this recording does not appear to be available on Qobuz or Tidal in the US.
Anja Harteros. She is truly amazing, one of the best when it comes to getting this fine line between dramatic and intimate, lyrical, right, if that makes sense.
Very strange this recording is not available on streaming services as you say. If I remember it correctly, it was a Sony Classical production, one of their later SACD releases.
Edit: Sony Classical confirmed, from 2007
In Europe, the CD version is on Qobuz. Maybe licensing issues.
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Agree about Harteros.
I think I was confusing the Luisi disc with this one by Jansons, with an identical program:
I’m guessing this is the same performance of the 4 last songs:
This seems to be a compilation of concert recordings from completely different years, the Alpensinfonie was much later, the Four last songs is probably one and the same recording.
One thing I will never understand is the policy of Bayrischer Rundfunk when they publish what in which combination. No surprise some of their albums are not identifiable by roon.
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This recording is simply outstanding.
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Thank you! I was intrigued by the Opera Waltzes, and then was trying to place some of the melodies, and it took me a while to remember that one was ‘Ah, je veux vivre’ from Gounod’s ‘Romeo et Juliette’. And with that earworm at work, I had to reach for…
(Track 1, Disc 2). Utterly joyful, and just incredible runs.
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The mentions here of the ‘Rosenkavalier’ waltzes/suite also led me to revisit, for me, the best modern account of the sublime ‘Presentation of the Rose’; surely one of the most magical moments in all opera.
Whilst Lucia Popp will always be my favourite Sophie, in recent times, Barbara Bonney came very close. I assume this account (track 15) came from the recording sessions for Renee Fleming’s ‘Srauss Heroines’, with Susan Graham as Octavian.
Lovely version of ‘Solveig’s Song’, too, amongst her great Mozart recordings.
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We had a discussion earlier in this thread about some of the most beautiful music ever recorded, and this track must be in their company:
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Yes, that might be fun to have a quiz with recognizing melodies from the medley.
There was one CD release of this album with separated tracks so they are all listed
I own the SACD and funnily the list of compositions is differing. At least the second Gounod waltz (from Faust) is not mentioned in some other releases.
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Not the most exciting programme, but so well put together - almost feels like a continuous composition. Of course the playing and sound quality are superb.
well now you’ve done it, I had to go listen to Rosenkavalier, albeit, not with BB.
This might be a desert island recording, not just of this opera, but period. the singing is wonderful, the sound and orchestra are sumptuous
and it’s available in MQA, if you care about that sort of thing.
and then Roon performed one of it’s better segues…
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I do care, but quite the opposite way. Set my roon to ´prefer everything over MQA´ even if ´everything´ includes MP3. Will not move back to Tidal unless their library is guaranteed to be 100% free from former MQA files. Not sure if this is the right place to discuss format matters if not directly connected to the aethetical aspects of the recording.
Fully agree, and I wonder why Bernard Haitink´s opera recordings are so underrated.
For personal reasons, I do not see it as a desert island recording. The sound of Staatskapelle Dresden is wonderful, simply perfect for Richard Strauss´ orchestrations, but at times they lack a bit the ´Viennese swing´ for the waltzes, under Haitink they sound overly precise, reserved at times, ´German´ (Apologies to all Germans and Dutch alike!). Not going into details of Viennese accent but Kurt Rydl is maybe the prototypical Viennese speaker and the ladies are not.
As an alternative a very unusual recommendation:
Marc Albrecht and the Dutch Philharmonic. The opera sounds as if the orchestra is doing it for the first time: fresh, enthusiastic, vivid, with swing, suspense and sense for timing which helps particularly ´Rosenkavalier´ a lot.
Camilla Nylund as Feldmarschallin and Hanna-Elisabeth Müller (Sophie) stand out from the cast. Peter Rose is definitely not a typical buffo bass and maybe a bit serious and lightweight for Baron Ochs, but he brings this ideal comedy timing and very clear pronunciation to the dialogues so you are really thrilled by the story.
Regarding the suite or waltz series from the opera, another unusual recommendation:
Manfred Hobeck conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony. As discussed previously, I am not really a fan of this RR series when it comes to Bruckner and Beethoven. Richard Strauss´ compositions are just a perfect match with a combination of broad, ´American´ sound and fast, swinging, variable tempi.
That album, as mentioned before, has the marvellous ‘Empress Awakening Scene’ too.
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Another good place to find great classical music reviewed is
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Yes I concur!
These are my go to sites for classical music reviews:
- https://musicwebinternational.com/
- https://www.classicstoday.com/ and his YouTube site
- https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/
- NEW RELEASES - New and Recently Released Classical Music Recordings - Classical Music Sentinel
- https://theclassicreview.com/
- https://www.colinscolumn.com/
- https://slippedisc.com/
- Occasionally audiophile sites like Twittering Machines, Stereophile, etc will post some reviews too!
What other sites do folks use?
Thanks
Doug
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@Douglasmaurer I’ve become extremely lazy over the last few years and rely primarily on the Classics Today YouTube Channel and the Classics Today site.
My enjoyment has increased quite a lot after watching the founder David Hurwtiz and curating my library based on his best cycles, best version, greatest, etc., The channel has also exposed me to composers I would otherwise may not have heard. I don’t think his reviews, opinions and personality are for everyone, but, so far, I find his content very rewarding.
I consider Slipped Disc the TMZ of ballet, classical and opera but can’t help myself and check the site weekly for news, scandal and often false rumors.
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I am a huge fan of Barbara Hendricks, but, strangely, she doesn’t float “Wie himmlische”…so…for all it’s faults, that one moment still makes the Bernstein account my go to.
To hear Lucia Popp (disc2, track 3), perhaps despite Gwyneth Jones, is perfection.
But agree, Haitink is still massively underrated in Opera.
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I suspect not (accessible) for everyone, but in recent years BBC Radio 3’s excellent ‘Record Review’ show has overtaken The Gramophone for me, as it is is full of discoveries, and intelligent discussion from actual musicians.
A prime example was this recommendation of Henri-Joseph Rigel…the piano concertos are delightful, and quite the tonic for my ‘romantic’ tendencies 
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