From: vnguyen@husc8.harvard.edu (Vinh Nguyen)
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical
Subject: Re: Live recordings (was Re: Immortal opera recordings)
Date: 13 Aug 92 22:21:55 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc3.1992Aug13.182157.14706
Distribution: world
Organization: Harvard University Science Center

Subject: Re: Live recordings (was Re: Immortal opera recordings)
Reply-To: vnguyen@husc8
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical
Distribution: cct

From article <1992Aug11.224125.24040@lloyd.Camex.COM>, 
	by chrisi@lloyd.Camex.COM (Chris Ischay):

> But I'd like to hear a little more from others about their experiences of
> live recordings (is there a less oxymoronic way to say that?).  They don't
> get discussed very much in this newsgroup, and I believe there's a wealth
> of exciting music out there, albeit surrounded by a lot of dreck and bad
> recording quality.
 
I agree that going for "live recordings" out there is tantamount to
playing russian roulette.  Not that it's a hit or miss thing -- the
same also applies to "lemon" studio recordings -- but it's because
there is so little critical review of those things for the uninitiated.
(And the sound quality might be a major factor to destroy what might
have been a great performance on paper, and in the house, but alas,
unlisteneable on records).  It seems that only Fanfare magazine would
care to devote some space for reviewing live opera recordings, but
these reviews (helpful and insightful as many of them can be) are
rather haphazard and "subjective" (in the bad sense of the word --
i.e. assuming that the reader shares in the experience and knowledge
of the reviewer, who might well be so old as to remember first-hand
what the "golden age" used to be and reminiscing gleefully over
these "historic remnants" of such an age while overlooking whatever
shortcomings there might be in sound, balance, transfers, or even
performance).  It seems that the collector of "live recordings"
seems to indulge in a quasi-hermetic delight tantamount to wine
tasting.  They know what they're after but they're not so helpful
in enabling others to partake in their arcane delight.  Am I getting
off the mark here?

> I certainly agree that "pizzazz" is not axiomatically produced by any set
> of circumstances.  I am now working my way through the Solti Ring (for the
> first time).  Wow.  Now *that's* got pizzazz aplenty.  But it seems to me
> really designed as an at-home theatre-of-the-mind kind of recording, not in
> any way an attempt to give a "stagey" feel.
> 
> And there are any number of exceedingly beautiful studio recordings.  But.
> And I mean But.  There's a special something that I often hear in live
> recordings that's missing at thestudio.  Maybe it's an extension of the
> feeling I get listening to the Texaco matinee broadcasts, that this music
> is really happening, *just* as I hear it.  Not doctored.  Not redone.
 
I suppose that there is a thrill in anticipation of "hurdles" (vocal
of dramatic) that has to be overcome in only one try in a "live"
performance (as opposed to "dead" performances?  how oxymoronic).
There must be the vicarious thrill in partaking in the mortal
vulnerability of the singers before such hurdles, and the sense of
satisfaction in see that such hurdles overcome by (or even overcoming
the heroic but futile efforts of) the singers.  I suppose that this
sense of identification with the challenges facing the singers is
the bond between the artist-audience rapport that has been dubbedd
"electricity" in the house during a live performance.

> Singers sound a little flukey sometimes at the beginning, and then their
> voices really open up.  And they sound a little tired at the end.  But as
> the drama builds, so does the intensity.  Sometimes.  Not always.  And
> certainly not all live recordings are worth even listening to.
> 
> I'll just mention one recent example for me and then quit.  

Thanks for the insightful and detailed comments on a Milanov's
live Norma.  (Is it available on discs?  just curious).  I also
got a thrill over a 1955 Callas live Norma in Rome opposite the
clarion-voiced, but rather boorish, Mario del Monaco.  But Ebe
Stignani was a fantastic Adalgisa.  I got goose bumps over
"Mira O Norma" which is so touching and "human" -- it's just so
wonderfully different from the impeccably clean, and in some
sense thrilling too, performnace of the Sutheland-Horne duo
on Decca.  But Callas and Stignani, in wart sound, outdid 
everyone (even Callas-Ludwig, and the studio Callas-Stignani)
in the depth of expression and feelings.
 
> I don't mean to wander from the point.  This live recording has let me turn
> the corner with Norma in a way that the most touted studio recording
> hasn't.  Live recordings are interesting documents and a valuable part of
> the legacy of recording.  And something I'd like to learn more about.
 
I don't have much experience with live recordings but I have stumbled 
on a few gems here and there which I'd like to share.

Donizetti.  Lucia Di Lamermoor.  Callas, Di Stefano, Panerai,
cond. Karajan.  Berlin 9/29/55.  The justly famous Berlin Lucia.

Bellini.  La Sonnambula. Callas, Valletti, Modesti, cond.
Bernstein.  Milan 3/5/55.  Great for the Callas-Bernstein
partnership.  Callas is at her vocal peak here too.

Bellini.  La Sonnambula. Callas, Monti, Zaccaria, cond. Votto.
Edinburg 8/21/57.  Another example of Callas at her best.
Votto is less electrifying than Bernstein, but still excellent.

Bellini.  Norma. Callas, Del Monaco, Stignani, Modesti,
cond. Serafin.  Rome 6/29/55.  Callas as Norma in one of
her best performances (1955 is her peak year I think).

Bellini. La Straniera. Caballe, Zambon, Sardinero, cond.
Guadano. Carnegie Hall 3/26/69.  Caballe is phenomenal
with her floating piasnissimos (coming out quite well
in the live recordings).  The supporting cast is somewhat
unknown but better than expected.  Since there is no 
currently avaiable studio recording of this rare opera,
this one will do handsomely to fill the gap.

Donizetti.  Roberto Devereux. Caballe, Carreras, Sardinero,
cond. Rudel. New York (?) 1977.  Boos for SRO for the
nonexistent liner notes.  The performance is another matter,
the sound is OK.

Verdi. Un Ballo in Maschera. Callas, Di Stefano, Bastianini,
Simionato, Ratti, cond. Gavazzeni. Milan 12/7/57.  This is
a thrilling performance, with an ecstatic Act II love duet
that is truly electrifying, shining through the rather opaque
but otherwise listenable sound.

Verdi. Il Trovatore.  Price, Corelli, Simionato, Bastianini,
cond. Karajan. Salzburg 7/31/62.  One of the rare occasions
that Price let go and play to the audience with numerous
interpolated high notes, thus this indispensable complement
to her 3 studio Trovatores.

Verdi.  La Traviata.  Callas, Valetti, Zanasi, cond. Rescigno.
London 6/20/58.  Unfortunately there are only "live" recordings
to remember Callas' Violetta (her Cetra studio recording is
execrable except for her participation).  This one is probably
the most well-rounded in terms of interpretive insights and 
vocal security (despite an ear-piercing Eb in alt).

> Chris Ischay
> chrisi@camex.com
> (note: my address has changed)

Vinh Nguyen

PS: Thanks for the private email.  I haven't heard the Welitsch
Salome excerpts with Reiner (but I've seen it in the store).
I'll keep in mind to try it out when I'll break my temporary
moratorium on CD purchase.  Oh yes, and the Eva Turner Turandot
with Beecham too!