La Boheme reissue 2008

[prahcello]

Dear all,

Decca will release this month, a newly remastered "Deluxe Edition" of the classic 1972 La Boheme recording with Pavarotti, Freni, Ghiaurov and Karajan directing the Berliner Philharmoniker.

The hardcover edition will feature the original LP cover, and in addition to the opera, there is a third CD of an interview with Mirella Freni, who talks about the opera, and her experiences of working with Herbert von Karajan.

Here is the Decca website link for those interested;
www.deccaclassics.com/newsandnewreleases/september2008/4780254.htm

On a personal note, I listened to it again yesterday, after a long absence, and it was almost a rediscovery of this opera for me! The orchestra introduction, as played by the Berliners under Karajan, sets the atmosphere of the opera wonderfully. Like the famous Tosca recording with Callas, di Stefano, Gobbi and de Sabata, it is one of those recordings that makes one feel like he is at the opera house. The curtain goes up as soon as it has started. Wonderful...

Paul

[Rosy]

Dear Paul,

This is will be a gift for my mum who loves Giacomo Puccini ( including myself! ). I'm completely agree with you: Herbert von Karajan has produced a work that is not ever been exceeded. Excellent choice of singers; they were among the best to time! Interestingly the bonus CD that proposes Decca label. Mirella Freni tends always to stress the great respect that had Karajan for singers and their voices, because there were some conductors who, although do hear the music, they are no worried if the singers were not able to arrive to the " right note"!!!

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Thank you
Rosy

[prahcello]

Not only Freni, but most great singers that worked with Karajan ALL mention the fact that they felt completely at ease when singing for Karajan.

He understood singers, without knowing the mechanics of how a voice works, and most importantly, BREATHED with them. Many conductors do not know how to do that, as simple as it might sound.

[Rosy]

Hello Paul,

Yes, all singers have loved Karajan because he had much respect for their delicate vocal cords. You can read something in the board General, in the thread "The Italian Opera: Giuseppe Verdi and other great Authors", 4°post. Here, I've mentioned only as an exmple the soprano Mirella Freni, because I remembered for her intervention in a television broadcast, a couple of years ago,where there was the tenor Luciano Pavarotti who had dedicated that trasmission.

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Thanks for the clarification
Rosy

[David]

Hello Paul,

Thanks for this information.

Although what follows is not directly related to your thread, I think it may be relevant in view of your comments about Karajan’s relationship with his singers.

I do so very much agree with your comments about his ability to ’breath’, not only with singers but also during wind solos within the orchestra.

The YOUTUBE clip which follows is of a short interview with Leontyne Price. Initially we hear part of Vissi d'arte from the 1962 Tosca (also Decca), but it is her words at the end of the clip where she discusses the Maestro that are, I think, the most relevant and moving.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVyp9HHrGfU

Regards -
David

[Rosy]

Sept 19, 2008 16:41:10 GMT 1 David said:

The YOUTUBE clip which follows is of a short interview with Leontyne Price. Initially we hear part of Vissi d'arte from the 1962 Tosca (also Decca), but it is her words at the end of the clip where she discusses the Maestro that are, I think, the most relevant and moving.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVyp9HHrGfU

Regards -
David

Dear All,

I've heard many times that interview, but without subtitles, ahime`, many important concepts are beyond my comprehension.

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Please, would you like do me a summary? :-[

Thank you very much
Rosy

[prahcello]

Sept 19, 2008 16:41:10 GMT 1 David said:

I do so very much agree with your comments about his ability to ’breath’, not only with singers but also during wind solos within the orchestra

Sept 19, 2008 16:41:10 GMT 1 David said:

I do so very much agree with your comments about his ability to ’breath’, not only with singers but also during wind solos within the orchestra.

And NOT ONLY wind solos! Karajan knew what it meant to accompany soloists.

I generally hate the term 'accompanist' because the word gives that particular performer a lesser important role than the so-called 'soloist', but in the context of knowing how to play and be one with the soloist, Karajan I think was almost without competition. Many of his recordings with soloists, be it with instrumentalists or singers, have this wonderful give-and-take approach to it that gives emotional climaxes in a movement or the whole work particular impact. Listen to the Beethoven concerto with Mutter or the Brahms violin concerto with Ferras or Kremer.

But being a conductor in itself means that there is a lot of ego involved, and I think sometimes that meant that he could drown out the singers or soloists if he felt they were 'misbehaving'. The Marilyn Horne-Amneris-Salzburg incident is a good example of that.

Paul

[prahcello]

Sept 19, 2008 18:36:11 GMT 1 Rosy said:

I've heard many times that interview, but without subtitles, ahime`, many important concepts are beyond my comprehension.

**********************

Please, would you like do me a summary? :-[

Thank you very much
Rosy

Price mentions that she sang Tosca often with Karajan, first in Vienna, and then says that it was one of her favourite Puccini roles, so she sang it very often, including in New York and other places.

Then she answers the interviewer's question by saying that it was like floating in the air when singing with Karajan. She goes on to say that they had a special chemistry, and that singing with him was easy because he paid attention to the working process with his singers, and even if she had a special fondness for Karajan, she knows that other colleagues had the same thing to say about him. The clip ends with her saying that Karajan "was a true vocal conductor".

[Rosy]

Thanks for your help in translation. Paul! Very useful; now I know the meaning of all the phrases that Leontine Price says about Maestro Karajan and thanks for your intervention in the post above, that in response to David

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Rosy