COMPOSERS: Mozart
LABELS: DG
WORKS: Le nozze di Figaro
PERFORMER: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gundula Janowitz, Edith Mathis, Hermann Prey, Tatiana Troyanos; Deutsche Oper Berlin Chorus & Orchestra/Karl Böhm
CATALOGUE NO: 449 728-2 ADD (Reissue)
Poised between the old certainties of the ‘great German tradition’ and the new freedoms/bonds of historically aware performance, Böhm’s 1968 Figaro still manages to steer its middle course rather well, spirited enough for those repelled by the weight of the Furtwängler/ Klemperer approach, but with enough expressive input and teleological drive to cater to those for whom today’s period performers seem impossibly lightweight and aimless. With no weak links amongst a stylish, largely German cast (among whom I would single out Janowitz’s radiant Countess, Prey’s laddish Figaro and Fischer-Dieskau’s dangerous-to-know Count), this is ensemble opera at its best and continues to justify its honoured place in the catalogue. Antony Bye
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro
Poised between the old certainties of the ‘great German tradition’ and the new freedoms/bonds of historically aware performance, Böhm’s 1968 Figaro still manages to steer its middle course rather well, spirited enough for those repelled by the weight of the Furtwängler/ Klemperer approach, but with enough expressive input and teleological drive to cater to those for whom today’s period performers seem impossibly lightweight and aimless.
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:33 pm