Verdi: Ein Maskenball (Un Ballo in Maschera)

Giuseppe Verdi (Composer), Artur Rother (Conductor), Fritz Busch (Conductor), Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Berliner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester (Orchestra), Anny Schlemm (Performer), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Performer), Friedrich Himmelmann (Performer), Fritz Augustin (Performer), Gunther Wilhelms (Performer), Heinrich Schlusnus (Performer), Helge Rosvaenge (Performer), Lorenz Fehenberger (Performer), Martha Mödl (Performer), Walburga Wegner (Performer), Wilhelm Schirp (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Anny Schlemm, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Friedrich Himmelmann, Fritz Augustin, Gunther Wilhelms, et al.
• Orchestra: Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester
• Conductor: Artur Rother, Fritz Busch
• Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
• Audio CD (June 6, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Gala
• ASIN: B000001XN6
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #713,339 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #5 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Modl, Martha

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Gespräch vom 13.2.1951 zwischen Werner Labriga und Fritz Busch anläßlich der Einstudiering des 'Mas

2. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Vorspiel

3. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act One - Introduktion: Schlummre ruhig

4. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act One - Introduktion: Der Gouverneur!

5. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act One - Introduktion: Für dein Glück und für dein Leben

6. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act One - Introduktion: Mit starrem Angesicht blickt sie nach oben

7. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act One - Introduktion: Zum Hause der Ulrika

8. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act One - Beschwörungsszene: sTILLE..., MAN DARF IHREN zAUBER NICHT STöREN

9. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act One - Beschwörungsszene: Wie tief seid Ihr bewegt!

10. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act One - Beschwörungsszene: Weise Prophetin... O sag, wenn ich fahr' auf schäumenden Wogen

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act Two: O Gott! Ich höre Schritte!

2. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act Two: Nun folget mir

3. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act Three: Solch Vergehen tilgt kein Klagen

4. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act Three: Den Tod will ich erdulden

5. La forza del destino, opera: Die Stunde ist heilig

6. La forza del destino, opera: O Tod, du Wort des Grauens... Hier ist das Schicksal... Ha! Er wird le

7. La forza del destino, opera: Eine Stunde der Ruhe

8. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act Three: Wohl kam im sich'ren Heime... Doch heißt dich auch ein Pflichtgebot

9. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act Three: Ha, sie ist da!

10. Un ballo in maschera, opera: Act Three: Laßt ah mit Fragen

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great day in Cologne preserved on CD. Thank you Gala!, August 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Verdi: Ein Maskenball (Un Ballo in Maschera) (Audio CD)

Are you aching to hear Verdi's "A Masked Ball" sung in German, but you don't have the means to travel to Germany or Austria for a performance. Or, do you have what you consider is the "definitive recording" of this opera and you're looking for a interesting diversion. Well, here's a bargain for you. An opera written in Italian, originally about intrigue in the Swedish court, which is frequently performed with a Boston-setting (as it is on this recording), and sung here in German. It doesn't get any more internationally head-spinning than this. But, if you want to listen to what may be the last recording by the legendary, opera conductor Fritz Busch (who co-founded the Glyndebourne Festival), with a 25 year-old Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Martha Modl in her prime (and not singing Wagner), then this recording is for you. And that's not all. You get three bonus tracks (20 minutes) from Verdi's "La Forza del Destino" also sung in German with Artur Rother conducting featuring renowned, German baritone Heinrich Schlusnus and acclaimed, Danish tenor Helge Rosvaenge. Plus you get a lengthy interview with Fritz Busch, unfortunately it's in German. But if you're not a "collector" or a financially-frustrated traveler, the question remains should you buy this recording? Yes. This is a great little undiscovered treasure. Busch's tempos really bring out the drama and excitement of the music. The singing is very good, and not just from the big names. But don't forget the big names. Modl's first appearance as the fortune-teller is powerful and arresting (CD1, Track 8). This 1951 recording sounds remarkably good.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fritz Busch's final opera triumph, May 23, 2001

By 

Uffe Lindum (Odder Denmark) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Verdi: Ein Maskenball (Un Ballo in Maschera) (Audio CD)

Honestly I roared with laughter reading the cover notes of Fritz Busch, the conductor of this recording. The notes claim that being the general music director at the Semper Opera in Dresden, he `gave several good performances of opera's by E van Suchs'. In German you can read that he succeeded masterly the first performance opera tradition carried out by E. van Such. Now what is correct - and who the heck is E. van Such(s)? He is nobody. Absolutely nobody. Fritz Busch took over in Dresden after Fritz Reiner, the successor of - Ernst von Schuch, who conducted the world premieres of Richard Strauss' Salome, Elektra and Rosenkavalier in 1905, 1907 and 1911. May I as kindly as possible advise Gala to reconsider this cover rubbish and issue another cover text by someone who has the necessary competence to render such (Such?) information. In this concert performance of Un Ballo in Maschera we listen to among others a soprano who began as a contralto, Walburga Wegner, and a contralto who also sang soprano roles, Martha Mödl who was the marvellous first Isolde in Bayreuth after WW II (with Ramón Vinay). Both provide vast horizons of singing, Wegner with an incredibly equal soprano from bottom to pitch, and Mödl with the compassionate expression that was hers. My first listening gave me the impression of Lorenz Fehenberger as a typical German sob-tenor trying to pretend Italian. The second listening, however, revealed to me a fascinating voice with which he `acts' audibly. Anny Schlemm has the right spirit for Oscar which Swedish Birgit Nordin took up just few years after this recording when the Stockholm opera performed the opera in Swedish with Ragnar Ulfung and Aase Nordmo Løvberg. To me, unfortunately, the very young Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a major disappointment singing mechanically as if he kept his head in the score instead of having the score in his head. But the triumph of the performance is with Fritz Busch who lets the music reveal any little nuance in the atmosphere of a royal murder-to-be. Having listened to this recording no one can be in doubt that the musical leadership of exactly this opera which he conducted as a guest at Carl Ebert's Charlottenburger Oper in Berlin, and which confirmed Verdi's definitive success in Germany, reaches its climax in this final opera performance that the now Argentinian citizen living in New York carried out in his native country before his untimely death just 7 months later.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wrong language done right., November 9, 2006

By 

Alan Montgomery "Opera lover" (Oberlin, Oh USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Verdi: Ein Maskenball (Un Ballo in Maschera) (Audio CD)

Don't let the wrong language deter you from this recording. The sound shows its age a bit, but the performance is vital and impressive. Lorenz Fehenberger (my favorite Lohengrin) is Riccardo and sings it brilliantly, with grace and passion. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is Renato, and he convinces that his "wrong" voice is actually correct. You may not know Anny Schlemm, but that is your loss. She is fabulous as Amelia. Fritz Busch holds the whole thing together, the recording made near the end of his life. His attention to orchestral details and to shaping each scene show in number after number. A great recording not to be missed.