This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

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It’s been worth the three-decade wait for this transfer of Kleiber’s cherished Rosenkavalier

We all know that Carlos Kleiber recordings are like gold dust. Whether or not one believes that the mystique surrounding this maestro is simply because he did so little, there’s no doubting that his Rosenkavalier was miraculous. With Claire Watson (more neurotic than his other recorded Marschallins) heading a marvellous cast, this is simply unmissable.

-- Gramophone [4/2009]

MOZART Così fan tutte • Josef Krips, cond; Gundula Janowitz ( Fiordiligi ); Christa Ludwig ( Dorabella ); Walter Berry ( Guglielmo ); Adolf Dallapozza ( Ferrando ); Olivera Miljakovic ( Despina ); Eberhard Waechter ( Don Alfonso ); Vienna St Op O • ORFEO 6970721 (2 CDs: 154: 17) Live: Vienna 9/22/1968


Yet more live archival opera on Orfeo from the Vienna Staatsoper, and this time, a sparkling Così fan tutte from September 22, 1968. It is led by Josef Krips, a student of Felix Weingartner, whose early, successful career at the Staatsoper was blighted by the Nazis. Banned from working there, he only resumed conducting after the fall of the Thousand Year Reich. Krips then led the first postwar revival of Così in August of 1945, a production that was to prove very popular, with a cast that frequently included Irmgard Seefried, Sena Jurinac, Emmy Loose, Anton Dermota, Erich Kunz, and Paul Schöffler.


The conductor was known for his congenial enthusiasm, but he was also a taskmaster. Kunz, who was quite a wit, remarked more than once in remembrance, “We had Figaro on Sunday, and Figaro on Tuesday. And on Monday, Krips spent at least four hours rehearsing Figaro .” Textures, articulation, pacing, phrasing, ensemble performance, expressiveness: these are the elements he emphasized in Mozart. He became internationally known as something of a Mozart specialist, yet precious little of it was caught on disc. There was a fine Don Giovanni (still available on Decca 466 389) with Siepi, Corena, della Casa and Danco), and two recordings of Die Entführung (the better of the two for EMI in 1966, one of my favorite versions with Gedda, Rothenberger, and Frick), but no Figaro, Zauberflöte , or Così . This release helps to rectify that very old oversight, in part. While there are the usual problems of “untidiness” associated with live performances, this is more than just a faded tribute to an important, neglected artist.


The cast lacks the legendary patina of those first postwar years, but it’s none the worse for that. I recall Janowitz being compared in the 1960s to Schwarzkopf, and there is a similar resort to a “white column of sound” vocal production, at times. (Schwarzkopf was another one of Janowitz’s predecessors as Fiordiligi at the Staatsoper.) I find it more noticeable here than in many of her studio recordings, but especially on higher notes where the vibrato is narrow and quick, giving the sense of something delicate. The lower notes occasionally give her problems, but “Temerari, sortite” is handled very well: the leap on “del mondo” is a delight. Distant microphone placement hurts the sweetness of her tone in “Come scoglio,” but the beauty of her voice, its placement, and her grasp of theatrics bring deafening applause—justifiably so, in my opinion.


As good is Ludwig, whose remarkably fluent technique allows Krips to wish on her a fast and marvelously furious “Smanie implacabili.” Her Guglielmo in act II, Berry, was married to her at the time. Their duet, “Il core vi dono,” is probably the highlight of the entire performance. Ludwig is dramatic, torn, interpreting in detail but without losing sight of preeminent Mozartean musical values. Berry is sensuous enough to make one wish he had been given a chance at the eponymous anti-hero in Don Giovanni , so many excellent performances of Leporello by him notwithstanding.


Dallapozza isn’t at this level, but it’s not for lack of trying. He attempts to scale back his bright voice without much success in “Un aura amorosa,” and his intonation is repeatedly suspect. Too many phrases are cut short, as well, despite conscientious attempts to sing cantabile . Yet during the ensembles, his accurate, easy coloratura is a delight. (Both his “Ah, lo veggio” and “Tradito, schernito” are cut, as is Dorabella’s “È amore un ladroncello.”)


Waechter’s voice sounds slightly worn during this performance, but he uses it with great skill. His is a more patrician, less smiling Don Alfonso than many I’ve heard, suave and self-assured in both “La mano a me date” and “Tutti accusan le donne.” Miljakovic modulates her darker voice attractively for “In uomini, in soldati,” but her “squeeze doll” notary voice is the most irritating I’ve ever heard, even after the abuse that role has suffered from numerous Despinas over the years.


However, the real star of the night is Krips. He shapes this Così at every moment, in larger ways and in small details. The first act is the quicker of the two, ironically smiling throughout, though not without its foreshadowing of later, deeper moments—as in the small trio “Soave sia il vento,” paced perfectly to avoid sentimentality on the one hand and scrambling on the other. Krips makes the act II scenes between Fiordiligi and Ferrando, and between Dorabella and Guglielmo, central to his interpretation, the points in the opera where the emotional conflict waged by pride, arrogance, passion, and the desires to love and be loved takes place. Expressive phrasing and loving detail at a measured but supple pace bring these qualities out; and while those who see Così as nothing but a puppet play staged by opera singers will object, I found it utterly right.


Elsewhere, Krips’s hand may be seen in the remarkable sense of ensemble that pervades this performance. “Soave sia il vento” has already been mentioned for its basic tempo that, like Weingartner’s Beethoven, seems inevitable. The balance among the principals is also perfect, and with a transparency of texture that reminds me of listening to a very fine string quartet. Much the same can be said of the quintet “Il destin così defrauda,” and the trio “E voi ridete?” Even when momentary smears occur, as during “Un quadretto più giocondo” in the act I finale, I can’t help admiring the poise, interaction, and beauty Krips invokes.


Orfeo supplies some good background notes about the conductor and singers, but only a synopsis—no libretto. The sound is extremely good for a live venue of the period.


It remains to note that there are numerous imperfections in this performance, the usual early or late entries, slips of intonation, and even one moment when the strings briefly lose the beat. For myself, I find none of this matters compared to what has been achieved. I’m glad to finally hear a Krips Così, and to discover that in concept it’s just as good as the other Mozart he recorded.


FANFARE: Barry Brenesal

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Another good transfer for this legendary Karajan performance

"In his Gramophone Collection on Tristan (10/95) AB placed this Karajan at No 4 in his top five, with Böhm (1966), Furtwängler and Knappertsbusch (1950) ahead of it. That high position is earned primarily by Karajan’s spell-binding conducting, evident early on as the Act 1 Prelude, at a slowish tempo, builds inexorably to an engulfing climax. Some episodes, like Brangäne’s Act 1 narrations and the early stages of the Act 2 duet, are driven forward so brusquely that they risk sounding perfunctory. Nevertheless – and taking into account what we know of Karajan’s impatience with his Tristan and the hothouse Bayreuth atmosphere at the time – there is never any sense of conductor and singers at odds. Mödl is not the most seductive of Isoldes, but her scornful vehemence in Act 1, her volatile passion in Act 2 and her commanding projection of the ‘Liebestod’, confidently riding the waves of Karajan’s orchestra, are supremely compelling. Ramón Vinay has all the confidence and stamina necessary to sing the part uncut, and although the early stages of Act 3 are rather prosaic, the ensuing delirium is almost frighteningly intense, with ample power in reserve for the climactic high As. The rest of the cast list speaks for itself, with Ira Malaniuk an admirably engaged Brangäne and Weber an eloquent Marke.

In the end, there is frustration at the degree to which the hugely important role of the orchestra is reduced to a relatively dim, and at times distorted, background, such is the prominence the microphones accord the voices. But while many recordings redress that imbalance effectively, few can match the overall impact of this one.

Arnold Whittall, The GRAMOPHONE

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This recording, live from the Vienna State Opera in 1955, was taped just weeks before virtually the same cast (there's only one major difference) entered the studio and recorded it for Decca. The performances are remarkably similar: Karl Böhm, a master of this complex, beautiful score, presents it almost complete (there are, I believe, very small cuts here and there) and has assembled a superb, enthralled, and enthralling cast. The one major change from the studio recording is that whereas Paul Schöffler was the Barak for Decca, here we get Ludwig Weber, whose voice may be somewhat less beautiful than Schöffler's, but is easily as expressive, endearing, and impressive.

Leonie Rysanek is the familiar Empress, seemingly hypnotized and enchanted, her voice settling down after some initial pitch problems mid-range to offer a glorious reading, with gleaming, cutting top notes and true sentiment throughout. She makes us feel for the character and her plight. Her Emperor is the beefy tenor Hans Hopf, who is less crude than usual and has the notes and stamina for the role, particularly in the seemingly endless final scene, which, when presented as complete as is it here, can be quite a challenge.

As the Dyer's Wife, Christel Goltz is not quite in the same class with the others; her singing is secure and good enough but she lacks any subtlety and can't compare with, say, Christa Ludwig in the role. Elisabeth Höngen's Nurse is nasty and biting, and she gets through the role without shouting. Kurt Böhme's Messenger is potent and the rest of the cast--Vienna stalwarts from the '50s--is top notch.

Böhm captures just the correct otherworldliness of the music, and the Vienna Philharmonic, tam tam, gongs and all, plays with great feeling and love. The sound is pure, clear monaural (the studio recording is early stereo but is essentially no better), with even the harps audible; Strauss' exotica is underlined but not so prominent that we can't hear the gorgeously tonal score. The vibrancy of the live experience is thrilling. If you own the Decca, you won't need this, really, but you must own one or the other.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

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Includes work(s) by various composers. Soloist: Konstantin Lifschitz.

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