Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart :: Highlights 1955 - 1974

Terrific!!

08/20/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is indeed a treasure find - 79 minutes of glorious music packed into one CD, in good mono and stereo sound. For Christa Ludwig fans and people who are interested to hear Christa Ludwig in various excerpts of her different works, this CD is invaluable. There is th 1955 performance of Ariadne Auf Naxos (as Composer), 1957 Le Nozze Di Figaro (as Cherubino), 1959 Cosi Fan Tutte (as Dorabella), 1962 Aphigenie in Aulis (as Iphiogenie), 1964 Ariadne Auf Naxos (as Ariadne), 1968 Fidelio (as Leonore), 1969 Der Rosenkavalier (as Marschallin), 1974 Die Frau Ohne Schatten (as Dyer's Wife). The last 2 items in very good stereo sound. The first 7 items in very good mono sound. You can find the complete Fidelio and Die Frau Ohne Schatten on Opera D'oro label but there the sound is noisier. You can find the complete Rosenkavalier with Deutsche in excellent stereo. You can find the complete Ariadne auf Naxos 1964 with Myto records but that is expensive. You can catch her complete Dorabella with Karl Bohm both on EMI & Decca. You can catch her complete Cherubino on Philips & Orfeo (this very same label). You can catche her complete Iphigeneie en Aulide with Bohm on Orfeo as well. Her performances here are distinguished. She is in glorious voice and dramatically with the situation always. It makes one just wish that there is a Christa Ludwig today. So why buy this CD? If you don't want to buy all the above CDs and if you just one a souvenir of the incomparable Christa Ludwig in various roles, this CD is great. If you are a collector, this CD is great as well. If you are annoyed by noisy records of her 1968 Fidelio and 1974 Farberin from other labels, this CD provides excerpts in better sound - too bad Orfeo didn't release the complete performances. if you want to see how Ludwig has developed over time, this is invaluable. I think this is a very important historic document."