Beethoven - Leonore / Martinpelto ˇ Oelze ˇ Begley ˇ M. Best ˇ A. Miles ˇ Hawlata ˇ Shade - Gardiner

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Beethoven's only opera underwent three incarnations and a name change. Written in 1804-05, its premiere was a disaster due to Napoleon's invasion of Austria and the aristocracy's flight from Vienna. Revived in 1806, drastically cut and revised, it was more successful, but did not triumph until 1814, considerably rewritten and renamed Fidelio. This is the first, all too rarely heard version, whose neglect can be explained by its slow pace and lack of dramatic thrust and narrative cohesion. In his revisions, Beethoven remedied this not only by sacrificing, or altering, ravishingly beautiful music, but by projecting a more spontaneous emotional response to the story than the opera's final version. This recording uses an excellent orchestra of period instruments, creating remarkable clarity of texture; like the premiere, it opens with the Leonore No. 2 Overture. The singing is wonderful throughout, though Leonore sounds a little tame for the dauntless heroine. Instead of the spoken dialogue, a German actor functions as narrator; unfortunately his text, with quotes from contemporary poetry, is cast in such florid, inflated language that it obscures rather than elucidates the action. --Edith Eisler

Beethoven - Leonore / Martinpelto ˇ Oelze ˇ Begley ˇ M. Best ˇ A. Miles ˇ Hawlata ˇ Shade - Gardiner, Music, Ludwig van Beethoven, John Eliot Gardiner, Hillevi Martinpelto, Kim Begley, Orchestre Révolutionaire et Romantique, Monteverdi Choir, Matthew Best, Alastair Miles, Franz Hawlata, Christiane Oelze, Michael Schade, Colin Campbell Robert Burt, Classical, Classical Music, German/Austrian Romantic Opera, Opera, Opera / Operetta / Oratorio, Opera/Operetta
Beethoven - Leonore / Martinpelto · Oelze · Begley · M. Best · A. Miles · Hawlata · Shade - Gardiner
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Interesting and pretty good
  • Let the buyer beware...
 Beethoven - Leonore / Martinpelto · Oelze · Begley · M. Best · A. Miles · Hawlata · Shade - Gardiner
Ludwig van Beethoven , John Eliot Gardiner , Hillevi Martinpelto , Kim Begley , Orchestre Révolutionaire et Romantique , Monteverdi Choir , Matthew Best , Alastair Miles , Franz Hawlata , Christiane Oelze , Michael Schade , and Colin Campbell Robert Burt
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by BeethovenAll Works by Beethoven | Beethoven, Ludwig van | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
Orchestre Rivolutionnaire et RomantiqueOrchestre Rivolutionnaire et Romantique | ( O ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Romantic (c.1820-1910)Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
GermanGerman | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
OperettasOperettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Deutsche Grammophon: MusicDeutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music
ASIN: B000001GYV
Release Date: 1997-10-14

Tracks:

  1. Leonore: Ouverteonore II' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  2. Leonore: 'Twas In Truth' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  3. Leonore: No.1 Arie: 'O war' ich schon mit dir vereint' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  4. Leonore: 'Beharrlich bleibt auf dem Liebespfad' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  5. Leonore: No.2 Duett: 'Jetzt Schatzchen, jetzt sind wir allein' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  6. Leonore: 'Der Kerkmeister, Rocco, der Vater' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  7. Leonore: No.3 Terzett: 'Ein Mann ist bald genommen' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  8. Leonore: 'Fidelio kam - und niemand weiss woher' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  9. Leonore: No.4 Quartett: 'MIr ist so wunderbar' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  10. Leonore: 'Geft gut, doch Geld ist besser' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  11. Leonore: No.5 Arie: 'Hat man nicht auch Gold beineben' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  12. Leonore: 'Unantastbar klar birgt Leonores Brust' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  13. Leonore: No.6 Terzett: 'Gut, Sohnchen, gut' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  14. Leonore: No.7 Einleitung In D Major - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  15. Leonore: 'Der Gouverneur ist da' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  16. Leonore: No.8 Arie mit Chor: 'Ha! Welch ein Augenblick!' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  17. Leonore: 'Postiert eine Trompete auf dem Wachturm!' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  18. Leonore: No.9 Duett: 'Jetzt, Alter, hat es Eile!' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  19. Leonore: 'Und Leonore begegnet Marzelline' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  20. Leonore: No.10 Duett: 'Um in der Ehe froh zu leben' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  21. Leonore: 'Die ernsten Steine des dumpfen Gemrs' - Ludwig Van Beethoven
  22. Leonore: No.11 Rezitativ und Arie: 'Ach, brich noch nicht, du mattes Hertz!' - 'Komm, Hoffnung, lass den letzten Stern' - Ludwig Van Beethoven

Tracks:

  1. Leonore: No.12: 'O welche Lust, in freier Luft' - L.V. Beethoven
  2. Leonore: (Rezitativ:) 'Entfernt euch Jetzt! Nun, konnt ihr eilen?' - 'Nun sprecht, wie ging's?' - (Duett:) 'Noch heute, noch heute?' - L.V. Beethoven
  3. Leonore: (Duett:) 'Wir mussen gleich zu Werke schreiten' - (Quatett:) 'Ach Vater, eilt!' - L.V. Beethoven
  4. Leonore: (Arie:) 'Auf euch nur will ich bauen' - L.V. Beethoven
  5. Leonore: 'Florestans Not im Dunkel tauber Einsamkeit' - L.V. Beethoven
  6. Leonore: No.13 Rezitativ und Arie: 'Gott! Welch Dunkel heir!' - 'In des Lebens Fruhlingstagen' - L.V. Beethoven
  7. Leonore: No.14 Melodram und Duett: 'Wie kalt ist es in diesem unterirdischen Gewolbe!' - L.V. Beethoven
  8. Leonore: (Duett:) 'Nur hurtig fort, nur frisch gegraben' - L.V. Beethoven
  9. Leonore: 'Dort, in der Tiefe' - L.V. Beethoven
  10. Leonore: No.15 Terzett: 'Euch werde Lohn in bessern Welten' - L.V. Beethoven
  11. Leonore: 'Und Rocco eilt' - L.V. Beethoven
  12. Leonore: No.16 Quartett: 'Er sterbe! Doch er soll erst wissen' - L.V. Beethoven
  13. Leonore: 'Oh Leonore! Alles was dein Mut gewagt - verloren!' - L.V. Beethoven
  14. Leonore: No.17 Rezitativ und Duett: 'Ich kann mich noch nicht fassen' - 'O namenlose Freude!' - L.V. Beethoven
  15. Leonore: No.18 Finale: 'Zur Rache! Zur Rache!' - L.V. Beethoven
  16. Leonore: 'O Gott! O welch ein Augenblick!' - L.V. Beethoven
  17. Leonore: 'So mussen endlich Aufgeklarte' - L.V. Beethoven
  18. Leonore: 'Doch hore erst, du Bosewitch' - L.V. Beethoven
  19. Leonore: 'Dann herrscht allgemeine Freiheit und Gleichheit der Geister'' - L.V. Beethoven
  20. Leonore: 'Nein, nein, nein! Er ist noch zu gering bestraft!' - L.V. Beethoven
  21. Leonore: 'Ein hoherer Geist, vom Himmel gesandt' - L.V. Beethoven
  22. Leonore: (Rezitative:) 'Der Konig wird dein Richter sein!' - L.V. Beethoven
  23. Leonore: 'Wer ein holdes Weib errungen' - L.V. Beethoven
  24. Leonore: No.7A Marsch (Alt. Version) In B-Flat Major - L.V. Beethoven

Amazon.com

Beethoven's only opera underwent three incarnations and a name change. Written in 1804-05, its premiere was a disaster due to Napoleon's invasion of Austria and the aristocracy's flight from Vienna. Revived in 1806, drastically cut and revised, it was more successful, but did not triumph until 1814, considerably rewritten and renamed Fidelio. This is the first, all too rarely heard version, whose neglect can be explained by its slow pace and lack of dramatic thrust and narrative cohesion. In his revisions, Beethoven remedied this not only by sacrificing, or altering, ravishingly beautiful music, but by projecting a more spontaneous emotional response to the story than the opera's final version. This recording uses an excellent orchestra of period instruments, creating remarkable clarity of texture; like the premiere, it opens with the Leonore No. 2 Overture. The singing is wonderful throughout, though Leonore sounds a little tame for the dauntless heroine. Instead of the spoken dialogue, a German actor functions as narrator; unfortunately his text, with quotes from contemporary poetry, is cast in such florid, inflated language that it obscures rather than elucidates the action. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Interesting and pretty good.......2006-10-25

Other reviewer makes valid comments.

The narrator is OK, but not sure if it works really well. Strange with the German translation of the Wordsworth at the beginning.

The recording quality and the orchestral playing is superb, so that is certainly a big plus of this set.

The singers are OK; nothing to get excited about. But the Pizzaro (Matthew Best) is pretty awful -- random rough sounds all over the place a lot of the time!

3 out of 5 stars Let the buyer beware..........2002-01-28

Though this is a fine performance of the opera Gardiner's liberties with the text make it exemplary of all that is (historically) wrong with contemporary opera reconstruction and performance. First, Gardiner largely utilises the earliest text of the opera adding material from the revised version only if "aesthetics" dictate. Second, Gardiner disses the original dialogue (it doesn't meet the "transcendental" aesthetic criteria he relies on) and replaces it with a version written by a German actor of today...

I suppose that if Gardiner got a hold of Huckleberry Finn he would jettison a couple of chapters and re-write Huck's monologues. God save us from such ahistorical reconstruction.

Track Listings:

  1. Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Overture - Le Carnaval Romain Op.9 [Import]
  2. Beyond the Boundaries
  3. Bizet: Carmen / Maazel (1984 film) [highlights]
  4. Bizet: Symphony in C Major/Mendelssohn: A Midsummer's Night Dream Incidental Music/Smetana: The Moldau
  5. Blue and Gray: Songs of The Civil War
  6. Bohuslav Martinu: Piano Concertos Nos. 2, 3 & 4
  7. Brass Cats: Brass Music of Chris Hazell
  8. Bruckner: Symphony No4, WAB104; Mahler: Symphony No7
  9. Byrd: The Three Masses
  10. Chamber Music for the Inner Ear

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

Pictures from Home [Enhanced]

Stories Heard & Retold

The Complete Vanguard Recordings [Box set]

Mulligan

Nashville [Import]

The Fallen Leaf Pages [Import]

The One, The Only Kay Starr/Blue Starr

Organ Works-Rilling

The Long Road Home

Strange Celestial Road

The Clash [Original recording remastered]

Que Se Vayan Al Diablo

Simepre Estrellas

Texas Blueswomen

Night Train