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Catarina Ligendza
This week we are looking back at the career of Swedish dramatic soprano Catarina Ligendza. Born in Stockholm to soprano Brita Hertzberg and tenor Einar Beyron, she went on to sing at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, La Scala and the Bayreuth Festival, where she became particularly admired for her Wagner roles, including Brünnhilde and Isolde. She was a favorite collaborator of Carlos Kleiber, particularly in the role of Isolde.
In celebration, we are offering 40% off all of her recordings.
Catarina Ligendza
40% Off
The Divas of Sadler's Wells
Featuring ten legendary sopranos who helped set the standard.
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New Titles Added
120 New "Coming Soon" Titles
I have added 120 new titles to our “Coming Soon” collection, including several recordings that have never been available before.
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Free Streaming Recordings
Every week we offer 12 new titles available to stream for free
Compilation: Amy Shuard
Excerpts from Macbeth, Walküre, Götterdämmerung, Katya Kabanova, Tristan & more
Compilation: Anne Evans
Excerpts from Temistocle, Die Fledermaus, Dalibor, La Traviata, Lohengrin, Walküre, Elektra & Die Frau ohne Schatten
Compilation: Martina Arroyo in Concert
Amsterdam, 1967. BONUS: Martina Arroyo Sings Verdi
Donizetti: Maria Stuarda (In English)
Baker, Tinsley, Erwin, Garrard; Mackerras. London, 1973
Mozart: Così fan tutte (In English)
Harwood, Baker, Curragh, Westi, Van Der Bilt, Shirley-Quirk; Gibson. Glasgow, 1969
Spotlight: George London
From Our Collectors
Five-Star Reviews
Opera lovers share their discoveries from the catalogue.
Great cast
“The Bernstein recording of 'Falstaff' was the third opera I ever purchased on LP back in 1967 - it is how I got to know the opera and I have always loved this cast. This live recording surprised me since I found the sound quality perfectly acceptable, and, as Andy and David Reynolds say, the performance is more lively and exciting than the commercially released recording. I can't really fault any of the cast except for Sciutti's occasional flatness on sustained notes. It is my favourite Fischer-Dieskau Italian role, Resnik is my favourite Quickly in any performance I have yet seen or heard, and Panerai is also superb. Although the commercially released recording has been re-mastered now I would still go for this live recording in preference.”
Metternich and Modl magnificent as “Thane und Frau”!
“Metternich may be a more lyric Macbeth than some, but his timbre is beautiful, his vocal line is impeccable, and he has the charisma to partner Modl. This is prime Modl, her singular timbre and technique encompassing all but the famous Db. Combined they are a fantastic couple, feeding off each other in conspiratorial and musical scale. Herrmann’s vocally linear Banquo is first rate. Hulgert pushes his attractive tenor unnecessarily. Keilberth leads an exceptionally prepared orchestra and chorus. The opera house ambiance is captured with voices placed firmly centerstage. Sound excellent. Performance notes: Act 1 Witches chorus “S’allontalarono!” traditionally cut. A short excerpt from the ballet replaces Witches intro to Act 3. German translation seems almost idiomatic.”
Worth it for Vickers alone!
“Since this is the only recording of Lucretia I've heard, it is hard to be critical. Vickers is great, and the others very good, but what stands out most is Britten's brilliant music!”
Nilsson Triumphs in Swedish or German
“Most opera lovers know Birgit Nilsson was an exciting Salome and here are two different performances about a year apart to confirm that. The Swedish cast is excellent; I am more enthusiastic about them than Andy in his comments above. The Herod and Herodias sing better than their German language counterparts in the bonus performance. They get their points across without screaming or turning their music into sprechstimme. Sigurd Bjorling had a fine voice and he sings with great involvement and beauty. A young Kerstin Meyer is the Page and one can hear the quality of voice from her first line. The Narraboth, admittedly, is rather unsteady of voice, but he doesn't stick around long anyway. The rest of the singers are first-rate. Nilsson would deepen her interpretation with more experience, but vocally she is already most impressive. Ehrling leads a good, if at times a little tame performance. Salome goes well in Swedish too! The sound is mostly very good, a few minor tape blips notwithstanding. Andy has generously given us half of a Munich Salome from the next year. Nilsson remains a marvel. Aldenhoff's vibrato is sometimes so wide it's difficult to discern which pitch he's attempting to sing. Metternich is heard from offstage as Jokanaan. Jean Madeira is listed as Herodias, but it's definitely someone else. Among the ensemble I recognized Paul Kuen as the First Jew. Salome and Nilsson lovers will really enjoy these performances.”
None
“You cannot ethically review anything unless you have used items or services, eaten food products or in restaurants, watched movies or concerts, and in my case listened to the recording which I haven’t done as of now. I have so many Opera CD recordings I haven’t listened to yet, so I don’t know when I will listen to this one.”
AN "ELEKTRA" OF NOTE
“An "Elektra" of note is this wonderful live opera recording that features and casts great singers under the inspired baton of Horst Stein in the best years of Hamburger Staatsoper ('70s). Highly recommended! A must!”
Martin Ramor
“Nice recording of Tosca. Domingo sounds fresh in his young years and very convincing as Cavaradossi. Schauer and Ludgin nice in roles of Tosca and Scarpia. For a change I enjoyed listening to Tosca in English. Orchestra is good. Interesting to hear what was possible in regional opera house in USA in 60's.”
Wagner at it´s best
“This is my 51 Ring Cycle, Nilsson & Windgassen vocaly it their Best, the recording transfer on the CD´s are exellent, comparible with the recordings in Bayreuth 1967 Böhm, 1968 by Maazel, and the recordings by Furtwängler 1953 Rai and the recording 1957 London by Kempe”
Carol and Placidó ride again into the sunset!
“This performance from London's Royal Opera finds most of the cast included in the DG recording of this production, intact and at white heat. Everyone is firing on all cylinders - such a great demonstration of verismo at work. Carol Neblett is in perfect voice, scaling the heights and depths of the vocal line with fearless attacks and deep involvement. I just love the sumptuous middle register and fierce top register. A favorite Minnie captured for all time. Her being a California native does inform her emotional palette. The strength of her tone reads in all registers with heated emotions in place and still audible over the heavy orchestration. And that poker game....Exciting! Placidó is giving his all at the summit of vocal powers with emotional connection to the text and his relating to the plot actions in moment after moment. The stunning power and beauty of his vocal capabilities are on full display with a generous emotional and musical offering. Silvano Carroli, as Rance, demonstrates a bite in his character and vocal line while snarling, still displaying a roundness of tone. With these principals and excellent support from the depth of the ROH company, every bit of tension and beauty is evident. A great performance! And Zubin Mehta is the perfect leader for the constant shifts of tempi, orchestration, a superb orchestra and chorus at his command, and a surefire understanding of tempo and shading to the confident development of the plot. A masterful support of all the artists and drama in this emotional performance. One feels wrung out, in the best of ways. Do get this performance. It will be one of the best in your collection. Sound is very good with just slight distortion at the loudest peaks..but not bothersome.”
Kubelik's Masterly Meistersinger
“This recording is widely recognized as one of the finest, perhaps THE finest, of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. All I can say is that it deserves its high reputation--great singing, and a conductor who paces the opera beautifully.It has been out of print for years and therefore hard to find. When a copy did turn up, the price was exorbitant. So I was delighted to learn that it could be had inexpensively from Opera Depot. No libretto, but that is easily obtainable elsewhere. I also like the packaging, in a soft plastic case with separate slots for each of the four discs, but scarcely thicker than a hard plastic Jewel Case--and it won't shatter if accidentally dropped, as hard plastic cases usually do.I expect I'll be buying more from Opera Depot.”
Another Rare Dimitrova Recording
“The foundation of Ghena Dimitrova's career was dramatic Italian soprano roles like the title role in Turandot, Maddalena in Andrea Chenier and Abigaille in Nabucco. On paper, Elvira in Ernani seems as far from that as possible, but Dimitrova surprises by displaying a voice capable of early Verdi.”
Edinburgh 1949
“A pretty important issue especially for UK opera lovers - the Edinburgh Festival, due to links with Rudolf Bing, presented Glyndebourne's productions on a regular basis in its earliest years. This means this performance must have been at the King's Theatre in Leven Street where the acoustic is fuller than that in the old house in Glyndebourne which would have been a tad boxy for Verdi's score and the voices at work here. The cast is eccentric in terms of its homogeneity or lack thereof but all the singers have something individual and interesting to bring: Welitsch's famous slivery tone and brightness are there, a few years later the voice suffered a collapse, and Mirto Picchi was a really intelligent musician and stylist too, never abuses the music rhythmically, and is impassioned where it is needed, and Silveri is at his best. But for me it's Gui, balancing energy and passion and charm equally in this very complex score. He was a complete genius in Verdi, sadly too few of whose operas he recorded, even on live issues. The sound is not at all bad for 1949 - it must have been a radio tape originally, and thanks for getting the pitch right!”
A must-buy
“Massenet feels the subject as a Frenchman, with the powder and the minuets” said Puccini, before composing his version of the Manon Lescaut story. “I shall feel it as an Italian, with desperate passion.” With this recording, we get the best of both worlds: Massenet’s fabulously rich score delivered with desperate passion and superlative singing by Freni and Pavarotti. Well, most of it: the Cours-la-Reine scene is deleted, with Obéissons inserted into Act 4 at the Hôtel de Transylvanie: no complaints from me. In fact, the work seems to benefit from it! The singing from the two leads really is miraculous: Freni is luscious and the very young-sounding Pavarotti is on fire. The stand-out arias are show-stopping, and the recorded quality is very good - this is a must buy!”
B@lls to the Wall Salome
“La Rysanek in full flight must have been something to behold. You can hear the audience literally go beserk after the final chords. Excellent sound actually, better than expected, balance with singers is good and the voices captured very realistically. Rysanek goes sharp in a passionate moment or two in the final scene but that is a MINOR quibble. Fantastic performance. Vickers and Stewart seem determined to keep up with her.Exciting to listen to repeatedly.”
Superlative 'Dalibor'
“While not as star-laden as the RCA recording from Vienna, this English National Opera production is every bit as good, if not better. All roles are cast from strength and those familiar with Dame Anne Evans' lyrical, feminine, technically superb Brünnhilde will find those salient qualities present in her rousing Milada. John Mitchinson is a clarion hero, and both Dennis Wicks' jailer and Neil Howlett's king excel. But the catalyst is the thrilling and idiomatic leadership of Sir Charles Mackerras. "Dalibor" belongs in the standard repertory--or so Mackerras persuades the listener. This is one of Opera Depot's very finest releases, featuring crystal-clear stereo reproduction. Bravo!”
One for the ages
“I bought this recording largely on the strength of Mr Reynolds’s review below, and concur with every word. Hard to believe that sound this good comes from 1963, and embarrassing to find that Hoiseth and Tyren (both magnificent) were until now completely absent from my collection. I wonder if Tyren ever performed Sarastro. Nilsson is at her imperious best, projecting character as well as complete vocal control. Orchestral weaknesses are audible, particularly in the horn and oboe sections, but are unlikely to disturb the listener for long. This is unmissable - and makes one wonder whether this was part of a complete cycle. Andy, once again, puts Wagnerians hugely in his debt.”
Considering this was a touring
“Considering this was a touring production, it was excellent. Meant to present Neblett's voluptuous voice and form it did so on both counts. Her's was the best sung Thais I've ever heard. I heard it in Baltimore. I was told her form was best in New Orleans where the production originated. It would be! Patrick was excellent as was the rest of the cast”
GLORIOUS
“And exciting too. I've never been so caught up in the action of act 3 as in this performance. It blazes from start to finish. Dame Gwyneth and Rene Kollo are magnificent, and Donald McIntyre is superb too, as is the playing of the fabulous orchestra. Yes, it's relatively fast, but everything about it is right - the ebb and flow, the tender, quiet passages throughout, the thunderous opening of act 3 and the edge of your seat wonder and excitement of Brunnhilde's awakening and the final duet.”
Francesco
“Grazie assai per tal soggiogante e tecnicamente perfetto regalo d’inizio anno nuovo. Che dire? Arte interpretativa da assaporare con devozione. Ed un PARSIFAL da estrarre di frequente dalla cartella musicale. Una rarità da pelle d’oca. Parola di collezionista! (dr.Francesco Mosca, Cavarzere, Venezia, Italy).”
BLAZING PERFORMANCE IN VERY GOOD SOUND
“Each of the primary characters in this opera are experiencing remarkable life challenges of their making As well as those beyond their control. In addition, they live under the constant threat of the Inqisition. Rysanek fully realizes the heartbreak, anxiety, fear and defiance of Giocanda through employment of superior vocal skill and a vocal timbre capable of expressing every sublime to high flying emotion. I challenge any listener not to be awed by the volcanic power of her voice as well as it's never-ending ability to appropriately shade, shape and color every phrase. The supporting cast are all in high gear in their effort to deliver this drama.”
Rule of Thumb: If It's Grob-Prandl, You Purchase it.
“There really isn't much to say other than the review title. Anyone familiar with Grob-Prandl will know that she was arguably the most unrecognized truly great singer of the third quarter of the 20th century. Her Elektra is searing, while her singing is almost disconcerting in its perfection. And Erika Schubert, a name with which I am only vaguely familiar, is almost as hair-raising a Klytemnestra as was Resnik on the Solti recording. Gertraud Hopf is a solid Chrysothemis, the men are good, and Klobucar is often a great opera conductor. He is here. The sound is excellent, but even if it were only serviceable, you must have this for Grob-Prandl.”
Glorious performance
“The stars are the same like in the performance in Napoli three years earlier which is also available from OperaDepot. The conductor is different, this performance is conducted by Oliviero de Fabritiis who was the conductor of the second commercial record from this opera (with Caniglia, Gigli and Bechi). De Fabritiis in very familiar in this music and leads the performance with great passion. Stella, Corelli and Bastianini are excellent in their roles. I don't think that we would be able to hear such singers today. The supporting singers are also very goods especially Carbonari and Pandano. The sound is more than acceptable. Highly recommended!”
John Stanton
“Viorica Ursuleac created the role of Arabella some 10 years previous to this recording. She was Strauss' favourite soprano and renowned for floating top notes and a big and fruity voice. She was obviously a fine vocal actress and her Arabella here is attractively expressive and forthright, not only singing beautifully but giving a full picture of a free sprit. Occasionally she sounds a little matronly but her under recorded voice is always secure and dramatically interesting. Her Mandryka, Hans Reinmar is appropriately bluff and resonant. Perhaps a little more vocal refinement might have made him a memorable Mandryka. Trude Eipperle is a young sounding and sweet voiced Zdenka.As one expects from Saltzburg the sound is remarkably good, particularly for it's age. A version of this beautiful opera to treasure.”
Buy it for a true old fashioned (in a good way) Mozart experience.
“This is a superb performance with every singer on wonderful form and Davis conducting the score like a thing possessed with real dramatic urgency. Sound very good too. Highly recommended as an antidote to bloodless period performances.”
David Inglis
“I am delighted to be able to listen to this historic performance. I find the whole performance deeply moving, especially that of Amy Shuard as Katya. I think Janacek is one composer whose works really demand that the listener is fluent in the language being sung. The intensity seems twice as great.”
Rare work deserving an audience
“Knew nothing about this opera. Bought it to expand my horizon and was not disappointed. Music is lush and singers give good performances. Recommend to anyone wishing to encounter new work.”
Louis K Newton
“This is the Scala production created around Maria Callas. Simionato if anything is better here than with Callas; she seems more settled into the character. Clabassi has been promoted from Rochefort to King and is very welcome in the role, replacing the unfortunately wobbly Rossi-Lemeni. I also like this Smeton better than a more matronly and not completely steady Carturan. As for Gencer, her only fault in the role is that she followed Callas in one of her greatest triumphs. (I don't know of a single soprano who doesn't suffer by comparison with Callas in the same repertoire.) Gencer, at least from the two video examples I've seen, was a more convincing singer than actor. While Callas *was* Anna in every way, Gencer sings the part wonderfully throughout. Once I turn off the memory of Callas in the role and focus on the performance at hand, I have no complaints at all and I remain a devoted Gencer fan. Excellent all round.”
James Mertins
“This performance is better than Britten's .It's alive, very much so.Fisher again shows how great a singer she was. Ken MacDonald shows that wonderful way of making his voice suit the role, he did that in everything he sang.I heard him sing Arturo in Puritani with Sutherland at the Garden.Harold Blackburn the great Scottish Bass in one of a few live performance from him on disc.The whole cast brims with fun and you can hear the audience enjoying themselves.This is the only time I've enjoyed this opera and shall listen often to this recording.”
Superb live Scotto-Bergonzi Verona “Traviata”
“The audience fans in Act Three start to ruin what is otherwise a superlative “Traviata”. Scotto, very much in the Callas mould, deploys exemplary bel canto technique without signs of calculation. Bergonzi shows the joy he took in live music-making.”
Donald Honan
“I’m older than I thought! …and a fanatical record collector since age 12 in 1948, especially of the Golden Age singers. Although I prefer the original language, I have heard this thing so often in Italian that it was only jarring to hear you say it was so! …and make no mistake, that’s Italian style and word emphasis here. Kraus, like Bergonzi, just got better and sounded more gorgeous over the years, so it’s good to be reminded that he was pretty darn good to begin with! It will be a hoot to have this performance in my collection along with Simoneau & Legay…”
Andrea Chenier
“Marvellous! Brought back so many memories of a wet Monday evening in Rosebury Avenue when Peter Glossop electrified us with Nemica d'la Patria . Craig and Victoria Elliott magnificent.”
Very Fine Performance
“This is an excellent perfromance from 1955. Grummer is beautiful and Kozub is perfect as Tamino. Koth is her usual self as the Queen and Solti leads an energetic performance. Get this while you can.”
An unexpected and thrilling experience
“The now legendary recordings from the ENO in the late 1960s and 1970s of the Ring cycle celebrate the wonderful performances of Rita Hunter, Alberto Remedios and Norman Bailey, with the magisterial conducting of Reginald Goodall. The strength in depth of the company at the time in shown by the best "French" soprano of the time, Valerie Masterson, turning up as Woglinde and at least three potential Brunnhildes in the line of Valkyries. That the company could also double or triple cast the Ring at that was a luxury probably unimaginable today. But this unexpected and thrilling recording of a substantial portion of the last act of Siegfried demonstrates that strength admirably. It would be interesting to know where it come from, as it was not a broadcast performance; however, the sound and balance is excellent, and the orchestra is on blazing form under Mackerras - the journey to the rock is thrilling, even if the high violins a few moments later do sound a little challenged! I saw Jon Weaving as Siegmund when the ENO toured the Ring to Leeds, but was unprepared for his eager sappy sound here- he sounds genuinely young!- his immaculate diction, and touching characterisation. Raimund Herincx (also in that Leeds Ring) has a broad vibrato, and his diction, although again very clear, has a dated quality to it, not altogether inappropriate for Wotan. Margaret Curphey's diction is cloudier, but she gives everything she has to the part, and with Weaving and Mackerras, steers the duet to an exciting end, capped with a stunning top C. The audience goes wild (great to have the applause!) and rightly so. Any chance that the rest of the performance was recorded? Any of these artists today would be in demand world wide for Wagner!”
BEL CANTO ‘DUTCHMAN’
“When this opera was heard by its first audiences in 1843, the genre was dominated by the bel canto movement: ‘Wagnerian’ singers, male or female, did not exist. The first Senta was a success in Bellini roles, and her first Dutchman was a notable Mozartian. This ’L'Olandese volante,’ sung in Italian with an interesting cast, makes a case for hearing the work without the usual Bayreuth expectations. Virginia Zeani, who’d made a European career singing the bel canto repertory, makes an excellent Senta, using her mezza voce to sweeten the gentler parts of her Ballad. More volume produces a wide vibrato at times, but high notes are on the button. Overall, Zeani humanizes the character, and as Senta is, truth to say, living in a dream world, playing her as a heroic Lucia makes perfect sense. Giorgio [Casellato-] Lamberti turns Erik into a robust Latin rival for Senta’s love. The singer finds and sets humming the arioso quality in his part of the Act 2 duet with Senta and makes a bel canto treat out of Erik’s Act 3 cavatina. The ending, in which Lamberti “leans into” the melody, then tosses off the then-customary cadenza with flourishes of coloratura, could well have graced one of the lesser-known Verdi operas that the tenor helped revive. The Helmsman is also good in his high-flying Act 1 sailor’s song: other sources credit this role to Bruno Sebastian, who like Lamberti went on to have a substantial international tenor career.Antonio Boyer is quite a surprise as the Dutchman. He had a longish but undistinguished European career, mainly surfacing in rarities and 20th-century works, with a few secondary parts in more familiar operas (he sang Ford in Verdi’s ‘Falstaff’ at Glyndebourne). Here he is in especially good voice and anxious to make an impression. His lower range is stronger than most baritones in this role, giving the openings of his major scenes the proper dark ominousness (Verdi’s ‘cupo’ quality), But his voice has both depth and expansiveness, and he has the strength to put across the big climaxes. One would have loved to hear him as King Philip in Verdi’s ‘Don Carlo.’ A young Francesco Cristofoli (Danish despite his name) conducts well, keeping the action going but giving the singers room to color their lines. This musician went back to the Danish Royal Opera to a successful career as a Wagnerian. Sadly, the overture is the murkiest part of the recording, with the horn section masking the rest of the instruments. (One suspects that microphone was placed on the stage and the curtain was down during the overture, muffling the sound.) My copy does not show any of the sonic flaws mentioned below by Jim Martin, showing that the remastering has been a success. I would have liked a better balance of singers and orchestra, but this recording is well worth having, showing how Wagner’s mix of novelty and nods to bel canto traditions won him audiences in the beginning of his career.”
Great Performance, Eccentric Title Card
“I'm in the process of enjoying Karl Bohm's conducting, and the fine singing of Tristan spearheaded by Birgit Nilsson and Wolfgang Windgassen, hoping to draw a clear comparison with Bohm's better-known, superlative 1966 version with a similar cast. But I couldn't help noticing the slight oddity of the title card enclosed with the two disks. To wit:Reversible TristanTristan und Isolde, live recording from Bayreuth, July 24th, 1962That’s right, in Act Two’s Love DuetIsolde, Tristan swap their genders:Says so in Wagner’s tangled textCompounding passion with surrenders.He sings how he’s become Isolde,She sings about her turning Tristan;She who could not decipher “Tantris”— Could anyone that corybanticMiss the hint of congress Tantric?—No fitter name for her than Sole Id.Outstripping Sole Id and her Tantris,Opera Depot issues two disks,Tristan, Bayreuth, ’62.It boasts a title card like few;Gives names to roles and singing players,To wit: Tristan is Birgit Nilsson,Wolfgang Windgassen plays Isolde.It just gets better: Kurwenal,Tristan’s blustery manservant,Is played by mezzo Kerstin Meyer.Brangäne, house-girl to Isolde,Is baritone, trusty Eberhard Wächter.(Come to think of it, what parentsName their bright boy Eberhard?But that’s a construct to be filedWith names like Hildegard and Behrens,Walküre-typical, totally wild.)So doth the white-bread title cardReverse poor Tristan’s cast of players,Sure to confound the already jarredBy Tristan’s multiverse of layers.Such gender-bending like a tuxFits operas of love and flux.”
David Fletcher
“I was at this performance(Caballe cancelled the rest of the run,all were in top form,Archipova was a frightening Azucena,but vocally fantastic,Cossutta(a fantastic Manrico,Milnes gave a wonderful performance,as has been noted,he interpolates a high Bflat at the end,now for Caballe,why she cancelled after this performance I do not know,everything was in place,high Pianissimi et al.”
Impressive performance
“Very expressive, lively and vivid interpretations. Very emotionant dark armonics of Cossotto and Pryce . Bergonzi heroic as usual. Exceptional baguette of de Fabritis. Thank a lot Opera depot!!!!!”
Grand Discovery
“This is a superb performance of the Donizetti Comedy with Bonisolli and Grist in their youthful prime supported by the great Corena in one of his Buffo roles. The sound is very good, if a little boxy, but then that is to be expected given that it is live and the period. I never tire of listening to Com' e gentile followed by Tornami a dir. They blend beautifully in the latter, and I have never heard a better version of it..Sometimes we read about mannerisms of Bonislllis singing in the 80s but in a live concert in 1988 in Vienna he does Com' e gentil (Two verses), and Pourqoi me reveiller from Werther in the same lyric fashion as the Pasquale The only quibble I had with him in the later years was the annoying habit of interpolating high Cs where they did not seem right.. However that is a debate for another time. To sum up--A delightful performance which I'm so happy to own.”
Review
“As always the service is excellent, any delays are down the the various postal services, so not Opera Depot's fault. Currently playing through the Ring, sound quality very good and bringing back memories of old friends and performances. This is the most dangerous site I have ever been on ..... there is always something to tempt me and just as I think I am safe, more gems get added. Keep up the good work. Rosalind Lee”
Tristan und Isolde
“Eine gute Aufnahmequalität mit den damals besten Sängern. Astrid Varnay souverän als Isolde, Windgassen wie immer ein wenig kühl und distanziert in seiner Darstellung. Alle anderen Partien sind auch mit Spitzensängern besetzt. Eine Aufnahme die Freude macht und die man sich anhören sollte.A good recording quality with the best singers of the time. Astrid Varnay sovereign as Isolde, Windgassen alleys as always a little cool and distant in his portrayal. All other parts are also played by top singers. A recording that is a pleasure to listen to.”
Singing-actress
“Every selection on this recording is thrilling, particularly the excerpts from Lulu, Wozzeck, and Salome. One hopes Opera Depot will continue with subsequent volumes of Mme Silja, since her fabled career continued well beyond 1971.”
Frau ohne Schatten
“Thank you for the posted excerpts and the remark of my “finesse”. I always searched for the truth in music. So often Strauss and Wagner are sung forte no matter what the composer wrote. I tried to sing my Elektra, Frau, Bruennhilde, etc. with the intended dynamic markings, even if it was difficult and, of course, dangerous! Elusive is how to sing Mahler's “Fahrende Gesellen” with phrases beginning in pp and decrescending to pppp! What IS pppp? Have always wanted to figure that out!. Thank you, Opera Depot for publishing this recording! Our GMD Layer was great. Sang Elektra, Frau, Ortrud with him for years. He took me to Dresden with Elektra as “his singer”.”
Fine document of Olivero's Tosca
“Although I adore Olivero I don't find her voice here as compelling as it often is; it could be the recording, or maybe something subjective, but the trademark vibrato is not always pleasant. Her artistic/emotional choices are always interesting and effective, nothing is taken for granted. The Butterfly excerpts are fine and exciting.”
A great opportunity to hear a masterpiece
“This opera is a truly neglected masterpiece. It is as great as Janacek’s other operas such as Jenufa, the Cunning Little Vixen and From the House of the Dead, and to boot the plot is as zany as they come, typical of the composer, with time and space travel, probably the first science fiction opera. I have the Jilek recording on Supraphon and the BBC recording on Deutsche Grammaphon, and this one is right there with them, no surprise given the man at the helm. I did not know this recording existed until I saw it listed with Opera Depot, but once known I had to get it. It’s great to hear it in English, not all operas transfer well to it, but I think this one works. The sound is excellent. While my favorite recording overall is the BBC one, that is getting harder to find, while OD makes this one readily available. If you enjoy Janacek, getting this opera is a must.”
Bjorling in fine form
“There are two complete live performances of Björling’s Duke of Mantova; 1945 at the Met and this one from Stockholm in 1957. In 1945 he was in fantastic voice with incredibly brilliant and ringing top B’s. That one has yet to be equalled by anyone. 12 years later he is almost just as ravishing. Only the conclusion of La donna è mobile is somewhat below his usual standards. He makes up for that in the rest of the performance which is throughout marked with superb vocalism. Bjorling is the draw on every recording he makes his presence. His voice was one of a kind. Effortless from top to bottom. Dramatic when requiered. Faultless? No, he could be more cynical as the Duke. If any Italian could beat him at anything, it would be that. Vocally, Bjorling stands alone. At the top.”
A lovely mark of respect...
“Thanks, Andy, for your swift and very thoughtful gesture on the passing of "my" Queen, Elizabeth II. As a Brit of 71 years old, who only remembers one monarch on the throne in my lifetime, I was saddened by the announcement yesterday, 8 September 2022.I am full of admiration that you responded so swiftly with a free download of this excellent, historical performance in tribute. I bought this recording from you some time ago, but now many other opera-lovers who may not have discovered this recording can enjoy it, discovering exactly how good the opera is!Thank you so much!”
Stellar cast, great performance
“There are no weak spots in this cast, and the conducting of Herbert von Karajan is superb. The audio quality is very very good, although the occasional stage noises are a bit distracting.”
