Cheap Opera Arias (Music) (Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Umberto Giordano, Pietro Mascagni, Erich Leinsdorf, Tullio Serafin, Leonie Rysanek, Jon Vickers) Price

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Customer Reviews of Opera Arias

Rysanek has a huge, rich, soaring soprano voice. Her voice's glory is its intense, powerful, immense upper register. Hearing her top B's, B-flats, and C's on disc definitely makes one wonder about the effect this voice had in the opera house. The speakers of my stereo were barely able to contain her awesome high notes. Rysanek's voice has two other registers and they, unfortunately, are not as strong as her upper register. Her middle register is a bit thick and slow-moving, while her lower register is almost non-existent. As a result, low notes, such as the ones in "Mai nessun, nessun m'avrà" in "In questa reggia", are barely audible. Her tendency to sharp on middle register notes is well known and is evident here. However, nothing here goes terribly awry pitch-wise. Hearing her glorious, soaring high notes is ample compensation. Rysanek's middle register did eventually strengthen and her lower register did fill in, which allowed her to embark on a second singing career as a mezzo-soprano.

Besides her wonderful, if slightly marred, singing, what impresses me most about her is her dramatic commitment. Every aria here, as well as the duet from "Otello", is given its dramatic due. Her interpretation of each one is unique. From hearing about Rysanek being a true creature of the stage, one can only imagine how effective she must have been in an opera house. I really wish that I could have been able to see her in a live opera performance in her prime. Oh well.

A few of the disc's highlights:

There is a beautifully floated, pianissimo high B-flat in "Pace, pace, mio Dio". A powerful high B-flat at the end of "Vissi d'arte". Gorgeous soft singing in the last section of "Ritorna vincitor". A super-powerful forte high C at the climax of "O patria mia" that leaves the listener breathless with awe. Believe me, after hearing her blast out this note, you will be glad that she didn't follow Verdi's pianissimo marking for this note. Great high notes in "In questa reggia". The aria itself is beautifully sung, with Rysanek sounding like a vulnerable princess instead of sounding like a cruel and ice-cold one. A very affecting Willow Song and "Ave Maria", both full of shimmering pianissimos. Dramatically exciting and vocally thrilling accounts of "Vieni! t'affretta!" and "La luce langue", complete with blazing high notes. Her reading of the letter reveals a beautiful speaking voice and perfectly pronounced Italian. A wonderful "Già della notte densa" from "Otello". Jon Vickers, despite sounding a bit strained, is wonderful in this duet and Rysanek really shines as Desdemona.

A few drawbacks:

Some unidiomatic Italian diction is present in her singing. Her account of "Ma dall'arido stelo divulsa" reveals this. Rysanek does not pause to prepare for the final "Signor" in "Vissi d'arte". This lessens the excitement of the following high B-flat. The difficult last phrase in "O patria mia" is broken up for breath, which dampens its effect. Montserrat Caballé, in her studio recording of "Aïda", takes this phrase in one breath and the effect is marvelous.

I have greatly enjoyed listening to this disc and recommend it to all fans of great singing.

Unbelievable
You'll never believe that anyone can sing like this. Magnificent. The top B's, C's and D flats are taken with conssumate ease. It is as if no difficulties exist for Rysanek. This would rank with Joan Sutherland's "The Art of Prima Donna" as one of the best ever recital committed to recording.

Astonishing
Leonie Rysanek was one of the greatest dramatic sopranos ever. Sad to say, her recorded legacy is kind of sparse. She disliked the recording studio and chose not to record a lot of her parts in studio. For example, she declined recording Chrysothemis with Birgit Nilsson in Solti's Elektra, which is really a great pity because her presence would have made that set unbeatable. Thankfully, she recorded Leonore with Fricsay (DG), Senta with Dorati (Decca), Lady Macbeth with Leinsdorf (RCA - some arias included in this selection), Desdemona with Serafin (RCA), Sieglinde with Bohm (DG), the Empress with bohm (Decca & DG), Elektra with Bohm (Unitel film soundtrack). And we have 'live' recordings from broadcasts in superb stereo of her incomparable Salome with Bohm (RCA) and Kempe (Golden Melodram) and her Klytamnestra. We have her Herodias with Sinopoli (DG), her 'live' Chrysothemis with Nilsson, James Levine at the Met on DVD, her Ortrud again at the Met on DVD. Sad to say, she never commercially recorded Aida, Turandot, Tosca or Amelia or La Forza del destino, the Marschallin or Ariadne. This recital disc helps to fill that gap. Here, we have arias from La forza del destino, Tosca, Aida, Otello (from her recording with Serafin), Macbeth (from her recording with Leinsdorf), Un ballo in maschera, Turandot, Andrea Chenier and Cavalleria rusticana.

The recording is in superb stereo and her rich voice comes through thrillingly. Leonie Rysanek says "If there is a single record with which I'm largely satisfied, it is this recital of Italian arias". This coming from Rysanek herself, who disliked the studio, is an understatement. The fact of the matter is that her performances here are all on fire - thrillingly intense. Those high C's and top notes are rich and super intense - something only Birgit Nilsson can match. It is really sad that really good singers often get overlooked while squally singers get their name on every other opera recording of commercial recording companies. Leonie Rysanek could have sung Brunnhilde, Isolde, Elektra (she did but not on stage or on CD but on a film sound track), triumphed in all those roles and given Birgit Nilsson a run for her money. But she did not. Thankfully, we have this recital record and some of her other 'live' radio broadcasts. Do I recommend this? Of course, it is compulsory listening for all opera lovers. You don't know what is a dramatic soprano is capable of until you hear this!! (Birgit Nilsson was a different type of dramatic soprano and most opera listeners have heard her in her full splendour as Isolde or Brunnhilde or Elektra or Turandot).

Also compulsory listening for opera lovers:
Rysanek's Salome with Kempe on Golden Melodram in superb stereo.
Her Leonore with Fricsay on Deutsche Grammophon, her Sieglinde with Bohm on Philips, and her Empress with Bohm on both Decca and Deutsche.

If you want further listening apart from the compulsory list above, get her Lady Macbeth, Senta, Chrysothemis, Elektra, Klytamnestra, Desdemona and Ortrud as I listed above.