Post by J SWould someone please comment on the recent DG set (which turned out to
be Maestro Sinopoli's swan song)?
With his conducting and a cast including Voigt, Dessay, von Otter and
Heppner, this must surely be special.
I should have been, but it really isn't. Here are some comments I
made on another forum when this was issued (it was in response to
another posting from someone named "Joshua Rabinowitz"):
The orchestra plays very well, and while there's
nothing egregiously *wrong* with the conducting, it lacks any of the
magic
that I hear on the best recordings of the opera (especially the Kempe,
which has been my favorite). Sinopoli certainly provides better
leadership
than does, for example, Masur.
As for the singers, von Otter's the biggest disappointment. She
sounds a
bit thin and shrill, and curiously underpowered. She can't seem to
make
much of an impression, because she seems to be doing all she can to
simply
make the necessary sounds. Dessay has all of the notes and makes a
lovely
sound - what she lacks is the sort of vocal personality and/or panache
of
Streich and (especially) Gruberova.
Heppner is probably the best reason to buy the set. He's easily the
best
Bacchus on records, and I'm pleased to report that DG seems to record
him
better than RCA ever did, which bodes well for his future projects
with
that label (a CD of French arias is due out in November).
As for Voigt, "Joshua Rabinowitz" fails to point out that her Ariadne
is a
very impressive piece of singing per se. The voice sounds large, even
from
top to bottom, and steady as a rock. On the basis of this recording,
I
think that she'd make an ideal Bruennhilde. Unfortunately, Ariadne
isn't
Bruennhilde, and while admiring the sheer sound I wish for much more
lyricism, a sense of ease, and something more than the most
generalized "temperament".
There's a very strong Music Master from Albert Dohmen, rather
different
from the usual aging baritone ready for the glue factory. Also a
particularly characterful group of comedians, particulary Genz as
Harlekin.
Summary: Fans of any of the lead singers (except ASvO) are not likely
to be
disappointed. The Opera itself (as opposed to the Prologue) has, I
think,
never been *sung* this well on records. An excellent "reference"
version,
but not likely to supplant Kempe on my shelf.
Bill