Customer Reviews

Mozart: Così fan tutte ~ Bohm

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It is an inevitable question: Why are most of the finest Opera recordings so old? After all, recording technology is far superior now. Instrumental and vocal instruction and technique have never been better (or more standardized - consider that a clue!) Today's jet-lagged Conductors have an entire century of recordings to refer to, if they so wish (another clue!). Even the format is easier to distribute than the heavy vinyl collections of old. So what's wrong?

The key is sameness. In the "Golden-era" of the 1950's through 1970's, Instrumental, Orchestral and Vocal distinctiveness was treasured. Consider Violinists: even a relative novice could recognize the difference in tone, phrasing and attack of Heifetz, Milstein and Oistrach. All of them with similar Cultural backgrounds yet utterly distinct virtuosi. So it was with Singers and Orchestras. And distinctiveness led to true interpretive perfection of style. Don't believe me? Listen to this recording!

Cosi Fan Tutte is the "smallest" of the great Da Ponte-Mozart Operas. Essentially a Chamber-Opera for six voices, its glory resides in the unearthly beauty of Mozart's writing for their various combinations. The plot is famously slight (or lame and immoral if your name is Beethoven!). But there is something deeper here: a cynical sadness framing the broad comedy. The libretto's cynicism is also why the priggish (hypocritical?) 19th Century ignored this Opera. Mozart was nothing if not a dramatist of genius. If he felt this libretto unworthy of attention he would not have written a note. But he lavished his most sublime music on it. Clearly, he responded to it. 1790 was a hard year for him. Poverty, questions about his wife's fidelity, commercial failure all hounded him. Naturally, that wonderfully elusive emotional ambiguity that informs all of Mozart's greatest music is fully in evidence in this score. No wonder the early Romantics responded to Mozart and not Haydn.

Karl Bohm is renowned as a great Mozartean. That means he has mastered the Orchestral means of expressing that emotional ambiguity. It is devilishly difficult to simultaneously express both Mozart's surface perfection and his deeper resonance. That is why great Mozarteans are rare. Thomas Beecham also possessed this ability, as did Giulini, Erich Kleiber and (interestingly) George Szell. This 1963 Bohm-led recording (along with his DGG Figaro and Magic Flute) is one of the finest Mozart Opera recordings in the catalog.

Listen to the intensity of the minor key arias. Is this Mozart or Verdi? Only when those typically glorious woodwind interludes enter are we sure. Here is nascent Romanticism, mingled with Classical perfection and grace. Bohm grasps the need to express these polar opposites. His tempos are slower, more stately. Orchestral textures are crystal clear allowing the voices to hover above the music. The instruments seem to emerge FROM the voices, not vice versa as is prevalent today.

And what voices! Elizabeth Schwarzkopf is stunning as Fiordiligi. She is restrained in attack yet her tone is rich, her approach emotional and her expressiveness unshackled. Here is deep-feeling and pathos framed by Classical grace. Listen to her Second Act Duet with Ferrando "Fra gli amplessi in pochi istanti". This is some of her finest work on record. Christa Ludwig as Dorabella is superb, as always. She was one of those singers whose voice inhabited a role without drawing attention to itself, allowing her to become the character and not merely a voice singing a character (Pavarotti comes to mind). Giuseppe Taddei is fine as Guglielmo. Alfredo Kraus is a solid Ferrando. Hanny Steffek is a suitably comic Despina. Walter Berry a mature Don Alfonso. The Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus are wonderful, as they generally were as EMI's House-band of the era. This is a classic recording. Perhaps one of the greatest of a Mozart Opera. One hears a truly distinctive approach from an era when singularity of expression (even eccentricity) was encouraged. That is what is missing today. It may never return!

The sound of this recording is warm. Stereo separation is restrained, reflecting legendary Producer Walter Legge's equally legendary hatred for stereo. Also apparent is the more elusive sound of Mozartean perfection from a time long ago. We are fortunate indeed such greatness was recorded and remains available for all to sample. 5 stars for a truly great recording of all centuries.

Cosi fan tutte is a cinderella amongst Mozart's operatic masterpieces. Composed in 1789, it satirizes the frailty of the female sex. It is of little wonder that the plot is severly condemned by the Victorian morality of the 19th century and the opera was destined to gather dust for several decades at least until the mid 1930s, when Fritz Busch gave it a long-dued revival at the Glyndebourne Festival. Since then it has gradually regained its popularity and is now recognised as one of Mozart's finest creations. In this opera, Mozart achieved a really unique suppleness and snority in his orchestration. His use of the woodwinds is a special delight and the music emerges with a wide tonal spectrum coupled with unusual sensitivity, subtlety and sensuosness. The vocal writing encompasses a great variety of colours, shades, pathos and feelings. In short, this is Mozart at his most imaginative.

The 1962 EMI recording has long been held up as THE recording for the masterpiece and at last it has been lovingly refurbished and re-released in the Great Recordings of the Century series. Indeed, it rightly deserves its place. I have expounded on the merits and virtues of the singing and conducting in an earlier review posted to amazon.com and so it's really unnecessary for me to repeat the same virtues here. Perhaps one might complain about Schwarzkopf's mannerisms and interventionist style, Ludwig's lack of youthful sap in her voice, and even Karl Bohm's relatively slow tempi. However, the singers' positive assets, including the sisters' uncanny ability to sing off the words, and Bohm's cumulative, visionary, loving yet sensitive handling of the beautiful score overcome whatever shortcomings one wants to raise. That says a lot for the recording's timeless quality and its enduring place in the catalogue. Veterans in the appreciation of Mozart's theatrical genius can attest to this, and newcomers to this opera are indeed encouraged to give this set a try and he/she will be hugely rewarded.

Karl Boehm's 1962 recording of Mozart's masterpiece still holds its place as one of the best of this opera. After four decades, what seems most notable among its many virtues is the unanimity of conception and the perfection of ensemble, so important in a work where concerted numbers carry the brunt of the action. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Christa Ludwig in particular make an uncannily convincing vocal pair of sisters, while Alfredo Kraus uses his distinctive timbre to create an unusually assertive Ferrando. There are no weaknesses in the rest of the cast.

Among small reservations one might have are the cuts in the score (not many), the most notable being Ferrando's second-act aria, "Ah, lo veggio." One might also take issue with a certain cool detachment in the musical approach, which prevents a fuller emotional connection with these all-too-human characters. It's possible these days to regard them more as real-life people than might have been the case in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Nevertheless, the quality of the singing and playing alone keeps this recording firmly among the great ones.

Cosi fan tutte is my favorite opera, and I have been searching for the "perfect" Cosi recording for years. While I agree that this is a good recording, I can't say this recording is "the definitive one." After all, it doesn't even include Ferrando's "Ah, lo veggio" in Act II. The recitatives are also somewhat abridged, which takes away from the theatrical and dramatic aspect of this work (afterall, opera is musical _theatre_).

Having said that, if you do no currently own a recording of Cosi, you should buy this first, because it is one of the most well-rounded studio recordings, and for a very good price.

Pros:
- Low price
- Schwarzkopf is probably /the/ best Fiordiligi on record at this time. Her voice is rich and expressive, and her rendition of the 2 arias (Come Scoglio in Act I and Per pieta in Act II) sounds like liquid gold.
- Christa Ludwig sings a beautiful Dorabella too, but it's not the same calibre as her performance as Octavian
- Good, even-tempered interpretation by Bohm makes this particularly newbie-friendly.

Cons:
- Incomplete: "Ah lo veggio" is rarely performed, probably because it's so hard to pull off successfully (Jerry Hadley is the only tenor I've heard that can do it). But still, it's an integral part of Ferrando's character and one of the best parts of the entire opera. If you haven't heard this aria, you haven't heard Cosi.
- Flat: Bohm's overall tempo is slow. Yes, it is very "pretty," but at what cost? Take Despina's Act II aria, "Una donna a quindici'anni" for example. It's "grazioso" in the extreme, but there isn't much else there.

In summary, it's a good, inoffensive interpretation (graced by the incomparable Schwarzkopf), which makes it a good introductory recording, but definitely not in the running for "THE COSI FOR ALL TIME." In fact, I haven't yet found a recording that fits that description.

Whereas EMI was fortunate enough to make one Don Giovanni and one Marriage of Figaro for the ages, both under Giulini, they achieved mixed results with two versions of Cosi fan tutte. Neither is an obvious first choice, so I thought it was worthwhile comparing their respective pluses and minuses.

Karajan (1954): This mono recording is in good enough sound to compete successfully with Bohm's stereo version, with the singers placed very close up. They achieve a great deal of intimacy and nuance. Karajan favors tempo extremes, taking Schwarzkopf's two big arias, as well as her opening duet with Merriman, quite slowly. Stylistically, his approach is ultra-suave, which yields benefits in Bruscantini's sly urbanity as Don Alfonso, for example, but in the long run proves more than a little precious. As Fiordiligi, Schwarzkopf is younger and fresher than in Bohm's set, but there she has gained in artistry. Simoneau and Panerai are great as the two heros, probably the best pair on records. Nan Merriman as Dorabella is musically satisfying, but she has a fast beat in her voice that wears after a while.

Bohm (1963): This later performance is in good stereo, with the voices placed further from the mike than in Karajan's recording. Where Karajan is suave, Bohm is blunt. He misses many opportunities for subtle phrasing, yet given the choice, I'd rather hear his plain-faced Cosi than Karajan's overly sophisticated one. As to tempos, bohm is rrelaxed and often just as slow as Karajan--period performances from Ostmann, Gardiner and Jacobs go much faster. In the Karajan set the men were stronger than the laides; here it's the reverse. Schwarzkopf and Ludwig make ideal sisters, unrivalled for their musicality, even if Schwarzkopf can no longer quite negotiate Fiodiligi's cruelly difficult arias. The male pair are certainly good, but I find Alfredo Kraus's voice dry and his manner stiff; Taddei is fine, howevr. Walter Berry makes for a bluff Don Alfonso without a trace of Bruscantini's sly malice.

Naturally, thee's much more to say in detail, but I think I've given a fair sketch of the two performances. I've lived with both for a long time, and it pains me to say that on balance I prefer Karl Bohm, even though he is far from being a favorite conductor. The comvinaiton of Schwarzkopf and Ludwig carries the day.

"Interpretation that may never return". That's how gramophone magazine has closed it's review for Bohm's Cosi, and how can we disagree with this? A magnificent recording with Walter Legge at the head of the production, 9 years after his first Cosi made with Karajan in 1954, (perhaps the best Cosi in gramophone) he returned with this 1963 stereo remake of mozart's masterpiece with impressive results. The only thing that may someone say is that maybe Bohm is not as "happy" as he should be for this comic opera but as we know he never faced mozart music as a laughing matter, anyway the result Justifies him in every prospective.

I must say that is is another complete accomplishment as far recording opera is concerned. I must say that Mozart operas found their fulfillment in modern recording era. The great four have all found their definitive versions. With you permission I will mention them as they deserve that: Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro with Giulini, Die Zauberflote with Klemperer and this Cosi fan Tutte with Bohm.

For me the pace Bohm choses throughout the wole recording is what it should be. The voices are great and most important the conflicts and life situations are rendered with utmost charm and credibility.

A great surprise finding in this Mozart opera Christa Ludwig who does a lovely job. Schwartzkopf is sublime as usual and she deserves the title of Mozartian soprano of the century. But I love above all the male voices in this opera. They strike you right from the beginning with fine detail and delightful nuances of their characters.

All in all you will find everything here. Good humour, very well pointed situations, gret singing, powerfull and extremely lively characters, great orchestra and an overall atmosphere (much to Bohm's credit) that is a good demonstration of the genius of Mozart. Definitely one of Bohm's greatest victories on disc and one of the great accomplishments in opera recording.

If you like your Cosi with broader tempo (think strolling in a park) - this is it! If you like your Cosi with more sparkle (think little lambs skipping merrily about), get the Solti! There's some debate about which is better. As much as I admire Christa Ludwig & Elizabeth Schawrzkopf, I have to say that the Solti set is better. Von Otter cann replace Christa Ludwig but Renee Fleming has a more creamy and gorgeous voice than Schwarzkopf. I am not saying that Schwarzkopf is bad - it's like comparing Miss Universe with Miss Universe First Runners-Up. Both are good but in terms of vocal beauty, Renee Fleming has the advantage. Plus I like Solti better because his reading has more sparkle in it. But that is personal preference. If you like slower performance, this is unbeatable. As an opera freak, I engage in this expenseive habit of collecting operas, so it makes no difference to me because I have to have them all. But for those looking for only one, this is my advice for you.

I've lived with this recording for almost 40 years in its various LP (domestic and imported) and CD incarnations. Schwarzkopf remains a wonderful interpreter of Fiordiligi, not as fresh as she was a few years earlier under Karajan's direction, but less mannered than in that 1954 recording. She doesn't entirely conquer the demands of Come scoglio, but that's not unique. Most of the competition doesn't do much better. Christa Ludwig is my favorite Dorabella on record. Beautiful in tone and technique, she brings this flighty, flawed, but lovable character to vivid life. She and Schwarzkopf had sung the roles together over the past few years on stage and the partnership shows.

The rest of the cast isn't up to the level of the two sisters. Hanny Steffek as Despina sounds a little nervous with Italian - I recall she learned the role in the language for the recording having sung it in German in Munich for some time. She is a straightforward doctor in the first act finale - setting up a big disappointment with the nasty vocal distortions she employs in the second act as the notary. Then again, most singers employ the same sort of vocal slapstick. Alfredo Kraus is a very good Ferrando, not ideally ingratiating in tone but distinguished nonetheless. Taddei is a funny, Italianate Guglielmo, but the recording probably came a little late in the game as the youthful officer. Berry is a solid and well sung Alfonso.

Boehm's conducting is very fine, if a mite leisurely. The ensemble is extremely precise. Boehm (or producer Walter Legge) employs several cuts in the text. As typical of the times, the fist act "departure" duet for Ferrando and Guglielmo, one of Mozart's lesser inspirations, is cut as is Ferrando's second act "Ah, lo veggio". Also typically, recitatives are trimmed but the cuts don't do any violence to the plot line. More curious is the internal cutting in the finales. Legge wrote defensively about cutting the repetitive "schoolboy nonsense" of Italian opera librettos (the Callas Barbiere is also subjected to surgery in the finales) but Da Ponte's verses are hardly hackwork. Curious.

The GROC re-issue sounds very good for a 45 year old recording but the earlier CD issue is firmer in the bass. One thing that is beyond redemption is the distant sound of the chorus in "Bella vita militar" and the second act serenade. Walter Legge wrote enthusiastically about the fine balance achieved in these pieces in the London Kingsway Hall sessions. I think the chorus sounds like it is phoning in its bits from the midlands.

Flaws and all, this is my first choice for a supplement to Jacobs complete version on Harmonia Mundi. Other personal favorites are Jochum, recently reissued on DG; Solti's first recording (with Lorengar, Berganza, et al) on Decca mid-price; and Leinsdorf's RCA version (featuring a good American cast headed by Leontyne Price). If you aren't averse to mono sound, Schwarzkopf under Karagan (also on EMI) is worth investigating.

Everybody has his/her image of what the perfect Cosi should be. And the addiction to one style, and to certain voices (the "perfect" Fiordiligi, the "perfect" Dorabella) makes it hard to appreciate others. This remains my all-time favorite opera, of which I find it impossible to tire. After spending a full summer listening to it every day, I remain convinced that I could continue listening to this music and this opera for years to come.

Of course, it is a difficult opera, and a complex psychological story. And with Karl Boehm, we are lucky that all the ambiguity and complexity is preserved, without any sacrifice to the absolute beauty of the music.
And the first reviewer, Mike Berman, explains better than anybody else why this music has such power on our sensibility. Of course Mke Berman is an unapologetic lover of Mozart, and his reviews of Mozart's music and operas are always most instructive and insightful. Not to be missed, and not to be overlooked.
I sometimes speculate that it probably takes a scientific education and a trained passion for clarity, rigor and brilliancy to appreciate the unique character and atmosphere of Mozart's music and operas, where everything mushy, muddy and shoddy simply never appears. Even when the subject is deception and infidelity in sexual relationships.

Beethoven's reaction -- that it is advisable to ignore this opera because of its blatant immorality -- shared by most in the 19th century, is in our modern eyes, utterly ridiculous and narrow-minded. This has always made me suspicious of Beethoven's moral judgments. Beethoven seemed to have wanted to live an "ideal" life, with ideal feelings, whereas Mozart lived his real life, with his real, all-too-human, feelings.
Deception and infidelity are part of the very fabric of our modern lives, and retrospectively, when viewed objectively and scientifically, of all ages. Monogamy, as glorified by "Fidelio" is a bit of a myth. Zeus himself -- all powerful god that he was on his Olympus mountain -- was a major player in this kind of everyday comedy or tragedy, and knew how to use deception and connivence very skillfully to conquer his female objects of desire.

What's remarkable in Mozart's music is that, even when the most negative and tormented emotions are involved -- jealousy, abandonment, treachery -- we live in a perpetual aura of sunshine, clarity, and brilliant light. Which remains the case in other Mozart operas even when death and the otherworld are shown or evoked (Idomeneo, Don Giovanni).
Mozart had no hesitation in tackling the difficult subject of deception and infidelity in Cosi Fan Tutte. In fact, he was in his natural element with it. And when Don Alfonso issues his command "Giochiamo" -- let's play, let's bet -- Mozart, always fond of games and fun, eagerly enters into the spirit of the farce, and joins the characters in their mad exploration of amorous feelings.

Taking a larger view, when you analyze his operas, it is striking how often deception and treachery are the key engines of the dramatic unfolding, from the Finta Semplice to the Flute and the Clemenza. In his very life, Mozart had to encounter jealousy and intrigues all the time from the very start of his career as a composer.
And some even have assumed that jealousy, personal or professional -- remember Pushkin's Salieri, Rimsky-Korsakov's opera, and our own contemporary Amadeus movie? -- did play a role in his accidental death. And this suspicion cannot be completely ignored and dismissed, whatever the fancy medical diagnoses delivered 200 years after the facts by all the doctors eager to deliver a coroner's post-mortem certificate on the basis of very confused and superficial description of sketchy symptoms.

So, leaving superficial and hypocritical moral judgments aside, it is clear that our instinctive appreciation of Mozart depends very much, not on the intellectual and abstract categorization of his operas' subjects, but on the very genetic structure of our brain and sensitivity. It is innate and immediate, not acquired by repeated exposure.
Mozart's Cosi, never mind Beethoven, will appeal to all and to all ages.
Now is this Boehm version the "perfect" Cosi? Well, very close to it. You'll see it when you hear it.
ROO.BOOKAROO