Customer Reviews

Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I don't know why there are so many people who dislike this
version.The music Karajan produced in his late career is
warmer, lighter and more glowing than before. All those
qualities are essential to this opera. Just listen to the
final trio, you can know why this performance is better than
the Krajan-EMI, which is emotionaly cooler.

From the POV of an opera student, this recording is beyond impressive. I also have the DVD w/ the cast, and both blow me away completely. Anna Tomowa-Sintow is a gorgeous Marschallin, Agnes Baltsa truly shines as Octavian, and Janet Perry's Sophie is sweet and adorable. I don't get what's all the fussing about this recording at all but... to me, this recording does not lose to the 1956 one w/ Schwartzkopf/Ludwig/Stitch-Randall (which I also own) at all!

Cannot understand how could someone put a negative statement on this
great recording. For real Opera connoisseurs, this is one of the highest
achievements in Opera history and one of the greatests landmarks in the
whole Karajan discography. Karajan borders on heaven in this recording,
the vocal staff is colossal and the Vienna Philharmonic has never sounded
with so high levels of beauty, fire, voluptuosity, spirit and depuration.
The result is a jewel for a lifetime. Shame on detractors!

Of all the recordings, (I've got 5 and had owned 9 including both Karajan recordings.) The Schwarzkopf recording is overrated in my opinion. While I think it is a fine recording, I still think that this recording is better. The sound is the most detailed of any performance. The Solti comes in 2nd in most areas. I think that Schwarzkopf was a fine Marschallin in recording, but having seen the likes of Te Kanawa with Troyanos and Battle live as my personal favorite performance (sadly not recorded with that cast.) There are a number of fine performances. One thing I learned over the years of being at the opera house was that any performance, when given the passage of enough time, somehow improves with age. I've actually been at performances which were good, but received a cool reception, yet a decade later, are referred to, in hindsight, as some sort of unpassable benchmark.

Of all the recordings of Der Rosenkavalier, this one is the one I listen to most. It isn't the gross overview that gets me (as is the case with the Solti version), but rather the detail and subtlety which is essential when listening with concentration. There is no perfect version to me, but this recording has the least demerits in total. Schwarzkopf may have been great in that recording, but she didn't hone it in live performances. Also, this opera is about more just the Marschallin. There's Octavian, Sophie, and Baron Ochs. There's also the orchestra, which is grand when necessary but subtle with every bit of orchestral filigree of the Presentation of the Rose, or the opening and closing of the Third Act. Each note of the spiccato strings, harps, and celesta clearly heard without being miked too closely or being smothered by woodwinds and brass (which are not held back when the score calls for it.)

I'd like to say that choosing the Schwarzkopf version because of Schwarzkopf is like choosing an automobile because of the upholstery and dismissing everything else.

this recording for both singing and engineering is the best. Its a must have. A+++

I'm sorry, cant stand Schwartzy. Tomowa-Sintow is great here, and so is the rest of the cast. Much prefered to Karajans first Rosenkavalier. But I believe the perfect, or best Rosenkavalier has yet to be released. The broadcast from the Met with TeKanawa and Troyanos probably came closest in my book, but that isnt available anywhere on CD or video...:-(

This is absolutly flowless recording, with perfect cast, exelent sound and very good conducting.

This is the best of the best - all I can say is wow!

I am an unabashed admirer of Karajan when it comes to Richard Strauss, and of course he made the classic Rosenkavalier with Schwarzkopf, but this digital remake misses on all cylinders. It epitomizes Karajan at his worst in the latter years: slick, uninvolving, sluggish. The singers are favorites of his, and he could get good performances from Tamova-Simtov. This, however, is one of her dowdy outings. Perry is a dim shadow of Stitch-Randall, and Agnes Baltsa has no idea of German singing style, a zero compared to the great Christa Ludwig. The digital sound is glassy and one-dimensional to boot. I am only rating this CD as high as I am to avoid the syndrom of giving one star just to grab attention.

This recording, made at the 1980 Salzburg Festival, shows how bad a conductor Herbert Von Karajan became in his late years. Whereas his 1956 recording of this opera, with Schwarzkopf, etc. is one of the great recordings of the century, this lifeless, uninvolved, artificial performance is simply bad. And the singing is actually pretty good. Although Anna-Tomowa Sintow is no Schwarzkopf, she does well enough with the Marschallin, and the smaller roles are done with nice characterization. But the sluggish, barren contributions of Karajan destroy any decent work from his cast. To be avoided at all costs.