Customer Reviews

Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro ~ Giulini

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

When shopping for a 'Figaro,' you could be coerced into buying a more expensive set. Don't be: Giulini's lovely recording, a largely underrated gem of Mozart opera, is certainly on par with the his celebrated 'Don Giovanni,' and is an excellent first choice. One must keep in mind, though, that with such a renowned opera as 'Figaro' there's no such thing as a perfect cast, and if there is, I would lay a wager the perfect conductor isn't in attendance.

There are, in my view, four really outstanding 'Figaros.' Your choice should be based on personal preference for singers. One is Erich Kleiber's 1955 account, which has been critically acclaimed since its debut, and is Amazon's pick. An excellent, though slightly overrated, first choice. Karajan's 1952, now a GROC, is a stunning performance (my personal favorite), but, admittedly, a bad first choice. And there's Bohm's, which is a darn good recording, but not without its flaws. This Giulini recording with the Philharmonia Orchestra is a beautiful performance with an Italian flair, a benchmark addition to the catalogue. And here's what I think of it:

Eberhard Waechter and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf leave all other Count/Rosine pairings in the shade: Waechter, especially, is magnificent, BY FAR the best Count on disc. Schwarzkopf is much better on Karajan's 1952 set, but nobody understands this character like she does: the mere utterance of "E Susanna non vien!" before she sings the "Dove sono" bit gives me chills. Janowitz, her competition, could make the harshest of German phrases seem gentle, and while her voice is equally ravishing in the Italian tongue, confidence of character suffers. Duets like the Shawshank-plagued "Canzonetta sull'aria," for example, should be a contest of wit and mischievousness, not of sheer vocal beauty. Enter Schwarzkopf, who has a fine balance of both.

Giuseppe Taddei's best role was Leporello, in which he was unforgettable, but his forced buffo voice doesn't always work for Figaro; he's very thoughtful, however, and is, as always, a great complement to Waechter. His Susanna is Anna Moffo, who is overall my favorite on disc. She's totally involved emotionally and definitely the most adorable one you'll find anywhere.

There are some negative points: Troyanos, Johnson, and Lagger -- all on Bohm's -- are much better supporting characters than Giulini's crew. The sound is also stronger on Bohm's set, made some seven years after this one.

Giulini's conducting, however, far surpasses Bohm's, and is at least the equal of Erich Kleiber. The Philharmonia of the early 1960s is glorious -- as they are for Klemperer's 'Magic Flute.' Also, there are some cuts to Act IV, but it doesn't bother me one bit. And what's even better: the price is a steal! I will say without reservation that this would make a fine first 'Figaro' in anyone's collection; but I'll also say that owning only one version of this divine opera is almost criminal, so I'd say get this Giulini and the Kleiber -- but more, if possible!

If this opera features in everyone's top ten favourites, then the respective merits of some likely candidates for purchase should be discussed and shared on the internet.

I have never felt that this forty-year-old set shows its age in any way. It boasts the best recording producer (Walter Legge) and the best recording venue (Kingsway Hall, London) of their day. Conductor Giulini is scrupulously loyal to the score. Listen carefully, and you'll hear that distinctions between mezzo forte and forte are observed. There is, moreover, no playing for laughs here. Mozart's music and Da Ponte's libretto are allowed to speak for themselves. Access to the libretto is made even easier by the inclusion of a nice fat booklet with this 2 CD set, providing the original text with an English translation, and a synopsis in English, German and French. Access to the music is enhanced by excellent recording sound quality. The potential of stereophonic recording is successfully exploited also, helping us to hear, as it were, characters moving around on a stage - being locked in wardrobes, jumping out of windows, etc.

Enshrined in this recording are at least two immortal performances. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf's countess is vocally and histrionically ideal. Giuseppe Taddei's Figaro is the other stand out performance here - even if he opts for a higher alternative C at the end of his Act 1 aria, instead of the one Mozart wrote. Anna Moffo provides a lovely "Deh vieni non tardar" in the last act, singing with even legato without too much portamento. It seems unwise to nominate stand out performances here, however. Rarely has an opera recording been so well cast.

All of which, I hope, suggests that this is a "Figaro" that will provide unconditional and repeated enjoyment. It is also a bargain "Figaro". By omitting 2 of the 29 numbers Mozart provided for the original Vienna production - unimportant Act 4 arias for Bartolo and Marcellina - everything else fits perfectly onto just 2 CDs.

This is a classic Figaro indeed. It is true Giulini takes a more relaxed approach to the reading, but in doing so he allows to music to bloom. The singing is of the highest quality (and you wouldn't expect any less given the cast).

Moffo is a delight as Susanna. Her soprano is very sweet (listening to her here, one realizes how much her voice changed when she began to sing heavier roles!). Schwarzkopf is divine as the countess, Taddei and Wachter are magnificent.

The singers characterize their which such attention to detail! Taddei's "Non piu andrai" is the best I have heard. Close your eyes, and you can actually "see" him mocking poor Cherubino. Wachter's tone can change from angry to seductive (when whooing Susanna)in an instant.

I had previously bought the Glyndebourne recording with Gui, but the tape hiss is quite noticeable. The sound of this recording is very good for the period. Call me crazy but I find that some of these old analogue recordings have a warmth that many digital recordings lack.

Giulini's Figaro focuses on the singing. The cast is unbeatable and there is no lack of zest to the reading.

By the way, his Don Giovanni is another spectacular recording. The cast is dazzling and the singing is marvellous!

This Figaro from 1959 has been unassailable for nearly half a century, so there's no reason to heap on more praise. But I took it out today after reading that Anna Moffo, who sings Susannah here, died this week at the shockingly early age of 73. She was greatly underrated, especially toward the end of her career. Her singing is a dramatic asset in this Figaro, not least becasue she and Taddei, both native speakers of Italian, do so much more with the recitatives than other couples.

I am not usually a fan of bassos singing the role of Figaro, but of that type, Taddei is the most flexible; he's full of wit and anger both, and believably a servant (unlike Siepi on the famous Erich Kleiber set for Decca, who seems like an aristocrat in disguise). Moffo is more sharp-witted and less coy than other Susannahs, which I think is also a help. Instead of singing in a generic Mozart style, this Figaro and Susannah sound like two disntinct personalities. (Nobody in the cast tries to sound dainty and refined, thank goodness.)

The third distinction of this set is Giulini's conducting. At his best this conductor could impart inner life to every line in the score, as he does here. There are no inert accompaniments; everything sparkles with real, not artificial animation. EMI gave this recording such good sound that they have never remastered it, which is amazing in itself. The sonics have held up quite well, although I had forgotten until listening today that the solo arias employ a lot of the resonance in Kingsway Hall, coming across as a touch cavernous.

No matter abuot that--this recording will ssurvive as long as people are listening to Mozart's masterpiece.

This recording retains my affection after almost forty years of listening in LP and CD versions. Giulini's conducting is quite wonderful in its attention to nuance and detail. Schwarzkopf's Countess suffers only in comparison to her fresher voiced self in the 1950 Karajan conducted version (unfortunately shorn of all the recitatives) and the Furtwangler conducted Salzburg version (in German). Concerning Taddei's Figaro, it captures the quicksilver quality of the hero to the T and is well sung as well. No singer/conductor combination in my experience has captured the venom of "Se vuol ballare" of Taddei and Giulini in this set. Moffo is a sympathetic Susanna and acquits herself well vocally. Cossotto and Vinco do very well as Cherubino and Bartolo. The Count is, I think, a rather problematic role. He is a nobleman (albeit one outsmarted by his wife and servants) and that inherent power makes him a dangerous character. The man stands high enough in the opinion of his king to be the newly appointed ambassador to England, after all. How to bring off that combination of power and powerlessness is the problem. Waechter's well vocalized but vehement performance has always struck me as dangerously close to boorishness. Most other singers don't do much better, however. The rest of the supporting cast does well enough - some shaky intonation from the Basilio aside. I enjoy the fleet, conversation quality of the recitatives - special plaudits to the La Scala coaches engaged by Walter Legge for the proceedings. To Legge as well goes much of the credit for the balance and overall excellence of the production. The decision to dispense with the then rarely heard arias for Marcellina and Basilio doesn't bother me at all. They are far from top drawer Mozart IMHO. In a field as crowded as Figaro recordings, I hesitate to call any one the best. This one joins a handful of favorites including Leinsdorf (RCA/London and sadly no longer in print), Gui (with Jurinac's great Countess), and Jacobs (well sung and acted and spectacular in SACD sound). Absent are Boehm (well sung by the ladies but insufficient point and clarity in the diction, recitatives in particular) and Kleiber (well conducted but jarringly shorn of all appogiature and tubby in sound).

I wore out three versions of this recording in the LP days and am now on my second set of CD's -- someone walked off with the first one. To my ear, Giulinni has the clearest and most coherent approach to the music, guiding in flowing and balanced fashion. Anna Moffo in top voice is a wonderful Susanna and is very well contrasted with Schwartzkopf's darker and very moving Countess. Wachter plays as well as sings the Count as a convincing character -- not an easy task -- while Taddei's Figaro has force and character-- attitude in the present vernacular. Cossotto's Cherubino is well sung, but her voice is too mellow to be entirely convincing as the love-sick and randy teenager. The Philharmonia was at peak performace. Yes, there are cuts unfortunately, but the whole here is much more than the parts. This is a luminous and illuminating recording. I would not be without it.

This is the Figaro with which I am most familiar although I have heard many others, including Milnes at the Met, live. The Bohm and Solti are both also good. The Gui is interesting and nails many of the buffo characteristics of the opera. I am very interested in Harmonia Mundi's much more recent "Le Nozze" from Rene Jacobs, but have yet to hear it.

The Giulini is not perfect, but no other recording is either. Since as many reviewers claim his tempi too fast as claim they are too slow, I suspect that my comfort with this recording must mean that the tempi are pretty much on target. My gut says that Giulini moves the action along here. But that's okay with me. After all, this is a buffo opus, not a funereal dirge.

The women excel here. I've always been a fan of Schwarzkopf, but here she's up against strong support from Moffo and Cossotto who both absolutely nail their parts. Moffo's sweet Suzanna is a great contrast to Cossotto's creamy sounding adolescent Cherubino (a favorite of mine). Moffo is near perfect here and those who complain about Cossotto's timber are possibly forgetting (or ignoring) that the role is supposed to be an over-sexed adolescent *male*. The contrast between the voices helps present a broad sonic stage.

The men are lead by Wachter's Count. His is a great performance. Taddei is a workable Figaro who carries the Buffo elements forward. Here again, there is contrast between the voicing which helps in any opera recording.

I know that there are flaws here. But one doesn't worry about them when the whole is such a pleasant listening experience. Opera isn't just about the singing. I love Te Kanawa's voice, but she can't act--as best I can figure--in *anything*. Giulini's recording of this work is great because of the way the story flows from Lorenzo Da Ponte's libretto. There's something more than singing going on here and Giulini has shown that he knows how to deliver it. His "Don Giovanni" (with many of the same cast) is close to definitive. I'd place this "Le Nozze" as close to that level.

Budget priced, no less. Just get it and enjoy.

I don't mind sounding pompous when I write so true a dictum as `Great opera is more than good singing, conducting, and producing'. The point is that great opera has to be alive; it has to draw you in. Sometimes the performance is technically great, but boring, and sometimes it's technically problematic, but interesting.

As it happens, Solti's `Figaro' has many merits, but sounds quite dead to me. Kleiber's has serious technical flaws, but it's more alive the Solti's. Therefore, I recommend Giulini's which sounds very much alive. (I've never heard Bohm's `Figaro', but his Mozart syms are impressive.)

The strengths of the Giulini recording aside from the conducting are Moffo's Susanna who perhaps acts too cute but is still dramatic, Wachter's Count, who is sufficiently lascivious, Vinco's Bartolo who actually sounds clever, and not merely malicious, and Gatta's Marcellina who is sufficiently pushy. The main weakness is Taddei's Figaro, who is too gruff and unsympathetic (though maybe he's suppost to be). But I haven't heard anyone do a better job.

The Marriage of Figaro is such a delightful opera that those who love it will inevitably buy more than one version. Different performances make the listener consider the opera from different points of view. For example, who is the hero of the opera? Figaro or Suzanna? Which of them is the more clever? Are they really afraid of the Count or is he more of a buffoon? Is there an underlying menace in the action or is it all for fun?

This version is the one I probably listen to the most. Others I like are Kleiber, who takes the most humorous approach, Gui, whose version is quite beautiful, and Solti, whose performance features the best Cheribino ever in Von Stade, and which is the one to chose if up to date sound is of paramount importance.

For myself, I always prefer performance over sound, so I recommend Guilini and Kleiber most of all.

(There are also some old recordings with Bruno Walter and Ezio Pinza which are quite exciting, but are only for those who already have one or more of the versions listed above.)

Many Giulini recordings are called the best available and this is certainly one of them!
This Figaro has an all star cast and a magnificent conductor! What more do you need to have a truly majestic recording?
Giusseppe Taddei is one of the best Figaros. He gets inside the role and sings gorgeously. He makes a nice couple with Anna Moffo's Susanna and their voices blend very well together. She is also committed to the role with all her heart and gives us a wonderful Susanna, smart and tender and absolutely loving.
The Countess Almaviva was one of Dame Schwarzkopf's favourite parts and she cannot be beaten in it. She sings with the grandiose manner needed and makes us feel compassion for her in her agony for her husband's treachery. Finally, we have Eberhard Waechter, who gives us an incredible Almaviva (pretty resembling his Don Giovanni again under Giulini).
The supporting cast is also very well and the edition that is used is the one that omits the irrelevant Marzellina and Basilio arias in the last act.
Giulini know very well how to conduct Mozart and he makes this recording alive (many have accused Solti's recording for NOT being alive and dramatical). Well this recording is alive and full of humour. Buy it and you will not get disappointed!!