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Re: Opera! Opera! Are these any good?

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Bjoerling is simply fantastic in both Cav and Pag in that set. I love Leonard Warren's prologue in Pag, too. Milanov is a bit of an acquired taste, but worth acquiring, I think. The recording that really made me realize how great she was (at least when at her best) is the classic Il Trovatore on RCA (also w/ Bjoerling). I don't think anyone
can soar quite like she does in the first act trio. Leontyne Price comes close (I've only heard her in the RCA w/ Domingo conducted by Mehta), but she is more smoky-voiced--not quite as pure-sounding as Milanov.

The Verdi Requiem will obviously not have very good sound, but Gigli and Pinza are again fantastic. Caniglia is a little squally, but she is the only blot on a fine performance. Another performance of this piece that I love but which seems not to win much attention is a DG mono recording conducted by Fricsay. The recording acoustic is a little dry, but the balance is the most pleasing I've ever heard for a recording of this piece (which is tough because the sound is often so big), and Kim Borg, the bass, is wonderful. The "Hostias" section is really hauntingly, gently, beautiful. This is available on CD in the "Originals" series. (Note that I've never heard the Robert Shaw version, which is also supposed to be very well recorded.) The performance that seems to be *the* classic is Giulini on EMI with Schwarzkopf et al., but I can only take Schwarzkopf in certain contexts (she's great in Falstaff, for example but a bit too mannered I think in Der Rosenkavelier), and I have not sought this one out either.

The Salome happens to be the performance that I chose to buy on CD after doing a fair bit of research into the possibilities. (If you don't have "The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Recorded Opera," by the way, it is enormously helpful though starting to get a little old.) Jose Van Dam is one of my favorite singers, and I don't think his Jochannan will leave you disappointed in this recording. (On the latest CD transfer the sound is GREAT, especially of his voice coming up from the cistern--I hope the LPs are as good because that is another spine-tingler.) Behrens is said to come closer than most to actually sounding like a teenage girl (I can't imagine Nilsson sounds *anything* like a teenage girl). I think she pulls off a great performance. If you like Salome, you should also check out Fritz Reiner's disk of excerpts on RCA with Inge Borkh.

Anyway, I think you did get some real treasures there, so congratulations and happy listening.


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