To finish out 2010 I have decided to branch out and do a contemporary recording. (I DO like some of those too.)
My favorite "go-to" Nozze recordings are Böhm's 1968 set with Prey, Fischer-Dieskau, Mathis, Janowitz, and Troyanos and Giulini's 1959 recording with Wächter, Schwarzkopf, Moffo, Taddei, and Cossotto.
However, in 1991 a new benchmark was made. One that in the future will stand up against all. Karajan, Gui, and even Böhm and Giulini's.
James Levine, the operatic master of our time, put together a near perfect reading of this distinguished and revolutionary work.
the cast is as follows:
Il Conte di Almaviva - Thomas Hampson
La Contessa di Almaviva - Kiri Te Kanawa
Susannah - Dawn Upshaw
Figaro - Feruccio Furlanetto
Cherubino - Anne Sofie von Otter
Marcellina - Tatiana Troyanos
Bartolo - Paul Plishka
Barbarina - Heidi Grant (Murphy)
The Metropolitan Opera Orchesta and Chorus
This is an all star cast.
To start with, I love Ferruccio Furlanetto. However he is a huge drawback for me on this recording. He is simply not right. He is too much of a bass and this really isn't a "bass" role. Lower than the Count? Yes, but not a bass. Ferruccio could not sound like a young lover if he tried. That voice is like molasses, he was playing 65 year old men when he was 21. With that said, he really does have an excellent command of the character, and he is always an impeccable artist.
Thomas Hampson shines as Count Almaviva. He is in glorious voice and his outbursts adequately seem like temper tantrums. He isn't playing the count as a malicious wife-beater like so many. He is playing him like a young, spoiled nobleman who is completely lost. In the act two finale, he motivates the music which builds with his immense frustration. His aria opens with a charged recitativo accompagnato that explodes into his aria- the straw that brakes the count's back if you will. His attempts toward Susannah are sleazy, but not lecherous. He finds the perfect balance between the human character and the elegance of Mozart. By not being too much of a prick, his Contessa perdono really makes the listener hope for the glimmer of a happier future.
Dawn Upshaw glides through this role with grace and charm. She reminds us that Susannah used to be cast exclusively with Soubrettes. Not intended to be so intense as to be simply cunning, bright and delightful. Her lows sound as good as her highs and her angelic B-flat in the cadenza of Deh vieni, non tardar should become the stylistic standard for all who have the note comfortably. She portrays a sexy, sensuous young lady anticipating her marriage without turning it smutty or blatantly sexual.
The real winner of this disc may be dame Kiri Te Kanawa as la Contessa. She was very known for this role and it is clear why. She plays the dejected, heavyhearted young girl without too much despondency or dolefulness, but rather with just the right twinge of melancholy that discloses to the listener how her life has not turned out exactly as planned. Her lush lyric pianos and pianissimos soar gently over the madness of the plot line going on around her. In the act IV finale she bestows a God-like forgiveness upon her fickle yet somewhat contrite husband with a legato that is rarely heard in even Italian singers with so much elegance.
Von Otter (one of my absolute favorites) shines as always in this role of the hormonal page boy, Troyanos and Plishka, show their small mindedness and greed in a way that shows us why they are such renowned names in the world of opera and the young Heidi Grant is the perfect balance of youthful vigor and rebellion, however she could be slightly more sexual and manipulative for my taste.
Many of the comments I've made so far have mentioned "balance". This is what the 18th century mentality is all about and this is what MOZART is all about. James Levine demonstrates this philosophy beautifully. The real reason why I am less attracted to new recordings is that I think in our 21st century world, we have "overtrained" our musicians, and I think the Americans have turned music into a thinking industry instead of a feeling industry. The musicians of the past always speak to me more in the way they make you FEEL what they're feeling. This is the point. If music doesn't make the audience feel something, and the performers don't make the audience feel something, all music might as well be organized noise such as all the garbage you hear on the radio.
Even so, it is an extremely rare occasion that I disagree with something that James Levine does musically. If I hear a mystery opera on the radio and it is a contemporary recording and I agree with the tempi and feel of the reading, then I always assume it is Levine. Jimmy knows what was intended with every black dot in the score. Whether it be Mozart or Verdi or Tchaikovsky. His prowess in the operatic field has become benchmark of the way the world views American musicians.
While this recording is just about perfect, that is the real problem in my view. The recit is clear and flowing, and the numbers are consistent and developed. But it is almost too perfect. It doesn't have enough "life" for me. The Giulini and the Karajan and the Gui are alive. The stories are happening at that moment and the characters seem to develop before your very ears.
They may have flaws that are too big to ignore for some people, but they keep bringing me back. Even so, this Le Nozze di Figaro will not leave anybody unsatisfied. If you need a contemporary recording, this is it.
(I have heard good things about the 2004 Jacobs disc on Harmonia Mundi with Gens, Keenlyside, Ciofi, Regazzo and Kirchschlager as well, but have not had the pleasure of listening to it yet. But that is the subject of another blog.)
-Christopher Michael Kelley
