tjo@siemens.UUCP (Tom Ostrand) (11/15/84)
This is addressed to Wagner enthusiasts who have CD players: Has anyone heard the digital remastering of the Solti recording of Das Rheingold? It appeared on CD a few months ago. London is planning to redo the entire Solti Ring on CD. How does the CD version compare to the original LP's? A general question about operas on CD: In the Dec 84 issue of Stereo Review, a letter writer stated that CD opera recordings are a disaster. Besides some of the usual complaints about CD's, he claimed that words are essentially unintelligible. Can anyone confirm or deny this?
greg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley) (11/19/84)
I have not yet had a chance to hear the CD "Rheingold". I plan to shortly and will respond about that when I do. As to the letter in Stereo Review complaining of verbal unintelligibility on CD's, I think the claim is exaggerated. I am able to understand the words on such CD opera releases as the Solti "Marriage of Figaro", Marriner "Barber of Seville" and Karajan "Parsifal". I do, however, hear something peculiar in the way the overtone structure of many voices are reproduced on CD and, in fact, on most digital recordings reproduced on analogue LP. This affects vowel sounds and does affect the clarity with which diction is reproduced. I have no idea what might account for this, but have heard it fairly consistently. I do not hear this sort of word- garbling on many transfers from 78's, riddled as they are with far more obvious distortions. Listen to LP transfers of Lieder recordings by Lotte Lehmann or even acoustic recordings by John McCormack for an example of stunning verbal clarity in an operatic voice. Could part of the problem be the current generation of singers? It seems I rarely go to the opera or even a concert in which words are clearly enough defined that I'd understand them without already knowing the text. The emphasis seems to be on producing an abstract sound of instrumental power and tonal beauty (whether this is really achieved is another question) at the expense of the words. - Greg Paley
rjw@ptsfc.UUCP (Rod Williams) (11/20/84)
I haven't heard Das Rheingold on CD, but I have a remastered CD of
Solti/Chicago playing overtures and incidental music from other
Wagner operas. It's magnificent - the best "demonstration" CD in
my small-but-growing collection.
The only complete opera I have on CD is the much-maligned Traviata
Although the singing is not their best, and
Dame Joan has never been renowned for her crystalline diction, the
intelligibility (is this a word?) of the words is every bit as clear
on CD as LP - probably more so in the absence of surface noise.
I have other vocal CDs - Domingo/LA Phil/Giulini "Opera Gala"; Lucia Popp
with Tennstedt/LPO in Strauss 4 Last Songs; Kiri Te Kanawa singing
Mozart Concert Arias - all of which are amazingly clear and quite
intelligible.
If you haven't already guessed, this tin-ear thinks CDs are great!
--
Rod Williams
dual!ptsfa!ptsfc!rjw
"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so"