Bartók - Bluebeard's Castle - Eliahu Inbal

Béla Bartók (1881-1945): Bluebeard's Castle - Eliahu Inbal - RSO Frankfurt

Opera | Early 20th Century | 1CD | EACRip | APE+LOG+CUE | Covers | RS.com | 265MB
Label:Denon | Year of release: 1994 | DDD

Judith: Katalin Szendrényi
Duke Bluebeard: Falk Struckmann

Radio Sinfonie Orchester Frankfurt
Eliahu Inbal
Rec. 1992

Amazon REVIEW:
There are more exciting, more strongly characterized recordings of this strange masterpiece. Kertesz (Decca), Dorati (Mercury) and Boulez (Sony or DGG) all present performances that absolutely brim with theatrical atmosphere; you can almost visualize how each performance would appear on stage. Inbal (like Fischer on Sony) takes a different tack. Inbal plays "Bluebeard" as interiorized mind-drama and, in a way, this is perfectly suited to the kind of theatre piece Bartok and his collaborator Bela Balasz created over 70 years ago. Like Debussy in "Pelleas and Melisande," Bartok in "Bluebeard's Castle" presents a drama that really occurs in someone's mind - Bluebeard's - or the author's - or the listener's. Sort of like theatrical chamber music ala Strindberg. Inbal's singers are not in the same league as Dorati's et al., but this is a recording that should be heard nevertheless. Wonderfully rich yet transparent sound from Denon.
T. Beers

TRACKLIST:

1. Prologue
2. Curtain - beginning theme
3. Door 1
4. Door 2
5. Door 3
6. Door 4
7. Door 5
8. Door 6
9. Door 7



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Hans Pfitzner: Palestrina - Otmar Suitner - Staatskapelle Berlin

Hans Pfitzner (1869-1949): Palestrina - Otmar Suitner - Staatskapelle Berlin

Opera | Early 20th Century | 3CD | EACRip | APE+LOG+CUE | Covers | RS.com | 857MB
Label: Berlin Classics | Year of release: 1990 | DDD

Palestrina, Musical Legend in three Acts

Palestrina - Peter Schreier
Borromeo - Siegfried Lorenz
...

Staatskapelle Berlin
Otmar Suitner
Rec. Live 1986-88

Musicweb review:

This Berlin Classics recording is up against considerable competition. The DG Kubelik version (427 417 2GC3) has been around on silver disc since 1989 having been recorded in the early 1970s. Kubelik is (and I speak from memory here) every bit the committed champion for a beloved neglected work. His starry cast is 1960s Golden Age with Karl Ridderbusch, Bernd Weikl, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hermann Prey, Helen Donath, Brigitte Fassenbaender and Nicolai Gedda as Palestrina.

Recorded nearly twenty years later the present set sounds very good while a scintilla of shrillness reportedly affects the DG set. That hint is not at all evident here. Technically and artistically this Berlin Classics box is a most satisfying set and one that although it does not supersede the glories of the DG set complements it and in some cases excels it. Both the orchestra and the loving empathy of the much undervalued Othmar Suitner are never in doubt. That is apparent from the opening bars. The singers and the performance generally benefit from the live environment and their ease, one with the other, must surely be down to their having grown together into the roles in the opera house. Peter Schreier's voice is more honeyed of tone than Fischer-Dieskau's in the earlier DG recording (which I recall from broadcast during the 1970s).

Rob Barnett




Tracklist:
CD1
1. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Vorspiel
2. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Scene 1. Schönste, ungnäd'ge Dame
3. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Scene 2. Ighino, gut, daß ich dich seh!
4. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Scene 3. Schönste, ungnäd'ge Dame
5. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Scene 4. Der letzte Freund
6. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Scene 5. (first part) Für Ihn! Sein Wesen will's
CD2
1. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Scene 5. (conclusion) Nicht ich - schwach bin ich
2. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Scene 6. Allein in dunkler Tiefe
3. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Scene 7. Ighino, sieh doch, komm herein
4. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. Vorspiel
5. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. Scene 1. Noch eine Bank! Und Schnell!
6. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. Scene 2. Morone ist von Innsbruck schon herein
7. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. Scene 3. Ein liebreich würd'ger Herr
8. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. Scene 4. Zahlreich wird heit'di heilige Versammlung
CD3
1. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. Scene 5. Den Heil'gen Geist
2. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. Scene 6. Was nun! Was nun!
3. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. Scene 7. habt Ihr's gesehn?
4. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 3. Vorspiel
5. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 3. Scene 1. Wie lange sie bleiben
6. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 3. Scene 2. Ist Palestrine, der Meister, hier?
7. Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 3. Scene 3. Nun schmiede mich



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