Customer Reviews

Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro

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Erich Kleiber's 1955 Decca recording has stood the test of time as one of the truly great classics of the grammophone. No other conductor, except perhaps Karl Bohm, approaches the old maestro in the near-ideal marriage of dramatic thrust and humour. Kleiber, more than any other maestro, brings out the warm humanity of the score and the intimate, household spirit and gaiety of the Almaviva household, yet manages at the same time to keep up the momentum of an intensifying drama. The great Act II and IV finales serve as templates for Kleiber's superb mastery. The cast is one that could be found performing Figaro on a particularly good night at the Vienna State Opera in the 1950s. It consists of some of the best Mozart singers of the time. Caesare Siepi is a dark and virile Figaro, intelligently characterized and well-contrasted with the menacing authority of Alfred Poell's Count Almaviva. On the downside, I have to say that Siepi's voice colour is a bit too dark and Poell sounds rather aged when compared to Thomas Allen on the 1981 Solti recording. There are also pros and cons for the trio of female principals: Lisa Della Casa's voice is a bit shrill and undernourished, yet she illuminates the score as well as any and there are moments of breathtaking beauty, such as the letter duet with Susanna in Act III. Hilde Gueden's Susanna is both scheming and kittenish, very much a Viennese soubrette. Her warm, golden tone certainly has its appeals. She is constantly at the centre of the drama despite some unsteady moments, especially in her Act IV aria. Suzanne Danco's Cherubino is admittedly too girlish and the character she projects is rather cool and unendearing, even though she sings all her music spot-on. Yet, inspite of the reservations expressed on the principal singers, the performance overall glows with heart-warming beauty and affection, all thanks to Kleiber's artistry. The recording, made during the early stereo era, is definitely not up to today's standards, yet the balance between voice and orchestra is superbly achieved and the meticulous 20-bit remastering process brings marked improvement over the previous digitally remastered version. The final verdit is clear --- whichever sets of Figaro you own, this bottle of frangrant old wine should be on your shelf.

At mid-price, this would be an excellent choice for anyone looking for a first recording of this greatest of all operas. Its main strength is the conducting of Erich Kleiber, who paces the opera beautifully, understands both the light and serious side of Mozart and Da Ponte's comedy, and gets great playing from an orchestra that could often be slovenly under less inspired conductors. On the other hand, Kleiber must be faulted for refusing to allow any appogiaturas in the recitatives or the arias: This isn't a question of "authenticity," but simply of the fact that Mozart expected appogiaturas to be used and that many of the lines would sound more assertive and interesting if they were used. (To be fair to Kleiber, he's hardly the only conductor to suffer from a misguided "come scritto" approach to the score.)

Though this is often spoken of as the apotheosis of the "Vienna Mozart Style" of the '50s, the great performances in this cast come from the two Italians: Cesare Siepi is just about perfect as Figaro--doing justice to this character's sense of humor and his rebellious anger--and Fernando Corena relishes the patter sections as few portrayers of Bartolo have ever done. The rest of the cast is uneven. A major problem is with the Germanic pronunciation of Italian-- "qvi, qva, qvesto," that sort of thing-- which doesn't do justice to Da Ponte's great lyrics. Hilde Gueden was a great and acclaimed singer, but her portrayal of Susanna somehow seems a bit one-dimensionally light, without the complexity brought to the part by some other singers who have recorded the role (notably Mirella Freni for Colin Davis and Nuccia Focile for Charles Mackerras). Lisa Della Casa, an even greater singer at her best (that rare combination of a stunningly beautiful woman and a stunningly beautiful voice) is not quite at her best here; she sings nicely, of course, but her characterization makes the Countess seem droopier and drearier than she really is; other singers, such as Schwartzkopf and, surprisingly, Kiri Te Kanawa, have shown us more of the character's lighthearted side. As the Count, Alfred Poell never quite gets beyond stern nobility--he never seems aflame with passion or remorse or anything--and his Italian pronunciation is the worst of all. Suzanne Danco's Cherubino is OK but ordinary. But individual flaws don't mean all that much in an ensemble opera like "Figaro," especially when you have the sense of teamwork that this cast has: The ensembles come alive, and the great second-act finale crackles with energy and that great Mozartean combination of comedy and drama.

Decca's sound is not really all that good; it's stereo, but early stereo, and it was done before John Culshaw took over on Decca's Vienna recordings and redefined what could be done in opera recordings. The strings sound thin (they always did, even on LP), and little attempt is made at stereo staging.

At the price, with libretto and translation included, this is as good a choice as any. My own favorite, though it's more expensive, is Charles Mackerras's recording on Telarc; Mackerras's conducting is as great in its own way as Kleiber's, but with far more attention paid to appogiaturas and other elements of proper performance practice; if Mackerras's cast is good rather than outstanding, his singers have that indefinable sense of teamwork and they all characterize well. Mackerras also includes a fascinating appendix of alternate numbers. Another good version for those who prefer a big orchestra in Mozart is Colin Davis's on Philips.

Among other versions: Bohm on DG is sunk by Bohm's lethargic, unimaginative conducting and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's over-the-top Count. Solti on Decca has arguably the best cast of all, but Solti (a far cry from his thrilling '70s recordings of "Magic Flute" and "Cosi Fan Tutte") is so determined to be mellow and charming that he glosses over the disturbing elements in the opera and makes the whole thing seem too fluffy. Gardiner on DG has the advantage of Bryn Terfel as Figaro, but somehow the performance doesn't come together; it's better sampled on the video version with the same cast and conductor. Giulini on EMI is a very fine (and cheap) performance, maybe a bit lacking in sheer fun and with Basilio and Marcellina's arias cut. (Incidentally, on Kleiber's recording, Marcellina's aria is sung by Hilde Gueden--dramatically nonsensical, but, considering how much trouble some singers of Marcellina have with this aria, perhaps musically wise.)

So, I would say, if you're new to this opera and want a good, relatively inexpensive performance that you can't go wrong with, get the Kleiber. Then, if you fall in love with this opera (and you will), get the Mackerras set for a more "authentic"--but not academic--performance. Then you'll probably want to go out and buy still more recordings of this great work in the eternal, vain quest for that which can never be: the perfect "Figaro."

Well, the two previous reviewers have given intelligent and thoughtful comments. What can I add? The performance of this magnificent opera which I listen to the most is by Giulini. Many critics find it too serious, but it has a great combination of fine singing, sensitive conducting, and decent sound. Kleiber's recording does suffer in the sound quality, as do many historic recordings of the period. However, music has always been more important to me than sound. As such I value the great conducting and depth of interpretation this version offers. Kleiber's singers are wonderful, especially Siepi. But it is his interpretation that makes this recording so special. How should one approach Figaro? Who is the smarter one -- Susanna or Figaro? Is the Count really dangerous or just someone full of himself? Is the Countess aloof or heartsick? Does the switch in the second scene of Act 2 really fool anyone? Only Bruno Walter and Ezio Pinza in recordings from the 1940's match Kleiber's keen wit and light touch. This is one of the few Figaro's that has a sense of humor and in which Figaro and Susanna really seem to be having fun. There is nothing wrong with the Davis or Solti recordings. They are good enough choices for someone who must have modern sound. Actually, for digital sound I prefer the version with Gardiner on Archiv to either of those. Bryn Terfel and Rodney Gilfry are outstanding. But no one who loves this opera deeply should overlook the virtues of this version by Kleiber. You'll get a much clearer view of Mozart's and Da Ponte's sense of humor by listening to this disc.

This set is a well-loved classic, as the other reviewers here have pointed out. But the qualities of the performance haven't been well pointed out. To call this reading great comic fun isn't right. Siepi is a straight-ahead bass Figaro, and his EMI rival, Giusepe Taddei, is much looser and more comic. Among baritone Figaros Hermann Prey on the Bohm st for DG and the unknwon Peteri Salomaa on the delightful period performance under Ostman on L'Oiseau-Lyre are more buoyant and amusing by far.

The women are all very good, equal to the women on the EMI set under Giulini. Particuarly wonderful is Suzanne Danco as Cherubino, a portrayal to win your heart forever. Among the men, however, the clunker is Alfred Poell as the Count, with his stiff, blustery, hollow singing. He was criticized heavily when this recording was released, and time hasn't improved matters.

The recorded sound is bright, thin, and wiry, not surprising for very early (1956) stereo, but the orchestra still sounds gorgeous, if a bit scanty by present recording standards. Having said all this, I do find Kleiber's Figaro perennially charming.

This 1955 Vienna recording is pretty much perfect. Astoundingly clear sound, an ideal cast, the magnificent VPO and a fabulous conductor make this the best recording available, and a better recording is virtually unthinkable. The conducting of Erich Kleiber is very precise and rhythmic, and he lets the music speak for itself, which is exactly what is needed here. He draws a glorious sound from the Vienna Philharmonic at the top of its form. But probably the best aspect of his conducting is its excitement. From the beginning of the opera on, he draws you in to the tension and anticipation of his performance, and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Any conductor who can do this and still retain a warm, lyrical sound from his orchestra like Kleiber is a truly great conductor. Kleiber has a great cast to work with, as well. Cesare Siepi lends his gorgeous bass voice and believable, detailed characterization to Figaro; Hilde Güden is a beautiful, spicy Susanna; Lisa Della Casa sings the Countess with a glorious silvery lyric soprano, which makes up for the lack of characterization; Alfred Pöll uses his firm, solid baritone intelligently as the Count, and sings very beautifully at "Contessa, perdono"; Suzanne Danco sings Cherubino beautifully, even if she does sound too feminine; and the superb Italian-Swiss basso buffo Fernando Corena as Bartolo rounds out the cast. Despite the excellence of these individual portrayals, the quality that makes this a truly great recording is its wistful, nostalgic Viennese warmth, both in the singing and especially in the unparalleled playing of the Vienna Philharmonic. This is a magical recording and, beautifully packaged in Decca's mid-price Legends series, one that no Mozart or opera lover should miss.

Amazon helpfully allows customers to listen to excerpts of the music before making a purchase, and it is especially important to take advantage of that opportunity in this case, because the star performers in this recording have exceptional voices that are difficult to describe usefully in a brief written review. Listen to the second excerpt, for example. (This is the first scene of the opera after the overture.) The man's voice, as indicated, is Cesare Siepi (Figaro); and it doesn't say this, but the woman's voice at the very end of the minute-long excerpt is Hilde Gueden (Susanna). Gueden's voice has been described as "golden" and "light"--those are sometimes genuine compliments, sometimes backhanded ones--but such descriptions don't mean much until you hear the voice itself. If you don't like it, this set isn't for you. But I almost fell out of my chair.
Even if you finally decide that you prefer a more recent performance, it is important to hear this one, because it sheds light on how opera has changed over the past fifty years. Contemporary performers don't sing like Siepi and Gueden, in part because they don't aim for the same sound. Much is made, both in the liner notes and in some reviews here, of the fact that Erich Kleiber did not permit elaborate appoggiaturas, but the question should not be whether he was "right" or "wrong." He was conducting within a tradition that had its own merit, and it's not the same as what one is likely to hear today.

This set has long been regarded as a classic among Figaro recordings. What really makes its classic status justified is Kleiber's warm, humane and dramatically flexible direction, matched by only a few (among them Fritz Busch) on disc.

The cast is variable in quality. Siepi has a dark, resonant bass that makes him a suave Figaro, even though he dosen't quite have Giuseppe Taddei's (on the Giulini set) ability to articulate the text nimbly and meaningfully. Alfred Poell's Count Almaviva is heavy and unidiomatic and his Italian pronunciation is painful on the ears.

Among the women, Gueden stands out as a pert, soft-grained Susanna in the Austro-German soubrette tradition, even though some might find her a bit too much so. Della Casa is a dignified, aristocratic Countess, dourful at times. Danco's Cherubino is the least satisfying among the female principals, sounding too cool and inappropriately girlish as the young, love-stricken teenage boy.

Taken as a whole, the set is worth acquiring mainly for Kleiber's conducting.

When Mozart had decided to set the politically controversial play "The Marriage of Figaro" by Beaumarchais (even Napoleon credited it with laying the groundwork for the Revolution) he enlisted Lorenzo Da Ponte to write the libretto. The play had premiered only recently and was banned by Mozart's great patron, Leopold II. The Emperor had allowed the play to be published rather than performed because he reasoned that the working class enjoyed going to see plays but did not read books. In this atmosphere one may wonder at Mozart's audacity. Yes, they toned down the political aspects of the play, but it is still an opera about a Count who decides to go after his valet's fiancée and comes up on the short end.

Da Ponte said that Mozart wrote the music as quickly as he could write the words and the opera was premiered in Vienna almost exactly two years after the first public performance of Beumarchais' play. However, it was when "Figaro" was performed in Prague that Mozart had his greatest success. The acclaim was so great that Mozart was commissioned for another opera. He and Da Ponte soon came up with "Don Giovanni", but that is another story. In 1787, Mozart wrote to Gottfried con Jacquin, "... I watched with greatest pleasure how everyone was hopping about with sheer delight to the music of my "Figaro," which had been transformed into Contredanses and German dances; for here they talk of nothing but - "Figaro"; nothing is played, blown, sung, and whistled but - "Figaro"; no opera is seen as much as - "Figaro"; again and again it is - "Figaro"; it's all a great honor for me."

This great masterwork is not only an audience pleaser; it is also a complex and large-scale work. However, it requires only eleven (first-rate) singers to perform (and orchestra). It is more than four hours in length and contains so many musical miracles it is hard to comprehend all of them. As one example, at the end of the second act, when things are getting most out of control for Figaro, there are over nine hundred (900!) measures of singing without any recitative! It is all singing by ensembles of one composition or another. And it is these ensembles that are the key to this opera. The arias and cavatinas are wonderful, but it is in the ensembles where the characters reveal the most about themselves.

The plot is far too intricate to discuss here, but the gist of it is this: Figaro and Susanna want to marry. Count Almaviva, whom Figaro had help win the Countess in the previous play, "The Barber of Seville", is a letch who is used to having any woman in his domain that catches his eye. Susanna has been fending off his intentions and helps Figaro realize his master's true intentions. The Countess wants the man she married to return to her. Then there is Cherubino. This role is always sung by a woman, usually a mezzo-soprano. He is a boy, old enough to be sent off to the military, but not old enough to be taken seriously as an object of romance, although he is ardently interested in the Countess and nearly every other woman in this story. It is this role that takes the play to another level. He is the mechanism by which comedy, mishap, confusion, and much else happen. He is a bit like Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", but less aware of his part in the larger story than is Puck.

Erich Kleiber and the Vienna Philharmonic did this recording, the very first complete version of the opera put on record, in 1955. The performance is absolutely glorious. It is a studio recording, has been digitally remastered for this release, and the sound is unbelievably full. The singers were chosen spectacularly well. Ceasare Siepi is a wonderful Figaro. He has a baritone voice that is rich and very charismatic. The picture they include of him makes it obvious that he could have also been a movie star. Alfred Poeli as the Count also has a fine voice, but just a bit less strong than Siepi's, which is right because the Count should not overshadow Figaro. After all, the Count is going to lose, right? Hilde Gueden has a voice that makes you believe that Susanna is a sweet young woman. Lisa della Casa voices the Contessa with warmth, kindness, wisdom, and longing. Suzanne Danco sings Cherubino with a wonderful mischievousness that audiences always enjoy.

This is a recording you want in your collection. It is a superb and important recording of this world treasure of an opera.

I owned the Solti set for quite a long while before I acquired this set. I was amazed at what I heard. Both orchestra and singers are balanced closer to the microphone in this recording. The result is that everything is vividly recorded. The orchestral details are clearer in this set than in the Solti set. I prefer the singers in Solti's set. But I prefer the orchestra here (Vienne Philharmonic). The issue with the Solti set is that the balance is a bit distant. The singers are balanced away from the microphones. You feel you are sitting somewhere in the middle of the theatre while here you feel you are sitting in the front seat. It really makes a difference - afterall, there is a reason that front seats cost hundreds of dollars while middle seats cost less. It's not just the viual aspect. Anyway, the result is that I find this set more lively than Solti's. It's not so much that Lucia Popp, Kanawa, Allen and Ramey in the Solti set do not get into their character. It's more the ENGINEERS' fault. This set is on Gramophone's 100 greatest classical recording list. That list I find quite authoritative. Indeed, often very accurate!! So is this recording deserving of that status. I would say that this is one of those more marginal cases on the list. Unlike, say, Klemperer's Fidelio, I wouldn't say this is the BEST (honestly, I can't for the world decided which is the best Figaro) but I would say that this is definitely ONE OF THE BEST. If you are thinking of getting only ONE set, I would highly recommend this one. Of course, no one recording can ever capture Mozart's operatic genius and there is no one authoritative Figaro on the market.

This is undoubtedly a special, historic recording, but I believe it's been greatly overrated. Apparently, mine is the minority view, and I can certainly understand why, but I think buyers should have the benefit of both viewpoints before deciding whether to buy this or an alternate version.

To my mind, what automatically disqualifies this recording as a top choice is the Count Almaviva of Alfred Poell, who suffers from wavering pitch and horrible, horrible Italian diction. As if that weren't enough, he seems to have almost no sense of rhythm and is frequently out of sync with the orchestra and the rest of the singers (or maybe it's just his inability to blend). To top it off, he sounds old enough to be Lisa Della Casa's (the Countess's) father, or even grandfather, rather than her husband, and snarls his way through the part.

Cesare Siepi certainly has a rich bass voice, and sings characterfully and musically -- but his habit of continually singing just under the pitch is truly bothersome. In addition, Suzanne Danco sings Cherubino very well -- but sounds too girlish (being a soprano rather than the customary mezzo) for my taste.

Of course, there are some clear positives, which others have already pointed out: Kleiber's conducting is extremely exciting without ever seeming rushed; Della Casa is a moving (if slightly dour) Countess; Hilde Gueden is charming as Susanna. In addition, I really enjoyed Fernando Corena's singing of Bartolo's aria, "La vendetta."

All in all, this is a fine recording...