Lee
I feel it would be remiss not to thank Mr Moore for his ongoing series of reviews of decades of opera recordings. And while I may have already read some of his contributions elsewhere on other sites, I especially value Mr Moore's updated thoughts on recordings that he has revisited especially for his current series. I'm often intrigued to read about unheard of live performances of different vintages he comments on and although I hesitate to seek them out for myself, I enjoy reading about them.
Mr Moore's recommendation of Sir Georg Solti's recording of Carmen made me reflect on a conversation I recollect in a classical record outlet I used to frequent between a customer and the shop owner where they were discussing a documentary they had seen on tv on the Ozawa Carmen recording sessions. Suffice to say, they were less than complementary about Ozawa's casting choices and made unsavory remarks about Ms Norman's size in relation to her tenor partner. The customer proclaimed only Tatiana Troyanos could sing the role of Carmen.
The very knowledgeable store assistant also heard their conversation and when I mentioned at the counter I had enjoyed the documentary she gave me a complimentary highlights recording of Ozawa's recording. The look on the shop owner and customer's face was priceless when they saw this. On her recommendation, I also walked out of the shop with the only available complete recording they had in the store of Abbado's newly released complete CD version. Like many first purchases I regard it highly although I have added many recordings of Carmen to my collection, including the Solti and the complete Ozawa. Personally, I find the Decca Solti set too boomily recorded and with respect to Mr Moore, the shop owner and his customer find Ms Troyanos' subtle yet powerful Carmen reserved only for occasional listening.
For me, Solti's live recording from Covent Garden with Shirley Verrett in the title role with Domingo, Van Dam and Te Kanawa which did not feature in Mr Moore's review seems preferable, although allowances must be made for the rather boxy ROH acoustics.
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