Customer Reviews

Mozart: The Four Da Ponte Operas- Cosi fan tutte / Le nozze di Figaro / Don Giovanni / Die Zauberflote

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These are the classic Mozart operas recorded by Decca in 1954/55. They are wonderful performances featuring some of the best Mozart conductors and singers of the time: Cosi: Böhm / della Casa, Ludwig, Dermota, Kunz, Schoeffler; Figaro: E. Kleiber / Gueden, della Casa, Danco, Siepi, Corena; Don Giovanni: Krips / Danco, della Casa, Gueden, Dermota, Siepi, Corena, Berry, Böhme; Flute: Fricsay / Streich, Stader , Otto, Haefliger, Fischer-Dieskau, Greindl. All but Magic Flute are with the Vienna Philharmonic. I haven't compared the sound with the Decca masterings, but the sound is good 50's mono. No librettos but individual track listings are provided. At under $20 this is a steal. If you don't already have these performances, BUY THIS!

While none of these four performances might necessarily be a first choice for an individual recording, as a super-bargain box set this is self-recommending, featuring as it does an array of the finest German singers to be found in the mid 1950's conducted by four master-Mozartian conductors in Böhm, Kleiber, Krips and Fricsay respectively. The sound is remarkably clear and the packaging attractive, being the by now conventional format of a sturdy box containing cardboard slipcases. The only obstacle to acquiring this as, or for, a Mozart novice, is the lack of libretto or even synopses; it is obviously assumed that the collector already has them, so if you do decide to give this to a Mozart tyro, remedy the omission. At this price - even cheaper on Marketplace - it is absurd to complain. It is true that some individual performances are less than ideal; Poell's Count Almaviva is blustery and dry of voice, his Italian intermittently Teutonic - a flaw occasionally apparent in other singers, too; in "Die Zauberflöte" Greindl's Sarastro is a little lugubrious and Stader not ideally pure as Pamina but you do get dialogue unlike some contemporaneous versions and there is a sense of ensemble about each opera rather than that impression some more modern recordings give of a random gathering of star singers. But talking of stars, just look at some of the names here: Lisa della Casa, Christa Ludwig, Cesare Siepi, Hilde Gueden, Rita Streich, Suzanne Danco, Anton Dermota; so many great singers sounding as fresh as you could wish. (Here, to select an example at random, Dermota shows off his breath control by delivering the long phrase of "cercate" in "Il mio tesoro" in one breath unlike in other recordings.) The quality of performance, interpretation and sound is high throughout all four operas and this set represents a supreme bargain.

Decca/London was experimenting with stereo recordings of complete operas as early as 1954. The three Italian operas recorded in Vienna were done in real stereo, and are available elsewhere in that format. These transfers are of the mono mixes recorded at the same time. Only the DG Flute is mono-only.

All of these performances are first class, and far different from any Mozart you are going to hear 50+ years later. If stereo is unimportant to you, by all means, buy, learn and enjoy.

I have not heard these particular cds so I can't speak for the printing quality but I know all four of these recordings and they are all excellent. None is the very best of all available but all four are very very good ones, typical of the kind of recordings that were being made in the 1950s and 60s, which was very different from our current hyper-digitized output. If you're looking for bargains, this is one, assuming there isn't something terribly wrong with the transfer or whatever.

These are classic performances from the 50's in decent sound. At this low, low price, there is simply NO logical reason not to buy this box. Rita Streich's Queen of the Night is worth the 10 bucks alone! Superb!

In some ways this set is a bit depressing. These recordings are a collected proof that an age of glorious opera is past. All of these recordings are excellent, dating from the last gasp of mono in the mid 1950s. They sound fantastic, and are so involving the mono sound is no hindrance. The Krips Giovanni in particular could be one of the better, clearer versions available anywhere, including stereo versions. I have no idea who did these remasters, but they sound great. The only duplication I have is the Fricsay Flute, and this version sounds a bit fuller than the DG Documente release. No librettos is a drawback for opera newcomers; I would suggest buying it anyway (at this price, why not?) - as you get to know the operas and compare recordings, you'll find these versions to be indispensable and often preferable to any alternatives.

A few weeks later: I have had the opportunity to hear the Decca stereo remaster of the Krips Giovanni ("experimental" stereo recording done at the same time as the mono in the above set). The Decca remaster is a bit clearer, but has less "impact" than the mono. Given the choice, either is a great choice, but its sort of apples and oranges. This set, 4 operas, runs to less cost than the stereo remaster alone, so that ought to decide it! Also, the Figaro in this set is unsurpassed!

I grew up on these performances: the Bohm COSI FAN TUTTE was played so much that even today when I hear other versions, Bohm's tempi still intrude.

There was commentary about Cesare Siepi's Don back in the day -- I remember one critic referred to his voice as "mealy". Right. Well how times have changed because we could use a little more of this kind of "mealy" singing today. Siepi was stylish, a personality on stage (does anyone remember his live NBC-TV broadcast of DON GIOVANNI?). One reviewer above mentions Anton Dermota and his singing of Il mio tesoro; absolutely correct. Dermota was a great Bach singer as well.

All of these singers, for the most part Vienna Staatsoper stars, were trained and indoctrinated in a style of singing that time has wiped away. Not to say that there are not wonderful singers today. But these folks were joyously good and nowhere more so than in Mozart.

The "curious" in the title to this commentary comes from the fact that my almost 50-year old edition of ZAUBERFLOTE is Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft and, unlike London and RCA in the 60s and 70s, I don't think that they had any kind of reciprocal agreement with Decca. Stader,Fischer-Dieskau (at that time he also recorded for EMI Angel), and especially Fricsay were DGG artists. At the time, I remember that DGG was not considered such a powerhouse as, say, Angel or RCA or Decca. How times have changed.

I have always loved this recording -- Fricsay was a great and underappreciated conductor (I suppose in a time of Solti, Bohm, Von Karajan, Giulini, Bernstein, and so on he might have had a crowd control problem career-wise).

I still think Fricsay's RIGOLETTO (with Fischer-Dieskau, Scotto, and Bergonzi, also on DGG) is the most powerful and downright interesting on record notwithstanding some concerns that Fischer-Dieskau's voice wasn't spot on for the part -- to which I say, baloney.

Maria Stader (all 4 foot 11 inches of her) was a wonderful soprano and Rita Streich was scarily good as the Queen of the Night.

Notwithstanding my "curiosity), whoever is responsible for making these four operas available at such a price should receive a good citizenship award.

But one caveat: for the record, at a time when the internet is so ubiquitous, why can't record companies make the notes-photographs-librettos available on-line in a printable format? Minimal cost, most of it borne by the buyer who pays for the paper and the ink. All it would take is a little one-time effort and some thought. Jeez, I mean, we DO have the technology.