Pierrette Alarie & Léopold Sinoneau: The Perfect Vocal Marriage

On this CD:

1. No no, che non sei capace, aria for soprano & orchestra, K. 419
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Pierrette Alarie

2. Don Giovanni, opera, K. 527 Il mio tesoro intanto
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Leopold Simoneau

3. Don Giovanni, opera, K. 527 Dalla sua pace
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Leopold Simoneau

4. Die Entführung aus dem Serail, opera, K. 384 Ach ich liebte
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Pierrette Alarie

5. Die Entführung aus dem Serail, opera, K. 384 Welch ein Geschick
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, Leopold Simoneau

6. Ridente la calma, song for voice & piano (spurious, by Myslivecek), K. 152 (K. 210a)
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, John Newmark

7. Un moto di gioia mi sento, aria for soprano & orchestra, K. 579
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, John Newmark

8. Wiegenlied for voice & piano (often incorrectly attr. to Mozart)
Composed by Bernhard Flies
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, John Newmark

9. Warnung ("Männer suchen stets zu naschen"), aria for bass & orchestra, (fragment), K. 433 (K. 416c)
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, John Newmark

10. Oiseaux, si tous les ans, song for voice & piano, K. 307 (K. 284d)
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by John Newmark, Leopold Simoneau

11. An Chloe ("Wenn die Lieb'"), song for voice & piano, K. 524
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by John Newmark, Leopold Simoneau

12. Abendempfindung an Laura ("Abend ist's"), song for voice & piano, K. 523
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by John Newmark, Leopold Simoneau

13. La finta giardiniera, opera, K 196 Tu mi lasci
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, John Newmark, Leopold Simoneau

14. Duets (4) for soprano, tenor & piano, Op. 78 No. 2, Er und Sie
Composed by Robert Schumann
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, John Newmark, Leopold Simoneau

15. Duets (4) for soprano, tenor & piano, Op. 34 No. 2, Liebhabers Ständchen
Composed by Robert Schumann
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, John Newmark, Leopold Simoneau

16. Duets (4) for soprano, tenor & piano, Op. 78 No. 3, Ich denke dein
Composed by Robert Schumann
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, John Newmark, Leopold Simoneau

17. In der Nacht ("Alle gingen, Herz, zur Ruh'"), duet for soprano, tenor & piano (Spanisches Liederspiel), Op. 74/4
Composed by Robert Schumann
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, John Newmark, Leopold Simoneau

18. Unter'm Fenster ("Wer ist vor meiner Kammertür?"), duet for soprano, tenor & piano, Op. 34/3
Composed by Robert Schumann
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, John Newmark, Leopold Simoneau

19. Duets (4) for soprano, tenor & piano, Op. 78 No. 4, Wiegenlied
Composed by Robert Schumann
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, John Newmark, Leopold Simoneau

20. Duets (4) for soprano, tenor & piano, Op. 34 No. 1, Liebesgarten
Composed by Robert Schumann
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, John Newmark, Leopold Simoneau

21. Duets (4) for soprano, tenor & piano, Op. 78 No. 1, Tanzlied
Composed by Robert Schumann
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, John Newmark, Leopold Simoneau

22. Minnespiel, for voice(s) & piano, Op. 101 No. 7, Die tausend Grüsse
Composed by Robert Schumann
Performed by Pierrette Alarie, John Newmark, Leopold Simoneau

Pierrette Alarie & Léopold Sinoneau: The Perfect Vocal Marriage, Music, Bernhard Flies, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann, Jean-Marie Beaudet, John Newmark, Pierrette Alarie, Léopold Simoneau, Art Song (General), Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Classical Period Music for Voice and Keyboard, Classical Vocals, German/Austrian Classical Period Opera, Opera, Solo Voice(s) and Orchestra, Two Solo Voices (with or without Keyboard/Continuo), Vocal

Bizet: Les pêcheurs de perles
Average customer rating:

Excellent 1953 version emphasizes musicality over drama

Bizet: Les pêcheurs de perles

Manufacturer: Opera D'oro
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Léopold Simoneau: Opera Arias & Duets

ASIN: B0006VXLOK
Release Date: 2005-02-15

Tracks:

Introduction - Orchestra Des Concerts Lamoureux
Sur La Greve Un Feu - Elisabeth Brasseur Choir
Amis, Interrompez Voz Danses
Demeure Parmi Nous, Nadir
C'est Toi
Au Fond Du Temple Saint
Que Vois-Je?
Sois Le Bienvenue - Elisabeth Brasseur Choir
Seule Au Milieu De Nous... Brahma, Divin Brahma
A Cette Voix
Ke Crois Entendre Encore
Le Ciel Est Bleu
O Dieu Brahma... Dans Le Ciel Sans Voile

Tracks:

L'ombre Descend Des Cieux - Xavier Depraz
Me Voila Seule Dans La Nuit... Comme Autrefois - Pierette Alaire
De Mon Amie
Leila, Leila!... Dieu Puissant... Ton Coeur N'a Pas Compris Le Mien
Ah! Revenez A La Raison... O Nuit D'epouvante
L'orage S'est Calme... O Nadir, Tendre Ami De Mon Jeune Age - Rene Bianco
Qu'ai-je Vu?... Je Fremis, Je Chancelle - Pierette Alarie
Entends Au Loin Ce Bruit De Fete - Pierette Alarie
Des Que Le Soleil - Elisabeth Brasseur Choir
Sombres Divinites
O Lumiere Sainte
Ce Sont Eux, Les Voici... Plus De Crainte

Customer Reviews:

Excellent 1953 version emphasizes musicality over drama.......2005-08-08

Source: Studio recording made in October 1953.

Sound: Generally good 1950s mono. (Opera d'Oro issues are always iffy on matters of sound, ranging from very good to appallingly bad. They are generally much safer bets when based on studio recordings, as is the case here, than on live performances.)

Text: Standard text adopted with the first revivals of the opera, some years after Bizet's death.

Cast: Nadir - Leopold Simoneau; Zurga - Rene Bianco; Leila - Pierette Alarie; Nourabad - Xavier Depraz. Conductor: Jean Fournet.

Documentation: No libretto. Short plot summary. Track list.

This performance provided my first recording of "Les Pecheurs de perles," acquired more than forty-five years ago on Lp from some obscure European publisher. Having stumbled upon a CD version of the old warhorse, I was greatly pleased to find that it is as good as I had remembered it to be.

By 1863, the 25 year-old Bizet had already set his hand to incidental music to "L'Arlesienne," the requisite Sir Walter Scott opera, "La jolie fille de Perth" and an oriental opera, "Djamileh." He had not yet wrung the hankering for exoticism out of his system, so he embarked on a new opera to be set in pre-Columbian Mexico. With youthful folly, he began writing the music before his two hack librettists, Michel Carre and Eugene Cormon, had figured out a finish for the play. Even before the lack of a finale became a crisis, a major change had to be incorporated. It seems that the "Pearlfishers" team had been beaten in the race to put on an Aztec play in Paris. Since Carre and Cormon had probably known nothing at all about Meso-American empires, it is likely they had no qualms about shifting their story to another place they knew nothing about, Ceylon. Carré and Cormon never did come up with a logical finish, so they just set things on fire and let the doomed lovers depart into the sunset, providing a dramatic arc to "The Pearlfishers" that makes "Il trovatore" look like a textbook example of a well-made play.

I had remembered the star of the recording to be the tenor, Leopold Simoneau, and so he is. Simoneau had a voice of no great size but of surpassing sweetness and elegance. I have seen him described as a latter day Tito Schipa. To some extent he was, but Simoneau was a true vocal technician, far more skillful than that charming old con man, Schipa. Simoneau's Nadir is more focused on the beauty of the musical line than on drama. In this most lyrical of Bizet's operas, it works.

What I had not remembered about this recording was Pierette Alarie. Alarie was a formidable lieder singer who was married to Simoneau and who made many recordings with him. By operatic standards, her voice was small, but it was beautifully pure, precisely focused and amazingly agile, a sort of Francophone Roberta Peters. (For those familiar with Webber's "Phantom of the Opera," Alarie was precisely the type of singer for the role of the Phantom's young protegee.) All those years ago, I was busy being bowled over by Milanov, Tebaldi, Nilsson and Sutherland, so I foolishly discounted Alarie's smaller voice. While I still hold those ladies in highest esteem, this time, when I bought the CD, I actually listened to Alarie and I was amazed. This was particularly true of the closing number of the First Act, "O dieu Brahma." In every other performance that I have seen or heard, heavier-voiced sopranos make this prayer pleasant enough but nothing to compete with the acknowledged big numbers of the act, "Au fond du temple saint," and "Je crois entendre encore." Alarie's version is a revelation. With her lieder singer's discrimination and her phenomenal vocal agility, Alarie offers up a bel canto-like gem.

The Zurga of this set, while good, was simply not in the class of Simoneau and Alarie. René Bianco had a baritone voice that was pleasant but not at all commanding, not the best thing for portraying a character who is all assertiveness. The slight fuzziness of his vocal production kept Bianco from being an equal with the super-focused Simoneau and Alarie in the ensembles.

Nourabad is a thankless part, placed in the opera merely to keep the plot ticking. I remember nothing about any Nourabad I have seen or heard in the past. I remember nothing about Xavier Depraz beyond the obvious fact that he was not bad enough to make me remember him for that reason.

The first time I listened to these CDs, I found myself puzzled by the conducting. Jean Fournet was a big name in the French repertory in the years straddling World War II. As I had been particularly impressed by his dramatic "Samson et Dalila," the comparative looseness of dramatic tension here seemed odd. After comparing his version of "The Pearlfishers" with those of Rosenthal, Dervaux and Pretre, I think it probable that there was mutual agreement among Fournet, Simoneau and Alarie to downplay melodrama in favor of musicality, to take a miniaturist, even lieder-like approach. Of the four conductors, Fournet is the most precise and the most French. "The Pearlfishers" may take place on exotic Ceylon, but Jean Fournet's Ceylon is firmly anchored in the Seine, not many meters downstream from the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

This is an excellent "Pearlfishers." This version and the excellent 1959 live version conducted by Manuel Rosenthal (Gala GL 100.504), which emphasizes the drama of the opera, should be in any serious collection.

Five stars.

Average customer rating:

Bizet: The Pearl Fishers

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Bellini: Il Pirata

ASIN: B00002456O
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Tracks:

Prelude
No.1: Introduction: Choeur: 'Sur La Greve En Feu'
No.1: Introduction: Scene Et Choeur: 'Amis, Interrompez Vos Danses'
No.1: Introduction: Recit et Reprise Du Choeur Danse: 'Demeure Parmi Nous, Nadir'
No.2: Recit Et Duo: Recit: 'C'Est Toi, Toi Qu'Enfin Je Revois!'
No.2: Recit Et Duo: Duo: 'Au Fond Du Temple Saint'
No.3 Recit, Choeur Et Scene: Recit: 'Que Vois-Je?'
No.3 Recit, Choeur Et Scene: Choeur: 'Sois La Bienvenue'
No.3 Recit, Choeur Et Scene: Scene Et Choeur: 'Seule Au Milieu De Nous'
No.4: Recit Et Romance: Recit: 'A Cette Voix'
No.4: Recit Et Romance: Romance: 'Je Crois Entendre Encore'
No.5: Finale: Scene Et Choeur: 'Le Ciel Est Bleu'
No.5: Finale: Air Et Choeur: 'O Dieu Brahma'

Tracks:

No.6 Entr'Acte, Choeur Et Scene: 'L'Ombre Descend Des Cieux'
No.7: Recit Et Cavatine: 'Me Voila Seule Dans La Nuit'
No.8: Chanson: 'De Mon Amie, Fleur Endormie'
No.9: Duo: 'Leila! Leila!'/'Dieu Puissant'
No.10: Finale: 'Ah, Revenez A La Raison!'
No.11: Entr'Acte, Recit Et Air: 'L'Orage S'Est Calme'
No.12: Scene Et Duo: Recit: 'Qu Ai-Je Vu?'
No.12: Scene Et Duo: Duo: 'Je Fremis, Je Chancelle'
No.12: Scene Et Duo: Scene: 'Entends Au Looin Ce Bruit De Fete'
No.13: Choeur Danse: 'Des Que Le Soleil'
No.14: Scene Et Choeur: 'Sombres Divinites'
No.15: Trio: 'O Lumiere Sainte'
No.16: Finale: 'Ce Sont Eaux, Les Voici!'

Average customer rating:

Tenor-lovers Alert!

Léopold Simoneau: Opera Arias & Duets

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Arias | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Bizet: Les pêcheurs de perles

ASIN: B000026BVA
Release Date: 2001-02-13

Tracks:

Il matrimonio segreto: Cara non dubitar
L'arlesiana: E la solita storia del pastore
La Boheme: O soave fanciulla
TOSCA: E lucevan le stelle
Faust: Il se fait tard adieu
La Juive: Rachel quand du Seigneur
Manon: J'ai marque l'heure du depart
Les pecheurs de perles: A cette voix quel trouble
Joseph en Egypte: Champs paternels
Mignon: Adieu Mignon
Mignon: Elle ne croyait pas
Manon: Instant charmant
Manon: Je suis seul! Ah fuyez douce image
L'Elisir d'Amore: Una furtiva lagrima
La Traviata: Lunge da lei - De' miei bollenti spiriti

Customer Reviews:

Tenor-lovers Alert!.......2001-02-25

For some of the most beautiful lyric tenor singing available on a disc, please sample this recent release on DGG.

Mr. Simoneau's recording are few and this one is particularly fine in its aria selection and the singing is simply above reproach.

This is a lyric tenor voice in the style of Schipa. Should you have doubts, listen closely to the aria "Una furtiva lagrima" from Donizetti's opera L'elisir d'amore. The pitch is perfect, the line is firm and the voice is beautiful in it tonal quality. The duet from Faust is sung lovingly and phrased to perfecton by this husband and wife vocal team, a feast of simple lyric beauty.

There are no fillers on this disc. Every duet and aria is a winner and I should perhaps note that since Mr. Simoneau's French diction is flawless, the arias from operas by Mehul and Halevy are particularly welcome. As a footnote, I should like to add that if you are able, find a copy of Simoneau's recording of the "Sanctus" from the Berlioz Requiem with Munch and the Boston Symphony. It makes all recorded competition sound amateurish.

Gounod: Faust / Rivoli, simoneau, Alarie, Rehfuss, et al (Digital remaster of 1963 recording)
Average customer rating:

Highly Undervalued and Should Be Heard

Gounod: Faust / Rivoli, simoneau, Alarie, Rehfuss, et al (Digital remaster of 1963 recording)

Manufacturer: Video Artists Int'l
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Gounod | Gounod, Charles | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B000003LLM
Release Date: 1998-05-19

Tracks:

Faust: Introduction
Faust: Rien! - En vain j'interroge
Faust: Ah! Paresseuse fille
Faust: Mais ce Dieu, que peut-il pour moi?
Faust: O merveille!
Faust: Vin ou biere
Faust: O sainte medaille . . . Avante de quitter ces lieux
Faust: De l'enfer qui vient
Faust: Nous nous retrouverons, mes amis! . . . Ainsi que la brise legre
Faust: Ne permettrez-vous pas
Faust: Intermezzo . . . Faites-lui mes aveux
Faust: C'est icci?
Faust: Quel trouble inconnu me penetre? . . . Salut! Demeure chaste et pure
Faust: Alerte! La viola!

Tracks:

Faust: Je voudrais bien savior . . . Il etait un Roi de Thule
Faust: Les grands Seigneurs . . . Ah! Je ris de me voir si belle
Faust: Seigneur Dieu, que vois-je?
Faust: Il etait temps!
Faust: Il se fait tard, adieu!
Faust: Eternell . . . O nuit d'amour! ciel radieux
Faust: Tete folle
Faust: Entr'acte . . . Elles ne sont plus la
Faust: Marguerite! - Siebel!
Faust: Seineur, daignez permettre a votre humble servante
Faust: Deposons les armes
Faust: Gloire immortelle

Tracks:

Faust: Qu'attendez-vous encor? . . . Vous qui faites l'endormie
Faust: Que voulez-vous, messieurs?
Faust: Par ici, par ici, mes amis! . . . Ecoute-moi bien, Marguerite!
Faust: Dans les bruyeres . . . Jusqu'aux premiers feux du matin
Faust: Ballet Music: Les Nubiennes - Adagio - Danse antique - Variation du Cleopatre - Les Troyennes - Variation du Miroir - Danmse de Phryne
Faust: Que ton ivresse, o volupte
Faust: BONUS Intermezzo . . . Va-t'en!
Faust: Mon coeur est penetre d'epouvante! . . . Ah! C'est la voix du bien aime
Faust: Alerte, alerte, ou vous etes perdus . . . Anges purs!
Faust: Sauvee!

Customer Reviews:

Highly Undervalued and Should Be Heard.......2004-04-26

I wanted very much to give this recording the full five stars, but I must, in conscience, refrain because it has a couple flaws that prohibit highest praise. I should immediately add that no complete "Faust" warrants a five-star rating anyway, so this puts no onus on what I otherwise find the most authentic and idiomatic of all stereo versions.

One flaw can be easily dispensed with: there is a Valentin who makes an honest attempt but is thoroughly undistinguished; the voice is mediocre and, though a Frenchmen, he's far less adept at shaping the French line than his colleagues. More difficult to resolve, however, is the conducting of Rivoli. He prefers stately tempi that allow the opera to gently unfold rather than gallop along, and there is much supple, stylish phrasing that stresses subtlety and suavete over explicit drama. His support of the singers is very reponsive, too. But in the end, I can't help but wish he didn't linger so long over the details and put just a bit more spring in his rhythms or inject a more palpable sense of forward motion. This, in spite of many individual beauties that must be commended.

Elsewhere, the wonderful singing from an all Francophone cast with authentic French style and musically vivid characterization places this set above all the "international" flavored ones, even Plasson's recent version which tries hard to restore French style and eliminate all foreign impositions to the point of blandness -- correct maybe, but bland.

Pierrette Alarie had a voice slightly smaller and more delicate sounding than the average Marguerite, but this only emphasizes the character's innocence and vulnerability. The phrasing is melting and her technique allows remarkable ease in the colorature of "The Jewel Song" plus the ability to sail the heights when needed. Her real-life husband Leopold Simoneau is also a bit light of voice for the average Faust, but by this period his voice had acquired some metal to it. The purity and ease of his singing with its customary control and intelligence makes this perhaps the most comprehensive Faust on complete stereo sets -- yes, better than Gedda or Kraus. The high C is no show stopper, but his thoughfulness, grace and depth of feeling, not to mention the incredible flexibility of his voice, go very far. Heinz Rehfuss too sounds a shade lighter than the pitch blcak roar we get from so many a Mephistopheles, but here is some marvelously accurate singing very much in the French style, oozing both charisma and danger plus enough vitality to rival the Chaliapin model and put to shame said model's stylistic atrocities.

Apart from Valentin, the support is good, especially L. Berton's ardent Siebel. Chorus and orchestra are hardly outstanding but they are capable and committed. The stereo sound is not top of the line for 1963, but it has plenty of atmosphere, especially in the Church Scene, quite frightening here.

Die Schweigsame Frau
Average customer rating:

Good Strauss (but second-rate "Don Pasquale")

An excellent recording

Great

cosmic etherial comic opera

Die Schweigsame Frau

Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000001GMS
Release Date: 1994-08-16

Tracks:

Potpourri - Vienna PO/Karl Bohm
Act One: Ei, die Ehre, die Ehre! - Georgine von Milinkovic/Hermann Prey
Act One: Da eine in deine Takelage - Fritz Wunderlich/Hermann Prey
Act One: Ah! Mein Stock!-Gnadiger Herr! - Hans Hotter/Hermann Prey/Georgine von Milinkovic/Fritz Wunderlich/Karl Donch/Josef Knapp/Pierette...
Act One: O Gott, war das ein saurer Empfang! - Fritz Wunderlich/Hilde Guden/Alois Pernerstorfer/Josef Knapp/Karl Donch/Hetty Plumacher/Pierette...
Act One: Nicht an mich, geliebter, denke - Hilde Guden/Fritz Wunderlich/Karl Donch/Josef Knapp/Alois Pernerstorfer/Pierette Alarie/Hermanne...
Act One: Sehr rechtschaffen gedacht, junger Herr - Hermann Prey/Pierettte Alarie/Hetty Plumacher/Hilde Guden/Karl Donch/Josef Knapp...
Act One: Seid ihr bereit?-Finale - Hermann Prey/Hilde Guden/Fritz Wunderlich/Pierette Alarie/Hetty Plumacher/Josef Knapp...
Act Two: Den Paraderock mit den versiberten Schnuren! - Hans Hotter/Georgine von Milinkovic
Act Two: Euer Gnaden gehorsamster Diener! - Hermann Prey/Hans Hotter
Act Two: Werte Damen, seid willkommen! - Hans Hotter/Hermann Prey/Hetty Plumacher/Pierette Alarie
Act Two: Sir Morosus wird Euch dankbar sein - Hermann Prey/Hans Hotter/Hilde Guden/Hetty Plumacher/Pierette Alarie
Act Two: So stumm, mein Kind - Hans Hotter/Hilde Guden/Hermann Prey

Tracks:

Act Two: Anhiero gestatte ich mir - Hermann Prey/Karl Donch/Josef Knapp/Hans Hotter/Hilde Guden/Georgine von Milinkovic
Act Two: Potz Deubel, so hat die alte Hur' - Alois Pernerstorfer/Hans Hotter/Hilde Guden/Georgine von Milinkovic/Hermann Prey/Josef Knapp...
Act Two: Nehmt's nicht so streng - Karl Donch/Hermann Prey/Hilde Guden/Hetty Plumacher
Act Two: Du bist so still - Hans Hotter/Hilde Guden
Act Two: Was geht hier vor? - Fritz Wunderlich/Hans Hotter/Hilde Guden
Act Two: Du suster Engel - Fritz Wunderlich/Hilde Guden/Hans Hotter
Act Three: Einleitung - Vienna PO/Bohm
Act Three: Hier die Spiegel, die Konsolen - Hilde Guden/Georgine von Miliankovic/Fritz Wunderlich/Hans Hotter/Alois Pernerstorfer
Act Three: Sento un certo non so che - Hilde Guden/Frtiz Wunderlich/Hans Hotter/Alois Pernerstorfer/Georgine Von Milinkovic
Act Three: Seine illustre Lordschaft - Hermann Prey/Hans Hotter/Georgine von Milinkovic/Karl Donch/Hilde Guden/Alois Pernerstorfer...
Act Three: Willst du wirklich mich nicht kennen? - Frtiz Wunderlich/Hilde Guden/Karl Donch/Hermann Prey/Pierette Alarie/Hetty Plumacher...
Act Three: Finale: Teurer Ohm! Nicht langer kann ich - Frtiz Wunderlich/Hans Hotter/Hilde Guden
Act Three: Finale: Alles Frohe, alles Schone - Hans Hotter/Georgine von Milinkovic/Hermann Prey/Fritz Wunderlich/Hilde Guden/Pierette Alarie...
Act Three: Finale: Wie schonist doch die Musik - Hans Hotter

Customer Reviews:

Good Strauss (but second-rate "Don Pasquale").......2007-01-25

SOURCE: Live performance broadcast by Oesterreichischen Rundfunks (Austrian Radio) from the Festspeilhaus, Salzburg Festival, August 6, 1959, an officially designated "Festspiel Dokumente."

SOUND: Fairly decent, AM broadcast-quality mono, better than most Salzburg Festival recordings from the 1950s--which isn't saying much. There is a considerable amount of stage noise, much of it specifically intended by the librettist and composer. The audience is well-disciplined, interrupting the natural flow of the opera only once with a little flurry of applause for the first entrance of Gueden and keeping its inevitable coughs well muffled. From time to time, a performer turns away or finds a dead spot on stage an his or her voice fades slightly. As for the orchestra, the narrowed sonic range of this recording is not as much of a problem for this relatively lightly-scored opera as it would be for more lushly-written Strauss works.

CAST: Sir Morosus, a wealthy gentleman with an aversion to noise - Han Hotter (bass-baritone); Henry Morosus, a long-lost nephew in a noisy profession - Fritz Wunderlich (tenor); The Barber, an absolutely untrustworthy confidant - Hermann Prey (baritone); The Housekeeper, a woman who bangs around Sir Morosus' home but a truer friend than he shall ever realize - Georgine von Milinkovic (mezzo-soprano); Vanuzzi, an operatic impresario - Karl Doench (bass-baritone); Aminta, an opera singer - Hilde Gueden (soprano) Isotta, an opera singer - Pierette Alairie (soprano); Carlotta, an opera singer - Hetty Pluemacher (soprano); Morbio, an opera singer - Josef Knapp (baritone); Farfallo, an opera singer - Alois Pernerstorfer (tenor). CONDUCTOR: Karl Boehm with the Wiener Philharmoniker und Chor der Wiener Staatsoper.

DOCUMENTATION: Libretto in German and English. Track list showing timings and identifying singers. Portraits of Richard Strauss, Karl Boehm, and production shots from the 1959 Festival.

TEXT: This is a heavily cut performing text. Purists who regard every written note as pure gold and every preliminary thought as expressed genius, turn away right now. This is not for you. However, it might be noted that Karl Boehm was Richard Strauss' go-to man whenever he wanted someone to conduct the premiere of one of his operas. He conducted the two performances of the piece allowed under the Nazi regime and he was a lifelong friend of the composer. I regard him, of all people in the world, as the one most likely to know Strauss' intentions with regard to "Die Schweigsame Frau." This was a festival performance; there was no commercial need to shorten it. I think, therefore, that this is the version of the opera that Strauss himself would have decreed to be the authentic final text.

THE STORY: Old Morosus,, rich from capturing ships in the recurring wars with Spain, has profitably retired. He hates noise. With his barber, Mr. Cutbeard, he discusses finding a wife--provided that she can maintain blessed silence. With the arrival of his long-lost nephew Henry Morosus, the old man puts such thoughts aside--until Henry reveals that he has become an opera singer and that he has brought his whole opera company to stay in his uncle's house until the London season begins. Morosus threatens to disinherit Henry on the spot. He orders the whole opera company out of his house. The noisy invaders repelled, Morosus orders the barber to find a suitable bride. The barber goes straight to Henry. They hatch a plot. Vanuzzi and the men will pretends to be priests and notaries. The women will be marriage candidates. Old Morosus is enchanted with the demure and silent Aminta. A false marriage ceremony is performed on the spot. Immediately after that, Aminta displays both a voice and a shrewish disposition. Quickly the new Mistress makes the old man's life a noisy hell. He wants nothing so much as a divorce and he seeks Henry's help to procure one. In the end, Aminta admits that she was never married to old Morosus because she was already married to Henry. The old man is so relieved to be free of the shrew that he takes it all in good humor and everything ends happily.

COMMENTARY: The story of "Die Schweigsame Frau" is ostensibly based on "Ipicoene, or The Silent Woman" by Ben Jonson. There are certainly similarities. Jonson's Morose hates noise. He has a scapegrace nephew, Dauphine Morose whom he threatens to disinherit. At the conniving of his barber, he marries Ipicoene who instantly turns into a noisy shrew. Morose seeks for ways to obtain a divorce. In the end, Ipicoene turns out to be in disguise and it is revealed that there never was a marriage, much to the relief of old Morose. But consider this, Don Pasquale considers taking a young bride. He threatens to disinherit his scapegrace nephew. With the conniving of Dr. Malatesta, he marries Norina who instantly turns into a noisy shrew. Don Pasquale seeks for ways to end the marriage. In the end, Norina turns out to be in disguise and it is revealed that there never was a marriage, much to the relief of old Don Pasquale.

Now, it is remotely possible that librettist Stefan Zweig did not know any better, but Strauss must have been perfectly aware that he was re-writing Donizetti--just as he must have known that he was re-visiting "The Marriage of Figaro" with "Der Rosenkavalier." Aminta's form of disguise is essentially the same as Norina's but entirely different from Ipicoene's (whose disguise was uniquely suited to the Elizabethan theater.)

"Die Schweigsame Frau" is a very decent Strauss opera. It's talky but basically sound. I like it. But it is not as good as "Don Pasquale." It is not even half as good as "Don Pasquale." Line the two up together and you find the work of an earnest plodder beside that of a casual genius. Strauss once described himself as "a first-class second-class composer." He was perfectly correct.

As for the performance, look at the cast, Hotter, Wunderlich, Prey, Gueden, and the conductor, and the orchestra--gold, pure gold. Of course it's worth five stars.

But it's not as good as "Don Pasquale"!

An excellent recording.......2004-10-19

If a letter had not been confiscated in transit, this Opera would have enjoyed more than two performances and likely would have been remembered as a great comic masterpiece. Unfortunately it was prematurely struck down, and although brilliantly revived here for the Salzburger Festspiel, it still has suffered neglect in the contemporary opera houses.

The libretto perhaps does leave some to be desired, although it is quite funny and works as a very entertaining story. It is really the music, though, that makes this opera great. The orchestration is brilliant and colorful, and Strauss did a masterful job at creating the characters through his witty music. It is also one of the masterpieces of Strauss's conversational operas (along with Capriccio). There are several brilliant scenes that rank among the greatest in any Strauss Opera (for example, the scene in the first act with Morosus complaining to the Barber about the bells).

If one is convinced of the quality of the opera itself, it follows naturally that one would want this recording. The first reason, of course, is that it is essentially the only one availible.

More importantly, the performance is a live one from the Salzburger Festspiele in the year 1959. The sound is mono, but the orchestra and singers are quite sonorous and the microphones never distort or clip the sound (in fact, it really sounds best at its loudest moments). There is very little in the way of audience noise, some from the stage action (although that is supposed to be there, so it's really quite effective) and the only harmful sounds are some creaking of floors etc. There are occasional moments when singers are obviously further away from the center of the stage, but again that is to be expected from a live recording, and the singing and speaking is always clear.

The singers are tremendous--one could scarcely ask for a better cast. Hermann Prey gives a masterfully clever performance as the Barber (oddly enough, he also did that for Karl Bohm as the more famous Barber, Figaro). Hans Hotter gives a great performance as the irritable but tender hearted Morosus, and the inimitable Wunderlich plays the part of Henry. Hilde Guden is Aminta, the Schweigsame Frau, and it seems to me to be a strange performance... I'm not sure quite what to make of her (at times she almost sounds like the deliberate clodhopper incarnation of Octavian from Rosenkavalier). The Wiener Phil is of course perfect (when aren't they) and Bohm gives the finest reading the opera will probably ever get. Every line is clear, every sonority full and every color vivid. Like the live Rosenkavalier (also from the Salzburger), every note and line is perfectly articulated.

Deustche Grammophon has done a great job preparing this recording. It is a miracle of sound coming from a radio broadcast in the 50's, and I'm not sure if the Radio Austria has brilliant technicians or DG engineers are magicians, but what we have is a high quality document of an incredible moment in time. It is very highly recommended.

Great.......2003-09-19

I agree that Elektra is monumentally cosmic. I agree that Intermezzo and Capriccio are great. But haven't you left out Die Frau Ohne Schatten with its gloriously heroic music, romantic, magical and heavenly, yet human and down to earth? Die Frau Ohne Schatten is one of the most glorious operatic masterpiece ever penned with astonishing originality. It is Strauss' "Zauberflute" with magic, romance and all. A kindly easy going Barak. Baraks' Wife who changes from being a shrew who is dissatisfied with her marriage to a humble woman who truly loves her husband. The Empress who is initially cool and unable to phantom the depths of human emotion, but who eventually understands what is true love. The Emperor who gets to sing some of the most heroic and romantic music ever written. The Nurse, a creature with magical powers who does evil but whose deeds lead to a good end by divine providence. Glorious and abstruse story. Glorious music. Die Frau Ohne Schatten must rank with Elektra as a towering operatic masterpiece of the 20th century.

cosmic etherial comic opera.......2003-03-17

Here, in the best recording ever issued of the work, is Strauss's bubbly profound masterpiece that's suffused with compassion for the foibles of love and old age. It is almost as great as the two greatest operas ever written, Intermezzo, and Capriccio, both of which happen to be Strauss in a similar vein but without the geriatric emphasis. Along with the monumentally cosmic Elektra, they represent the pinnacle of the operatic art, which the modest Strauss (who looked up to both Mozart and Wagner) nonetheless felt especially proud to have penned. Although the Bohm is the best performance by virtue of its maintaining best the momentum and communicating most fully the work's profundity, the performance conducted by Janowski captures a bit better the comic-opera qualities, and the performance conducted by Sawallisch is a fine compromise between both approaches. All three versions are excellent, but the Bohm wears the best upon repeated hearings and therefore gets my nod.

Average customer rating:

Superb version !

Mass in B Minor
Pierrette Alarie , Willi Boskovsky , Nan Merriman , Gustav Neidlinger , and Hermann Scherchen
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Messiah
Sym 5 in C Sharp Minor
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture; Rimsky-Korsakov: Sheherazade

ASIN: B000063DS8
Release Date: 2002-05-14

Customer Reviews:

Superb version !.......2004-12-19

The Mass in B Minor is not only one of the monumental and unfathomable landmarks of Johan Sebastian Bach , but besides it 's one of the great works of Modern Civilization .
The Mass was submitted in July 1773 at Dresden with a humble request for an appointment as Court composer.
Bach knew to be lyric at the same time than dramatic when the text demanded it and the music requested it . His inspiration is well-aimed , without hesitations . You could establish a parallel Bach-Shakespeare since the infinite exploration in both genius of a feeling , of a psychological hue.
Is this a catholic Mass? The answer is no . It was an existing form of ritual in the Lutheran Church.
According to Karl Geiringer it curious the Mass in B Minor be called in that tonality . He argues the composition contains twelve movements in D major and only five in B minor . D is the tone of the jubilee Gloria and Credo so Resurrexit and Sanctus .
This recording is fundamental for any collector item .
Special mentions to Pierrette Alarie , soprano ; Leoplod Simoneau Tenor and Nan Merriman , Alto .
The magistral voices of The Vienna academy Chorus under the baton of Scherchen will give you a full description and gratifying moments with this excel work.
Thanks to Deutsche Gramophone for this special re-edition , since I have the previous release of the dissapeared label MCA.
I guess the sound must have been improved .

Average customer rating:

Nostalgia and a German Messiah
A Superior "Messiah"
It's not bad, just different....
The Way It Should be Played
Not the best Scherchen

Messiah

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Mass in B Minor

ASIN: B00005RIH2
Release Date: 2002-05-14

Tracks:

Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Symphony
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Accompagnato: Comfort Ye, Comfort Ye My ...
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air: Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: And the Glory of the Lord Shall ...
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Accompagnato: Thus Saith the Lord of Hosts
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air: But Who May Abide the Day of His ...
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: And He Shall Purify
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Recitative: Behold, A Virgin Shall Conceive
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air & Chorus: O Thou That Tellest Good ...
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Accompagnato: For Behold, Darkness ...
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air: The People That Walked in Darkness
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: For Unto Us a Child Is Born
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Pifa (Pastoral Symphony/Hirtenmusik/Pas ...
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Recitative: There Were Shepherds Abiding in
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: Glory to God in the Highest
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air: Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Recitative: Then Shall the Eyes of the ...
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air: He Shall Feed His Flock
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: His Yoke Is Easy, His Burthen ...

Tracks:

Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: Behold the Lamb of God
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air: He Was Despised
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: Surely, He Hath Borne Our Griefs
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: And with His Stripes We Are Healed
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Accompagnato: All They That See Him
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: He Trusted in God
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Accompagnato: Thy Rebuke Hath Broken ...
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Arioso: Behold, And See If There Be Any ...
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Accompagnato: He Was Cut Off Out of the ...
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air: But Thou Didst Not Leave His Soul
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Recitative: Unto Which of the Angels
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: Let All the Angels of God ...
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air: Thou Art Gone Up on High
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: The Lord Gave the Word
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air: How Beautiful Are the Feet
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: Their Sound Is Gone Out

Tracks:

Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air: Why Do the Nations So Furiously Rage
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: Let Us Break Their Bonds Asunder
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Recitative: He That Dwelleth in Heaven
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air: Thou Shalt Break Them
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: Hallelujah
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: Since by Man Came Death
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Accompagnato: Behold, I Tell You a Mystery
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air: The Trumpet Shall Sound
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Recitative: Then Shall Be Brought to Pass
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Duet: O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: But Thanks Be to God
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Air: If God Be for Us
Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56: Chorus: Worthy Is the Lamb That Was Slain -

Customer Reviews:

Nostalgia and a German Messiah.......2006-12-08

This was (on LPs) my first Messiah, so I still play it from time to time--partly for genuine merit it often has in spite of some serious shortcomings and partly for nostalgia. (Absent the nostalgia, I would probably give it 3 rather than 4 stars.) An earlier reviewer who asked to be pointed to a German Messiah probably knows by now that DGG has issued a really fine recording of Der Messias conducted by Karl Richter.

A Superior "Messiah".......2006-12-05

This is a fine performance that is well worth having; Scherchen was a very interesting conductor. However, I agree with Mr. Sherman that it is not as good as the original 1954 mono recording of the "Dublin" version. I bought both the '54 and '57 recordings when they came out, and have other recordings of "Messiah". The 1954 Scherchen recording is the one I go back to. The sound quality is still wonderful. With mono like that I don't need stereo, just as with the early '50s Mercury Olympian Series recordings. Someone should certainly reissue it. It has historic as well as artistic value.

It's not bad, just different...........2005-12-22

I was raised on Messiah, but I've had to understand that not every interpretation is MY interpretation. I was rather jarred by Simoneau, but I grew used to it. The soprano, Alarie, was too fairy-piper for me. Nonetheless, I appreciate this recording. I bought it for Nan Merriman, although I'd forgotten about the fast vibratto, which I personally don't like; but she does a bang-up job of it, vibrato and all.

I have a number of Messiahs, Hickox (for the soloists), Gardiner (for the choir), Pinnock, for the chilly. I've just bought Beecham, for the, okay, amazed. I treasure every effort for Messiah, however I might like one over another. The way I see it, no one can have too many Messiahs.

Having said all that, is there anyone who can locate for me a German Messiah? I temporarily found one reviewed in Opera News, went back and never found it. I'd appreciate it if someone reading this can direct me. I really want that German Messiah.

Nancy Eckert

The Way It Should be Played.......2003-02-08

Many years ago I bought some used records which included this recording. Having heard the Messiah many time before I was a little taken back by this version, as parts of it seemed to be off speed or tempo. What I found out later was that this recording was based upon the original score as written by Handel and not the more modern version performed by most orchestras and choirs today. The funny thing was, the more I played these records the more I liked them compared to the newer version. When the records wore out, I search the Internet and to my surprise it had been reissued on CD. I was truly elated! This verison takes a little getting use to because of the tempo, but if you play it a little loud, like you are in front of the orchestra, it is truly wonderful. The piece is so nice it is hard to do other things while it is playing. I find it so interesting that some pieces of music are so moving that one really transcends the music, you don't hear it you just experience it. This CD is as close to that feeling as one can get listening to recorded music.

Not the best Scherchen.......2002-06-15

I've had this one since 1957 when it came out on LP. Scherchen's 1954 mono recording was revolutionary in that it used Handel's original orchestration (fortunately with modern instruments) and had a true baroque conception as opposed to the pseudo-Romantic approach everyone else was using. Tenor William Herbert and trumpeter George Eskdale were outstanding; baritone Richard Standen and alto Constance Shacklock also had a lot of good moments.

This 1957 recording was apparently motivated by the need to "do it in stereo." But it's not as good as the original. The Viennese chorus does not sing English as it should be sung, and the soloists are undistiguished. Standen, who sings on both, is better in the earlier recording. The only really fine part of this recording is the opening of the Amen chorus.

Product Description

Tracks are: 1. Four Strong Winds by Ian & Sylvia 2. Suzanne by Leonard Cohen 3. Valparaiso by Companeros 4. Mon Pays by Gilles Vigneault 5. Sally's Cove Reel by Rufus Guinchard 6. Over My Head by Montreal Jubilation Choir 7. Discretion From Quatrains by Pierrette Alarie 8. Ombres by Glenn Gould 9. Grief From Songs Of Contemplation by Lois Marshall 10.She's Like A Swallow by Jon Vickers 11. Be Perfect And Articulate From Five Songs For Dark Voice by Maureen Forrester, The National Arts Centre Orchestra, Mario Bernardi Conducting 12. Quartet #3 - Allegro Energico From String Quartet No.3 by Orford String Quartet/R. Murray Schafer 13. Dripsody by Hugh Le Caine 14. Spanjazz by Lenny Breau 15. Swinging shepherd Blues by Moe Koffman