Elektra and Salome Recommendation
Gustav Yeung
Hi all,
I am going to own my first copy of Elektra and Salome. Could any one
recommend a decent recording?
Thanks.
Gustav
===============================
Please remove NOSPAM when replying
Simon Roberts
Gustav Yeung (gus...@netvigatorNOSPAM.com) wrote:
: Hi all,
: I am going to own my first copy of Elektra and Salome. Could any one
: recommend a decent recording?
I shall limit my comments to stereo recordings. My favorite Salome
recordings are Behrens/Karajan and Studer/Sinopoli (though the latter has
a pretty awful Herod); both are superbly acted and sung and imaginatively
conducted. Nilsson's inability to act rules out Solti's, Malfitano's
inability to sing rules out Dohnanyi's (whose conducting isn't nasty
enough anyway), while nothing seems right on Caballe/Leinsdorf. I also
have a perverse fondness for what Jessye Norman does (indeed for all of
Ozawa's recording, which has an excellent cast overall) with the role, but
it would probably be irresponsible to recommend that. I shall leave
comments on complete recorded Elektras to others and will merely draw your
attention to the Reiner highlights disc on RCA and the incredible video
conducted by Boehm (his video of Salome is pretty wonderful too).
Simon
Matthew B. Tepper
In article <343ccbd0...@news.hk.super.net>,
gus...@netvigatorNOSPAM.com is alleged to have said...
>
>Hi all,
>
>I am going to own my first copy of Elektra and Salome. Could any one
>recommend a decent recording?
For these works, are you sure you want something DECENT?
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://www.deltanet.com/~ducky/index.htm
My main music page --- http://www.deltanet.com/~ducky/berlioz.htm
And my science fiction club's home page --- http://www.lasfs.org/
Eddie
My first exposure to Behren's voice was Karajan's Salome. I nearly
threw the discs out, thinking, I remember, "What kind of opera singer
is that? She sounds like a cartoon!" Ah well, I was young and
foolish. Or younger and more foolish. Today, it's my favorite Salome.
She's girlish and tough as required and the sound is terrific. I still
have the LPs and I wish I could find this on CD. I also like the
Leinsdorf, though not many people seem to. Caballe is amazing, this
is I think probably the most beautiful assumption of the part I've
ever heard, but beauty isn't what some people want in a Salome.
Elektra is one of my two favorite operas. The other is Falstaff. For
me, on CD, Behrens again with the Boston Symphony under Ozawa. This is
a live performance (or I guess more accurately, something of a
patchwork), which I prefer to strictly studio-bound stuff. There's a
real sense of occasion here that I like alot. I thought the Sawallisch
with Marton boring and the recent Sinopoli nothing special. The Solti
is the recording I got to know this work with and I still like it a
lot, but find Nilsson a little too overpowering as recorded. I much
prefer the 1965 Vienna live performance with Bohm and Rysanek or even
the Met video with Levine and Rysanek.
Try to hear ( if your not opposed to real pirate sound) what is my
favorite Elektra of all. A live performance from Carnegie Hall in 1991
with the Vienna Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel. Eva Marton, Elizabeth
Connell, Mignon Dunn, James King and Franz Grundheber. I believe
Marton to be the greatest Elektra of the day. Shes sounds tortured
from the start and goes in the course of 100 minutes or so through
successive stages of anguish until at the end, she sounds as though
she's about to SING herself to an ecstatic death as Elektra dances to
hers. Connell and Dunn are both wonderful and the orchestra is
magnificent. REALLY magnificent. Though the sound is pirate (I think
this was recorded hand-held from the audience), it's up close and
clear and Maazel brings out things I've never heard here before. The
tension is palpable right from the start and doesn't let up until
those crashing, monumental chords at the end. The audience goes wild,
as do I whenever I hear this.
Regards.
Eddie
AAbramsNY
I have to say that I still find both Nilsson recordings with Solti thrilling to
hear. Actually both operas have been exceedingly lucky in their recordings,
so you probably won't go too far wrong with any of those that have already
been mentioned.
Matthew B. Tepper
In article <343db8c0....@nntp.ix.netcom.com>, ea...@ix.netcom.com
>
>me, on CD, Behrens again with the Boston Symphony under Ozawa.
Her voice is probably low enough by now, but is she fat enough?
Tony Movshon
In article <61itgv$lrt$4...@netnews.upenn.edu>, si...@dept.english.upenn.edu (Simon Roberts) writes:
>Gustav Yeung (gus...@netvigatorNOSPAM.com) wrote:
>: I am going to own my first copy of Elektra and Salome. Could any one
>: recommend a decent recording?
>
><snip> Nilsson's inability to act rules out Solti's <snip>
With all due respect -- nonsense. Nilsson's Salome is one of the most
remarkable pieces of music-drama ever recorded, and no one has ever
matched Solti's conducting, either. A clear first choice.
The Nilsson/Solti Elektra is also the best I know.
People have different views about Solti, but it's hard to deny that
his style and temperament was ideal for Salome and Elektra. His work
makes everyone else sound prissy or underpowered.
Tony Movshon
Center for Neural Science New York University
http://www.cns.nyu.edu mov...@nyu.edu
Simon Roberts
Tony Movshon (to...@nyu.edu) wrote:
: In article <61itgv$lrt$4...@netnews.upenn.edu>, si...@dept.english.upenn.edu (Simon Roberts) writes:
: >
: ><snip> Nilsson's inability to act rules out Solti's <snip>
: With all due respect -- nonsense. Nilsson's Salome is one of the most
: remarkable pieces of music-drama ever recorded, and no one has ever
: matched Solti's conducting, either. A clear first choice.
: The Nilsson/Solti Elektra is also the best I know.
: People have different views about Solti, but it's hard to deny that
: his style and temperament was ideal for Salome and Elektra. His work
: makes everyone else sound prissy or underpowered.
Well, it's all a matter of taste, of course, but to these ears all the
singers to whom I referred act rings around Nilsson (and have more
suitable voices and sing better too, for that matter: I can't bear the
ghastly upward swoop she does on "allein was tut's" near the end, for
instance). As for Solti, yes he does conduct it well, though much of the
"impact" of what he does is attributable to the engineers. If Karajan had
been given comparably aggressive sound, his would be similar -- as is
Sinopoli, who does have such sound; but Karajan and Sinopoli seem more
imaginative to me than Solti. Fortunately, I don't have to choose among
them.
Simon
Tony Movshon
In article <61mffb$c7g$2...@netnews.upenn.edu>, si...@dept.english.upenn.edu (Simon Roberts) writes:
>Well, it's all a matter of taste, of course, but <snip>
Absolutely.
>As for Solti, yes he does conduct it well, though much of the
>"impact" of what he does is attributable to the engineers. If Karajan had
>been given comparably aggressive sound, his would be similar
The engineers did very well for Solti. Elektra ('68) is actually quite
a bit better than Salome ('61), which sounds a bit congested. But I
really don't think that Karajan's typically smooth/legato approach
would sound like Solti's aggressive and rhythmic one if he had the
same engineering. As usual, HvK seems to be too concerned with making
the music *sound* beautiful, but to make Salome and Elektra *only*
beautiful flies in the face of the dramas.
Mr. Mike
On 10 Oct 1997 22:36:20 GMT, to...@nyu.edu (Tony Movshon) wrote:
>With all due respect -- nonsense. Nilsson's Salome is one of the most
>remarkable pieces of music-drama ever recorded, and no one has ever
>matched Solti's conducting, either. A clear first choice.
>
There is also Stolze's slimy performance as Herod which is outstanding!!
Simon Roberts
Tony Movshon (to...@nyu.edu) wrote:
: The engineers did very well for Solti. Elektra ('68) is actually quite
: a bit better than Salome ('61), which sounds a bit congested. But I
: really don't think that Karajan's typically smooth/legato approach
: would sound like Solti's aggressive and rhythmic one if he had the
: same engineering. As usual, HvK seems to be too concerned with making
: the music *sound* beautiful, but to make Salome and Elektra *only*
: beautiful flies in the face of the dramas.
I don't think Karajan sounds at all smooth here; what do you think of
Sinopoli's conducting, though?
Simon
Tony Movshon
In article <61pfng$4m7$1...@netnews.upenn.edu>, si...@dept.english.upenn.edu (Simon Roberts) writes:
>: I wrote:
>: As usual, HvK seems to be too concerned with making
>: the music *sound* beautiful, but to make Salome and Elektra *only*
>: beautiful flies in the face of the dramas.
>I don't think Karajan sounds at all smooth here
Well, I think even HvK couldn't really make this music sound "smooth",
but passage by passage Solti seems to get much more punch and rhythmic
force, as well as more characterful wind and brass playing.
> what do you think of Sinopoli's conducting, though?
Haven't heard it; sounds like I ought to.
Gddecker
Of Elektra, I recommend Solti's with Birgit Nilsson or Böhm's 1950s
Dresden account with Inge Borkh. I also like the newest recording of it
with Alessandra Marc and Sinopoli. Regardless of what the critics say,
it's a powerful rendition. You should also try to see the video of it with
Leonie Rysanek as Elektra and Astrid Varnay as Klytemnestra. It was Böhm's
last project and is one of my all-time favorite operas on video!
Of Salome, I recommend the Dohnanyi or von Karajan recordings. The film
with Malfitano is conducted by Sinopoli and is devastatingly acted.
Geoffrey Decker
Tony Duggan
I heard some extracts yesterday from the live Salzburg Festival
Elektra conducted by Mitropoulos. It's on Orfeo and is sounds well
worth looking out for.
--
=================================================================
Tony Duggan, scri...@dial.pipex.com
Staffordshire, UK.
=================================================================
Tony Movshon
In article <3440FC...@dial.pipex.com>, Tony Duggan <scri...@dial.pipex.com> writes:
>I heard some extracts yesterday from the live Salzburg Festival
>Elektra conducted by Mitropoulos. It's on Orfeo and is sounds well
>worth looking out for.
I heard the same broadcast, and it sounded like a performance worth
getting. But the comments of the announcers and the sound I heard
suggested that the '50s mono recording would be hard to take for 100
minutes -- the voices were very dominating.
Speedbyrd :>
On Thu, 09 Oct 1997 12:30:21 GMT, gus...@netvigatorNOSPAM.com (Gustav
Yeung) wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>I am going to own my first copy of Elektra and Salome. Could any one
>recommend a decent recording?
>
>
>Thanks.
>
>Gustav
>
>===============================
>Please remove NOSPAM when replying
Studer on DG for Salome and the Teldec versin of Elektra.
Hsuan de
to...@nyu.edu (Tony Movshon) wrote:
>I heard the same broadcast, and it sounded like a performance worth
>getting. But the comments of the announcers and the sound I heard
>suggested that the '50s mono recording would be hard to take for 100
>minutes -- the voices were very dominating.
> Tony Movshon
>Center for Neural Science New York University
>http://www.cns.nyu.edu mov...@nyu.edu
Speaking of the 50s, has anyone heard Krauss' Salome? I've never seen
it in the stores, but recall having read (somewhere) that Decca has
released it. It should be an interesting performance. [and yes, I'm
very aware of Krauss's past political affiliations; thanks...!]
Hsuan de
Simon Roberts
Hsuan de (hxu...@tartarus.uwa.edu.au) wrote:
: to...@nyu.edu (Tony Movshon) wrote:
: Hsuan de
I have not heard it, but can confirm that it's on CD somewhere: my local
(Philadelphia downtown) Tower had a copy imported from somewhere (Germany?
Japan?) a few months ago....
Simon
Allen Watson
In article <19971012103...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
gdde...@aol.com (Gddecker) wrote:
>
> Of Salome, I recommend the Dohnanyi or von Karajan recordings. The film
> with Malfitano is conducted by Sinopoli and is devastatingly acted.
>
That's the one with the black Jochanaan, right? ("Nichts in der Welt
ist so weiss wie dein Fleisch...???") Also the one in which
Malfitano crosses the line between "erotic" and "gross," IMHO.
For an excellent film version of Salome, catch the DGG videotape or
laser disc with Karl Boehm conducting Teresa Stratas, Hans Beirer,
and Astrid Varnay.
For an unsurpassed vocal experience, listen to the recently reissued
Ljuba Welitsch recordings on Sony classical. Brr!
Good hunting!
- Allen
***********************************
"Queremos genios en vida."
- Mecano
***********************************
Vodnik
wat...@apple.com (Allen Watson) wrote:
>That's the one with the black Jochanaan, right? ("Nichts in
>der Welt ist so weiss wie dein Fleisch...???")
Gregg Baker, the Jokanaan (sp?) in a recent Philly production
of "Salome", is not only black but 6'6"- and the stage didn't
have a trap door, so he had to spend most of the performance
crouched inside a rather confining platform. BTW, the
supertitles translated that line as "Nothing on earth is as
*pale* as your skin."
Beyond those oddities, it was an imposing performance in
a surprisingly good production.
-Sol Siegel, Philadelphia, PA
---------------------------------------------------------
"It takes a village to raise a child- but it only
takes one idiot to burn down the village."
David Gable
Three sensational recordings of the final scene of Salome are:
Inge Borkh, Fritz Reiner (RCA)
Ljuba Welitsch, MET orchestra (various live labels)
Anja Silja, Christoph von Dohnanyi (Decca/London)
Borkh was one of the great under-rated sopranos of our century. Her
clear strong voice floated out effortlessly over any orchestral mass
Strauss might provide, and she was also a scrupulous musician. The
contributions to her recording by Reiner, the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra, and RCA's engineers are justly famous. Welitsch was justly
reknowned for her riveting Salome. She threw herself into the role with
utter conviction to spell-binding effect, unembarrassed by the kitschy
aspects of the Wilde-Strauss shocker. I know her performances only from
live recordings. I don't know the Columbia recording now on Sony. Anja
Silja and Dohnanyi generated electricity in their recording of the final
scene, and the Vienna Phil sounded like the greatest orchestra in the
world. It was all captured in vivid stereo sound, but Decca/London has
not reissued it on CD. (The Lulu Suite recording on the same disc is on
the same high level.)
- david gable
BGoff1376
The only way to go with both is Solti, Birgit Nilson, Vienna Phil
Tony Movshon
In article <19971104080...@ladder02.news.aol.com>, bgof...@aol.com (BGoff1376) writes:
>The only way to go with both is Solti, Birgit Nilson, Vienna Phil
As I have said before, that is indeed a very good way to go. However,
on Simon Roberts' recommendation I recently acquired the Sinopoli
recordings on DGG (Salome s/ Studer, Elektra w/ Marc). They are both
remarkably good. I'm revising my former low opinion of Sinopoli.
wiz...@manger.demon.co.uk
Stay with Nilsson / Solti: you won't have such sheer animal, chilling
violence and psychological depth, nor such fizzing excitement in the
band any where else. The wonderful thing is that I saw Solti / Nilsson in
their final ROCG performance and, believe me, that lady could cut through
a band at full throttle. She is no 'studio-kid': she did it out there in
the full glare, in front of hundreds, staring straight down the barrel of
Strauss' impossible demands: look, mum, no hands stuff. I do not think we
shall look upon their like again.