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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is a lovely vintage recording, arguably superior to Bohm's later account on EMI. The singing is beautiful, and the orchestra superb. Bohm's reading is measured but well-paced.
Contrary to the misinformation given in the first review on this page, this Decca recording was made in 1955 (NOT 1951).
The recording is one of the very first to be made in stereo. The sound is not up to modern standards, but is far ahead of other recordings made at the time. The orchestral strings sound rather thin at times, and the singers appear to be very closely mic-ed, but the wonderful performances far outweigh any shortcomings of the recording.
There are a number of small cuts to the score (hence the fact that the opera fits onto only 2 CDs), but otherwise it is performed complete. Its bargain nature makes this recording well worth having as an additional version even if you already own a copy of Cosi. Overall this is one of the best recordings available of this opera.
Contrary to the misinformation given in the first review on this page, this Decca recording was made in 1955 (NOT 1951).
The recording is one of the very first to be made in stereo. The sound is not up to modern standards, but is far ahead of other recordings made at the time. The orchestral strings sound rather thin at times, and the singers appear to be very closely mic-ed, but the wonderful performances far outweigh any shortcomings of the recording.
There are a number of small cuts to the score (hence the fact that the opera fits onto only 2 CDs), but otherwise it is performed complete. Its bargain nature makes this recording well worth having as an additional version even if you already own a copy of Cosi. Overall this is one of the best recordings available of this opera.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
SOURCE:
1955 studio recording made at the Redoutensaal, Vienna.
SOUND:
This was a state-of-the-art recording at the very beginning of the stereo era. As stereo players were still few and far between in 1955, it was originally issued on Lp in two versions, mono and stereo. The old Lp mono version--in what was then called "high fidelity"--easily held its own against stereo versions of the 1960s and 70s. The digital remastering of this stereo version appears to have taken place in 1999 and, so far as I am concerned, was highly successful.
CAST:
Fiordiligi - Lisa della Casa
Dorabella - Christa Ludwig
Ferrando - Anton Dermota
Guglielmo - Erich Kunz
Don Alfonso - Paul Schoeffler
Despina - Emmy Loose
CONDCTOR:
Karl Boehm with the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Wiener Staatsopernchor.
TEXT:
This performance reflects the standard performing edition in use at the time it was recorded. Subsequent recordings have restored most cuts and frankly, in my opinion, have not been substantially enhanced by the restorations. Those of you who take a completist stance, feel free to disagree vehemently.
DOCUMENTATION:
Barebones. No libretto. Summary of the plot keyed to the track listings. A "fact file" presents odds and ends about the history of the opera. Track list with timings.
FORMAT:
Disk 1 - Act I, tracks 1-22; 74:30.
Disk 2 - Act I (continued), tracks 1-2; Act II, tracks 3-19; 68:24.
COMMENTARY:
A casual look at the catalogue suggests that Karl Boehm devoted every alternate weekend to recording yet another Mozart opera. This is the first of his recorded versions of "Cosi fan tutte." For all intents and purposes it is his forgotten Mozart opera. That is a shame because in many ways it is the best of the bunch. It so happens that a mono Lp version of this performance was the first "Cosi" that I ever heard. To this day I have never discovered a performance to match it.
The festival-quality cast is a perfect microcosm of the post-WWII golden age of the Vienna State Opera. If certain members of the brilliantly scintillating cast pronounce Italian in a sliightly Germanic way, so what? So, no doubt, did Mozart.
The wonderful pairing of Lisa della Casa and Christa Ludwig is simply not to be matched elsewhere. Their big opening duet, "Ah, guarda sorella" is perfect--just perfect.
Anton Dermota's voice is a bit heavier than those of the subsequent generation of Mozart tenors. It is not especially beautiful. He is not long of breath, so he doesn't astound us with long passages on a single gulp of air. He certainly does not add elaborate and picturesque decoration to Mozart's written vocal runs. All he does is sing the music exactly right. He is simply the best Mozart tenor ever to be recorded, that's all.
Paul Schoeffler was a great master. Here he sounds just fine as someone a generation older than the rest of the cast, smarter, too, and more than a little vicious.
Emmy Loose, now largely forgotten, was always a treat in character roles. I can't think of a better Despinetta. Ordinarily, I have no use whatsoever for Erich Kunz but here, for once, he turns in a respectable performance as Guglielmo.
Boehm was a great master of the old school. He keeps the show moving briskly and on point. The Vienna Philharmonic sounds terrific, as it certainly should in music that is at the very core of its repertory.
The date of the recording makes it clear that it long precedes any scholarly re-evaluations or piffling desires to return to period instruments and performing practices. Everybody concerned was simply attempting to serve up the very best "Cosi fan tutte" of which they were capable. And succeeding.
Grab this one while you still can!
1955 studio recording made at the Redoutensaal, Vienna.
SOUND:
This was a state-of-the-art recording at the very beginning of the stereo era. As stereo players were still few and far between in 1955, it was originally issued on Lp in two versions, mono and stereo. The old Lp mono version--in what was then called "high fidelity"--easily held its own against stereo versions of the 1960s and 70s. The digital remastering of this stereo version appears to have taken place in 1999 and, so far as I am concerned, was highly successful.
CAST:
Fiordiligi - Lisa della Casa
Dorabella - Christa Ludwig
Ferrando - Anton Dermota
Guglielmo - Erich Kunz
Don Alfonso - Paul Schoeffler
Despina - Emmy Loose
CONDCTOR:
Karl Boehm with the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Wiener Staatsopernchor.
TEXT:
This performance reflects the standard performing edition in use at the time it was recorded. Subsequent recordings have restored most cuts and frankly, in my opinion, have not been substantially enhanced by the restorations. Those of you who take a completist stance, feel free to disagree vehemently.
DOCUMENTATION:
Barebones. No libretto. Summary of the plot keyed to the track listings. A "fact file" presents odds and ends about the history of the opera. Track list with timings.
FORMAT:
Disk 1 - Act I, tracks 1-22; 74:30.
Disk 2 - Act I (continued), tracks 1-2; Act II, tracks 3-19; 68:24.
COMMENTARY:
A casual look at the catalogue suggests that Karl Boehm devoted every alternate weekend to recording yet another Mozart opera. This is the first of his recorded versions of "Cosi fan tutte." For all intents and purposes it is his forgotten Mozart opera. That is a shame because in many ways it is the best of the bunch. It so happens that a mono Lp version of this performance was the first "Cosi" that I ever heard. To this day I have never discovered a performance to match it.
The festival-quality cast is a perfect microcosm of the post-WWII golden age of the Vienna State Opera. If certain members of the brilliantly scintillating cast pronounce Italian in a sliightly Germanic way, so what? So, no doubt, did Mozart.
The wonderful pairing of Lisa della Casa and Christa Ludwig is simply not to be matched elsewhere. Their big opening duet, "Ah, guarda sorella" is perfect--just perfect.
Anton Dermota's voice is a bit heavier than those of the subsequent generation of Mozart tenors. It is not especially beautiful. He is not long of breath, so he doesn't astound us with long passages on a single gulp of air. He certainly does not add elaborate and picturesque decoration to Mozart's written vocal runs. All he does is sing the music exactly right. He is simply the best Mozart tenor ever to be recorded, that's all.
Paul Schoeffler was a great master. Here he sounds just fine as someone a generation older than the rest of the cast, smarter, too, and more than a little vicious.
Emmy Loose, now largely forgotten, was always a treat in character roles. I can't think of a better Despinetta. Ordinarily, I have no use whatsoever for Erich Kunz but here, for once, he turns in a respectable performance as Guglielmo.
Boehm was a great master of the old school. He keeps the show moving briskly and on point. The Vienna Philharmonic sounds terrific, as it certainly should in music that is at the very core of its repertory.
The date of the recording makes it clear that it long precedes any scholarly re-evaluations or piffling desires to return to period instruments and performing practices. Everybody concerned was simply attempting to serve up the very best "Cosi fan tutte" of which they were capable. And succeeding.
Grab this one while you still can!
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
For years I had the excerpts from this set on LP and though I liked it, thought Lisa Della Casa in particular too serious in sound - you know she has a deeply melancholic voice at times! However when spaced out throughout the opera her arias and weight of voice and intonation are just superb and I surprisingly thought the whole much better than the highlights - curious as usually it's the other way round. Anyway these seemingly nonsense thoughts aside its a lovely rendition and has quickly become a firm favourite.
As to dictation, as mentioned by the Italian reviewer, yes it isn't all it could be however it is very typical of the time and frankly the mispronunciations are generally easier for me to understand than the perfect Italian would be, so often Italian is sung so flowingly you can't pick individual words and is far from the Italian as spoken on the streets of modern day Italy. It doesn't trouble me but ...I am sure it would Italians...
I think you can afford this set as well as a modern one though frankly none has come my way to recommend and since it is so often performed these days I haven't sort one out.
Overall I think this a delightfully balanced Cosi and it was a joy for me to rediscover how good it was - 1955 Decca stereo has quite legendary recoding quality and thank god the orchestra is modest and does not attempt to drown the singers not that it could these quality and when needed large voices.
Whist it is Lisa Della Casa's opera her support is only just the merest notch behind and as seemed to be the case back in the 1950's ensemble work was common as these singers really did sing together and her duets show how good she and her colleagues were at blending their voices, and playing the roles as if on stage! Enough buy it .....
As to dictation, as mentioned by the Italian reviewer, yes it isn't all it could be however it is very typical of the time and frankly the mispronunciations are generally easier for me to understand than the perfect Italian would be, so often Italian is sung so flowingly you can't pick individual words and is far from the Italian as spoken on the streets of modern day Italy. It doesn't trouble me but ...I am sure it would Italians...
I think you can afford this set as well as a modern one though frankly none has come my way to recommend and since it is so often performed these days I haven't sort one out.
Overall I think this a delightfully balanced Cosi and it was a joy for me to rediscover how good it was - 1955 Decca stereo has quite legendary recoding quality and thank god the orchestra is modest and does not attempt to drown the singers not that it could these quality and when needed large voices.
Whist it is Lisa Della Casa's opera her support is only just the merest notch behind and as seemed to be the case back in the 1950's ensemble work was common as these singers really did sing together and her duets show how good she and her colleagues were at blending their voices, and playing the roles as if on stage! Enough buy it .....
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Mozart Cosi fan tutte
Excellent performance dating from 1950s."Includes Unique Listening Guide" states a sticker on the front cover. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Mr. D. K. Martin
A very enjoyable recording made in Vienna under Bohm,
Recorded in Vienna by Decca in 1955, this performance under the direction of Karl Bohm is very enjoyable. Read more
Published 1 month ago by KazM
Exquisite singing and mid-fifties stereo as fresh as Springtime
I have a kind of on-off relationship with Mozart. A period of burgeoning interest and excitement, then a feeling that everyone after him was ten times more exciting, and then much... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Philoctetes
Best CD-version of Cosi
Böhm is my all time favourite as a Cosi conductor.
He can really comment what happens on stage. Read more
He can really comment what happens on stage. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Jensn Bader
Finally a truly joyful Cosi
Until I discovered this wonderful recording I have thought that the opera was a little boring (including Bohm's later recording with Schwarzkopf), even though the music was... Read more
Published on 28 April 2010 by Erik Aleksander Moe
Cosi is in Mono?
I didn't realise until I got this recording that it would be in Mono. Please make it clear on the order details.
Published on 28 Jun 2009 by R. S. Eakin
Wonderful singing, marred by intolerably bad diction
Without intending to add much to, or detract anything from, the extolling and expert words lavished on this set by many a reviewer, I feel obliged to point out a flaw that, though... Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2009 by marschallin73
Some extra details Amazon don't tell you
More than a review, I just wanted to add some extra pieces of information that Amazon don't provide, but might be of use if you're considering buying this 2-disk... Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2006 by Our Boy Flynn
The most graceful and delightful interpretation
It is one of the most underrated recordings in recording history. This exceeds Bohm's EMI 'Cosi Fan Tutte' in the aspects of singing ensemble
and orchestration (Vienna Phil... Read more
and orchestration (Vienna Phil... Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2001 by blurrulz@hotmail.com
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