Tír Na HiFi

Simon Rattle has been unlucky in opera recordings. Save for his recordings of Porgy and Bess and King Roger, his Cosi fan Tutte and Fidelio have been distinct failures. Now he tries his luck with one of the most difficult of all popular operas: Carmen.
The Berlin Philharmonic launches the prelude with Prussian discipline, but the sense of theatre, of drama, that Abbado and Solti immediately command is missing. The best thing that one can say of Rattle is that he manages to keep the score together, something that many conductors have failed to, Karajan included, but if you are going to conduct Carmen you will have to be measured against the likes of Beecham, Abbado and Solti, who conducted Carmen brilliantly, and that´s where Rattle is found wanting.
His Carmen is his mistress in real life, Magdalena Kozena, a light, lyric soprano/mezzo better known for her Mozart and Baroque repertoire. Long ago she recorded a French opera arias recital where she included some of Carmen, so we knew what to expect. There´s nothing wrong with a lyric mezzo singing Carmen. Since Carmen was premiered in the smallish Opéra-Comique it´s almost certain that Célestine Galli-Marié, the first Carmen, had a small, lyric voice, because if it had been a big, grand voice she would have been a star at the more opulent Paris Opéra. Kozena understands what the role is about and even more important she is stylish and musically pleasing, all that is missing is that special Mediterranean magic that made Teresa Berganza utterly unforgettable at the Edinburgh Festival and in the Abbado recording.
Jonas Kaufmann is the one thrilling voice in this recording. He starts a little cold but by the Flower Song one is well aware that this is the real thing. We haven´t had a Wagnerian tenor as don José since Jon Vickers and the wait has been worthwhile.
The Micaela, Genia Kühmeier, and the Escamillo Kostas Smoriginas, are good.
This is a respectable Carmen, much better than either of Maazel´s recordings, more sound than the Ozawa with Jessye Norman, and more stylish than either of Karajan´s Spaghetti Westerns. But it falls short of the Beecham with the adorable Victoria de los Angeles, the surprisingly satisfying Solti with Tatiana Troyanos or the quite simply magnificent, incomparable Teresa Berganza/Plácido Domingo/Claudio Abbado version (who can top that?).

Thank you for all of the tips and recommendations for Carmen Pepe!

On vinyl....

Brahms - Piano Concerto No.2 (Daniel Barenboim/John Barbirolli, New Philharmonia Orchestra, EMI)

another coincdence, it has to be said; only last week, I treated myself to this Blu Ray, which I watched on my days off:



of course, I would have no idea where this one would stand in the pantheon of Carmens past and present, but I have to say, I thought it was really well performed. Antonacci in particular was impressive as a smouldering Carmen, whilst Pappano was his at usual best. Pepe, have you seen this version and do you have any views on it? This is the only time I have ever seen Carmen all the way through, so wouldn't be able to compare it.

Ginastera - Dances from Estancia (Gustavo Dudamel, Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, Deutsche Grammophon)

Prokofiev - Symphony No.5 (Marin Alsop, Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Naxos)

What a wonderful sound world there is on this CD. The music is alive and vibrant and is wonderfully played. Symphony No. 3 is a particularly noteworthy work.

Jared wrote:another coincdence, it has to be said; only last week, I treated myself to this Blu Ray, which I watched on my days off:



of course, I would have no idea where this one would stand in the pantheon of Carmens past and present, but I have to say, I thought it was really well performed. Antonacci in particular was impressive as a smouldering Carmen, whilst Pappano was his at usual best. Pepe, have you seen this version and do you have any views on it? This is the only time I have ever seen Carmen all the way through, so wouldn't be able to compare it.

That is an EXCELLENT Carmen Jared, and Big, Bad Mamma Antonacci is easily the finest Carmen of this decade, finer still than Kozena or Garanca. The Royal Opera House production is very enjoyable and Tony Pappano finds much more in the score than Rattle. The great Jonas Kaufmann is every bit as good as in the Rattle recording.
Having said that, there´s an even BETTER Carmen on dvd that is quite simply a MUST for everyone. That is John Eliot Gardiner´s gorgeous Opéra-Comique production with, who else, but the indispensable Anna Caterina Antonacci once more. But great as Antonacci was with Pappano, she´s even more impressive with Gardiner, maybe because of the intimate surroundings of the Opéra-Comique and the less brassy sound of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique who play like gods for Sir John.
Visually, it´s less spectacular than the Covent Garden production, but musically it´s almost in the class of the Abbado recording. What a pity that they didn´t release it on audio too.

^^ thanks for that Pepe, I must admit, I found it one of the most compelling of the Blu Rays that I have purchased, partly because Antonacci can certainly act as well as sing... I really felt she inhabited the role convincingly.