Great Recordings Of The Century - Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte / Karajan, Schwarzkopf, Merriman, Otto, Simoneau, et al [Original recording remastered]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer, Conductor), Philharmonia Orchestra (Orchestra), Philharmonia Orchestra of London (Orchestra, Performer), Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Performer), Lisa Otto (Performer), Léopold Simoneau (Performer), Nan Merriman (Performer), Rolando Panerai (Performer), Sesto Bruscantini (Performer), Herbert von Karajan (Artist), Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Artist), Nan Merriman (Artist), Lisa Otto (Artist), Rolando Panerai (Artist), Leopold Simoneau (Artist), Sesto Bruscantini (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Philharmonia Orchestra of London, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Lisa Otto, Léopold Simoneau, Nan Merriman, et al.
• Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra of London
• Conductor: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (September 21, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B00000K4FR
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #310,403 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Sinfonia

2. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 1. Scene 1. La mia Dorabella capace non è

3. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 1. Scene 1. Cessate di scherzar

4. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 1. Scene 1. È la fede delle femmine

5. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 1. Scene 1. Scioccherie di poeti!

6. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 1. Scene 1. Una bella serenata

See all 32 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 1. Scene 4. Ah, che tutto in un momento

2. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 1. Scene 4. Si mora, sì, si mora

3. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 1. Scene 4. Eccovi il medico

4. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 1. Scene 4. Dove son? Che loco è questo?

5. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 1. Scene 4. Dammi un bacio, o mio tesoro

6. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 2. Scene 1. Andate là, che siete due bizarre ragazze!

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 2. Scene 3. Ora vedo che siete una donna di garbo

2. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 2. Scene 3. È amore un ladroncello

3. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 2. Scene 3. Come tutto congiura

4. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 2. Scene 3. Fra gli amplessi in pochi istanti

5. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 2. Scene 3. Ah, poveretto me, cosa ho veduto!

6. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588: Act 2. Scene 3. Tutti accusan le donne

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

By and large, Herbert von Karajan's 1954 Così Fan Tutte is the most satisfying of his early EMI Mozart opera recordings. The Philharmonia Orchestra, for one, played like crazy for Karajan in his pre-Berlin Philharmonic days. True, EMI's new transfer cannot disguise the recording's age; yet an added sense of room tone gives the vivacious wind playing an extra, welcome edge. Karajan's fleet tempi and knowing accentuations propel the music forward even more than the gaping cuts in the recitatives. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf's Fiordiligi and Nan Merriman's Dorabella are seductive and sizzling, with Lisa Otto's Despina not far behind. As Ferrando, Léopold Simoneau's elegant legato and word-painting skills come to the fore in "Un'aura amorosa," and Sesto Bruscantini's Alfonso remains one of the best-sung on record. This shouldn't be your primary Così, but it's a release that has more than mere historic interest. Full texts and translations are included. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Karajan's Cosi, November 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Great Recordings Of The Century - Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte / Karajan, Schwarzkopf, Merriman, Otto, Simoneau, et al (Audio CD)

Karajan's Cosi has always shared the limelight with Bohm's as one the the legendary classics of the opera. Both share the Fiordiligi of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, who sings one of the pillars of her repertoire. Her reading, infused with insight and style, cannot help but be attractive. Nan Merriman as Dorabella serves as a foil to Schwarzkopf's mannered singing. We have the best Ferrando on record, Leopold Simoneau. His ardent and passioned singing is of an era gone by. Rolando Panerai serves up a tidy Non siate ritrosi and Donne mie. Lisa Otto and Sesto Bruscantini complete the cast as the truly buffo characters of Despina and Don Alfonso. Karajan leads the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus in a perfomance that sparkles. The only reservation and shortcoming is that of the viciously cut recitatives. We would have to turn to others for a complete Cosi, and my recommendation would be Davis' on Philips.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic "Cosi"., June 9, 2003

By 

John Austin "[e-mail]" (Kangaroo Ground, Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Recordings Of The Century - Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte / Karajan, Schwarzkopf, Merriman, Otto, Simoneau, et al (Audio CD)

Mozart's great music, and Da Ponte's superb libretto and chessboard plotting, result in "Cosi fan tutte" being rather too much of a good thing for one night's entertainment, especially when seen for the umpteenth time. Happily the opera has fared well on record, enabling music lovers to enjoy it at liesure at home.

This 1954 recording, produced by Walter Legge, was the third "complete" recording of the opera to be released. Perhaps because of the exigencies of accommodating it onto LP records, some of the secco recitatives were cut, leaving a running time of eight or nine minutes under full length. Although a monaural recording made nearly fifty years ago, it is still one of the two top recommended versions in the "Penguin Guide to Compact Discs".

Karajan, prior to his Berlin Philharmonic days, provides well-judged direction, broadening tempi sometimes in his inimitable way, such as in the Act 1 march, but preserving a light touch elsewhere, especially during the asides offered by Despina and Alfonso. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf's Fiordiligi is a woman with enormous depths and subtleties of character. The singer's famous ability to color her voice is nowhere more apparent than here, her first attempt at singing this part. Perhaps this Fiordiligi is too intelligent, too sensitive. Listening to Schwarzkopf's Fiordiligi, perhaps you doubt that this character could ever be fooled by into believing her maid Despina, heavily disguised in costume and voice, was a medico and then a notary.

Blending well with Schwarzkopf in the role of Dorabella is the American mezzo Nan Merriman, already in 1954 a noted singer in this part. As Despina, Lisa Otto sings her arias neatly and enjoys herself impersonating Signor Dottore and Il Notaio. None better, perhaps before or since, has been heard in the part of Ferrando than the French-Canadian tenor Leopold Simoneau. Rolando Panerai, as the baritone who never gets much solo work to do, makes the most of his three-minute "Donne mie". Sesto Bruscantini, who rarely delivered an imperfect performance or recording, is a lighter-voiced and more interesting than most Don Alfonso.

This is a "Cosi" that will not disappoint those who wish to hear the opera repeatedly and who accept that good monaural sound can offer in its own way as much enjoyment as good black and white photography. My copy has an Italian only libretto included.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Understated perfection, March 2, 2009

By 

Ralph Moore "Ralph operaphile" (Bishop's Stortford, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Great Recordings Of The Century - Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte / Karajan, Schwarzkopf, Merriman, Otto, Simoneau, et al (Audio CD)

I have lived for years with the Bohm recording as my favourite "Cosi", always with a sideways longing glance towards the neglected Lombard set on Erato (see my review), but the latter really is too languorous at times - and that might be what you would expect of Karajan, too, but you would be wrong. He starts pacy and sprightly and so it continues, never rushed but beautifully pointed and taut - whereas Bohm can sometimes lack subtlety. So my recent re-acquaintance with this set has made me question my loyalty to Bohm. At first, one wonders whether some of the singing and playing might be a little understated; everything is so subtly and delicately underscored without any hint of vulgarity - and of course, the orchestral playing is of the highest quality, the Philharmonia of this period comprising some of the greatest wind players of their era, including Denis Brain on horn. If you like your Mozart on period instruments rattled off at breakneck speed, this recording is not for you, but I must emphasise that there is no lack of pace or tension in this performance. All the soloists have exceptionally fleet, light, sweet voices with that old-fashioned, quick, flickering vibrato now out of fashion and they are masters of the text. Bruscantini is much lighter of voice than the Don Alfonsos to which we have become accustomed today and his is a beautifully shaded, cynical yet affectionate, characterisation. I am not always fond of Schwarzkopf, but here she is in freshest, purest voice, largely free of mannerisms and even better than ten years later with Bohm. Merriman is a perfect foil, with her warm, vibrant mezzo, and Simoneau is simply the best Ferrando on record. Panerai provides wonderful support, and even though I still marginally prefer the perfect Steffek as Despina in the later set, Otto is pert, pretty and funny.

The mono sound is clean and forward without distortion. However, the alternative Naxos issue is even cheaper than this "Great Recordings of the Century" version on EMI and I cannot imagine that the EMI is any better re-mastered - and you have a bonus selection of Schwarzkopf arias to boot. So go for the Naxos and enjoy a connoisseur's performance of some of the most sublime music ever written.