Mozart - Cos? fan tutte / Fleming, von Otter, Scarabelli, Lopardo, B?r, Pertusi, Solti
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Free Music Notes for Mozart - Cos? fan tutte / Fleming, von Otter, Scarabelli, Lopardo, B?r, Pertusi, Solti
Free Music Review: Simply Magnificent
Hit: 5 Stars
This is such a great recording!!!! Georg Solti was such a master when it came to Mozartian repertoire. Anne Sofie von Otter is a splendid Dorabella. Her mezzo voice has such focus of tone and such beautiful color. Renee Fleming shines as Fiordiligi!!!! I love her voice so much. The "Come scoglio" is brilliant!!! She has both amazing low and high notes, which one needs in order to sing Fiordiligi, (a true tour de force for soprano). Frank Lopardo has such gorgeous ring in his voice!!! I am extremely happy with his Ferrando. Olaf Bar did a good job, but I feel his part sat a little low for him during the ensembles. But he did what any good singer would do in that situation; he never once pushed his voice to a point that would produce ugly tone. Michele Pertusi did a fine job as Don Alfonso. I really like the forward placement with which he sings. He never once over darkened like most basses feel the need to do. My least favorite was Scarabelli. Her voice just wasn't up to par with the rest of the cast. Despina is definitely one of the greatest characters in the opera, but Scarabelli didn't give me what the others gave me. Although, she still did wonderfully. Free Music Review: Great musical theatre
Hit: 4 Stars
This is probably my favorite live recording so far. I decided to try this because I'm a fan of Solti's style. It might not quite live up to the hype generated by having such a star-studded cast, but it's certainly a very good performance.
The strongest point of this recording is Solti's lively pace and the rich sound he gets out of his orchestra and singers. It's definitely opera at it's grandest. But also at it's most theatrical. In contrast to most studio recordings, you get more of a feeling of drama.
I originally hesitated in buying this recording because I feel that Renee Fleming is somewhat unreliable. While she is capable of great expression, sometimes the tone of her voice is less than beautiful and her intonation can be less than perfect. I'm glad it didn't stop me in the end, because this is probably the finest performance I've ever heard her give. I think her Fiordiligi is probably on par with Schwarzkopf's.
Perhaps the biggest (well, I guess I should say, only) disappointment of this recording is Bar, the Ferrrando. Well, that's a bit harsh, because he does perform ably, but his Ferrando just isn't anywhere near Jerry Hadley's calibre. While I'm glad that this performance includes the oft-neglected "Ah lo veggio," Bar's flailing is just not attractive.
In short, I think if they had gotten Jerry Hadley to play Ferrando for this recording, I might well be disposed to call it the definitive Cosi of our time. As things stand, though, it's only 1/4 of what I consider the essential Cosi collection:
Bohm/Schwarzkopf for the best Fiordiligi
Mackerras/Lott, Hadley for the best Ferrando
Solti/Fleming for the best drama
Jacobs/Gens for the best chamber-opera feel.
Anyway, this is also a good choice as your first Cosi if you don't mind paying more than for the mid-price Bohm set.
Free Music Review: Not the one
Hit: 2 Stars
Reading all the raves for this performance and wanting another Mozart for my small collection I fell for this one. Since my only qualification is a pair of ears, I'm willing to believe the raves about high Bs and the like. However if, like myself, you like/love opera but don't recognize a high B when you hear it, you might actually find this recording dull and unremarkable. I certainly did. Free Music Review: Sparkling and Wondrous Cosi Fan Tutte Performance!
Hit: 5 Stars
COSI VAN TUTTE remains one of Mozart's most brilliant compositions, with more elegantly fluid arias, duets, trios, and ensembles than any one opera has a right to own! This 3 CD set is as fine as they come. Part of the reason is that the electricity of this live performance is something that somehow eludes studio recordings. Or is it just the opera, or the incredibly intelligent conducting of Sir Georg Solti, the warm Chamber Ensemble of Europe sound and responsiveness, or the cast that is still the dream cast for this particular opera? Whatever the explanation, this recording succeeds on every level. The tenderness of young lovers is sincere, the comedy is very much in evidence, and the purely vocal elements of uncommon difficulty sound simple in the hands of this cast. Renee Fleming is simply a radiant Fiordiligi, Anne Sofie von Otter sings Dorabella with such refinement and beauty of tone (has the trio 'Soave sia il vento" ever floated as beautifully as here?), Olaf Bar and Frank Lopardo fit the roles of the men suitors vocally and dramatically (and the interplay with their paramours is without peer), and the Despina of Adelina Scarabelli and the Don Alfonso of Michele Pertusi not only match the demands of their roles, they also deliver fine comic timing. This is still the reigning recording of this beloved opera (it dates back to 1996) and even if other recordings are in your library, this one belongs at the beginning of the Mozart section!Free Music Review: On the large scale
Hit: 3 Stars
This is Mozart done on a very grand opera scale, especially so with the female leads. Fleming and von Otter sing as beautifully and musically as one would expect, but in spirit this performance seems more like Verdi, with the grand gestures and florid vocalization, than my taste for Mozart opera, especially this one, which is with a sense of intimacy. It all depends on how you like it, because for what it is, it is generally quite well done.Some flaws, though. Solti, no surprise, seems to drive the work along a bit much, and the change in emotional quality in the music is frequently glossed over. While the ladies sound great, only Despina seems really characterized in many ways, and while the gents do a better job of 'acting' in their vocalization, I can't say the really stand out in comparison with other records. For the grand opera manner with still a sense of intimacy there is the incomparable von Karajan recording with Leopold Simoneau as the greatest Ferrando one will hear on record, singing so beautifully that in comparison I can't imagine what others hear to praise in Lopardo. Another wonferful Ferrando is Rainer Trost, with Gardiner's period performance, which also features outstanding work by Rodney Gilfry. Like his set, that one is also a live performance, a fully-staged opera recording, yet with far fewer interruptions for applause after arias, which do create a drag in this set as it goes along. Fine, in general, but not nearly one to listen to consistently.