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Title: LA Traviata (The Black Dog Opera Library) by Daniel S. Brink ISBN: 1-57912-017-2 Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Pub Pub. Date: June, 1998 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.4 (5 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: Lousy editing
Comment: The CD's are great but the editing of the libretto - unbelievably lousy. The annotations for the different tracks and scenes are nowhere near the tracks and scenes they describe. It was a real challenge to try to untangle the whole thing. The previous reviewer gave great detail in describing the mess. And yes, the libretto for CD2 is just as bad..........
Rating: 2
Summary: Music is great; the text editor should be fired
Comment: I'm a beginner to opera and have enjoyed some other Black Dog Opera books (Rigoletto and Tosca). As far as I know (remember, I'm a beginner), the singing on this one is great and the opera is great, but the text editor for this La Traviata should be fired! Let me count the ways:
·The listing of the CD tracks, at the end, is titled La Traviata by Giacomo Puccini. Puccini?! (It's Verdi, as correctly stated elsewhere in this book.)
·Track 15, Alfredo's aria "Oh mio rimorso," is lauded at page 90, after the text to track 16! Obviously the commentary on track 15 should accompany the text for track 15. But it gets worse . . .
·The libretto completely omits the text for Alfredo's aria "Oh mio rimorso"! It's just not there; the libretto skips right from the text for track 14 to the text for track 16. I can only wonder what Alfredo sang.
·Midway through the text for track 16, the commentary announces that track 23 begins. (Obviously it doesn't.) On the next page, still during track 16, the text announces that disc 2, track 1 begins.
·The commentary on track 16 is placed after the text for track 17, two pages too late.
·The commentary on Disc 1, track 24 is placed after the text for Disc 2, track 1, two pages too late.
And all this is after listening only to Disc 1; who knows what further editing errors await me on Disc 2.
I like Black Dog and plan to order more because I'm hoping this incredibly shoddy editing work is isolated. But had I known how frustrating it would be to try to work through this libretto, I would have passed.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Great Introduction To Opera And Beverly Sills
Comment: The 2 reviews for this particular product are mixed. One reviewer is clearly in love with the quality of the recording and talents of the singers and the other says that this La Traviata is not his first choice. When you have Beverly Sills as an opera heroine, that should always be your first choice, unless you try the rest and finally decide to hear the best. This is without argument the best La Traviata recording and there are so many reasons for this conclusion. First of all, Black Dog Opera Library series has great performances of opera captured on quality sound and full of illustrated pages profiling the life of the composer and historic background of the opera, as well as a bio on the singers. The libretto is precise and embellished with notes on key moments (arias, ensembles, etc) of the opera.
Beverly Sills (Violetta) has sung the role 54 times in the course of 63 days. She is equally as powerful an actress as she is a singer, at paar with her contemporary of the 60's, Maria Callas. In this recording (1971) her voice is still a fine instrument, and she conveys a broad range of artistic value. In the first act, the party act in which she first meets Alfredo (Nicolai Gedda in excellent vocal character), she is bubbly and appropriately festive (she even laughs) and provides us with an operetta-like charm. Her tour de force scene comes at the end of the first act, from the melodious way she sings "A Fors E Lui" to the coloratura showpiece, "Sempre Libera", which she ends with an E flat over a high C. In her Act 2 duet with Germont (apty sung by Rolando Panerai) she moves us with her suffering pathos in her lines "Ditte A La Giovine", "Morro La Mia Memoria" and her farewell to Alfredo "Amami Alfredo". In the confrontation scene where she belts out a tense "Invitato A Qui Seguirmi", and the ensuing "Alfredo, Alfredo, di questo core" are all fine moments for Beverly Sills, her voice even rising above the chorus ensemble at the end. Her final scenes, from "Addio Del Passato" to the last breath she takes, is remarkable.
This recording is just one of two recordings with the same group- the John Alldys Choir, Aldo Ceccato conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the singers- Beverly Sills, Nicolai Gedda and Rolando Panerai. Either of these two recordings are great introduction to opera for novices and the art of Beverly Sills. Look no further if you want a great recording of the most intimate and romantic opera that Verdi ever composed. It is a story of love, a portrait of a woman who gives up her glamorous Parisian lifestyle as a courtesan and sacrifices even her own happiness for the man she loves. It is safe to say that this is the most romantic opera, full of rich melody and great acting. At the hands of the right performers, it's a memorable experience.
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Title: LA Boheme (The Black Dog Opera Library) by Giacomo Puccini, David Foil ISBN: 1884822835 Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Pub Pub. Date: January, 1997 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Barber of Seville (The Black Dog Opera Library) by David Foil ISBN: 1579120202 Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Pub Pub. Date: January, 1999 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Madama Butterfly (The Black Dog Opera Library) by Giacomo Puccini ISBN: 1579120199 Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Pub Pub. Date: January, 1999 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Aida (The Black Dog Opera Library) by Giuseppe Verdi, David Foil, Giuseppe Verdi ISBN: 1884822800 Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Pub Pub. Date: January, 1997 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Tosca (Black Dog Opera Library) by Giacomo Puccini, Daniel Brink ISBN: 1579120482 Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Pub Pub. Date: December, 1998 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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