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Entries by Topic
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001) Martha, 1969
002) Hoffmann 1960
003) Rigoletto, 1967
004) Faust, Colon 1971
005) Evening bells, 1963
006) Prophete, live 1970
007) Grafin Mariza, 1973
008) Wiener Blut, 1970
009) Rahmaninov, 1970
010) Cellini, live 1966
011) Russian arias, 1969
012) Sonnambula, Met 1963
013) Elisir, 1966
014) I vespri, Met 1974
015) Prodana nevesta, Met1978
016) Recital Salzburg, 1961
017) Swedish duets 1983
018) Recital Leningrad, 1980
018) Recital Moscow 1, 1980
020) Les pecheurs, 1960
021) Faust, Paris 1975
022) Liederabend Hannover 1964
023)Entfuhrung, Aix-en-Provence
024) Fra Diavolo, 1984
025) La Boheme 1962
026) Graf von Luxemburg 1968
027) Boris Godunov 1976
028) Carmen 1959
029) Orphee... Aix 1955
030) Manon 1970
031) Huguenots, Vienna 1970
032) Guillaume Tell 1972
033) Early arias
034) Great moments
035) Donizetti, Bellini duets
036) First 10 years
037) I Capuleti e i Montecchi 19
038) Dame blanche, Hilversum 196
039) Gedda sings Lehar
040) Zigeunerbaron 1969
041) Don Giovanni 1965
042) Lady Macbeth from..., 1978
043) Werther Carnegie Hall 1965
044) Barbier von Bagdad 1956
045) Carmen 1964
046) Favorite encores 1964
047) Palestrina 1973
048) Oedipus Rex, Rome 1952
049) Pikovaja dama, Met 1972
050) Capriccio 1957
051) Idomeneo 1971
052) Turco in Italia 1954
053) Don Giovanni, Met 1967
054) Der Zarewitsch 1968
055) Land das Lachelns 1952
056) Barbiere di Siviglia 1974
057) Messiah 1964
058) Tosca, Boston 1971
059) Pelleas et. Mel. Met 1962
060) Cosi fan tutte 1974
061) Verdi Requiem 1963
062) Lakme Carnegie Hall 1981
063) I puritani 1971
064) Puritani Philadelphia 1963
065) Puritani Florence 1970
066) Vanessa 1958
067) Die Fledermaus 1955
068) Carmen 1964
069) Don Giovanni, Aix 1956
070) Faure 1982
071) Life for the Tsar 1957
072) Zauberflote 1964
073) Lucia, Met 1977
074) Iphigenie en Tauride 1961
075) Alceste 1982
076) Paganini 1977
077) Csardasfurstin 1973
078) Szenen aus Faust 1981
079) Boris Godunov 1953
080) Cendrillon 1978
081) North.&Russ. songs 1971
082) Platee Aix-en-P. 1956
083) Bettelstudent 1973
084) Giuditta 1984
085) Bach Mass 1967
086) Betrogene Kadi 1975
087) First recital 1953
088) Zar & Zimmermann 1966
089) La damnation, Rome 1969
090) Rosenkavalier 1956
091) Wunder der Heliane 1992
092) La traviata 1971
093) Padmavati 1983
094) Ballo, Vienna 1975
095) Thais 1976
096) Oedipe 1989
097) Devin du village 1956
098) Lohengrin Stockholm 1966
099) Gustav Wasa 1992
100) Satie 1969
101) Kalanus 1986
102) Undine 1966
103) Traviata Covent Garden 1972
104) Traviata, Vienna 1971
105) Christus am Olberge 1970
106) Tell, Florence 1972
107) Carmen, La Scala 1974
108) Orfeo ed E., Edinburgh 1067
109) Sonnambula, Met 1972
110) Gedda&Slovenski oktet
111) Onegin, Met 1977
112) Entfuhrung 1966
113) Euryanthe 1974
114) Gerontius 1975
115) Lustige Witwe 1967
116) Lustige Witwe 1962
117) Lustige Witwe 1952
118) Louise 1977
119) Iolanta, Paris 1984
120) Faust 1958
121) Recital Zurich 1998
122) Nacht in Venedig 1854
123) Candide 1989
124) Opernprobe 1975
125) Elisir, Met 1965
126) La damnation 1973
127) Werther 1968
128) Mireille, Aix 1954
129) Verdi Requiem Vienna 1954
130) Verdi Requiem, NY 1972
131) Benvenuto Cellini 1972
132) Recital Vienna 1984
133) Last savage Met 1964
134) Cantata BWV Rome 1969
135) Recital Leningrad 1980
136) Zauberflote video 1970
137) Elijah 1968
138) Recital 1970
139) Zauberflote, Rome 1953
140) Ballo video Stockholm 1985
141) Les introuvables
142) War and Peace 1986
143) Don Giovanni, Met 1971
144) Lady Macbeth video 1992
145) La damnation 1969
146) Rigoletto, Stockholm 1959
147) Onegin, Met 1979
148) Onegin, Florence 1980
149) Moscow 1980 video
150) Budapest 1984 video
151) Faust 1953
152) Monte Carlo 1984 video
153) Les Troyens, Rome 1971
154) Recital with Moore video
155) Ballo, Covent Garden 1977
156) Manon San Francisco 1971
157) Oeduipus Rex Stockholm 1991
158) Elisir, Vienna 1973
159) Manon, Met 1959
160) Recital Amsterdam 1982
161) Beethoven's songs 1969
161a) Beethoven's songs
162) Arias and songs
163) Ciboulette 1982
164) Zigeunerbaron, Met 1959
165) Interview Da capo 1989
166) Matthaus Passion 1961
167) Pecheurs Carnegie Hall 1974
168) Documentary video 1968
169) Persephone 1955
170) Lelio 1974
171) Lehar and Kalman
172) Oberon Carnegie Hall 1978
173) Met 25. anniversary 1982
174) Pushkin's poems 1987
175) Wiener Blut 1954
176) La Boheme Munich 1975
177) Alceste, Met 1961
178) Faust, Met 1969
179) Zauberflote, Met 1970
180) Rosenkavalier Met 1969
181) Cellini Carnegie Hall 1983
182) Orfeo ed. E., Aix 1955
183) Manon, Met 1963
184) Boris Godunov Met 1963
185) Lucia, Met1969
186) Hoffmann, Met 1959
187) Traviata, Met 1964
188) Man who disappeared 1984
189) Forza del destino 1964
190) Postillon 1965
191) Don Carlos 1973
192) Freischutz 1969
193) Matthaus Passion 1969
194) Dalibor Carnegie Hall 1977
195) Gedda Icon-85th bithday
196) Rinaldo, Milan 1983
197) P. m. solenelle 1984
198) Schule Salzburg 1957
199) Lakme 1961
200) Evocations 1986
201) Missa solemnis 1958
202) Recital Vienna 2001
203) Concert Munich 1969
204) Fra Diavolo, SF 1968
205) La clemenza di Tito 1955
206) La damnation 1959
207) Alceste 1962
208) Champagner operette
209) Budapest concert 1984
210) Liszt's songs 1986
211) Faust, Met 1966
212) Paradies und Peri 1973
213) Tosca 1988
214) Cosi fan tutte Aix 1955
215) Recital 1999
216) Idomeneo, Rome 1971
217) Romeo et Juliette 1964
218) La damnation Montreux 1959
219) Abu Hassan 1973
220) Romeo&Juliette Met 1968
221) Carmen, Vienna 1954
222) Tosca, Stockholm 1975
223) Ein Walzertraum 1970
224) Puritani Naples 1971
225) Faust Met 1958
226) Puritani Carnegie Hall 63
227) Mozart Requiem 1971
228) Faust Met 72
229) Berlioz Grande messe
230) Recit. Salzburg 1959
231) Recit. Memphis 1972
231) The very best
232) The very best
233) Rigoletto Met 1967
234) Onegin Boston 1976
235) Three Requiems
236) Die Schone Helena
237) Onegin English 1992
238) Russian lith. chant
239) Orthodox chants
240) Russian songs 1980
241) Candide video 1989
242) Gala concert Munich
243) Butterfly 1955
244) Zigeunerbaron 1954
245) Onegin 1988
246) Swedish songs 1980
247) Fledermaus 1972
248) Beethoven's 9. Symph
249) B. Godunov 87 audio
250) B. Godunov 87 video
251) Hoffmann Met 1970
252) Recital London 1973
253) Bach Magnificat
254) Land des Lächeln 67
255) Schauspieldirector
256) Mesplé& Gedda duos
257) Hugo Wolf
258) Robert Stolz
259) Zwillingsbrüder 1975
260) French connection
261) Beethoven 9th, 1973
262) Kienzl Evangelimann
263) Berlioz Romeo et J.
264) Strauss Venedig 1967
265) Cellini live 1964
266) Salzburg 1971
267) Onegin Met 1978 live
268) Operetta duets 1972
269) Hoffmann live 1971
270) Russian romances '60
271) Mozart Krönungsmesse
272) Bach B minor Mass
273) Entführung Met 1979
274) Beethoven Missa 1959
275) Mozart Requiem live
276) Poulenc Melodies
277) Pelléas et Mélis. 71
278) Don Giovanni live 62
279) Schubert rec. Rome74
280) Russian hymns&chants
281) Arias&songs
284) Manon, Colon 1970
285) Viennese delights
286) Orphée Gluck live 75
287) L'enfance du Christ
288) Zauberflöte Met 1958
289) Iphigenie Taur. 1956
290) Cosi fan tutte 1959
291) Zauberflote Scala55
292) Butterfly German
293) Bruckner 9th symph.
293) G. Tell highlights
294) Sjögren songs
295) Verdi Requiem 1979
296) Entführung 1968
Music Links - operas and recitals of Nicolai Gedda
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NICOLAI GEDDA IN OPERAS AND RECITALS
Sunday, 14 June 2009
49) Pjotr Iljic Cajkovskij Pikovaja Dama (The Queen of Spades) - live performance
Topic: 049) Pikovaja dama, Met 1972


 

Live performance in MET, 1972

Lisa....................Raina Kabaivanska
Gherman.................Nicolai Gedda
Countess................Regina Resnik
Prince Yeletsky.........William Walker
Count Tomsky............John Reardon
Chekalinsky.............Paul Franke
Surin...................Andrij Dobriansky
Paulina.................Joann Grillo
Masha...................Carlotta Ordassy
Master of Ceremonies....Gene Boucher
Chloé...................Loretta Di Franco
Chaplitsky..............Robert Schmorr
Narumov.................Edmond Karlsrud
Dance...................Naomi Marritt
Dance...................Ivan Allen

Conductor...............Kazimierz Kord

LINK: DOWNLOAD

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 9:38 PM MEST
Updated: Monday, 28 November 2022 6:12 PM CET
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48) Igor Stravinski Oedipus Rex - live performance from 1952
Topic: 048) Oedipus Rex, Rome 1952

 


 

  

Narrator:          Arnoldo Foà

Oedipus:            Nicolai Gedda

Jocasta:             Magda Laszlo

Creo:                 Mario Petri

Tiresias:             Nestore Catalani

Nuntio:              Mario Petri

Pastor:               Aldo Bertocci

 

Orchestra and Chorus Rome  Rai

Conductor Herbert von Karajan

 Chorus: Nino Antonellini

Recorded on  20 December 1952,  live performance (51'34).

 

 

 

LINK : DOWNLOAD

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 6:35 PM MEST
Updated: Tuesday, 17 September 2013 11:19 AM MEST
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47) Hans Pfitzner Palestrina
Topic: 047) Palestrina 1973


 

Approached as an essay in words and music on a particularly resonant historic moment, when music, church and international politics stood at the same crossroads, Palestrina is an inspiring and often inspired work. It has at its heart one of the most visionary scenes in all opera, the apparition to Palestrina of the ghosts of his musical ancestors, urging him to save the art of polyphony by composing a Mass that will confound counter-reformation zealotry; it is followed by a still more moving tableau in which the heavens open to reveal a choir of angels from whose dictation Palestrina writes the Missa Papae Marcelli. Judged by conventional operatic criteria, however, the work is awkward and gravely flawed. The main line of its plot is furthered hardly at all by the Second Act, which is a lengthy, albeit brilliantly dramatized, resume of ecclesiastical politics at the Council of Trent, in which the composer's name is mentioned briefly, almost in passing, twice. The proportions of the opera are ungainly, too (the acts last roughly 100, 75 and a bare 30 minutes respectively), and to make matters apparently worse, the music and the text seem at times to be out-of-phase.

Perhaps the most affecting scene in Act 3 is the reunion of Palestrina and Cardinal Borromeo. Moved to tears by literally heavenly music, the Prince of the Church (who had commissioned the Mass and imprisoned Palestrina when he failed to deliser it) throws himself at the composer's feet and begs his forgiveness. Pfitzner's orchestra, as Borromeo falls to his knees and as Palestrina gently raises and embraces him, says all that is in both men's hearts and says it most movingly, but the rather plain lines of dialogue between those two orchestral passages add very little to them. At other times plainness of dialogue is just what you feel you need: Pfitzner's orchestral writing is so richly eventful, his counterpoint so cunningly wrought (and yes, I suppose one must admit, at times so unremitting) that you long either for a moment or two of thinly accompanied simple recitative or for the words to get out of the music's way. And yet I would not have the libretto (Pfitzner's own) a line shorter. Complex though it is, it is of remarkable quality, full of incident and beautiful imagery; it would work well as a spoken play.

In the opera house this sense of a play and a sequence of orchestral meditations upon it being performed simultaneously could be a problem; so could the long and densely populated scenes that seem to come from another opera (called Borromeo, perhaps). But in a fine recorded performance it is easier to accept that this is, so to speak, an opera with footnotes and appendices. The great passages (apart from the apparition scenes they include the eloquent preludes to all three acts, the culminatory pages of Borromeo's and Palestrina's monologues in Act 1, two impressive addresses in Act 2 and the beautiful end of the opera as Palestrina, left alone, returns to his music) are in an odd sort of way justified by what only a severe critic would dismiss as the pages of finicking detail between them. They are no more tiresome than those quarts-d'heure in which Wagner's characters remind the audience of what has been happening so far, and once you have allowed them to set the nobler moments in context, you can always skip them on later hearings (DG have provided plentiful cuing bands).

You will probably not want to when even the minor character roles are as strongly cast as they are here. There is not a weak link among them, and primus though Gedda's stalwartly eloquent Palestrina and Fischer-Dieskau's grandly authoritative Borromeo are they are very much inter pares with the likes of Ridderbusch, Weikl, Steinbach and Nienstedt around. Donath is bright and touching as Palestrina's young son, Fassbaender an impulsively eager pupil. Some of the real urgency that all these singers bring to their parts must be due to the inspired choice of a conductor in whom passion and intellect are ideally balanced, it sounds as though this opera was very close to Kubelik's heart and head, and he directs with noble eloquence. The recording copes with Pfitzner's vast resources very well, with an excellent sense of a space having depth as well as breadth. The sound is a little bright at times (Donath's purity is slightly edged), but for the most part both clear and sumptuous. An exceptionally welcome CD reissue.

-- Michael Oliver, Gramophone [7/1989]

 

Nicolai Gedda, Karl Ridderbusch, Bernd Weikl, Herbert Steinbach, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Victor von Halem, John van Kesteren, Peter Meven, Hermann Prey, Friedrich Lenz, Adalbert Kraus, Franz Mazura, Helen Donath, Brigitte Fassbaender, Gerd Nienstedt; Bavarian Radio Chorus; Tölz Boys' Choir; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelík, conductor

Recorded in Munich, 1973

LINK : DOWNLOAD

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 4:48 PM MEST
Updated: Tuesday, 17 September 2013 11:16 AM MEST
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Saturday, 13 June 2009
46) Nicolai Gedda Favorite Encores
Mood:  bright
Topic: 046) Favorite encores 1964


 

1. Funiculi-funicula (Denza)
2. Du bist die Welt für mich (Tauber)
3. Non ti scordar di me (de Curtis)
4. Granada (Lara)
5. Schlaf ein, mein Blondengelein (Perez)
6. Gute Nacht, mein holdes, süsses Mädchen (Meyer)
7. Tiritomba (Traditional)
8. Mamma (Bixio)
9. Ein Stern fällt vom Himmel (May)
10. La Danza (Rossini)
11. Berceuse (Godard)
12. Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame (Rotter)

 

 

Graunke Smphony Orchestra Munich 1964
Willy Mattes, conductor




LINK: DOWNLOAD

 

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 11:58 AM MEST
Updated: Friday, 12 November 2010 7:49 PM CET
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Friday, 12 June 2009
45) Giacomo Puccini Madama Butterfly
Mood:  sad


 

Recording from 1955

 

Butterfly - Maria Callas

Pinkerton - Nicolai Gedda

Sharpless - Mario Boriello

Suzuki - Lucia Danieli

 

La Scala Theater Orchestra, conductor Herbert von Karajan

 

LINK: DOWNLOAD

 

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 10:19 PM MEST
Updated: Friday, 7 August 2015 9:43 AM MEST
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44) Peter Cornelius Der Barbier von Bagdad
Topic: 044) Barbier von Bagdad 1956


 


LINK: DOWNLOAD

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 8:31 PM MEST
Updated: Tuesday, 17 September 2013 11:06 AM MEST
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43) Jules Massenet Werther - live performance
Topic: 043) Werther Carnegie Hall 1965


 

Live concert performance from Carnegie Hall, 14 November, 1965



Werther - Nicolai Gedda

Charlotte -  Rita Gorr

Albert -  Theodor Uppman

Sophie -  Ann Elgar

Bailiff -  Joseph Tair

Johann - Daniel Ferro

Schmidt -  Charles May

 

Conductor Robert Lawrence


LINK : DOWNLOAD

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 7:36 PM MEST
Updated: Tuesday, 17 September 2013 11:04 AM MEST
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42) Dimitri Sostakovic Lady Macbeth from Mtsensk
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: 042) Lady Macbeth from..., 1978


 

 

Prejudice. That is why this work does not appear on the shelves of some opera lovers. The composer’s name conjures dissonance; thus are great works and performances ignored. That is a sad mistake for one should really sit and listen. Then if you fall into the ‘hate it’ rather than ‘love it’ camp your decision will be based on reason.

 

Further it is unlikely that there will be a better recording. I was tempted to add the word ‘ever’ but that is presumptuous. Here is a recording that drips with emotion and power. Rostropovich conducts, cajoles, creates and controls a performance of outstanding fluidity. Of course that is what Shostakovich intended with the orchestral interludes between scenes creating seamless sound in each Act. And what overwhelmingly powerful sounds there are: from quiet haunting accompaniment through wonderfully deep vibrato via sharp tonal contrasts and into brass and full orchestral violence. Here is musical tension second to none.

 

With Galina Vishnevshaya singing Katerina it is hardly surprising that there is an outstanding reciprocity of musical understanding: musical husband and wife teams are frequently so and this is no exception. Of course Shostakovich made Katerina a more sympathetic character that she was in the original work where cruelty predominated and no sympathy could be aroused. Here we see another side of Katerina. Whilst she is venomous to, and about, her father in law (listen to sam ty krýsa and shudder) she arouses sympathy in her lonely bedtime ‘lament’ Zherebýonok k kobýlke torópitsa; sympathy she herself feigns so well upon her father in law’s death. This is a performance of many parts: from warm cream toned richness to awesome aggression.

 

Her father in law, sung by Dimiter Petkov, has a simple character: thoroughly unpleasant. A mean, moaning hypocritical role (keen to protect his son’s wife until the early hours of the morning when foiled only by her lover’s presence) Petkov sings it so well he is believably dreadful. My only reservation is a slight lack of variation in dynamics until he returns as ‘his’ ghost when there are dynamics and deep coloured variation aplenty. The ever-reliable Nicolai Gedda sings the sexually duplicitous Sergey. His distinctive timbre brings more that a hint of Wagner. This is a towering performance moving through raw animal passion to obsequiousness. There is a crudity in the music which Vishnevskaya and Gedda capture faultlessly. The cuckolded husband, sung by Werner Krenn has a comparatively small and somewhat unattractive role. There is little for Krenn to build characterisation upon until his return to his home and one of the infrequent duets. He and Vishnevskaya provoke strong vocal contrasts in each other before violence erupts and ends in his death.

 

At this point I cannot refrain from wondering why we have not seen a production on film or television ‘loosely based’ on the story. Two deaths so far, one more to come, with a mob-handed sexual assault scene (probably updated to a gang rape) and consensual coupling off stage rather than the earlier on stage aggressive sexual passion.

 

So first to an assault. Taru Valjakka as Aksinya is a totally convincing victim manhandled with crudity. Here is frenetic singing and accompaniment demonstrating serious unpleasantness. Valjakka leaves us in no doubt about that with some heart-rending tones and ear piercing cries. Birgit Finnlä, as Sonyetka, seducer of, and by, Sergey has a voluptuous tone judged to perfection. There is some light relief but not lightweight singing. Robert Tear is the ‘shabby peasant’ a role he obviously relishes both in its sober and almost drunken state. Leonard Mróz as the priest produces a vocal priestly parody with his deep strong intonation. All this and yet more with distinctive and particularly clear singing from Aage Haugland, Martyn Hill and Alexander Malta. Finally there is what we have come to expect in this series by way of accompanying booklet. There is the usual full libretto which follows Richard Osborne’s synopsis of each scene and thoroughly interesting history of the opera and comments on this recording.

 

With such a cast it is not surprising that this was an outstanding recording. Now digitally remastered it is nothing short of a stunning recording fully justifying its place in this series. So if you do not have it, overcome your prejudice and buy it. You might not ‘like’ it or even ‘enjoy, it but you will appreciate the power of the performance.

Robert McKechnie


LINK: DOWNLOAD

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 11:55 AM MEST
Updated: Tuesday, 17 September 2013 11:01 AM MEST
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Thursday, 11 June 2009
41) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Don Giovanni - recording
Mood:  flirty
Topic: 041) Don Giovanni 1965


 

 


PART 1 (APE): DOWNLOAD

PART 2 (APE): DOWNLOAD

PART 3 (APE): DOWNLOAD

You must join the three files with HJsplit  (http://hjsplit.en.softonic.com/)

LINK (MP3): DOWNLOAD

 

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 11:48 PM MEST
Updated: Tuesday, 17 September 2013 10:57 AM MEST
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40) Johann Strauss II Der Zigeunerbaron - recording
Topic: 040) Zigeunerbaron 1969

 


Graf Peter Homonay - Hermann Prey

Conte Carnero - Wolfgang Anheisser

Sandor Barinkay - Nicolai Gedda

Kalman Szupan - Kurt Böhme

Arsena - Rita Streich

Mirabella - Gizela Litz

Ottokar - Willi Brokmeier

Czipra - Biserka Cvejiæ

Saffi - Grace Bumbry

 

Recording from 1969.  Orchester der Bayerischen Staatsoper.

Conductor Franz Allers.

 

 

 

LINK : DOWNLOAD


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 8:06 PM MEST
Updated: Tuesday, 17 September 2013 10:45 AM MEST
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39) Nicolai Gedda Sings Franz Lehar
Mood:  bright
Topic: 039) Gedda sings Lehar

 

     
      1. Das Land des Lächelns, operetta Dein ist mein ganzes Herz
     
      2. Friederike, operetta O Mädchen, mein Mädchen
     
      3. Frasquita, operetta Hab' ein blaues Himmelbett
     
      4. Das Land des Lächelns, operetta Von Apfelblüten einen Kranz
     
      5. Der Zarewitsch, operetta Wolga-Lied
     
      6. Giuditta, operetta Du bist meine Sonne
     
      7. Schön ist die Welt, operetta Schön ist die Welt
        (Bruder Leichtsinn so
     
      8. Paganini, operetta Gern hab' ich die Frau'n geküßt
     
      9. Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), operetta O Vaterland -
         Da geh' ich zu Maxim
     
      10. Giuditta, operetta Freunde, das Leben ist lebenswert
     
      11. Schön ist die Welt, operetta Liebste glaub' an mich
     
      12. Das Land des Lächelns, operetta Immer nur Lächeln
            
      13. Der Graf von Luxemburg, operetta
          Mein Ahnherr war der Luxemburg


     
       Graunke Symphony Orchestra, conductor Willy Mattes


LINK : DOWNLOAD


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 6:35 PM MEST
Updated: Sunday, 9 January 2011 4:25 PM CET
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38) Francois-Adrien Boieldieu La Dame Blanche - live performance
Mood:  bright
Topic: 038) Dame blanche, Hilversum 196

 


Opera comique in 3 acts. Libretto by Eugène Scribe. First performance: Opéra-Comique, Paris, December 10, 1825.

George Brown Tenor ........ Nicolai Gedda
Jenny Soprano ............. Sofia Van Sante
Gaveston Bass ............. Guus Hoekman
Anna Soprano .............. Erna Spoorenberg
Dickson Tenor ............. Frans Vroons
Marguerite ................ Mimì Aarden
McIrton ................... Henk Driessen

Chorus & Orchestra of Radio Hilversum
Jean Fournet, conductor

Live performance, Hilversum, 25 November 1964

 

Boieldieu was, for want of a better description, a bel-cantist; his vocal lines are decorated and at times virtuosic--particularly in his writing for tenor. But at the same time he is quintessentially French in melodic and harmonic temperament and tone; his music is graceful and has a certain regality and delicacy that is immensely appealing. This opera is based on a couple of stories by Sir Walter Scott involving a disguised Earl, a castle, and a ghost (the "white lady" of the title) believed to be haunting the castle. It's silly, but the music is definitely worth hearing, and this performance, taped live in 1964 (and in very good sound--it must have been broadcast) is excellent. The production's star is the in-his-prime Nicolai Gedda, who sings the difficult music of George Brown (who turns out to be Julius, Earl of Avenell)--full of coloratura, octave leaps, high Cs, and much soft, sweet singing--as if it were easy. As Anna, whom the Earl eventually winds up marrying (and who has been roaming the castle as the ghost), Mimi Aarden exhibits a lovely soprano; her music often is accompanied by harp and has great charm. The conniving Gaveston, who wants the castle to himself, is baritone Henk Dreissen--perhaps not menacing, but a good singer. The rest of the cast is fine. This is a treat for certain tastes; light and delightful.--Robert Levine

 

LINK: DOWNLOAD

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 5:04 PM MEST
Updated: Saturday, 15 October 2011 9:14 PM MEST
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37) Vincenzo Bellini I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Mood:  sad
Topic: 037) I Capuleti e i Montecchi 19


 


LINK: DOWNLOAD

 

 

Recorded in London, September 1975


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 3:27 PM MEST
Updated: Wednesday, 28 December 2011 5:10 PM CET
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36) Nicolai Gedda: The First Ten Years
Mood:  cool
Topic: 036) First 10 years

 

 

 

CD 1: DOWNLOAD


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 2:07 PM MEST
Updated: Monday, 10 October 2011 10:56 PM MEST
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35) Mirela Freni and Nicolai Gedda in Donizetti and Bellini Duets
Mood:  amorous
Topic: 035) Donizetti, Bellini duets


 

1. Ah talor...Verrano a te sull'aura

2. Povero Ernesto...Cercero lontana terra

3. Prendi, l'anel ti dono

4. Prendi, prendi, per me sei libero

5. Son geloso del zefiro errante

6. Tornami a dir che m'ami

 


Link: DOWNLOAD

 

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 1:31 PM MEST
Updated: Tuesday, 27 December 2011 6:57 PM CET
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34) Great Moments of Nicolai Gedda
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: 034) Great moments


 

Disc 1
      1. Eugen Onegin: Kuda, Kuda, Kuda VI Udallis
      2. Werther: Pourqui Me Réveller
      3. Les Pécheurs des Perles: Je Crois Entrendre Encore
      4. Manon: Instand Charmant-En Fermant Les Yeux
      5. La Muette De Portici: Du Pauvre Seul Ami Fidèle
      6. Roméo et Juliette: L'amour, L'amour!
      7. La Gioconda: Cielo E Mar!
      8. Rigoletto: Ella mi Fu Rapita
      9. Martha: Ach so fromm, Ach so Traut
      10. L'elisier D'amore: Una Furtiva Lagrima
      11. La Favorita: Favorita Del Re!
      12. L'arlesiiana: E La Solita Storia
      13. Boris Gudonow: Dimitri Tsaryévivh! Dimitri!
      14. Tebyá, Tebyá Odnú, Marina
      15. O, Tsaryévich, Imolyáyu - Vivát! Vivát!
      16. Boris Gudunow: Lezuit Lukávy Krépko Zhal Menyá
      17. Die Mainacht: Kak Tikho, Kak Prokhladno
     18. Le Postillon De Longjumeau: Vänner, Jag Sjunga..
    
Disc 2
     19. Le Devine du Village: Je Vals Revoir ma Charmante
      20. Orphée et Eurydice: Quel Nouveau Ciel
      21. J'ai Perdu Mon Eurydice
     22. Don Giovanni: Dalla Sua Pace
     23. Il Mio Tesoro Intanto
     24. Die Zauberflöte: Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön
      25. The Abduction From The Seraglio: Love, Only Love..
      26. Oberon: Von Jugend auf schon im Kampfgefild
      27. Vater! Hör' mich Fleh'n zu dir
      28. Alessandro Stradella: Jungfrau Maria
      29. Lohengrin: In fernem Land
      30. Mein lieber Schwan
      31. Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor: Horch, die Lerche
      32. Die Königin von Saba: Magische Töne.. .

 Disc 3   
      33. Benvenuto Cellini: Une Heure Encore.. .
      34. Lakmé: Lakmé! Lakmé! Ah! Viens Dans La..
      35. Werther: Un Autre Est Son Épouy!
      36. Le Roi D'ys: Puisqu'on ne Peut Pas Fléchir.. .
      37. Les Hugenots: Beauté Divine Enchanteresse
      38. Guillaume Tell: Asile Héréditaire - Amis, Amis..
      39. La Sonnambula: Prendi! L'anel Fi Dono
      40. Son Geloso Del Zefiro Errante
      41. Lucia Di Lammermoor: Ah! Talor Del Tuo Pensiero..
      42. Tombe Degl'avi Miel - Fr Poco a Me Ricovero
      43. Don Pasquale: Povero Ernestol - Cercherò Lontana..
      44. Tornami a dir Che M'ami
      45. Granada
      46. La Danza
      47. Berceuse
      48. Gute Nacht, mein Holdes, süßes Mädchen

LINK: DOWNLOAD

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 1:05 PM MEST
Updated: Sunday, 9 January 2011 4:36 PM CET
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33) Nicolai Gedda in Early Arias
Mood:  lyrical
Topic: 033) Early arias


 

LINK: DOWNLOAD

 

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 8:54 AM MEST
Updated: Tuesday, 27 December 2011 4:01 PM CET
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Wednesday, 10 June 2009
32) Gioachino Rossini Guillaume Tell - recording
Mood:  on fire
Topic: 032) Guillaume Tell 1972

 

Synopsis

Place: Switzerland
Time: fourteenth century

Prior to the start of the opera, Arnold, son of the Swiss leader Melcthal, has rescued Mathilde, an Austrian princess, from drowning. In spite of the political situation, Arnold and Mathilde have fallen in love.

 Act 1

It is the day of the Shepherd Festival, in May, near Lake Lucerne. Per tradition, Melchtal blesses the couples at the celebration. However, Arnold excludes himself from this privilege, as he is torn between his love for his country and his love for Mathilde. Horn fanfares interrupt the festival, and herald the arrival of Gesler, the Austrian Governor, whom the Swiss detest. Leuthold then enters, pursued by Gesler's forces. One of Gesler's soldiers has attempted to assault Leuthold's daughter, and Leuthold killed the soldier to defend her. He wishes to escape, and the lake is the only route. William Tell offers his assistance. Gesler’s guards arrive, led by Rodolphe. Leuthold manages to escape with the help of Tell, but as reprisal, Gesler's guards take Melchtal prisoner.

Act 2

In a valley by a lake, Arnold and Mathilde meet and again pledge their love. Tell and Walter arrive, and inform Arnold that Gesler has ordered the execution of Melcthal. Arnold vows vengeance. Arnold, Tell and Walter swear an oath to liberate Switzerland. They inspire the cantons to unite in this quest.

 Act 3

At the market-place in Altdorf, the day is the hundredth anniversary of Austrian rule in Switzerland. In commemoration, Gesler has had his hat placed on top of a pole and the Swiss are ordered to pay homage to the hat. Tell arrives with his son Jemmy. Tell refuses to honour the hat. Gesler recognises Tell as the man who saved Leuthold, and wants to punish him somehow. He orders Tell to shoot an apple from Jemmy’s head, in the hope that Tell will harm his son. Tell is successful in piercing the apple, and tells Gesler that had the shot failed, he would have used his next arrow against him. Gesler orders Tell to be arrested.

Act 4

A Swiss rebel army arrives, and battle ensues. Tell kills Gesler with an arrow through the heart. The Swiss emerge victorious. Mathilde and Arnold, secure in their love, reunite at the close.

Recorded in London, 1972

 

CD 1: DOWNLOAD

CD 2: DOWNLOAD

CD 3: DOWNLOAD

CD 4: DOWNLOAD

 

 

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 10:36 PM MEST
Updated: Thursday, 10 January 2013 3:33 PM CET
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31) Giacomo Meyerbeer Les Huguenots - live performance
Mood:  energetic
Topic: 031) Huguenots, Vienna 1970

 

 

LES HUGUENOTS Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864)

Marguerite de Valois Rita Shane
Comte de Saint-Bris Dimitri Petkov
Valentine Enriqueta Tarres
Comte de Nevers Pedro Farres
Urbain Jeanette Scovotti
Cossé Kurt Equiluz
Tavannes Harald Neukirch
Thoré Ewald Aichberger
de Retz Jaroslav Stanjnc
Méru Ladislav Ilavsky
Maurevert Manfred Schenk
Raoul de Nangis Nicolai Gedda
Marcel Justino Diaz
Bois-Rosé Ewald Aichberger
Deux Demoiselles Waltrud Haas/Unni Rugtvedt
Archer Manfred Schenk
Premier moine Jaroslav Stanjc
Second moine Ladislav Ilavsky
Troisième moine Manfred Schenk

Orchestra & Chorus of the Austrian Radio
Ernst Märzendorfer Conductor
Gottfried Preinfalk Chorus Master

Broadcast February 17, 1971* Grosser Konzerthaussaal, Vienna

 


There are three available recordings of this opera: A complete performance on Decca with Sutherland and a weak tenor; a cut Italian version live from Scala with Sutherland, Corelli, and Simionato that is thrilling but lacks any sense of French style; and this version, from an Austrian Radio performance in 1971 that cuts about 75 minutes of the opera and has some very weak casting. (Another complete one on the MusiFrance label disappeared long ago.) The good things about this Opera d'Oro set, besides the price, are Nicolai Gedda, who sings Raoul with style, elegance, ringing top notes, and absolute commitment, the leadership of Ernst Märzendorfer, who holds the show together and conducts with a dramatic throb that almost makes sense of the work (and is certainly better than Bonynge), and the Marguerite of Rita Shane, a high coloratura who, while more interested in vocal fireworks than anything else, nonetheless delivers great excitement with lots of interpolated high Ds, Es, Fs and the occasional squeaky G. Jeanette Scovotti is a pert Urbain, also with uninviting, mouse-like high notes, Enriqueta Tarres is a shrill Valentine, and Justino Diaz is terrible as Marcel. The sound is very good. This is for the curious and for fans of Nicolai Gedda, who will not be disappointed.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

LINK: DOWNLOAD

 


Posted by nf/amenemhat at 2:27 PM MEST
Updated: Thursday, 12 February 2015 9:00 AM CET
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Tuesday, 9 June 2009
30) Jules Massenet Manon - recording
Mood:  mischievious
Topic: 030) Manon 1970

 

 

This belongs in the pantheon of great opera recordings. In 1970 when the performance was taped, Beverly Sills had only sung the role that eventually hurt her voice--Elisabetta in Donizetti's Roberto Devereux--a handful of times, and so she was at the peak of her powers. The voice never was opulent or grand, but it was all the other things we hope for in a great vocal instrument: beautiful, expressive, agile, thoroughly even from very top (E-flats and Es) to bottom, with a flawless technique, extraordinary breath control, and a capability in any dynamic range, from the quietist pianissimo to an impressive forte. These traits, coupled with a lively, curious, intelligent mind and a commitment to drama, made her the finest dramatic coloratura of the late-'60s and very early '70s (Caballé could be emotionally and vocally lazy; Sutherland's interest in drama was ancillary).

There are other very good recordings of Manon on the market: Victoria de los Angeles is glorious, Gheorghiu and Alagna on EMI are excellent, and an odd, live performance on Myto, with Giacomo Aragall and Jeanette Pilou, is a wonderful surprise, full of passion. But this one is a desert-island set: Sills is girlish and demure at first, later alluring and sure of herself, then cajoling and outright lusty in the St. Sulpice Scene, and truly tragic at the end. Her coloratura is glittering, her "Adieu" heartrending. Nicolai Gedda is a very extroverted Des Grieux, singing with big, forward tone, but also (as usual) with great sensitivity and attention to dynamics. Gérard Souzay sounds a bit long-in-the-tooth for Lescaut, but he's a very classy singer and he does get the character's smarminess across. Gabriel Bacquier is a fine, authoritative Count, and the rest of the cast is superb. All sing in excellent French. Julius Rudel leads a more-than-complete score, with an additional aria for Manon in the Cours de la Reine scene that Massenet added for another soprano, and the orchestral playing is all you'd want it to be. The sound, once glaring, is now close to perfect. This is it. [06/22/2004]

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

 

 

 

Manon - Beverly Sills

De Grieux - Nicolai Gedda

Comte de Grieux - Gabriel Bacquier

Lescaut - Gerard Suzay

 

Conductor - Julius Rudel, 1970

 


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Posted by nf/amenemhat at 10:04 PM MEST
Updated: Thursday, 29 September 2011 7:53 AM MEST
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