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Thoughts on some other recordings of La Vestale
Posted by Stephen Wells on July 30, 2023, 10:30 pm
I recently posted a review of the new Bru Zane recording of La Vestale on Amazon that has yet to appear on their web site. In preparing to write that review, I listened again to the other recordings of this opera in my collection, two sung in French and two in Italian. I agree with everything Mike Parr said in his review of the Bru Zane set, so I’ll leave my comments on it out here, but reproduce my observations on the other recordings in my collection.
I followed the French performances with a piano vocal score I downloaded from the IMSLP Petrucci Music Library. Their website indicates that the score was published in Paris by Mesdemoiselles Erard, circa 1808. The Bru Zane recording uses the critical edition of the score published by Ricordi in 1993. I believe this is the same edition Riccardo Muti used when he conducted the opera at La Scala in December 1993. The recordings conducted by Rousset and Muti contain music not in the printed vocal score. The other recording in French, conducted by Gustav Kuhn conformed to the printed score. The two recordings in Italian present heavily cut performances of the Italian language piano vocal score published by Ricordi.
The first studio recording of this opera was issued on the Orfeo label, conducted by Gustav Kuhn. This is performed in French and follows the vocal score I consulted. I regret to say that it’s just about twice as dull as ditchwater. Even Rosalind Plowright’s Julia can’t breathe any life into the glacial tempi taken by Kuhn. This plays nearly 15 minutes longer than the Bru Zane recording and contains less music. The rest of the cast vary from acceptable (Francisco Araiza as a dry-voiced Licinius) to mediocre (Gisella Pasino as the Grand Vestal) to outright awful (Pierre Lefebvre as Cinna). This set is best avoided.
The recording conducted by Riccardo Muti has a lot going for it, with one major drawback, the soprano. Muti opted to cast a baritone as Licinius and a tenor as Cinna. This required a few downward transpositions of Licinius’s vocal lines, and I noticed that Licinius and Cinna switch lines in the ensembles. Anthony Michaels-Moore sings Licinius with great beauty of tone. J. Patrick Raftery and Denyce Graves are also very good as Cinna and the Grand Vestal. The singers in the smaller parts are capable, if not remarkable. The real problem with this set is the leading lady. A search on Amazon for Karen Huffstodt reveals very little other than this recording. Having sat through this recording again, I can understand why. Her tone is unfocussed and unsteady and notes above the staff usually come out as shrieks. There are a few sixteenth note figures that she simply doesn’t attempt to sing. I’m surprised such a stickler as Muti put up with this. This is the only recording to include the extensive ballet music, 17 minutes in the first act finale and another 15 minutes tacked on at the end of the opera. Even the stylish singing of Anthony Michaels-Moore and the completeness of the performance can’t make up for the train-wreck of the soprano.
The two recordings in Italian that I own both date from the early 1950s.
The first recording of this opera I purchased back in the 1970s was a private/pirate LP recording the opening night at La Scala on 7 December 1954. This is still probably the best-known recording of this work for its cast of Maria Callas, Franco Corelli, Ebi Stignani and Nicola Rossi-Lemeni. I admit that I have a limited tolerance for the sound of historical recordings. The old LPs made for rough listening and the remastering by Warner a few years ago didn’t improve on my recollection of the long-discarded LPs. I find it hard to appreciate Maria Callas at the height of her powers or Franco Corelli in the early days of his career though the constant hiss and crackle. Choruses and ensembles are just overloaded, oversaturated aural muck. I didn’t even bother to listen to the portion of the ballet included in this performance. I know this recording is generally admired, but it’s not for me. If I want to hear Callas as Giulia, I can listen to her commercial recordings of the arias that cover most of the role. I really couldn’t get an idea of what the opera was like from this set, so I purchased the only other recording I could find in 1970-something.
This is another live recording, this time of a concert by the Roma RAI on 27 March 1951. Like many other concert performances of opera by the RAI in the early 50s, this was issued on LP by Cetra. I owned the original LPs which I replaced when Warner briefly reissued these recordings in the early 2000s. (I have a particular fondness for the generally blood-and-guts-take-no-prisoners approach of these concerts.) This performance is still available on other labels on Amazon. The cast on this set consists of names that are, for the most part, forgotten nowadays: Maria Vitale as Giulia, Renato Gavarini as Licinio, Alfredo Fineschi as Cinna, and Elena Nicolai as the Grand Vestal. I took a great deal of pleasure in the full-throated singing of all of them, especially Maria Vitale who shows a real understanding of Giulia's conflicting feelings. Fernando Previtali keeps things moving along. A greater sense of the drama comes across on this recording than through the occluded sound of the performance from La Scala. The sound of all the recordings in the Cetra series is undeniably gritty, but it’s still decent, clear mono, especially when one considers that this was set down over 70 years ago.
I know there are other live recordings available, but I haven’t sufficient interest in this opera to explore them. I purchased these four recordings trying to understand the appeal of this opera. Indeed, until I heard the Bru Zane recording, I never found much interest in this work, full stop. I’m sure I’ll return to the Bru Zane set. The others will probably languish on a shelf, to be touched again only by a duster.
Re: Thoughts on some other recordings of La Vestale
Thank you for that comprehensive survey of the available recordings, Stephen. In a previous thread about Cherubini's Les Abencerages, I rather rudely wrote "La vestale is such a bore, despite Callas' brief espousal of it" yet sadly that reflects my inability to appreciate it. My only acquaintance with it is through that Callas recording and in my review of the Maria Callas Live big box set in 2017 I remarked that the Parisian sound restoration engineers at Studio Art et Son had done a good job for Warner, cleaning up some of the overload, though I grant you it will never give much aural pleasure. I guess I should give it another go, especially as I am reasonably tolerant of historical sound - up to a point, but as you demonstrate, the recording options are very limited.
American soprano Karen Huffstodt came in for some quite heavy criticism from some quarters for her Salome, recorded live in 1991 under Nagano, sung in the French version, but in my survey I found her to be very good there and she had a considerable international career, even singing La vestale at La Scala. Maybe she had bad days; I don't know.
Previous Message
I recently posted a review of the new Bru Zane recording of La Vestale on Amazon that has yet to appear on their web site. In preparing to write that review, I listened again to the other recordings of this opera in my collection, two sung in French and two in Italian. I agree with everything Mike Parr said in his review of the Bru Zane set, so I’ll leave my comments on it out here, but reproduce my observations on the other recordings in my collection.
I followed the French performances with a piano vocal score I downloaded from the IMSLP Petrucci Music Library. Their website indicates that the score was published in Paris by Mesdemoiselles Erard, circa 1808. The Bru Zane recording uses the critical edition of the score published by Ricordi in 1993. I believe this is the same edition Riccardo Muti used when he conducted the opera at La Scala in December 1993. The recordings conducted by Rousset and Muti contain music not in the printed vocal score. The other recording in French, conducted by Gustav Kuhn conformed to the printed score. The two recordings in Italian present heavily cut performances of the Italian language piano vocal score published by Ricordi.
The first studio recording of this opera was issued on the Orfeo label, conducted by Gustav Kuhn. This is performed in French and follows the vocal score I consulted. I regret to say that it’s just about twice as dull as ditchwater. Even Rosalind Plowright’s Julia can’t breathe any life into the glacial tempi taken by Kuhn. This plays nearly 15 minutes longer than the Bru Zane recording and contains less music. The rest of the cast vary from acceptable (Francisco Araiza as a dry-voiced Licinius) to mediocre (Gisella Pasino as the Grand Vestal) to outright awful (Pierre Lefebvre as Cinna). This set is best avoided.
The recording conducted by Riccardo Muti has a lot going for it, with one major drawback, the soprano. Muti opted to cast a baritone as Licinius and a tenor as Cinna. This required a few downward transpositions of Licinius’s vocal lines, and I noticed that Licinius and Cinna switch lines in the ensembles. Anthony Michaels-Moore sings Licinius with great beauty of tone. J. Patrick Raftery and Denyce Graves are also very good as Cinna and the Grand Vestal. The singers in the smaller parts are capable, if not remarkable. The real problem with this set is the leading lady. A search on Amazon for Karen Huffstodt reveals very little other than this recording. Having sat through this recording again, I can understand why. Her tone is unfocussed and unsteady and notes above the staff usually come out as shrieks. There are a few sixteenth note figures that she simply doesn’t attempt to sing. I’m surprised such a stickler as Muti put up with this. This is the only recording to include the extensive ballet music, 17 minutes in the first act finale and another 15 minutes tacked on at the end of the opera. Even the stylish singing of Anthony Michaels-Moore and the completeness of the performance can’t make up for the train-wreck of the soprano.
The two recordings in Italian that I own both date from the early 1950s.
The first recording of this opera I purchased back in the 1970s was a private/pirate LP recording the opening night at La Scala on 7 December 1954. This is still probably the best-known recording of this work for its cast of Maria Callas, Franco Corelli, Ebi Stignani and Nicola Rossi-Lemeni. I admit that I have a limited tolerance for the sound of historical recordings. The old LPs made for rough listening and the remastering by Warner a few years ago didn’t improve on my recollection of the long-discarded LPs. I find it hard to appreciate Maria Callas at the height of her powers or Franco Corelli in the early days of his career though the constant hiss and crackle. Choruses and ensembles are just overloaded, oversaturated aural muck. I didn’t even bother to listen to the portion of the ballet included in this performance. I know this recording is generally admired, but it’s not for me. If I want to hear Callas as Giulia, I can listen to her commercial recordings of the arias that cover most of the role. I really couldn’t get an idea of what the opera was like from this set, so I purchased the only other recording I could find in 1970-something.
This is another live recording, this time of a concert by the Roma RAI on 27 March 1951. Like many other concert performances of opera by the RAI in the early 50s, this was issued on LP by Cetra. I owned the original LPs which I replaced when Warner briefly reissued these recordings in the early 2000s. (I have a particular fondness for the generally blood-and-guts-take-no-prisoners approach of these concerts.) This performance is still available on other labels on Amazon. The cast on this set consists of names that are, for the most part, forgotten nowadays: Maria Vitale as Giulia, Renato Gavarini as Licinio, Alfredo Fineschi as Cinna, and Elena Nicolai as the Grand Vestal. I took a great deal of pleasure in the full-throated singing of all of them, especially Maria Vitale who shows a real understanding of Giulia's conflicting feelings. Fernando Previtali keeps things moving along. A greater sense of the drama comes across on this recording than through the occluded sound of the performance from La Scala. The sound of all the recordings in the Cetra series is undeniably gritty, but it’s still decent, clear mono, especially when one considers that this was set down over 70 years ago.
I know there are other live recordings available, but I haven’t sufficient interest in this opera to explore them. I purchased these four recordings trying to understand the appeal of this opera. Indeed, until I heard the Bru Zane recording, I never found much interest in this work, full stop. I’m sure I’ll return to the Bru Zane set. The others will probably languish on a shelf, to be touched again only by a duster.
Re: Thoughts on some other recordings of La Vestale
PS: I have remembered that I have the Cetra recording, too, so will start with that and get back to you!
Previous Message
I recently posted a review of the new Bru Zane recording of La Vestale on Amazon that has yet to appear on their web site. In preparing to write that review, I listened again to the other recordings of this opera in my collection, two sung in French and two in Italian. I agree with everything Mike Parr said in his review of the Bru Zane set, so I’ll leave my comments on it out here, but reproduce my observations on the other recordings in my collection.
I followed the French performances with a piano vocal score I downloaded from the IMSLP Petrucci Music Library. Their website indicates that the score was published in Paris by Mesdemoiselles Erard, circa 1808. The Bru Zane recording uses the critical edition of the score published by Ricordi in 1993. I believe this is the same edition Riccardo Muti used when he conducted the opera at La Scala in December 1993. The recordings conducted by Rousset and Muti contain music not in the printed vocal score. The other recording in French, conducted by Gustav Kuhn conformed to the printed score. The two recordings in Italian present heavily cut performances of the Italian language piano vocal score published by Ricordi.
The first studio recording of this opera was issued on the Orfeo label, conducted by Gustav Kuhn. This is performed in French and follows the vocal score I consulted. I regret to say that it’s just about twice as dull as ditchwater. Even Rosalind Plowright’s Julia can’t breathe any life into the glacial tempi taken by Kuhn. This plays nearly 15 minutes longer than the Bru Zane recording and contains less music. The rest of the cast vary from acceptable (Francisco Araiza as a dry-voiced Licinius) to mediocre (Gisella Pasino as the Grand Vestal) to outright awful (Pierre Lefebvre as Cinna). This set is best avoided.
The recording conducted by Riccardo Muti has a lot going for it, with one major drawback, the soprano. Muti opted to cast a baritone as Licinius and a tenor as Cinna. This required a few downward transpositions of Licinius’s vocal lines, and I noticed that Licinius and Cinna switch lines in the ensembles. Anthony Michaels-Moore sings Licinius with great beauty of tone. J. Patrick Raftery and Denyce Graves are also very good as Cinna and the Grand Vestal. The singers in the smaller parts are capable, if not remarkable. The real problem with this set is the leading lady. A search on Amazon for Karen Huffstodt reveals very little other than this recording. Having sat through this recording again, I can understand why. Her tone is unfocussed and unsteady and notes above the staff usually come out as shrieks. There are a few sixteenth note figures that she simply doesn’t attempt to sing. I’m surprised such a stickler as Muti put up with this. This is the only recording to include the extensive ballet music, 17 minutes in the first act finale and another 15 minutes tacked on at the end of the opera. Even the stylish singing of Anthony Michaels-Moore and the completeness of the performance can’t make up for the train-wreck of the soprano.
The two recordings in Italian that I own both date from the early 1950s.
The first recording of this opera I purchased back in the 1970s was a private/pirate LP recording the opening night at La Scala on 7 December 1954. This is still probably the best-known recording of this work for its cast of Maria Callas, Franco Corelli, Ebi Stignani and Nicola Rossi-Lemeni. I admit that I have a limited tolerance for the sound of historical recordings. The old LPs made for rough listening and the remastering by Warner a few years ago didn’t improve on my recollection of the long-discarded LPs. I find it hard to appreciate Maria Callas at the height of her powers or Franco Corelli in the early days of his career though the constant hiss and crackle. Choruses and ensembles are just overloaded, oversaturated aural muck. I didn’t even bother to listen to the portion of the ballet included in this performance. I know this recording is generally admired, but it’s not for me. If I want to hear Callas as Giulia, I can listen to her commercial recordings of the arias that cover most of the role. I really couldn’t get an idea of what the opera was like from this set, so I purchased the only other recording I could find in 1970-something.
This is another live recording, this time of a concert by the Roma RAI on 27 March 1951. Like many other concert performances of opera by the RAI in the early 50s, this was issued on LP by Cetra. I owned the original LPs which I replaced when Warner briefly reissued these recordings in the early 2000s. (I have a particular fondness for the generally blood-and-guts-take-no-prisoners approach of these concerts.) This performance is still available on other labels on Amazon. The cast on this set consists of names that are, for the most part, forgotten nowadays: Maria Vitale as Giulia, Renato Gavarini as Licinio, Alfredo Fineschi as Cinna, and Elena Nicolai as the Grand Vestal. I took a great deal of pleasure in the full-throated singing of all of them, especially Maria Vitale who shows a real understanding of Giulia's conflicting feelings. Fernando Previtali keeps things moving along. A greater sense of the drama comes across on this recording than through the occluded sound of the performance from La Scala. The sound of all the recordings in the Cetra series is undeniably gritty, but it’s still decent, clear mono, especially when one considers that this was set down over 70 years ago.
I know there are other live recordings available, but I haven’t sufficient interest in this opera to explore them. I purchased these four recordings trying to understand the appeal of this opera. Indeed, until I heard the Bru Zane recording, I never found much interest in this work, full stop. I’m sure I’ll return to the Bru Zane set. The others will probably languish on a shelf, to be touched again only by a duster.
Re: Thoughts on some other recordings of La Vestale
It was interesting to get an appraisal of the Kuhn and Muti recordings. I never bought them, because until the excellent Bru Zane recording came I was satisfied with another one. It is on the ambitious 'pirate' label MRF (124-S) in fair broadcast stereo with an article, French and English libretto and bonus tracks on the 6th side of these three LPs. They are taken from a RAI concert, in Rome it would seem, with Gundula Janowitz, Ruza Baldani, Gilbert Py, Gianpaulo Corradi and Agostino Ferrin conducted by Jesus Lopez Cobos. Apart from some iffy French they all do well, at least for a performance where almost everyone is more-or-less sight-reading in a foreign language! The version is rather full compared to my undated old Costillat vocal score (about 2h17'). The style is big-voiced mid-20th century, but even though the Callas arias remain hors concours I think Janowitz's gleaming soprano has its points even compared with Bru Zane's alternative Julia.
Re: Thoughts on some other recordings of La Vestale
Having now re-listened to that vintage Cetra recording I have sent off a review which will appear in due course; I suspect it is the one which gives this patchy work the best advocacy.
Previous Message
It was interesting to get an appraisal of the Kuhn and Muti recordings. I never bought them, because until the excellent Bru Zane recording came I was satisfied with another one. It is on the ambitious 'pirate' label MRF (124-S) in fair broadcast stereo with an article, French and English libretto and bonus tracks on the 6th side of these three LPs. They are taken from a RAI concert, in Rome it would seem, with Gundula Janowitz, Ruza Baldani, Gilbert Py, Gianpaulo Corradi and Agostino Ferrin conducted by Jesus Lopez Cobos. Apart from some iffy French they all do well, at least for a performance where almost everyone is more-or-less sight-reading in a foreign language! The version is rather full compared to my undated old Costillat vocal score (about 2h17'). The style is big-voiced mid-20th century, but even though the Callas arias remain hors concours I think Janowitz's gleaming soprano has its points even compared with Bru Zane's alternative Julia.
Re: Thoughts on some other recordings of La Vestale
A genuine question....considering your lack of enthusiasm for the work why did you acquire four sets of it to keep in your collection if they only act as dust-magnets? I have the old Cetra set (re-issued on Everest) but I decided that one was quite enough and only kept it as a point of reference.
Previous Message
Indeed, until I heard the Bru Zane recording, I never found much interest in this work, full stop. I’m sure I’ll return to the Bru Zane set. The others will probably languish on a shelf, to be touched again only by a duster.
Re: Thoughts on some other recordings of La Vestale
That’s a legitimate question. The answer is a combination of curiosity and perseverance.
I have the Callas recording more by circumstance than intent. I had no intention of replacing my long-discarded LP of this performance. I got the CD version as part of Warner’s “Callas Live” box set. I listened to this edition for the first, and likely only, time whilst preparing this article.
I remembered that I enjoyed the old Cetra set, so I picked up a copy of it when Warner reissued these recordings back in the early 2000s. On reconsideration, I may return to this again.
I bought the recording conducted by Gustav Kuhn for two reasons: It was the first commercial recording of the work and it’s sung in the original French. It’s too bad that is so soporifically dull and so poorly sung.
If I remember correctly, I picked up the Muti recording for less than €10 at La Feltrinelli in Rome several years ago. I didn’t go out looking for it, but I found it cheap on the sale rack.
Having heard the Bru Zane recording twice – at the start and conclusion of my preparation for this article – I can say that my curiosity is satisfied and my perseverance at an end. I found that, on a second hearing, my appreciation for the opera increased. This recording really is superb in all aspects.
I remember that I had to exercise similar perseverance before I began to appreciate Cherubini’s Medea for the masterpiece that it is. I hope that Bru Zane will turn their attention to Médée and give it the recording it deserves.
Previous Message
A genuine question....considering your lack of enthusiasm for the work why did you acquire four sets of it to keep in your collection if they only act as dust-magnets? I have the old Cetra set (re-issued on Everest) but I decided that one was quite enough and only kept it as a point of reference.
Previous Message
Indeed, until I heard the Bru Zane recording, I never found much interest in this work, full stop. I’m sure I’ll return to the Bru Zane set. The others will probably languish on a shelf, to be touched again only by a duster.
Re: Thoughts on some other recordings of La Vestale
I should, of course, have mentioned the new recording, recently ably reviewed by Mike Parr, who suggests that this is the best option now for La vestale - though personally I find so little reward in the music that I am unlikely to follow his advice!
Previous Message
I recently posted a review of the new Bru Zane recording of La Vestale on Amazon that has yet to appear on their web site. In preparing to write that review, I listened again to the other recordings of this opera in my collection, two sung in French and two in Italian. I agree with everything Mike Parr said in his review of the Bru Zane set, so I’ll leave my comments on it out here, but reproduce my observations on the other recordings in my collection.
I followed the French performances with a piano vocal score I downloaded from the IMSLP Petrucci Music Library. Their website indicates that the score was published in Paris by Mesdemoiselles Erard, circa 1808. The Bru Zane recording uses the critical edition of the score published by Ricordi in 1993. I believe this is the same edition Riccardo Muti used when he conducted the opera at La Scala in December 1993. The recordings conducted by Rousset and Muti contain music not in the printed vocal score. The other recording in French, conducted by Gustav Kuhn conformed to the printed score. The two recordings in Italian present heavily cut performances of the Italian language piano vocal score published by Ricordi.
The first studio recording of this opera was issued on the Orfeo label, conducted by Gustav Kuhn. This is performed in French and follows the vocal score I consulted. I regret to say that it’s just about twice as dull as ditchwater. Even Rosalind Plowright’s Julia can’t breathe any life into the glacial tempi taken by Kuhn. This plays nearly 15 minutes longer than the Bru Zane recording and contains less music. The rest of the cast vary from acceptable (Francisco Araiza as a dry-voiced Licinius) to mediocre (Gisella Pasino as the Grand Vestal) to outright awful (Pierre Lefebvre as Cinna). This set is best avoided.
The recording conducted by Riccardo Muti has a lot going for it, with one major drawback, the soprano. Muti opted to cast a baritone as Licinius and a tenor as Cinna. This required a few downward transpositions of Licinius’s vocal lines, and I noticed that Licinius and Cinna switch lines in the ensembles. Anthony Michaels-Moore sings Licinius with great beauty of tone. J. Patrick Raftery and Denyce Graves are also very good as Cinna and the Grand Vestal. The singers in the smaller parts are capable, if not remarkable. The real problem with this set is the leading lady. A search on Amazon for Karen Huffstodt reveals very little other than this recording. Having sat through this recording again, I can understand why. Her tone is unfocussed and unsteady and notes above the staff usually come out as shrieks. There are a few sixteenth note figures that she simply doesn’t attempt to sing. I’m surprised such a stickler as Muti put up with this. This is the only recording to include the extensive ballet music, 17 minutes in the first act finale and another 15 minutes tacked on at the end of the opera. Even the stylish singing of Anthony Michaels-Moore and the completeness of the performance can’t make up for the train-wreck of the soprano.
The two recordings in Italian that I own both date from the early 1950s.
The first recording of this opera I purchased back in the 1970s was a private/pirate LP recording the opening night at La Scala on 7 December 1954. This is still probably the best-known recording of this work for its cast of Maria Callas, Franco Corelli, Ebi Stignani and Nicola Rossi-Lemeni. I admit that I have a limited tolerance for the sound of historical recordings. The old LPs made for rough listening and the remastering by Warner a few years ago didn’t improve on my recollection of the long-discarded LPs. I find it hard to appreciate Maria Callas at the height of her powers or Franco Corelli in the early days of his career though the constant hiss and crackle. Choruses and ensembles are just overloaded, oversaturated aural muck. I didn’t even bother to listen to the portion of the ballet included in this performance. I know this recording is generally admired, but it’s not for me. If I want to hear Callas as Giulia, I can listen to her commercial recordings of the arias that cover most of the role. I really couldn’t get an idea of what the opera was like from this set, so I purchased the only other recording I could find in 1970-something.
This is another live recording, this time of a concert by the Roma RAI on 27 March 1951. Like many other concert performances of opera by the RAI in the early 50s, this was issued on LP by Cetra. I owned the original LPs which I replaced when Warner briefly reissued these recordings in the early 2000s. (I have a particular fondness for the generally blood-and-guts-take-no-prisoners approach of these concerts.) This performance is still available on other labels on Amazon. The cast on this set consists of names that are, for the most part, forgotten nowadays: Maria Vitale as Giulia, Renato Gavarini as Licinio, Alfredo Fineschi as Cinna, and Elena Nicolai as the Grand Vestal. I took a great deal of pleasure in the full-throated singing of all of them, especially Maria Vitale who shows a real understanding of Giulia's conflicting feelings. Fernando Previtali keeps things moving along. A greater sense of the drama comes across on this recording than through the occluded sound of the performance from La Scala. The sound of all the recordings in the Cetra series is undeniably gritty, but it’s still decent, clear mono, especially when one considers that this was set down over 70 years ago.
I know there are other live recordings available, but I haven’t sufficient interest in this opera to explore them. I purchased these four recordings trying to understand the appeal of this opera. Indeed, until I heard the Bru Zane recording, I never found much interest in this work, full stop. I’m sure I’ll return to the Bru Zane set. The others will probably languish on a shelf, to be touched again only by a duster.
Re: Thoughts on some other recordings of La Vestale
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.
Re: Thoughts on some other recordings of La Vestale
Thank you very much, Nils - well, I've cracked and at Mike Parr's behest I am going to listen to - and maybe even review - that new La vestale, just to see if that does the trick and converts me!
Previous Message
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.
Re: Thoughts on some other recordings of La Vestale
As this has turned into a discussion of La Vestale on records, one more needs to be mentioned: Rosa Ponselle's 1926 RCA Victor of two brief extracts, often reissued. Tullio Serafin, who also conducts Callas's recording of the arias almost 30 years later, encouraged Ponselle and the Met to undertake the opera as a preparation for her Norma a few years later. One LP reissue quotes Edward Johnson, Ponselle's Licinius, as saying that "every vocal student should be required to listen to them (Ponselle's Vestale arias) at least once a week as examples of the seamless scale". I like Rebeka in the Bru Zane recording and her modern emotionalism, but at the same time I miss the classical vocal virtues of Ponselle, Callas and Serafin. The sound of every note, dynamics and how you move from one note to the next as part of phrases somehow seem to matter more to them!