What are you listening to?

[Seán]

Even though there´s a little dirty secret to this recording. Kirsten Flagstad was already well over 50 when this recording was made in 1952, her high notes were not what they used to be, and in fact she was uneasy about a couple of high C´s during the big duet in act 2. Still, the great Walter Legge INSISTED that she recorded the role because he knew that history would condemn him if he didn´t record Tristan with the greatest Wagner conductor AND the greatest Wagner soprano of the 20th Century, so, she asked his wife Elisabeth Schwarzkopf to sing the 2 high C´s in the recording, this was going to be a secret but some tell-tell violinist from the Philharmonia Orchestra blew the whistle. Flagstad of course was very mortified, but really, who cares? She still sings a glorious Isolde even without those 2 high C´s courtesy of Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.

What a delicious tale, I love it.

[fergus]

Mercy!!!!

This is one of the finest recordings of ANYTHING ever made. Kirsten Flagstad & Wilhelm Furtwängler?

This is Heaven in Earth.

Yes I thought that I remembered you saying before that Furtwangler was a great Wagnerian! I look forward to listening to this set in the near future.

[fergus]

Even though there´s a little dirty secret to this recording. Kirsten Flagstad was already well over 50 when this recording was made in 1952, her high notes were not what they used to be, and in fact she was uneasy about a couple of high C´s during the big duet in act 2. Still, the great Walter Legge INSISTED that she recorded the role because he knew that history would condemn him if he didn´t record Tristan with the greatest Wagner conductor AND the greatest Wagner soprano of the 20th Century, so, she asked his wife Elisabeth Schwarzkopf to sing the 2 high C´s in the recording, this was going to be a secret but some tell-tell violinist from the Philharmonia Orchestra blew the whistle. Flagstad of course was very mortified, but really, who cares? She still sings a glorious Isolde even without those 2 high C´s courtesy of Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.

Great story Pepe and great that my favoured Elisabeth came to the rescue of one of your heroes LOL!!!

[Jose Echenique]

To celebrate the 200 anniversary of Vienna´s most famous choir, the Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, founded in 1812 by Fanny von Arnstein, one of Mendelssohn´s aunts, and Joseph Sonnleithner, the secretary to all the court theaters in Vienna, Nikolaus Harnoncourt proposed to recreate a huge benefit concert given in the Royal Court Riding School on November 29 1812, consisting of Handel´s "Alexander´s Feast", in the 1790 Mozart arrangement. The conductor of that concert was Ignaz Franz von Mosel, who assembled a huge orchestra of nearly 600 musicians, and of course the members of the Singverein. Mosel added to the Mozart orchestration a thunderous bass drum, heard to great effect in the chorus "Break his bands of sleep asunder".
Harnoncourt filled the stage of the Musikverein to capacity, but obviously the number of players only added to some 200. Harnoncourt has always loved Alexander´s Feast, his 1977 TELDEC recording is already a classic, and although this concert is something completely different, it still has the thrill of an important occasion. His soloists are excellent, one is surprised of finding exquisite Italian soprano Roberta Invernizzi singing in German. Tenor Werner Güra and bass Gerald Finley are well known and valiantly sail through the enormous orchestra. Harnoncourt gives a speech just before Part 2, and invites the audience to sing a little bit of the "Break his bands" chorus, before giving the straight performance.
It´s all great fun, and the playing of the Concentus Musicus plus friends (I imagine most of the other Viennese period ensembles like the Wiener Akademie are there) is exemplary.
This Timotheus Oder die Gewalt der Musik is probably the very last work with "work" of Mozart still to be recorded, since all the other Handel arrangements like Messiah, Acis & Galatea and the Ode on St. Cecilia´s Day have several versions in the market.

[Jared]

The early part of the evening was spent watching this very interesting Strauss opera

Stir Fry

Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
Rattle/ CBSO/ Janet Baker

A satisfactory evening all round, I'm sure you'd agree.

[fergus]

I have heard a large portion of that release Pepe and I was really very impressed with the very full sound and the lovely orchestral textures. I loved that bass drum; very atmospheric!
I also thought that the singing, both solo and choral, was great. Roberta Invernizzi's singing was wonderful I thought.

[Jose Echenique]

The early part of the evening was spent watching this very interesting Strauss opera

Stir Fry

Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
Rattle/ CBSO/ Janet Baker

A satisfactory evening all round, I'm sure you'd agree.

Ariadne is a delicious opera, but one very difficult to bring off. I saw it a long time ago in Vienna with Anna Tomowa-Sintow as Ariadne and Edita Gruberová as Zerbinetta, a dream-team cast. Haven´t seen your Blu Ray though.

[fergus]

The early part of the evening was spent watching this very interesting Strauss opera

Stir Fry

Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
Rattle/ CBSO/ Janet Baker

A satisfactory evening all round, I'm sure you'd agree.

Details of the Stir Fry please before we pass any comments on satisfaction or not!!

[Jose Echenique]

<I have heard a large portion of that release Pepe and I was really very impressed with the very full sound and the lovely orchestral textures. I loved that bass drum; very atmospheric!
I also thought that the singing, both solo and choral, was great. Roberta Invernizzi's singing was wonderful I thought.>

A very interesting release Fergus. I´m sure Harnoncourt was thrilled to record the very last notes of Mozart still waiting to be recorded.

[Seán]

I listened to

9.30am Building a Library
Jan Smaczny explores recordings of Dvorak’s Stabat Mater and makes a recommendation.

and was really surprised, as was Rob Cowen, with Jan's first choice:


Kubelik barely got a mention, which did surprise me too:


Building a Library should have a separate thread I feel, one for next August perhaps?

Next week is Shostakovich No. 5, now that will be VERY interesting.