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The Solti Elektra
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RANDY WOLFGANG
Sep 18, 2019, 8:12:05 PM9/18/19
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For me this recording is invaluable for two contributionas - the Elektra of Nilsson who is the only soprano I have ever heard who actually sings the role as written (and I'm not talking about the fact the set is complete but more on that later) and Resniks Klytemnestra. Marie Collier is perfectly dreadful but she was a last minute replacement for another soprano who bailed after the sessions had started. Its interesting that although Culshaw, Solti and Decca wanted to record the score complete, Nilsson (armed with a letter from Bohm saying that Strauss sanctioned the cuts) was adamant that the score be recorded with the usual cuts. They tried everything to convince her even adding up the timings between the two versions as less than seven minutes. So they went on and recorded the usual cut version and prepared it for release. Then Nilsson gave in and consented to give them one day to record the missing portions. Solti rearranged his schedule and it just happened the Sofiensaal was available that day The problem is the Vienna Phil was on tour that day although some members were still home in Vienna. So Decca augmented them with players from other orchestras to record the missing seven minutes. They also spliced in Colliers interjections during that seven minutes recorded in another country and another hall. This all happened six months after the cut version was completed. The engineers must be given credit for putting everythung together - I sure don't hear any differences
Jerry
Sep 19, 2019, 9:20:56 AM9/19/19
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Many thanks for pointing out that detail. I confess that I don't know Elektra, or for that matter any of the other Strauss operas, as well as his core orchestral repertoire. So, perhaps it's time to dip into Elektra.
My copy of the Solti Elektra (417 345-2) with notes by Michael Kennedy
gives no clue as to which tracks represent these usual cuts. Can anyone
familiar with this recording point those out?
Also, any suggestions on which tracks might be best to sample first? *
Jerry
* A cautious approach, I know, but one that seems to work best for me in coming to grips with longer works.
My copy of the Solti Elektra (417 345-2) with notes by Michael Kennedy
gives no clue as to which tracks represent these usual cuts. Can anyone
familiar with this recording point those out?
Also, any suggestions on which tracks might be best to sample first? *
Jerry
* A cautious approach, I know, but one that seems to work best for me in coming to grips with longer works.
Mandryka
Sep 19, 2019, 9:53:50 AM9/19/19
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RANDY WOLFGANG
Sep 19, 2019, 12:41:26 PM9/19/19
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RANDY WOLFGANG
Sep 19, 2019, 12:46:04 PM9/19/19
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On Thursday, September 19, 2019 at 9:20:56 AM UTC-4, Jerry wrote:
Dana John Hill
Sep 19, 2019, 4:40:54 PM9/19/19
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Dana
RANDY WOLFGANG
Sep 19, 2019, 8:39:02 PM9/19/19
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Tassilo
Sep 21, 2019, 1:03:50 PM9/21/19
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Who was Solti's (and Culshaw's) first choice for Chrysothemis? (Christa Ludwig was Boulez's first choice for Marie in his Wozzeck recording but he ended up with the far from adequate Isabel Strauss.) -Tassilo
furrybear57
Sep 21, 2019, 8:11:49 PM9/21/19
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RANDY WOLFGANG
Sep 22, 2019, 1:52:27 AM9/22/19
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gggg...@gmail.com
Sep 22, 2019, 1:56:52 PM9/22/19
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https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.music.opera/TlC7NdirQq8
gggg...@gmail.com
Sep 23, 2020, 5:16:58 PM9/23/20
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On Wednesday, September 18, 2019 at 5:12:05 PM UTC-7, RANDY WOLFGANG wrote:
> For me this recording is invaluable for two contributionas - the Elektra of Nilsson who is the only soprano I have ever heard who actually sings the role as written (and I'm not talking about the fact the set is complete but more on that later) and Resniks Klytemnestra. Marie Collier is perfectly dreadful but she was a last minute replacement for another soprano who bailed after the sessions had started. Its interesting that although Culshaw, Solti and Decca wanted to record the score complete, Nilsson (armed with a letter from Bohm saying that Strauss sanctioned the cuts) was adamant that the score be recorded with the usual cuts. They tried everything to convince her even adding up the timings between the two versions as less than seven minutes. So they went on and recorded the usual cut version and prepared it for release. Then Nilsson gave in and consented to give them one day to record the missing portions. Solti rearranged his schedule and it just happened the Sofiensaal was available that day The problem is the Vienna Phil was on tour that day although some members were still home in Vienna. So Decca augmented them with players from other orchestras to record the missing seven minutes. They also spliced in Colliers interjections during that seven minutes recorded in another country and another hall. This all happened six months after the cut version was completed. The engineers must be given credit for putting everythung together - I sure don't hear any differences
The following review may be of interest:
> For me this recording is invaluable for two contributionas - the Elektra of Nilsson who is the only soprano I have ever heard who actually sings the role as written (and I'm not talking about the fact the set is complete but more on that later) and Resniks Klytemnestra. Marie Collier is perfectly dreadful but she was a last minute replacement for another soprano who bailed after the sessions had started. Its interesting that although Culshaw, Solti and Decca wanted to record the score complete, Nilsson (armed with a letter from Bohm saying that Strauss sanctioned the cuts) was adamant that the score be recorded with the usual cuts. They tried everything to convince her even adding up the timings between the two versions as less than seven minutes. So they went on and recorded the usual cut version and prepared it for release. Then Nilsson gave in and consented to give them one day to record the missing portions. Solti rearranged his schedule and it just happened the Sofiensaal was available that day The problem is the Vienna Phil was on tour that day although some members were still home in Vienna. So Decca augmented them with players from other orchestras to record the missing seven minutes. They also spliced in Colliers interjections during that seven minutes recorded in another country and another hall. This all happened six months after the cut version was completed. The engineers must be given credit for putting everythung together - I sure don't hear any differences
https://books.google.com/books?id=TMQF9tRD8zEC&pg=PA748&dq=%22a+deep+dark+difficult+black+diamond+of+an+opera%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj-srfFmYDsAhWW9Z4KHb2eBJsQ6AEwAHoECAAQAg#v=onepage&q=%22a%20deep%20dark%20difficult%20black%20diamond%20of%20an%20opera%22&f=false
meyers...@gmail.com
Sep 23, 2020, 9:58:45 PM9/23/20
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Lawrence Kart
Sep 23, 2020, 11:37:20 PM9/23/20
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Message has been deleted
gggg...@gmail.com
Oct 5, 2020, 2:07:59 PM10/5/20
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gggg gggg
Jan 9, 2023, 10:33:22 PM1/9/23
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On Wednesday, September 18, 2019 at 5:12:05 PM UTC-7, meyers...@gmail.com wrote:
> For me this recording is invaluable for two contributionas - the Elektra of Nilsson who is the only soprano I have ever heard who actually sings the role as written (and I'm not talking about the fact the set is complete but more on that later) and Resniks Klytemnestra. Marie Collier is perfectly dreadful but she was a last minute replacement for another soprano who bailed after the sessions had started. Its interesting that although Culshaw, Solti and Decca wanted to record the score complete, Nilsson (armed with a letter from Bohm saying that Strauss sanctioned the cuts) was adamant that the score be recorded with the usual cuts. They tried everything to convince her even adding up the timings between the two versions as less than seven minutes. So they went on and recorded the usual cut version and prepared it for release. Then Nilsson gave in and consented to give them one day to record the missing portions. Solti rearranged his schedule and it just happened the Sofiensaal was available that day The problem is the Vienna Phil was on tour that day although some members were still home in Vienna. So Decca augmented them with players from other orchestras to record the missing seven minutes. They also spliced in Colliers interjections during that seven minutes recorded in another country and another hall. This all happened six months after the cut version was completed. The engineers must be given credit for putting everythung together - I sure don't hear any differences
According to this:
> For me this recording is invaluable for two contributionas - the Elektra of Nilsson who is the only soprano I have ever heard who actually sings the role as written (and I'm not talking about the fact the set is complete but more on that later) and Resniks Klytemnestra. Marie Collier is perfectly dreadful but she was a last minute replacement for another soprano who bailed after the sessions had started. Its interesting that although Culshaw, Solti and Decca wanted to record the score complete, Nilsson (armed with a letter from Bohm saying that Strauss sanctioned the cuts) was adamant that the score be recorded with the usual cuts. They tried everything to convince her even adding up the timings between the two versions as less than seven minutes. So they went on and recorded the usual cut version and prepared it for release. Then Nilsson gave in and consented to give them one day to record the missing portions. Solti rearranged his schedule and it just happened the Sofiensaal was available that day The problem is the Vienna Phil was on tour that day although some members were still home in Vienna. So Decca augmented them with players from other orchestras to record the missing seven minutes. They also spliced in Colliers interjections during that seven minutes recorded in another country and another hall. This all happened six months after the cut version was completed. The engineers must be given credit for putting everythung together - I sure don't hear any differences
- Elektra had never been properly recorded in either the musical or the technical sense, for earlier versions had suffered from cuts and from a type of balance which perversely made the text audible at the expense of Strauss’s music.
https://forty-five.com/papers/operas-ethics-and-elektra-a-return-to-the-recordings-of-john-culshaw
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