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Strauss: Salome
Leonie Rysanek, Hans Hopf et al., Karl Boehm
Strauss: Salome
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (13) - Disc #1


     
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CD Details

All Artists: Leonie Rysanek, Hans Hopf et al., Karl Boehm, Wiener Staatsoper
Title: Strauss: Salome
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: RCA Victor Europe
Release Date: 11/8/1999
Album Type: Original recording remastered, Import
Genre: Classical
Style: Opera & Classical Vocal
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 743216943029
 

CD Reviews

Excellent Remastering
07/28/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)

"The 3 sopranos with the biggest voices who have tackled Salome are Ljuba Welitsch, Birgit Nilsson and Leonie Rysanek. If you like your Salome with a loud and thrilling voice that will blow all the lamps and glasses in your house, there is no substitute for Welitsch, Nilsson or Rysanek. Welitsch interpretation is considered the definitive interpretation because she sounded almost like 16 years old and she was personally supervised by Richard Strauss himself. Birgit Nilsson's interpretation is a "hard" interpretation - her voice is like metal - with the wickedness and depravity of Salomme brought out vividly. Leonie Rysanek, with her "soft" voice, but thrillingly huge volume, joins the ranks of Welitsch and Nilsson as a top rank interpretator of Salome, with a voice that can cut through the most raucous and loud Straussian orchestra. Some people may prefer Cheryl Studer, Behrens or Caballe as Salome but no matter how good their interpretation, they cannot match Birgit Nilsson or Leonie Rysanek for the sheer thrill of the human voice. As I mentioned at the start, this is a Salome for those who like the aural thrill of hearing a human voice soaring above the orchestra - and this is "live"!!!Coming to this set, the remastering is excellent. This is actually the second version of this performance that I bought. Opera D'Oro has also released the same performance at a lower price but that version is noisy and the noise interferes with the enjoyment of this performance. I bought this set with some trepidation because I was afraid that I would get the same sound. To my pleasure, I found out that this set has better sound than the Opera D'Oro version. Here Leonie Rysanek's thrillingly huge soprano voice comes through loud and clear with no "haze" to speak of. Kudos to the remastering engineers. This is a STEREO set although not top notch Decca Standard stereo but still, it's far better than the mono sound in many historical recording. Advice: This set is more expensive. However, BUY THIS!! You derive more enjoyment from listening to this set (for a few dollars more) than the Opera D'Oro version.It is especially interesting to compare Leonie Rysanek's Salome to Birgit Nilsson's Salome. Two huge voices - but their timbres are very different. I would hate to be without either."
Thrilling performance at the Vienna State Opera
Vincent Lau | 03/13/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)

""~This is a live recording of a performance given on 22 December 1972 at the Vienna State Opera. According to reports, the production was a feast to the eye and from the evidence of this set, its musical merits are also considerable. succeeds in delineating the psychological effect that the fateful meeting with Jokanaan has had in Salome's mind. It is an all-rounded, intelligent as well as intense portrayal. Rysanek's distinctive voice doesn't always come across that well in recordings and this set is no exception. Her voice can sometimes sound not very incisive and there's an audible register break between the middle and lower registers, which is particularly evident when she sings a downward phrase. As heard here, the"~ voice doesn't possess the power to ride triumphantly over the orchestra and there can also be some slight intonation problem from time to time. Nevertheless, her vocal performance improves considerably after the Dance and she is able to give a vocally and dramatically shattering final scene."~ Jokanaan although he seems to be just below his vocal best as the voice is sometimes caught afflicted with a wobble. There cannot be a more positive Narraboth in Waldemar Kmentt and Rohangiz Yachmi is an excellent Page. Indeed, all members of the supporting cast are consistantly fine and even the Jews and Nazarenes made a splendid team. musical texture light and transparent and highlights the sensuousness and the great beauties of this keleidoscopic score. However, when the drama requires, his reading can be urgent and propulsive, as in the orchestral passage after the meeting of Salome and Jokanaan. The Dance is both mesmerising and rapturous. And such is the meticulous balance of the orchestral parts that, despite the fact that this is a live recording, many orchestral details, which are often buried even in studio"~ recordings, can be heard with clarity. The performance of the Vienna Philharmonic is beyond reproach."
The Voice of Richard Strauss' Dreams
09/30/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Leonie Rysanek was the dramatic soprano to whom Richard Strauss' son said, "Your voice was the voice that my father dreamed of." Indeed, Rysanek's Salome is simply thrilling. She is vocally at ease in one of the most demanding dramatic soprano roles in the operatic repertoire. She surmounts the relentlessly high tessitura of the role with consummate ease. Rysanek was famous for her top register - powerful and taking more sheen the higher she goes. Here, preserved in superb stereo sound, was her performance at the Vienna Stata opera in 1972. You must listen to the voice that Richard Strauss dreamt of. It is an utterly beguiling performance."