Adam, Adolphe (1803 1856)

GOLDMARK, Karl (1830 – 1915)

1) A makrancos Kata (Die widerspenstige Katja)

Katalin Hágai (Kata) – Tamás Solymosi (Petrucchio) – Edit Rujsz (Bianca) – Miklós Nagyszentpéteri (Lucentio) – István Balikó (Babtista, Katas Vater) – Richárd Tóth (Hortensio) – András Balogh (Gremio) – Csaba Solti (Grumio, Petrucchios Diener) – Gyula Sárközi (Hofschneidermeister) – Ibolya Dienes - Eszter Kazinczy (Dienerinnen) – Zsuzsa Gábor (Witwe) – Róbert Kutni (Pfarrer) – Oszkár Rotter (Ministrant) – Béla Balogh – Mirco Boscolo – Roland Csonka – Csaba Hommer (Diener) – Zsuzsa Detvay – Csilla Dudás – Eszter Kollár – Edit Marosi – Mariann Venekei – Kornélia Mráz (Dienstmädchen)
Dir: Gyula Jármai / Reg+Choreographie: László Seregi / Bü: Attila Csikós / Ko: Nelly Vágó

Magyar állami operaház Budapest 2000 - Stereo_GOLDSCHMIDT,_Berthold_(1903_-_1996)_1)_Der_gewaltige_Hahnrei'>Stereo

GOLDSCHMIDT, Berthold (1903 - 1996)

1) Der gewaltige Hahnrei

Günter Neumann - Yvonne Wiedstruck - Jürgen Hohmann - Ilja Lewinsky – Klemens Slowioczek - Hans-Otto Rogge - Anny Schlemm - Barbara Sternberger – Bernd Grabowski - Annette Küttenbaum - Siegfried Hildebrand - Roger Smeets
Dir: Yakov Kreizberg / Reg: Harry Kupfer

Komische Oper Berlin 1994 - Stereo

GOMES, Antonio Carlos (1836 - 1896)

1. 
   Fosca
   

Stoil Gueorguiev (Der Doge von Venedig) - Peter Bakardzhiev (Michele Giotta, ein venezianischer Edler) - Roumen Doykov (Paolo, sein Sohn, venezianischer Kapitän) - Krassimira Stoyanova (Delia, eine Venezianerin, seine Braut) - Svetozar Ranguelov (Gajolo, ein istrischer Pirat) - Gail Gilmore (Fosca, seine Schwester) - Niko Issakov (Cambro, in Diensten Gajolos)
Dir: Luiz Fernando Malheiro / Reg: Plamen Kartaloff / Bü+Ko: Salvatore Russo

Teatro São Carlos in São Paulo 28.11.1997 – Stereo NTSC

2) Il Guarany

Hao Jiang Tian (Don Antonio de Mariz, portugiesischer Gouverneur) - Verónica Villarroel (Cecilia, seine Tochter) – Plácido Domingo (Pery, Häuptling der Guarany-Indiander) – Marcus Haddock (Don Alvaro) – Carlos Álvarez (Gonzales) – Graham Sanders (Ruy-Bento) – John-Paul Bogart (Alonso) – Boris Martinovic (Il Cacico) – Pieris Zarmas (Pedro)

Dir: John Neschling / Reg: Werner Herzog / Bü: Maurizio Baló / Ko: Franz Blumauer / Akrobatik+Pantomime: Georg Kruse

Bonn 5.6.1994 (Deutsche Erstaufführung in ital. Sprache)- Stereo

This long-delayed first recording of a work that took nineteenth-century opera houses by storm is most welcome. Antonio Carlos Gomes (1836-96) was the only opera composer born and bred in the Americas to have made a large and lasting impression on Italy and, subsequently, on all of Europe. A Brazilian (which means that his name should probably be pronounced GO-mesh), he attended the conservatory in Rio de Janeiro and composed two operas there that so impressed Emperor Pedro II that he endowed Gomes with a generous lifetime stipend and paid for his further studies in Milan. Had Gomes been a North American he would have sought instruction in Germany, like Paine, MacDowall, and others, but as a Latin his sympathies were all with the Italian school, and especially with Verdi, whose operas were staged in Rio and São Paulo within months of their Italian premieres. Gomes remained in Italy for much of the remainder of his creative life, returning to Brazil only to mount his operas in Portuguese. They were, of course, all composed to Italian librettos, and most of them had their primos at La Scala or other Milan theaters.

After producing two successful comic operas at smaller venues, Gomes tackled La Scala with Il Guarany (accent on the final syllable) in 1870. It wa a succès fou, spreading throughout the Italian boot like wildfire, and then conquering Paris, London, New York, and other opera centers. Gomes's subsequent operas did not enjoy comparable éclat, although Fosca and Salvator Rosa (both with librettos by Ghislanzoni, with whom Verdi collaborated on Aida) had some critical success and are still revived in Brazil's two major opera houses. So are Maria Tudor and Lo schiavo, the latter considered by connoisseurs of Gomes's oeuvre as his finest achievement.

But for us Nord Americanos it is sufficient for now to have Il Guarany back in circulation. For this we have to thank Plácido Domingo, who masterminded the gala revival of the opera at Bonn, Germany, in 1994. Sony took its 20-bit technology to the city of Beethoven's birth for the occasion, recording the opera live (applause and all) from the stage. As I write, the Washington Opera is anticipating opening its 1996-97 season, with Domingo making his bow as permanent director of the company. The opera he has chosen to inaugurate the event will be Il Guarany, with the Bonn cast and production largely intact. For Washingtonians the new Sony recording offers a heaven-sent opportunity to bone up on this fabled but nearly forgotten opera. (It is far from forgotten in Brazil, where it is frequently revived and retains the status of the country's national opera.) I predict that those who are lucky enough to see and hear it at the Kennedy Center are going to take it to their hearts. Il Guarany has some of the most rousingly Italianate music this side of Giuseppe Verdi, whose style and spirit imbues almost every number of Gomes's opera.

Unlike other national operas, Gomes's masterpiece displays virtually no national characteristics at all. Brazil has, to be sure, a rich native musical culture, mixing Portuguese, Spanish, African, and native Indian elements. But Gomes was not interested in exploiting this rich mix in his score. I do hear what sound like echoes of the Spanish zarzuela in the second act, but it was Verdi first and foremost who provided the Brazilian with his inspiration, with occasional nods toward Bellini, Rossini, and Meyerbeer.

The source of the opera's plot is Brazilian enough, however: it is founded on the novel O Guarani by José Martiniano de Alencar, a writer who may be as ``celebrated'' as the program notes claim but is not listed in the standard reference works I consulted. The locale is Brazilian as well -- Brazil in 1560, with Portuguese settlers and ``adventurers'' surrounded by native tribes, one of them at least -- the Aimorè -- hostile cannibals. The neighboring tribe is known as the Guarani; its chief (who gives his name to the opera) is neither hostile nor man-eating but a most romantic and noble fellow who saves the life of Cecilia, daughter of the Portuguese leader, and promptly falls in love with her. Cecilia returns his affection but her father wants her to marry a member of his faction, Don Alvaro. She is also pursued by the villain of the opera, the Spaniard Gonzales, who lusts for her and her father's silver mine.

Pery, the noble Guarany chieftain, saves Cecilia from the clutches of Gonzales several times during the course of the opera, and also comes to her rescue when she is captured by the Aimorè Indians, whose Cacique (chieftain) fancies her himself and is such a poor loser that he is preparing to pop both Cecilia and Pery into a pot of boiling water (or is it coconut oil?) when they are rescued at the last moment by Don Antonio and his men. (There are numerous last-minute rescues in this opera.) In act IV, Don Antonio, learning of Gonzales's treachery and Pery's bravery, permits Pery to marry his daughter, after the Indian renounces his native gods and becomes a Christian. The elderly Antonio then sends the newlyweds off to safety and blows up the fortress, taking his own life along with those of Gonzales and associated conspirators.

The scenario, then, is utterly claptrap -- or, as another reviewer of this recording described it, ``standard thud-and-blunder.'' It is even less distinguished than Verdi's Alzira or Spontini's Fernand Cortez, which have similar story lines. So have three or four dozen other operas dealing with American Indians and European invaders. What saves Il Guarany is Gomes's passionate score, which rises far above Verdi's Alzira, though it is more than a few notches below Verdi at his best.

The recording appears to be complete, save for the omission of the ballet music in act III. This long ballet was included in a 1959 recording of Il Guarany, stemming from São Paulo and at one time available on the Brazilian label Chanticleer (CMG 5001). I have a reel-to-reel tape of this performance, which was made in a broadcast studio, not in the theater, and I admire the cast, which compares favorably with that of the Sony cast. Cecilia was sung by a spectacular coloratura robusta with the unfortunate name of Niza de Castro-Tank; she quite frankly outclasses Verónica Villarroel in every respect. The Gonzales, Paolo Fortes, is also most impressive, and the tenor who takes the title role, Manrico Patassini, is not half bad either, although he pales in the golden splendor of Domingo's heroic voice and personality. If you can find the Chanticleer in the discontinued LPs bin, buy it as a supplement to the Sony.

Besides the singers I mention, the remainder of the Chanticleer cast is strong, and they sound more ``into'' their roles -- which they must have sung many times in Brazil -- than the sometimes tentative Bonn performers. The ballet is great fun to listen to as well. I regret its absence in the Sony edition, while understanding that its inclusion would have greatly increased the cost of staging Il Guarany and have made it impossible to encompass the opera on two discs. The Brazilian performance was otherwise severely cut, to the point where the story line barely tracked. Sony restores all of these excisions, making several attractive concerted numbers available on disc for the first time.

Verónica Villarroel appears to be a current favorite of Plácido Domingo's. He has appeared with her on several of the zarzuelas being issued by Auvidis Valois (see the review of Moreno Torroba's Luisa Fernanda in this issue). Choosing her as his Cecilia in both the Bonn and Washington stagings of Il Guarany should be a great boost to her international career. She undertakes a very demanding role, somewhat analogous to that of Violetta in La traviata -- coloratura in the first act, lyric with spinto reserves in the succeeding ones. It's a role that Caballé would have found ideal in her prime. Villarroel does the coloratura decently in ``Gentil di cuore'' (a sound-alike of ``Son vergine vezzose'' in Bellini's Puritani), but she lacks a clearly articulated trill and the pinging staccati that Castro-Tank so dazzlingly displays. In the last three acts, Villarroel's lirico-spinto voice is rather thin, though not unattractive. She does her best work in the second-act ballata, ``C'era una volta una principessa,'' which requires more refined brilliance, halfway between Rossini's Cenerentola and Gounod's Mireille. This waltz-ballad was recorded by Bidú Sayão and Lina Pagliughi in days of yore.

Domingo is just a shade below his best as the noble savage. But Domingo on an off day is preferable to most tenors when they are on a roll, and he is far from ``off'' in this recording. The voice of this great Otello and Parsifal thrills one with its power, authority, splendor. He makes Villarroel sound better than she should in their two duets. Whenever he emerges from the Brazilian rain forest -- dressed like an exotic cockatoo, feathers and all, as the photos in the booklet indicate -- he transforms Gomes's good but not really great Verdian melodies into something that Verdi himself heard when he caught a performance of Il Guarany in Ferrara and labeled its composer ``a true genius.'' The soprano-tenor duet ``Sento una forza indomita,'' my own favorite number in Il Guarany, was recorded acoustically by Caruso and Destinn. Hearing it in digital sound is something like seeing a favorite film scene reshot in Technicolor. Gigli made a fabled recording of Pery's aria ``Vanto io pur superba cuna,'' which opens act II. Domingo's Otello-like tones are more heroic than Gigli's, but less honeyed.

There are two major baritone roles in this opera, taken at the Scala premiere by Enrico Sorti (as Gonzales) and Victor Maurel (as the Cacique). Maurel was only twenty-two in 1870 and making his La Scala debut. Seventeen years later he was to make operatic history when he created, on the same stage, the role of Iago in Otello. Carlos Alvarez sounds to me like a world-class Gonzales; he even manages to imbue this repulsive character with a measure of sympathy, especially in the closing pages of the opera. The recording is also fortunate in its other leading baritone, Boris Martinovic, who may not be another Victor Maurel but manages to dominate the third act -- the only one in which he appears -- as the ferocious headman of the Aimorè tribe. (Both the Aimorè and the Guarany people are very much alive and flourishing in the Brazil and Paraguay of today; the Encyclopedia Britannica says that the Guarany were formerly cannibals and the Aimorè were known for their tribal songs, a reversal of the way they are portrayed in the opera.) With his Slavic vocal coloration (a higher-voiced Boris Christoff), Martinovic is impressive in the Meyerbeerian trio ``Pria che l'empio sia svenato.'' He emerges as the one truly dignified character of the opera -- even though the Cacique does turn his enemies into meat pies. The opening of his prayer to the god of his tribe, ``O Dio degli Aimorè,'' mysterious and passionate, comes closer to creating the illusion that one is experiencing an aboriginal South American Indian ritual than any other portion of the score. The supporting singers are largely effective, but bass Hao Jiang Tian, who takes the part of old Don Antonio, has a quaver that goes beyond the demands of verisimilitude.

Sony does not provide artist information in its otherwise impressive, 184-page booklet. From a review of the Bonn staging I learn that the conductor, John Neschling, is himself a native of Brazil. I venture to guess that he has conducted this opera often in his native land; his readings have the ring of authenticity about them, a tremendous gusto and schwung. The Orchester der Beetho- venhalle Bonn plays for him as though it was the Berlin Philharmonic, and the expanded Chorus of the City of Bonn takes equal relish in its guises as Adventurers, Colonists, and Indian headhunters. The sound is SOTA but I could do with more tracks: one can't access the big arias, duets, and ensembles directly, but only the scenes in which they occur. Provided are useful program notes, the Italian libretto with trilingual translations (the English one, by Gwyn Morris, deserves special commendation), and photos of the Bonn staging. This release is a product of the Sony team at its best.

3) Il Guarany

Stoil Gueorguiev (Don Antonio de Mariz, portugiesischer Gouverneur) – Krassimira Stoyanova (Cecilia, seine Tochter) – Roumen Doykov (Peri, Häuptling der Guarany-Indiander) – Plamen Prokopiev (Don Alvaro) – Niko Issakov (Gonzales) – Yulian Konstantinov (Cacique) – Peter Bakardzhiev (Pedro) – Ivan Ivanov (Rui Bento) – Alexander Manolov (Alonso)
Dir: Plamen Kartaloff / Reg: Júlio Medaglia / Bü+Ko: Cyro Del Nero / Choreo-graphie: Hikmet Mehenmedov

Nationaltheater Sofia im Teatro São Carlos in São Paulo 1996 – Stereo_10)_Roméo_et_Juliette'>Stereo_9)_Roméo_et_Juliette'>Stereo_6)_Mireille'>Stereo_5)_Faust'>Stereo_NTSC_4)_Maria_Tudor'>Stereo NTSC

4) Maria Tudor

Eliane Coelho – Elena Chavdarova-Isa – Kostadin Andreev – Franco Pomponi - Svetozar Ranguelov – Ivan Ivanov - Elena Stoyanova – Biser Georgiev – Stoil Georgiev

Ballett: Ekaterina Stanimirova – Julia Schischkova – Dimiter Talev – Jordan Krustev – Diana Noveva – Jolanta Zacharieva – Valentin Georgiev – Katia Zacharieva – Penka Josifova – Elenko Ivanov – Nokolai Dobrev
Dir: Luiz Fernando Malheiro / Reg: Plamen Karlaloff / Bü+Ko: Salvatore Russo / Choreographie: Flávio Bennati / Licht: Dimitar Gochev+Rossen Tsankov

Nationaltheater Sofia im Teatro São Carlos in São Paulo 6. und 8.11.1998 – Stereo NTSC

5) Lo Schiavo

Joel de Oliveira (Graf Rodrigo, ein portugiesischer Edler und Gutsherr) - Antônio Lotti (Americo, sein Sohn) – Bruce Mack (Iberè, gefangener Häuptling der Tamoyos) – Viviane Farias (Gräfin de Boissy, eine Hugenottin) – Ivonete Rigout-Muler (Ilarà, eine gefangene Eingeborene, Magd des Crafen) ) – Milton Goncalves (Goitaca, ein brasilianischer Häuptling) – Luthero de Almeidá (Gianfera, der Verwalter des Grafen) – Cora D’Bruns

Dir: Alceo Bocchino / Reg: Emanuel Martinez

Coral Sinfonico do Paraná TV-Produktion 1987 – Stereo DVD NTSC

6) Lo Schiavo

Edwards – Otey – Brown – Klein - Bertolini

Da Paz Theatre Belém 1999 - Stereo
7) Salvator Rosa
Dir: Anthony Amato

Amato Opera, New York 1989

8) Condor

Fernando Portari (Condor) – Celine Imbert (Odaléa)– Solanga Siquoro (Adin) – Mariana Cioromila (Zuleide) – José Galisa (Almazor) – Josonor Rocha (O Mufti)

Dir: Luiz Fernando Malheiro / Reg: Bruno Berger-Gorsky / Bü: Renato Theobaldo / Ko: Tania Marcondos / Licht: Gaetano Viola / Choreographie: Joffra Santos

Amazonas Opera House Manaus 18.5.2002 - Stereo

Antonio Carlos Gomes’ (1836-1896) CONDOR is a lyric opera in three acts with libretto by Mario Canti, was firstperformed in Teatro Alla Scala of Milan, Italy in 1891. Condor is Carlos Gomes’ last opera. The greatest opera composer in the Americas in the XIX century, Carlos Gomes was already back in Brazil when he composed Condor considered to be a trend towards trueism. Written after Lo Schiavo, in 1882, a portrait of the abolitionist campaigns, the narrative is centered on Odaléa, queen of Samarcanda, who, owing to religious precepts is not allowed to know love. But a nomad by the name of Condor dares desecrating the royal castle and openly declares his love for Odaléa. The queen feels incapable of ordering his beheading much to the court´s indignation. The queen and her entourage go to the mosque to attend religious rites and are attacked by savage herds. Against his mother´s plea ( she is the nomad Zuleide), Condor goes to the rescue of his beloved and saves her. Zuleide tells the Queen that Condor is a son of sultan Amurath. Odaléa challenging her peers and her people, brings her savior to the court. The people, however, refuse to accept him and threaten to kill him. Condor offers to sacrifice his life in exchange for Odaléa´s. A huge fire breaks up in the city. Condor stabs himself to save the Queen. The palace is then invaded by the crowd and Odaléa is found leaning over the dead body of her beloved; she throws herself to the ground crying: “And now, you infamous crowd, tear my heart apart, too!”, while the crowd screams in horror. The stage direction is commissioned to German Bruno Berger-Gorsky. The title roles are performed by tenor Rubens Medina (Condor), soprano Mônica Martins (Odaléa) and soprano Celine Imbert (Zuleide).

GOTOVA, Jakov (1895 - 1982)

1. 
   Ero s onoga svijeta (Ero, der Schelm)
   

Dinko Lupi - Gordana Mari-ir - Boena Svalina - Blaenka Mili - Janez Lotri -

Bojan ober - Marija Bori - Damir arko

Dir: Loris Voltolini / Reg: Kreimir Doleni

Kroatische Oper Zagreb 1992

GOUNOD, Charles François (1818 - 1893)

1) Faust

Alfredo Kraus - Renata Scotto - Nicolai Ghiaurov - Anna Di Stasio - Milena Dal Piva - Lorenzo Saccomani -Guido Mazzini - Manfred Röhrl
Dir: Paul Ethuin / Reg: ?

Tokyo 9.9.1973 - Stereo

2) Faust - Not Available
3) Faust

Francisco Araiza - Ruggiero Raimondi - Gertrude Jahn - Gabriele Sima - Walton Grönroos - Gabriela Benacková-Cápova - Ursula Hambsch-Pfitzner - Christian Herden - Alfred Sramek

Dir: Erich Binder / Reg: Ken Russell

Staatsoper Wien 1985

4) Faust

Giuseppe Sabbatini - Samuel Ramey - Jeffrey Black - Fabrice Raviola - Deborah Riedel - Claire Larcher - Martine Mahe

Dir: John Nelson / Reg: Robert Carsen / Bü: Radu Boruzescu / Ko: Miruna

Boruzescu / Choreographie: Serge Bennathan

Grand Théâtre de Genève April 1995 - Stereo
5) Faust

József Csák - János Toth - Anatolij Fokanov - Tünde- Frankó - Judith Németh - Katalin Gémes - Gábor Vághelyi

Dir: Géza Oberfrank / Reg: Gábor Kerényi Miklos

Erkel Színház 1.3.1996 - Stereo

6) Faust

Daniel Galvez-Vallejo (Faust) – Fernand Bernadi (Mefisto) – Jacques Gay (Valentin) – Raphaelle Farman (Margit) – Atala Schöck (Siebel) – István Andrejcsik (Brander) – Éva Szonda (Marta)

Dir: Vincent Monteil / Reg: Róbert Alföldi / Choreographie: Attila Király / Bü+Ko: Kentaur

Nemzeti színház Szeged 14.2.2003 - Stereo

6) Mireille

Valerie Masterson – Luis Lima – Jane Berbie – Diane Loeb – Colette Alliot-Lugaz – Madelyn Renee – Jean-Philippe Lafont - Jules Bastin – Pierre-Yves Lemaigat – Judith Rickinson – Maria-Angelica Catalan – Rosale Berenger – Françoise Courvoisier – Sylvie Prieur – Nicolas Lefebvre – Paul Imbach

Dir: Sylvain Cambreling / Reg: Antoine Bourseiller / Bü+Ko: Bernard Dayde

Grand Théâtre de Genève 1981 – Stereo NTSC

7) Roméo et Juliette

Alfredo Kraus - Faye Robinson - Lucetta Bizzi - Roberto Coviello - Walter Brighi - Boris Martinovich - Ambra Vespasiani - Gianfranco Manganotti - - Marcello Crisman - Tito Tortura - Franco Federici - Gabriele Monici

Dir: Alain Guingál / Beppe De Tomasi

Teatro Regio di Parma 24.4.1985 NTSC Stereo

8) Roméo et Juliette

Roberto Alagna (Romeo) - Leontina Vaduva (Juliette) - Francois Le Roux (Mercutio) - Paul Charles Clarke (Tybalt) – Peter Sidhom (Capulet) - Robert Lloyd (Friar Lawrence) - Anna Maria Panzarella (Stéphano) - Richard Halton - Sarah Walker - David Wilson-Johnson - Jeremy White

Dir: Sir Charles Mackerras / Reg: Nicolas Joël / Bü+Ko: Carlo Tommasi / Licht: Bruno Boyer

Royal Opera House Covent Garden 1994 - Stereo

9) Roméo et Juliette

Leontina Vaduva (Juliette) - Marie-Ange Todorovitch - Monique Barscha - Marcus Haddock - Christian Papis - Richard Byrne - Reinhard Hagen - Marcel Vanaud - Yves Bisson - Simon Jaunin

Dir: Cyril Diederich / Reg: Dieter Kaegi / Bü+Ko: Bruno Schwengl

Grand Théâtre de Genève 1996 - Stereo

10) Roméo et Juliette

Stefania Bonfadelli (Juliette) – Neil Shicoff (Roméo) – Angelica Kirchschlager (Stephano) – Mihaela Ungureanu (Gertrude) – John Dickie (Tybalt) – Michael Knapp (Benvolio) – Adrian Eröd (Mercutio) – Markus Nieminen (Paris) – In-Sung Sin (Gregorio) – Alfred Šramek (Capulet) – Walter Fink (Frère Laurent) – Dan Paul Dumitrescu (Le Duc)

Dir: Marcello Viotti / Reg : Jürgen Flimm / Lichtarchitektur : Patrick Woodroffe / Ko: Birgit Hutter / Bewegungsregie: Renato Zanella

Wiener Staatsoper 21.12.2001 - Stereo

11) La colombe

Ghylaine Raphanel – François-Nicolas Geslot – Jean-Philippe Courtis – Antoine Normand -

Dir : Michel Swierczewski / Reg: Pierre Jourdan / Bü: Gilles Dubernet / Ko : Jacques Fath, Jean Barthet und Sulka / Licht: Thierry Alexandre

Théâtre impérial de Compiègne 1995 - Stereo