We may be listening for different things! I'd never claim La Vestale is among my 50 favourite operas. But still I find it worth my time and hope to visit Paris in June when it will be given at the Bastille. It will be the first time the "national" Paris Opera performs it since the 19th century, although it has been given at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. For me it is like baroque opera: I can adjust to its limitations compared to later centuries, and enjoy both the works and the artists given the style. There is so much political and musical contents in Spontini and Cherubini which provides insight into their time. Their operas also help me to better understand greater works like Fidelio, Lohengrin and Le prophète - both their dramaturgy and how musical "numbers" are set up and structured.
A small group of professionals actually did their version of La Vestale here in Stockholm the past winter, with about half a dozen singers and an orchestra of five. Obviously they had to cut half the work. It was done in Swedish for audiences of about 120, and the dilemmas of Julia and Licinius seemed to work on people who had never heard of Spontini, when they were performed five metres away by singers totally invested in them.
Of course our time is limited and tastes differ, but I don't regret that live experience and listening to three recordings this year, much of the the latest Bru Zane twice. Much rather that than covering all available versions of the many operas you Ralph have written about! I find we often agree, so I love to read your analysis and find them most plausible even in the many cases where I never heard the recording in question. And never will: for me their are "dimishing returns" for even the very greatest works, and fresh discoveries among inferior works. They even add to my enjoyment of the great operas, when I realize the connections in opera history.
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