PACO008:
Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), K492- Mozart
Order
2 CDs:
MP3
price
Glyndebourne
Festival Production, 1934/5
conducted by Fritz Busch. Volume One originally released in 1934,
Volumes 2 and 3 in 1935 as HMV catalogue numbers: DB2474-9, DBS2583,
DB2584-8, DB2589-93.
Matrix numbers: Overture: 2ER86-I. Act I: 2ER45-II, 2ER46-II, 2ER41-I,
2ER96-II, 2ER99-I, 2ER47-II, 2BR318-I, 2ER40-II. Act II: 2ER93-II,
2ER94-II, 2ER95-I, 2BR319-1A, 2BR320-I, 2BR321-II, 2BR322.I, 2BR323-I,
2BR324-IA. Act III: 2ER90-I, 2ER89-I, 2BR330-I, 2ER97-I, 2ER98-II,
2BR325-IIA, 2ER43-I, 2ER44-I. Act IV: 2ER42-I, 2ER91-II, 2ER92-I,
2BR326-I, 2BR327-I, 2BR328-II, 2BR329-I
Total Duration: 1hr 56mins 25s
Act
1&2
Acts
3&4
Play
Overture and 1st half, Act 1
I've
had the Glyndebourne Figaro in many forms over many years, and the
quality here is the best ever; fresh as a new pin!....
Malcolm Ingram, Pristine Classical customer
This
recording of Mozart's opera 'Le Nozze di Figaro' (The
Marriage of Figaro) was a milestone in recording history, and marked
the creation of HMV's "Mozart Opera Society", which ultimately
resulted in twelve volumes of 78rpm recordings. The initial release in
1934 of Volume One was experimental. Nobody had issued an entire Mozart
opera before and there was some doubt as to the demand, especially given
the premium price at a time of economic depression - ultimately the price
of the full set would be approximately double the average weekly wage
for men in England at the time - and four times that of women. We have
resisted the temptation to price this version in a similar fashion...
Volume
One consisted of a side from Act 1, most of Act 2, a side from Act 3 and
the second half of Act 4. A
year later came the opportunity to complete the recording and release
Volumes Two and Three. The record company managed to assemble almost the
same cast, with the exception of Bartolo, who had one solo aria
(La Vendetta, Act One) to record, hence the substitution of Italo
Tajo for this one side. Norman Allin was not available for the role in
1935 - that year's soloist had been considered unsuitable for the recording
and Tajo was drafted in from the chorus - we suspect his voice was closer
to that of Allin's.
An indication
of how tightly the project had to work is the exclusion of Neddle Nash's
planned aria 'In quegli anni' - time ran out before they could
record it. Given that none of the sides went past a second take they must
have worked at quite a pace. Hence the inclusion in Volume Two of a single
sided disc containing the Overture only.
The recording
also omits almost all the recitative material, which became standard recording
practice at the time. At around the same time HMV embarked on a further
three volumes of Mozart opera to make up Cosi Fan Tutti, which would become
volumes four to six of the Mozart Opera Society series. These were also
recorded at Glyndebourne and also overlapped the two seasons. We expect
to bring a remastered recording of this later in 2006, followed by Don
Giovanni and The Magic Flute to complete the series in this 250th anniversary
year.
Cast:
Roy
Henderson - Il Conte Almaviva (Baritone)
Aulikki Rautawaara - La Contessa
Almaviva (Soprano)
Audrey Mildmay - Susanna (Soprano)
Willi Domgraf-Fassbänder - Figaro
(Baritone)
Luise Helletsgruber - Cherubino (Soprano)
Constance Willis - Marcellina (Contralto)
Heddle Nash - Basilio (Tenor)
Norman Allin*/Italo Tajo* - Bartolo
(Bass)
Winifred Radford - Barbarina (Soprano)
Fergus Dunlop - Antonio (Bass)
Morgan Jones - Don Curzio (Tenor)
The
Orchestra & Chorus of the Glyndebourne Mozart Opera
Conducted by Fritz Busch - Produced by Karl Ebert
Recorded
by HMV at Glydnebourne Theatre, Sussex, England: 6/6/34, 24/6/35,
28/6/35
*Bartolo is sung by Norman Allin, except for La vendetta, oh,
la vendetta, by Italo Tajo.
I've
had the Glyndebourne Figaro in many forms over many years, and the
quality here is the best ever; fresh as a new pin!....
