[net.audio] More CD recommendations

greg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley) (01/11/85)

These are my impressions, both positive and negative, of several
CD issues I've been able to listen to carefully.

* Mahler: Symphony No. 2.  Of the three I've heard (Solti/Chicago,
	Tennstedt/LPO, Maazel/VPO) I would recommend the Tennstedt.
	Solti's suffers from an alto soloist in the important
	"Urlicht" movement whose singing I found shockingly bad
	for a major label production.  I found Maazel's shaping and
	pacing of the work inferior, in addition to which the
	CBS recorded sound was significantly more congested.  My
	first preference remains the (so-far) analogue-only 
	release of the Abbado/Chicago Symphony recording on DGG.

* Wagner: Siegfried.  Again, I've heard three (Solti, Boehm and
	Janowski).  The Solti and Boehm derive from analogue tapes,
	the Solti a 1962 studio production and the Boehm a 1966
	live Bayreuth recording.  In almost every regard I
	would rank the Solti first, even, despite its age, the
	recorded sound.  The singing is consistently superior
	(even compared with the same Siegfried and Brunnhilde on
	the Boehm set) to the others; Solti's conducting has
	great animation, power, and allows climactic passages
	greater weight than either Boehm or Janowski; and the
	playing of the Vienna Philharmonic is superior to the
	excellent playing of the Bayreuth Orchestra (Boehm) and
	Dresden Staatskapelle (Janowski).

* Verdi: Macbeth.  Sinopoli's DGG set is powerfully sung, played
	and conducted, and makes an impressive statement of the
	work.  I find it hard to choose, in the grounds of 
	performance, between this and the 1976 Abbado/La Scala
	(analogue) recording.

* Mozart: The Magic Flute.  I haven't heard the Haitink on
	CD, but have heard the Karajan (DGG), Levine (RCA)
	and Davis (Philips) in the new format.  This makes for 
	a difficult choice.  I find Davis' the most beautifully 
	shaped and played, the Levine most dramatic.  There were 
	various sections in which I found Karajan's tempi either 
	too slow or too fast, and there is dreadful singing by the boy
	soloists performing the three genii, along with 
	superb singing by Edith Mathis (Pamina) and excellent
	singing by Francesco Araiza (Tamino).  Davis also has superb
	singing from his Pamina, Margaret Price, but I find
	Peter Schreier's voice unattractive as Tamino.  Levine's
	has the fullest dialogue and is generally well sung,
	although Cortrubas cannot match the sheer beauty of
	either Price or Mathis.  Pressed for a choice, I'd
	probably go for the Davis (Philips).

I understand that the 1953 (mono) recording of Puccini's "Tosca"
with Callas and Di Stefano is planned for release on CD.  This
is by no means a favorite opera of mine, but the performance is
exceptional, easily worth tolerating aging sound, particularly
if that sound is improved in the process.  Do not confuse this
with the dreadful stereo (1965) remake Callas did, conducted by
Georges Pretre.

	- Greg Paley