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 Gods, Kings & Demons (Opera Arias)Sales Rank:2594List Price: $16.98 Lowest New Price: $10.04 Lowest Used Price: $12.70 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 Total Reviews: 5 Customer Reviews:Rating: 5 Rene Pape continues to shine Rene Pape is the preeminent bass baritone of the opera world today. His recent King Marke at the Met was by far the best performance of the night, even with Barenboim's debut. This CD is a good sample of his repertoire. Rating: 5 a verdi revelation I can only add a little story to the other glowing reviews. I haven't become a great Verdi fan so far, though I've heard and watched quite a bit of his work. I love all sorts of other opera, from Monteverdi to Janacek and beyond, but not Verdi...until I heard the Don Carlo track from this new CD. When I first heard it, this singer and this orchestra somehow revealed the music of Verdi to me. I think it's because there's no bombast, no overacting, no wailing or shouting. Pape's power and skill allow him to simply sing, though I'm sure actually doing so is not so simple. I hope I can use the insight provided by Rene Pape to help me unlock more Verdi now. Rating: 5 The phenomenally successful Pape gets his due Bass-baritones with voices as deep and plush as Rene Pape's rarely become superstars, but he's on the verge, I think. Diehard fans already exist in plenty, and every time his name appears on the bill at the Met for a performance of Tristan, the Magic Flute, or Fidelio, you know that the A-list cast is on. It's nice to see this native Dresdener, now 44, paired with the great Dresden Sttaatskapelle (even if Weigle's conducting is no better than satisfactory). In keeping with the theme, we start off with three flavors of Mephistopheles by Gounod, Boito, and Berlioz, all of which Pape handles with stylish panache. His voice is so velvety, even, and smoothly produced that he never resorts to barking or melodramatic hamminess. On stage I imagine he would add a few more teeth to his bite, however, and quite a lot more snarl. King Philip's soliloquy from Don Carlo is beautifully sung and touchingly acted. The one snippet of Pape's noble Wotan taken from Das Rheingold is tantalizing (too bad the conducting is particularly draggy here), but then we get a signature role, King Marke singing the entire Act II monologue. As pure singing and vocal acting, this couldn't be improved on, but once again I msut point out the sagging Weigle, who lets down the orchestral side. The last lengthy extract is Boris's death scene, which Pape keeps on the restrained side -- but how can one complain when such artistry is at work? Here's the full program: Berlioz: Voice des roses (Air de Méphistophélès) Devant la maison from La Damnation de Faust Boito: Ecco il mondo, vuoto e tondo from Mefistofele Dvorak: Beda! Beda! - Celý svet nedá ti Gounod: Le veau d'or est toujours debout from Faust Serenade: Vous qui faite l'endormie (Mephistopheles) [from Faust] Mussorgsky: Oy, dusno, dusno! - Proscay, moy sïn from Boris Godunov Offenbach: Scintille, diamant from Les Contes d'Hoffmann Rubinstein: Na vozdushnom okeane Ne plac', ditya from Demon Verdi: Ella giammai m'amò (from Don Carlo) Wagner: Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge from Das Rheingold 'Tatest du's wirklich' - King Marke's monologue from Tristan and Isolde Rating: 5 At long last. At long last a CD of one of the great voices of our time. I was so thrilled to learn he was finally coming out with this CD and I have been listening to it over and over again since receiving it. I hope he records a Flying Dutchman and Guernamanz in Parsifal. Of course we all eagerly await his Wotan. Thank you Rene for giving us this wonderful recording. We want more. Rating: 5 At last...a whole album of Rene Pape Rene Pape is gorgeous to look at and to listen to. I've crossed the ocean twice to hear him sing. After years of buying collections and operas so that I could hear one measly aria from him, it's a great treat to have a whole CD of Rene. Many of his iconic arias, like Ella Giamai M'amo from Don Carlo and the great King Marke monologue from Tristan and Isolde are here. But the one I listen to over and over is Act II, Romance: "Na vozdusnom okeane" RUBENSTEIN: Demon. The music is as melodic as Schubert, and the singer as lyrical as the finest tenor. Great emotion pours out through his disciplined voice. If there are any sins in this CD they are ones of omission -- for example, there is no In diesen heil'gen Hallen or O Isis und Osiris, from Magic Flute -- I guess Sarastro isn't a God, King, or Demon. You must own at least one copy of this CD. |