Most helpful customer reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Spectacular!!, Dec 24 2003
Solti conducts a spectacular Carmen. This is a legendary Carmen that is surely one of the finest in the catalogue. If you want an exciting spectacular Carmen, this is it!!! This is the one to get. It was based on a Convent garden production and the live atmosphere comes in convincingly. It boasts Domingo's first Don Jose - a terrific portrayal. The creamy singing of Kanawa is mesmerizing from start to finish. Legend Trayonas is amazing as Carmen. Van Dam is the conssumate artiste. You don
t know Carmen if you haven't heard this.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
A little faceless..., May 18 2000
Georg Solti conducts with a sense of flair and drama. He has the chorus and orchestra doing s great job. Tatiana Troyanos had one of the most gorgeous mezzo sounds of her time, Placido Domingo is a committed artist, Jose Van Dam was just about the only Francophone Escamillo of his generation, and Kiri Te Kanawa pours sweet cream over any vocal line she delivers. Even the speaking on this recording is good. What's missing?Well, this recording has an annoying shadow of anonimity. No one fully connects with their characters, so they're just going through the moves (albeit with a little more conviction than many other casts). It's gorgeous listening, but no one is a full three-dimensional person. This is particularly maddening because these artists have time and time proven themselves capable of MORE. Troyanos does give us one of the best-sung Carmens in recent history. Domingo sings well, as he always does, but he digs broadly into Jose, he doesn't dig deeply - big difference. Van Dam is a solid Escamillo, although Bizet allotted him more charm and humor than what we get here. Te Kanawa's Micaela is the usual vanilla bean, although a lovely piece of vocalism. The supporting cast is a nice ensemble, but their interplay seems stagey and self-conscious. Needless to say, there's not much of anything Gallic in what's mostly an international reading. Solti has really considered the text used for the recording, judiciously adding snippets here and there from Fritz Oeser's excavation of Bizet's manuscript and using a well-edited dialogue script. Musically, this is a very satisfying edition that we hear, and it makes a lot of sense. For a better CARMEN, hold out for the DG recording under Claudio Abbado, starring Domingo again but with Teresa Berganza singing a Carmen true to her comique roots.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast and "Boomy", April 21 2000
I've given up on the notion that there's only "one" best recording of an opera. Certainly, there are classics, e.g. Callas' Tosca. Still, there is so much variation in opera in terms of multiple singers, an orchestra, etc. that it's hard to tell someone they should prefer one to another. Everyone finds something different in the same opera that appeals to them. That said, I find this Carmen extremely appealing. Troyanos has a "dusky" voice that sounds like she really COULD have worked in a cigarette factory. Domingo, is, well, Domingo. Solti's conducting is at it's usual quick tempo, which is particuarly suited to Carmen. I think the reviewer below who preferred the "Gaelic" recording of Abbado might have a good point. Carmen, although written by a Frenchman, is set in Spain of course. So, having a "Spanish" as opposed to a "French" sound shouldn't deter. All in all, very rewarding! (Caveat: the Penguin guide qualifies the third star it gives this recording on the grounds that the orchestral bass is "boomy." I agree, but think it adds rather than detracts in Carmen, which I prefer to be played fast and "boomy." Again, that's a matter of personal preference...)
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