eShop USA > Music > Richard Strauss - Capriccio / Schwarzkopf, Wächter, Gedda, Fischer-Dieskau, Hotter, Ludwig, Moffo, Philharmonia Orchestra, Sawallisch
Richard Strauss - Capriccio / Schwarzkopf, Wächter, Gedda, Fischer-Dieskau, Hotter, Ludwig, Moffo, Philharmonia Orchestra, Sawallisch
by: Richard Strauss, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Nicolai Gedda, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hans Hotter, Christa Ludwig, Rudolf Christ, Anna Moffo, Dermot Troy, Eberhard Wächter
Our Price: $23.98 Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0724356739123
Format: Original recording remastered
Label: EMI Classics
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
MPN: 67391
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: EMI Classics
Release Date: August 15, 2000
Studio: EMI Classics
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Editorial Review:
Strauss's last opera is one of the wonders of lyric art: an intelligent conversation piece about aesthetic principles (which is more important, words or music?) wrapped in achingly beautiful music. Its humor and drama are subtler than we're used to, but the opera is no less pleasurable for it. Capriccio's reputation as a connoisseur's piece is well served by this 1957 recording that features a superb cast led by the distinguished Straussian Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. True, she could be mannered, but the role of the Countess who must decide between the poet and the musician fits her like a glove, and she's radiant in the final, soaring monologue. Everyone else in the cast is outstanding, and the monophonic sound is so clear that you almost won't miss stereo. Sawallisch has the Philharmonia playing with the utmost transparency. Karl Böhm's DG stereophonic version with Gundula Janowitz is almost as fine (although currently out of print), but this one, like vintage wine, just gets better and better. --Dan Davis
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Peerless Recording of a Sublime Work of Art
Repeated evocation of the word "perfect" in descriptions of this recording convinced me to buy it, and even in the midst of such lofty praise, I was not disappointed. To the contrary; Capriccio is amongst the most incisive and beautiful operas ever crafted, combining the intelligence and perspicacity of a truly outstanding libretto with all the beauty and sublimity of which the mature Strauss was capable. It is an opera for opera lovers, a piece of musical virtuosity that not only delights the ... Read More
Rating: - Sublime Strauss
Capriccio, one of the finest achievements of Richard Strauss' late flowering, is served well in this definitive recording. An impressive array of top quality singers is supported magnificantly by the spirited conducting of Wolfgang Sawallisch.
While the mono recording might be detrimental in the case of a larger scale work, in this intimate conversation piece its absence is hardly noticible. This re-issue is a welcome reminder of just how good Walter Legge's series of opera recordings ... Read More
Rating: - An acquired taste.
Richard Strauss -- like really great scotch -- is an acquired taste.
This is Glen Livit level. (Not sure I spelled that brand name correctly.)
Rating: - A world treasure
This kind of opera is the most rarified of the arts. It is a treasure for all the world, but it takes some effort to come to terms with it. Tastes more used to popular arts will likely not at first be able to appreciate the tremendous richness of this work. After all, there is no hero, no love story beyond some minor flirtations, and certainly no dramatic action to excite the passions. So, what is this work and why is it so wonderfully important?
This was the last opera of Richard ... Read More
Rating: - A perfect polemic on art
There have been a handful of perfect Opera recordings over the years. Perfection, of course, is a subjective judgement that can, if ill-used, incite violence. Particularly among Opera fans. Naturally, an Opera review that doesn't initiate gunplay is a good thing.
I mention it because I offer this 1957 recording of Capriccio as an example, extremely rare in the history of recorded Opera, of a perfect recording - a Reference recording, one of perhaps two dozen. Its status as a Reference ... Read More
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