the old 1955 Erich Kleiber / Vienna Philharmonic, with Cesare Siepi, Alfred Poell, Hilde Gueden, and Lisa Della Casa. Maybe not perfect vocally or sonically, but spirited and infectious.










DVD: I wholeheartedly agree with the forum's official recommendation of the David McVicar Glyndebourne production, conducted by Antonio Pappano and featuring Erwin Schrott, Gerald Finley, Miah Persson, and Dorothea Roschmann.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Thanks to both of you. Both were available and I ordered them already.

If I get any more recommendations, I don't minding adding an alternate or two (obviously, if they're available).

(Whoops! After posting this I see another recommendation came in. I'll wait to see what else comes and then make a decision for an alternate version. Thanks again.)


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

amfortas said:


> DVD: I wholeheartedly agree with the forum's official recommendation of the David McVicar Glyndebourne production, conducted by Antonio Pappano and featuring Erwin Schrott, Gerald Finley, Miah Persson, and Dorothea Roschmann.


That is actually a ROH production. But it's fab. You should see it.

I don't own a CD recording of Nozze, but I have a total crush on René Jabobs' Mozart project, although several people might disagree with me. He makes some rather controversial choices. But I have heard some very good things about the Gardiner recording, although I haven't heard it myself.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Aramis said:


> Haitink, Finley, Hagley, Fleming, Glyndebourne Festival Opera was my first DVD of Nozze and though I checked few more since then, I didn't find any other that would be both as great musically and fun to watch as this one.


 This is the version I own and while I can enthusiastically recommend it, the recently rereleased Alison Hagley / Bryn Terfel version also deserves mention. The former has a superior Countess in Renee Fleming and a full period staging, the latter a better Figaro in Terfel and a minimalist staging. Both are great.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Aksel said:


> That is actually a ROH production. But it's fab. You should see it.


Yep, my bad. Since there are a couple of excellent Glyndebourne Figaro's out on DVD (the one mentioned above and the earlier Peter Hall production with Te Kanawa, Cotrubas, von Stade, Luxon, and Skram), I fall into the lazy trap of thinking *every* good Figaro comes from Glyndebourne! 

(Also I've got McVicar = Glyndebourne in my head after seeing the stream of his recent Meistersinger, not to mention the DVDs of his Giulio Cesare and Carmen).


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I completely adore the Jacobs Don Giovanni - BEST EVER - but haven't heard his Nozze. Has anyone? HarpsichordConcerto, can you help?


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I quite love Jacob's Nozze... but I'm not certain whether it would qualify as the first choice. There are so many marvelous versions. On CD I love Karl Böhm, Giulini, and Erich Kleiber... which I just listened to the other day. For someone beginning to explore opera I would fully recommend a live performance... but barring that, definitely look into a DVD. The David McVicar Glyndebourne production conducted by Antonio Pappano or the Gardiner recording seem to be the the best choices.

_Le Nozze_... is certainly an ideal starting place for exploring opera. It follows the traditional opera format of recitatives (dialog and action) interrupted by the frequent arias (duets, trios, etc...) similar in many ways to the modern musical. From Wagner onward we get the through-composed operas in which there is no clear break between arias and dialog. Other good choices for first operas include _The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, La Traviata, La Boheme, Carmen, The Barber of Seville,_ and _Madame Butterfly. _


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I completely adore the Jacobs Don Giovanni - BEST EVER...

BEST EVER!? Now that's a compliment considering the competition:














































Not to forget Furtwangler's... with Elizabeth Schwarzkopf and Walter Berry (among others)

I think my personal favorite, however... at least for today... is this one:


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Vesteralen said:


> I decided to take the recommendations of this board from the Top 100 Operas thread and familiarize myself with more operas from the list.
> 
> Pardon me if I don't start with Wagner. You can understand that, can't you?
> 
> ...


Vesteralen, have you noticed that our forum not only contains a list of our 100 (by now, 131) most recommended operas, but also has a companion thread with the most recommended DVDs/blu-rays (often, first and second choices) for each of those 100 operas? Here is the link for it:

http://www.talkclassical.com/12300-talk-classical-most-recommended.html

Over there, the most recommended Nozze on DVD were:

*# 3 Le Nozze di Figaro*
*Most Recommended Version:*
*2006 Pappano - Covent Garden*
*Picked by 6 out of 12 voters (50%) among 4 nominated versions out of 30 existing versions.*










*Runner-up (picked by 3 out of 12 voters (25%):*
*1973 Pritchard - London Philharmonic Orchestra/Glyndebourne*


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

I just fell in love with this Don Giovanni:










Simon Keemlyside is an amazing Don Giovanni. Joice Di Donato as Donna Elvira is also beautiful in singing and acting. There is no weak link. Lovely!


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> I completely adore the Jacobs Don Giovanni - BEST EVER - but haven't heard his Nozze. Has anyone? HarpsichordConcerto, can you help?


I have heard _Se vuol ballare_ from the Jacobs Nozze, and it was weird but good at the same time. Not sure how I feel about ornamenting the Mozart/DaPonte operas, especially the comedies.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

The Jacobs Mozart operas are all worth having; every one was an almost new listening experience, taking a different angle even as far as HIP are concerned. Jacobs was a singer by training and he seem to bring a refreshing perspective with all his opera recordings compared with conductors who were trained as instrumentalists (just about all of them, or even as harpsichordists as many HIP conductors are). Many of Jacobs' recordings have their idiosyncrasies, while a few might not be the first and only choice of the work, I would certainly recommend them as complements to your exisitng collection / version.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Almaviva said:


> Vesteralen, have you noticed that our forum not only contains a list of our 100 (by now, 131) most recommended operas, but also has a companion thread with the most recommended DVDs/blu-rays (often, first and second choices) for each of those 100 operas? Here is the link for it:
> 
> http://www.talkclassical.com/12300-talk-classical-most-recommended.html


Thank you. I did not know that. That should be very useful in the future for the DVD end of things.

On the CD side I was able to order a copy of the Kleiber Nozze from the library.

But, my choices for an alternate DVD from the library come down to these:

Ommerli/Smith/Vienna Sym

Freni/Bohm/Vienna Phil

Biel/Oestman/Drottningholm Theatre

Hagley/Gardiner/English Baroque Soloists

Szymtka/Olma/Orch de Lyon

Any help with those?


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

Don't forget Solti's magisterial CD recording.

on DVD, I love

Mozart - Le Nozze di Figaro / Bohm, Berry, Grist, Mathis, Wixell, Watson, Kelemen, Bence, Salzburg Festpiele 

"Never before has Figaro been staged in such a totally meaningful way and so balanced in its theatrical and emotional elements." As far as the critics are concerned, the singers of this Salzburg Figaro are also "a stroke of luck for the Festival, who right at the beginning set a risky standard for anything that follows". This film from the archives of Austrian Television, which has been digitally restored in sound and picture for this DVD, preserves an exemplary Mozart performance in its fascinating immediacy, which is rare even at the Salzburg Festival. ( ‘Stuttgarter Zeitung’ of 27 July 1966)


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Hurray! I discovered I can order the recommended ROH DVD from Netflix! (Now I just have to watch one of the discs I already have and mail it back...)


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Update.

I haven't managed to finish this opera yet, on either DVD or CD. I received the Finley, Fleming, Haitink DVD from the library about a week and a half ago and have only managed to get through the First Act and about fifteen minutes of the Second Act in three sittings. I don't dislike it, and Finley is really good. But, I'm not fascinated by it. Maybe it's the story. 

I actually enjoy the CD more, although I haven't listened to the Giulini or the Kleiber versions yet.

Also, I'm still waiting for the ROH DVD from Netflix. So, we'll see....


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Vesteralen said:


> Update.
> 
> I haven't managed to finish this opera yet, on either DVD or CD. I received the Finley, Fleming, Haitink DVD from the library about a week and a half ago and have only managed to get through the Frist Act and about fifteen minutes of the Second Act in three sittings. I don't dislike it, and Finley is really good. But, I'm not fascinated by it. Maybe it's the story.
> 
> ...


I had a similar feeling about that Glyndebourne DVD. You may well find McVicar's ROH production more engaging.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

amfortas said:


> I had a similar feeling about that Glyndebourne DVD. You may well find McVicar's ROH production more engaging.


I haven't seen the Glyndebourne one, but the McVicar ROH one is totally amazing!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

amfortas said:


> I had a similar feeling about that Glyndebourne DVD. You may well find McVicar's ROH production more engaging.


I just watched it, and got a bit bored too, apart from Alison Hagley's Susanna. It seemed a bit leaden.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Both are great, I think.
And from the authority of my avatar, I'd say that any Almaviva would find that lusting over a Miah Persson's Susanna is quite understandable.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Both are great, I think.
> And from the authority of my avatar, I'd say that any Almaviva would find that lusting over a Miah Persson's Rosina is quite understandable.


Although I don't think he's much for lusting over her Rosina. I don't think she has done any of them, but I might be wrong.

Her Susanna, on the other hand ...


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Aksel said:


> Although I don't think he's much for lusting over her Rosina. I don't think she has done any of them, but I might be wrong.
> 
> Her Susanna, on the other hand ...


Sorry, I meant Susanna and typed Rosina.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Started watching the ROH version yesterday. I agree it is much more engaging so far. What a surprise to find the other version's Figaro as the Count.


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