Lucrezia Borgia
Gaetano Donizetti
Keywords
Reviews (13)
The guardian
d. 12. Aug. 2021
By
By
Andrew Clements (musikanmelder)
d. 12. Aug. 2021
"This recording ... is taken from a production by Keith Warner at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna in 2012 ... Wolfgang Koch is the conflicted, all-too-human painter, Kurt Streit the cardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg, Franz Grundheber the Protestant Riedlinger and Manuela Uhl his daughter Ursula, with whom Mathis is in love. It's superbly conducted by Bertrand de Billy, making the most of the opera's visionary moments, and doing his best with its occasional longueurs ... It's self-recommending for Hindemith fans".
The guardian
d. 12. Aug. 2021
By
By
Andrew Clements (musikanmelder)
d. 12. Aug. 2021
"Warner's production ... is full of telling detail ... All the protagonists are portrayed with touching truthfulness too ... It's superbly conducted by Bertrand de Billy, making the most of the opera's visionary moments, and doing his best with its occasional longueurs. As the only version of the opera available on DVD and Blu-ray, it's self-recommending for Hindemith fans".
MusicWeb international
2021 September
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By
Stephen Barber (musikanmelder)
2021 September
"It is an impressive opera about real issues. The Nazis banned it and the premiere took place in Zürich. The cast is strong. Wolfgang Koch, always looking grizzled and dishevelled, is a powerful Mathis. Kurt Streit as Albrecht is really impressive both as actor and singer. The veteran Franz Grundheber is a convincing Riedinger, and Charles Reid a splendidly slimy Capito, Albrecht's adviser. Manuela Uhl's Ursula is expressive but a bit shrill ... Despite the oddities of the production, the strengths of this performance outweigh the weaknesses".
MusicWeb international
2021 October
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By
Paul Corfield Godfrey
2021 October
"Recommended: I ... greeted the appearance of this recording of a well-cast Berlin stage performance of 2012 with some considerable anticipitation; and I am delighted to say that in a very large measure this recording has to my mind both vindicated the ambitions of Hindemith's work, and validated his approach to his subject ... The result is imaginative and highly atmospheric ... Wolfgang Koch in the title role has by far the greatest weight to bear, both musically and emotionally, and he rises to the occasion with singing that parallels that of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau ... Manuela Uhl as his beloved ... soon begins to fill out her lines and rises triumphantly to her charged final scenes where she shows herself prepared to sacrifice herself for the sake of peaceful resolution ... The choral singing by the Slovak Philharmonic Choir is superb ... Bertrand de Billy gives us a glorious rendition of the music, from the luminous chords at the beginning to the excoriating climaxes later ... The performance and production finally confirm my suspicions that Hindemith's Mathis der Maler is a work of the greatest importance".
MusicWeb international
2021 October
By
By
Paul Corfield Godfrey
2021 October
"Recommended: I ... greeted the appearance of this video recording of a well-cast Berlin stage performance of 2012 with some considerable anticipitation; and I am delighted to say that in a very large measure this recording has to my mind both vindicated the ambitions of Hindemith's work, and validated his approach to his subject ... The result is imaginative and highly atmospheric ... Wolfgang Koch in the title role has by far the greatest weight to bear, both musically and emotionally, and he rises to the occasion with singing that parallels that of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau ... Manuela Uhl as his beloved ... soon begins to fill out her lines and rises triumphantly to her charged final scenes where she shows herself prepared to sacrifice herself for the sake of peaceful resolution ... The choral singing by the Slovak Philharmonic Choir is superb ... Bertrand de Billy gives us a glorious rendition of the music, from the luminous chords at the beginning to the excoriating climaxes later ... The performance and production finally confirm my suspicions that Hindemith's Mathis der Maler is a work of the greatest importance".
MusicWeb international
2021 September
By
By
Stephen Barber (musikanmelder)
2021 September
"It is an impressive opera about real issues. The Nazis banned it and the premiere took place in Zürich. The cast is strong. Wolfgang Koch, always looking grizzled and dishevelled, is a powerful Mathis. Kurt Streit as Albrecht is really impressive both as actor and singer. The veteran Franz Grundheber is a convincing Riedinger, and Charles Reid a splendidly slimy Capito, Albrecht's adviser. Manuela Uhl's Ursula is expressive but a bit shrill ... The costumes are nearly all modern and drab, apart from Albrecht's magnificent cardinal's robes, on his first appearance only ... Despite the oddities of the production, the strengths of this performance outweigh the weaknesses".
Politiken
d. 1. Jan. 2008
By
By
Jan Jacoby
d. 1. Jan. 2008
"Desværre er denne live-optagelse svær at anbefale. Det stærkeste kort er dirigenten, som forener symfonisk overblik og smidigt modulerede linjer til et altid talende udtryk. Sangerne er solidt professionelle, men udpræget undernuancerede, som om rollerne ikke er kommet ind under huden her ved premieren".
Klassisk
2008, nr. 8
By
By
Steen Chr. Steensen
2008, nr. 8
"I den aktuelle indspilning er det Hamborg-Operaens chefdirigent og intendant Simone Young, som står i spidsen for orkester, kor og de mange solister, og det er afgjort i hendes musikalske ledelse, at de største kvaliteter ligger ... Blandt solisterne er det især Falk Struckmann som Mathis og Susan Anthony ... der skaber liv i deres roller".
Fono Forum
2007 Oktober
By
By
Manuel Brug
2007 Oktober
"Ihr [Simone Young] nimmermüdes Dirigat der fast tadelfreien Philharmoniker hat Wurde, Grösse, Wucht, wo möglich: Seele. Souverän meistert sie Ausbrüche und Durststrecken, Fugen, Choräle, das "Engelskonzert" der Ouverture, Versuchungen und die in der Altarwerdung gipfelnde Apotheose".
Klassisk
2021, nr. 63
By
By
Esben Tange (f. 1962)
2021, nr. 63
"Med den korsfæstede Jesus forslåede krop - i enorm overdimensioneret størrelse - som den primære sceneinstallation, hvor på og omkring Hindemiths mere end tre timer lange opera udspiller sig, er der fuldt fokus på lidelsen som menneskeligt grundvilkår ... Britiske Keith Warner er en mester i at forbinde et stort surreelt mytologisk univers med noget dybt menneskeligt ... Læg dertil, at vi her har at gøre med et solistkorps af internationalt format. Den tyske baryton gestalter Mathis med al den menneskelige varme, og der slås velgørende gnister i samspillet med den karakterfulde tenor Kurt Streit, der som ærkebiskoppen både besidder verdslig magt og åndelig indblik ... Og med den erfarne operadirigent Bernard de Billy ... og et vidunderligt velsyngende Slovakisk Filharmonisk Kor lykkes det at få Hindemiths til tider bastante musikalske sats til at fremstå organisk og med dramatisk nerve".
The gramophone
2021 December
By
By
Guy Rickards
2021 December
"There is much to admire in this new performance. Wolfgang Koch makes a fine Mathis, less stolid than was Hermann for Albrecht, and - dramatically - as acute as Fischer-Dieskau. The other principals acquit themselves very well, particularly Raymond Very as the peasant leader Schwalb and the sweet-toned Katerina Tretyakova as his daughter, Regina ... The Slovak Philharmonic sing with gusto ... Ultimately, this is a strong recording of a fine production".
The gramophone
2021 December
By
By
Guy Rickards
2021 December
"There is much to admire in this new performance. Wolfgang Koch makes a fine Mathis, less stolid than was Hermann for Albrecht, and - dramatically - as acute as Fischer-Dieskau. The other principals acquit themselves very well, particularly Raymond Very as the peasant leader Schwalb and the sweet-toned Katerina Tretyakova as his daughter, Regina ... The Slovak Philharmonic sing with gusto ... Ultimately, this is a strong recording of a fine production".
Fono Forum
2021 Dezember
By
By
Manuel Brug
2021 Dezember
"Mit Bertrand de Billy steht ein sensibel formender Dirigent am Pult der grossartig motiviert spielenden Wiener Symphoniker. Der fängt die Langsamkeit und insistierende Bockigkeit dieser Musik durch Flexibilität und Klarheit auf. Getragen und beflügelt wird diese Aufführung durch den vorzüglichen Chor und die Sänger. Der resignative Wolfgang Koch als Mathis ist eine charaktervolle Wahl ... An der Spitze des sehr gut besetzten Ensembles stehen Kurt Streit als Erzbischof Albrecht mit schneidendem Tenor, Charles Reid als intriganter Capito und Franz Grundheber als Riedinger. Das Dunkeldeutsche, es dräut düsterprächtig".