Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Herbert von Karajan, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra :: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro

Karajan's best Figaro, in best sound

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 10/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Thanks to reissues and copies, there are about five different performances of Figaro from Karajan. His late one in stereo on Decca was straight-faced and impersonal, but almost the same cast appears on a livelier staged broadcast. Here we have a big overlap from Salzburg, but the cast and the mood are even better. Van Dam sings Figaro beautifully, even though he's not funny, and Freni is treasurable as Susanna, far outclassing her studio reading under Colin Davis on Philips. Von Stade is perfect as Cherubino, and the rest of the cast keeps up -- Elizabeth Harwood as the Countess was an English soprano that Karajan favored but whose career was cut short by ill health and a tragic early death from cancer..



Karajan's speeds are quite brisk, from the racing overture onwards. It takes great singers just to follow his beat, and they do a veyr good job. The sonics are good radio stereo, more focused and brighter than in earlier releases. but don't expect miracles, and do expect that the voices will fade as the singers wander away form the mikcrophones. To me, these tchnical deficiencies hardly matter in light of the sparkling, fizzy performance."