AudioCircle

Music and Media => The Audio Circle Opera House => Topic started by: FullRangeMan on 30 Apr 2020, 12:40 am

Title: 5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Opera
Post by: FullRangeMan on 30 Apr 2020, 12:40 am
From the NYT:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/arts/music/classical-music-opera.html?action=click&module=moreIn&pgtype=Article&region=Footer&action=click&module=MoreInSection&pgtype=Article&region=Footer&contentCollection=Pop%20Culture
Title: Re: 5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Opera
Post by: woodsyi on 30 Apr 2020, 04:04 pm
Excellent music.

I will add my own choice.

Two friends falling in love with the same girl promising to remain BFFL.   Au fond du Temple Saint  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz5FuWoTvU8) 

I chose this one because it has English subtitle and they are good.  The version I like the best is  this one with Jussi Björling & Robert Merrill  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDSLLZph-Yc).  The incomparable Caruso recording (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGvU2hfni8A)  is good too but you have to account for the technical difficulty of a 1907 recording. There are so many others. 

I have been listening to a lot of Opera -- not just my own (considerable) record collection but also Met video service that I subscribe to.  The visual does add a lot to the experience.  With that in mind here is the first Act of a production.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpYOdRMt8j4)  It gives you a context of what they are singing about in the duet.

What's yours?
Title: Re: 5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Opera
Post by: Tyson on 30 Apr 2020, 05:09 pm
I found that my appreciation for opera went up quite a bit when I got speakers that had excellent midrange to tweeter integration.  Speakers with less than perfect integration tend to make opera voice sound irritating to me.  All this time I thought I didn't like opera, and it turned out it was just a technical limitation on my old speakers.
Title: Re: 5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Opera
Post by: stlrman on 30 Apr 2020, 10:09 pm
My wife and I really enjoy live Opera !!
We went to 3 operas last season . They were all wonderful!!!
We are getting tickets for less than $20 a seat .
Title: Re: 5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Opera
Post by: FullRangeMan on 1 May 2020, 01:24 am
Too bad there is no good recordings of Callas, so I will suggest Julia Varady & Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau also in a no great recording, fortunately the performance are great inclusive Maazel:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zemlinsky-Lyric-Symphony-Julia-Varady/dp/B00000E3FR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COuCiDT_PCY