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PUCCINI: Tosca HAYDN: The Creation STRAUSS: Der Rosenkavalier This Tosca took place at the Vienna State Opera June 23, 2019. Armenian soprano Karine Babajamyran sings the title role with Piotr Beczala as Cavaradossi. While this is a good performance, enthusiastically welcomed by the audience, it cannot match the vocal splendors of the best of the competition, particularly the recent Zurich Opera production with Emily Magee and Jonas Kufmann (REVIEW), The production is excellent, directed by Margarethe Wallmann, with sets and costumed designed by Nicola Benois. Audio is excellent but video director Ella Gallien all too often has extreme clolseups which usually usually are no flattering to the performers. Skip this one. This performance of Haydn;s masterpiee The Creation was presented to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Zubin Mehta's debut at the Maggio Festival, . It was recorded at Teatro del Maggio Musicale FFiorentino. It took place November 10 , 2020. It was a grand, full-scale prodution with superb soloists, arge orchestra and chorus. There is a sense of reverence here, from a conductor who usuaoly is not associaed with baroque music. His reordings of music of Strauss, Strauss and Stravinsky are treasures of the vatalog. this performance during the ovid period ws beforew a small audience which was widely spaced. This is a major event in the career of one of today's finest conductors Audio is excellent, as is video ecommended! This performance of Der Rosenkavalier wa reorded at the Roal era House February 14, 1985 and was Solti's s's second recording of the opera.The first was a Decca stereo Viennese production in 1968 with Regine Crespin as the Marschalin, Yvonne Minton as Octavian and Helen Donath as Sophie: it remains a classic recording. KiriTe Kanawa was om her prime when this Roya; P[era perfor,ance was recorded; she was a favorite of Solti and recorded Strauss's Four ast Songs with him and the Vienna Philharmonic. Later she would make another reordingh of Rosenkavalier in Dresden with the late Bernard Haitink on the podium. Solti's Royal Opera performance is magnificent, with a perfect cast. It is a beautifiul production with lavish sets and gorgeous costumes. This is a stereo reording that captures the voices perfectlyt; unfortunately the rich orchestral sounds are not. The productio is disappointing The 12-page pamphlet contains severa pictures of the prodution, but there is no trak listing. Still this is a major erformance of this opera R.E.B. (December 2021) |