# Ralph Moore's Opera Surveys



## Otis B. Driftwood (4 mo ago)

Ralph Moore Recorded Opera Surveys

Personally I've found these surveys to be an invaluable resource in building my opera collection. While I may not always agree with his recommendations or commentary, it's still the most exhaustive comparison of recordings that I've come across. What do you think?


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Yes, I’ve downloaded a few of these. Like you I don’t always agree with him but he’s a pretty good guide.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I too have read quite a few of these and whilst I usually agree with his general comments about various recordings I don't always agree with his winning choices. However, it's a great resource due to the number of recordings he reviews and how much depth he often devotes to each set. I find him more informative than Gramophone or BBC Building a Library to be honest.

N.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Otis B. Driftwood said:


> Ralph Moore Recorded Opera Surveys
> 
> Personally I've found these surveys to be an invaluable resource in building my opera collection. While I may not always agree with his recommendations or commentary, it's still the most exhaustive comparison of recordings that I've come across. What do you think?


I agree. They are excellent. I don't always agree with him, but more often than not I do. Highly recommended.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Otis B. Driftwood said:


> Ralph Moore Recorded Opera Surveys
> 
> Personally I've found these surveys to be an invaluable resource in building my opera collection. While I may not always agree with his recommendations or commentary, it's still the most exhaustive comparison of recordings that I've come across. What do you think?


I could read these all day. He is often on the mark in my opinion.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Based on his Wagner reviews, I dissent from the approving opinions of others here. I find Moore missing the boat too often to be a good traveling companion. What can I say about someone who enjoys Kegel and Boulez conducting _Parsifal, _or Martha Modl singing... well, anything? I rest content with the reviews of C. L. Osborne and D. Hamilton from fifty+ years ago, and am grateful to have had them with me when I was learning about opera and singing.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Do I hear a reactionary voice? Can I get an amen brothers and sisters? Hallelujah!🤣


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Based on his Wagner reviews, I dissent from the approving opinions of others here. I find Moore missing the boat too often to be a good traveling companion. What can I say about someone who enjoys Kegel and Boulez conducting _Parsifal, _or Martha Modl singing... well, anything? I rest content with the reviews of C. L. Osborne and D. Hamilton from fifty+ years ago, and am grateful to have had them with me when I was learning about opera and singing.


I haven't bothered so much with the Wagner reviews. He's pretty sound on Italian opera and he did a very good _Nuits d'été _survey, with which I largely agreed. I think you would have done too.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Barbebleu said:


> Do I hear a reactionary voice? Can I get an amen brothers and sisters? Hallelujah!🤣


Independent, not reactionary. And do please try to find secular equivalents for those ejaculations. "Hip, hip, hooray!" would do - or, in a pinch, "Yeeeeeeeee-HAW!"


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I haven't bothered so much with the Wagner reviews. He's pretty sound on Italian opera and he did a very good _Nuits d'été _survey, with which I largely agreed. I think you would have done too.


I wouldn't be surprised if I agreed with him more on Italian opera. Reading his review of the Serafin/Vickers _Otello_, I find him spot on. I've seen many of his reviews on Amazon in past years, I've found him knowledgeable, and I respect that. I don't feel much motivated to explore reviews now, though, since I no longer buy recordings. I'm more or less content to share opinions here on the forum.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

*Verdi’s* *La Traviata

Gabriele Santini – 1953 (studio; mono) *

"Wonderful as she is vocally here, Callas is not interpretatively quite yet the artist she later became in this role, yet she is already doing things with the role of Violetta that no singer has done since.

Albanese is a dull Alfredo who croons through his nose without sounding much involved; the difference when Callas picks up and takes over the famous “Libiamo” melody is almost comical and you notice how often the sheer amplitude of her voice drowns out her co-singers.

My practice with this set is to listen exclusively to those excerpts where Callas is singing simply to revel in the youthful freshness of her voice, with its mostly secure top notes (including a top E to crown the conclusion to Act 1), liquid portamenti and resonant lower register, especially as, on repeated listening, Santini’s sustained dilatoriness can become wearing. Despite the excellence of Callas’ contribution, this cannot be a prime recommendation."

*Carlo Maria Giulini – 1955* *(live; mono)*

"Callas is wonderful in all three. She is on record as having complained that critics seemed not to realise that some of the vocal frailty in her portrayal was the deliberate result of her characterisation of a woman dying of consumption and not a failing voice. At the very least, she was smart enough - and she was very smart - to turn her vocal trials to advantage as Violetta and no artist except perhaps Cotrubas manages to be so touching and vulnerable, spinning long lines on a thread of tone, deploying that downward portamento to heart-rending effect and injecting a note of supreme despair into her sufferings."

*Tullio Serafin – 1955* (studio; mono) Testament; Naxos
Orchestra & Chorus - Teatro alla Scala
Violetta Valéry - Antonietta Stella

"Callas was reportedly furious with Serafin for recording Traviata when contractual complications prevented him casting her as Violetta, as until they fell out, he was her musical mentor. In a sense, her fury was vindicated, because neither of Serafin’s studio recordings is especially successful compared with what could have been achieved if she had been able to take part but this is much the better of the two. I like Stella’s powerful, husky, spinto soprano; she is a very accomplished artist and there is no doubt that she can cope with the demands of all three acts even if the occasional top note is stretched or snatched. However, there is nothing very individual about her Violetta, as she does not have Callas’ ability to colour her voice and there are few touches of the kind Callas introduces which make you catch your breath – in fact her characterisation is really quite bland."


I found the excerpts that I sampled both interesting and informative - I would add my unreserved recommendation... with the usual caveat about the wisdom of taking advice from someone like me..


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Shaughnessy said:


> *Verdi’s* *La Traviata
> 
> Gabriele Santini – 1953 (studio; mono) *
> 
> ...


I note that, like me, he chooses the 1958 Callas Covent Garden performance as all round best.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Independent, not reactionary. And do please try to find secular equivalents for those ejaculations. "Hip, hip, hooray!" would do - or, in a pinch, "Yeeeeeeeee-HAW!"


Sheer indolence on my part in not substituting suitable exclamations. I’ve no idea what came over my atheist self. 😇

I’m interested that you no longer buy recordings. Do you just stream now or do you only listen to what you have? Given the lamentable state of singing and the dearth of good, never mind great, new recordings I can hardly blame you.

I’ve been reading John Steane’s collected reviews in his book The Gramophone and the Voice. These were culled from the Gramophone magazine between 1974 and 1999. Like Ralph Moore I don’t always agree with his opinions but he did point me in the direction of some superb stuff released in those years. Compared to now how lucky we were back then.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Barbebleu said:


> Sheer indolence on my part in not substituting suitable exclamations. I’ve no idea what came over my atheist self. 😇
> 
> I’m interested that you no longer buy recordings. Do you just stream now or do you only listen to what you have? Given the lamentable state of singing and the dearth of good, never mind great, new recordings I can hardly blame you.
> 
> I’ve been reading John Steane’s collected reviews in his book The Gramophone and the Voice. These were culled from the Gramophone magazine between 1974 and 1999. Like Ralph Moore I don’t always agree with his opinions but he did point me in the direction of some superb stuff released in those years. Compared to now how lucky we were back then.


JBS is one of my favourite writers about the human voice. His book _The Grand Tradition _was a revelation to me and led me to investigate all sorts of singers from the 78s era that I would otherwise not have bothered with.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

I liked Ralph Moore as a critic. He was on Amazon for years and with Fanfare and other magazines briefly. He is moderate, not given to hyperbole, and experienced.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Based on his Wagner reviews, I dissent from the approving opinions of others here. I find Moore missing the boat too often to be a good traveling companion. What can I say about someone who enjoys Kegel and Boulez conducting _Parsifal, _or Martha Modl singing... well, anything? I rest content with the reviews of C. L. Osborne and D. Hamilton from fifty+ years ago, and am grateful to have had them with me when I was learning about opera and singing.


I agree that some of his choices in relation to Parsifal are somewhat spotty (choosing the Von Karajan over the Barenboim and the Kubelik over Kna 62), I find his general comments useful. For example, the reason he prizes the Herbie and Kubelik sets so much is his admiration for Moll's aesthetically sung Gurnemanz. He may indeed have had the voice that is easiest on the ear in the role, but I much prefer Frick's growl or Hotter's instantly recognisable timbre as it comes with character and gravitas. However, we all have our personal preferences and it was reading his Parsifal reviews that set me up for a recent Parsifal listening comparison and whilst my list of favourites is different to his I generally find his descriptions accurate. (After all, Moll does have the most beautiful voice of recorded Gurnemanzes, it's just that as Callas said, it's not enough!)

I'm not familiar with the reviews of Osborne and Hamilton, but if their reviews are over fifty years old that leaves out a lot of very fine recordings that have been made in the intervening years. There are many great recordings both studio and live from the fifties and sixties, but I wouldn't be happy with 1972 as a cut off point. (I also wonder how many of the fabulous live recordings from before that date would have been commercially available before then as well and one of the benefits of the Moore reviews is his listing ample examples of historic essentials.)

N.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Barbebleu said:


> I’m interested that you no longer buy recordings. Do you just stream now or do you only listen to what you have? Given the lamentable state of singing and the dearth of good, never mind great, new recordings I can hardly blame you.


You've certainly fingered one of the reasons. There are certain operas (other music too, but mainly operas), which I'd rush out and buy if I expected to hear performances equal to the best from the past. I've bought a few historical perfomances in recent years, but haven't been concerned to keep abreast of who's who in opera except by tuning in to broadcasts of live performances, where I don't hear much to suggest that I'm missing out on anything important.

The other reason is simply that my preferred ways of passing time have changed. I spent most of my first six decades swimming in music, performing, creating, researching and listening to it almost 24/7. Now I'm a lazy old homebody who wants peace and quiet more often than music. I'll prick up my ears and get off my bum when Peter Jackson hires me as artistic consultant for the first full-length film of Wagner's _Ring. _I've been bursting with ideas for it for fifty years.



> Compared to now how lucky we were back then.


Yup. It seems in retrospect like a Golden Age of singing and recording, although at the time I was comparing it to still earlier times when even greater singers walked the earth. Nostalgia? I make no apologies for living in a bygone era. I believe I started doing that at about age ten, when I inherited some 78 rpm records of Caruso and Galli-Curci, and realized that nearly all the music I loved was written by dead people.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I like reading reviews - I subscribed to *High Fidelity *and *Stereo Review *for years and thus know the names of Hamilton and Osborne who reviewed opera recordings for those publications just as Harold Rosenthal, Philip Hope-Wallace, John Stein, Lord Harewood wrote for the British magazines *Opera *and/or *The Gramophone *though this last publication had a host of other respected musical critics. One of my favorite critics, if I can confine such a multi-talented man to that narrow label, was Andrew Porter, who was for many years the chief music critic of *The New Yorker *and moved to a British publication after he retired from that job. His considered, balanced criticism was a model for me of how to write objective criticism of (mostly) opera singers and singing. Not that I have ever followed suit!

But, please don’t think I’m comparing Porter to Moore. I like reading his reviews as well.


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## ganchan2019 (Oct 14, 2021)

Otis B. Driftwood said:


> Ralph Moore Recorded Opera Surveys
> 
> Personally I've found these surveys to be an invaluable resource in building my opera collection. While I may not always agree with his recommendations or commentary, it's still the most exhaustive comparison of recordings that I've come across. What do you think?


I like the fact the he lays his biases on the table for all to see. For example, he doesn't much enjoy the sound of Gedda or Alfredo Kraus, but he recognizes their artistry and makes a point of noting that an otherwise fine recording could be a top recommendation for anyone who feels differently about those particular singers.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I sent the reviews to my only opera friend and he sent it to 4 people and they sent it to others!


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