Der Rosenkavalier (Solti, Decca, 1968-69)

Overall, this is probably my favourite recording of Rosenkavalier. The cast is headed by great French soprano Regine Crespin as the Marschallin. Surely this is the most gorgeous, melting 'silberne Rose' to complete Act 1 on any complete recording. Crespin opens the trio with luscious tone and is able to rise to a full B-flat at the climax without audible effort. My only quibble is that hers is not really a glowing Strauss sound in the manner of della Casa or Janowitz - lines like "Heut' oder Morgen" in the first act which should shine radiantly over the orchestra just don't. However, what she does bring to the role that della Casa or Janowitz don't (as far as I've heard) is a strong ability with word-painting. There is a very special dignity to this Marschallin but the underlying emotions come through clearly. Every word she utters seems spontaneous, a far cry from the mannered "over-interpreted" approach of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf on the Karajan set.

Helen Donath is absolutely radiant as Sophie, perfectly poised in the high-flying lines of the Presentation of the Rose scene. The characterisation is beautiful, too. She sounds perfectly naive and idealistic at her first appearance with a hint of sorrow as she talks about her dead mother. We can see why Octavian is so taken with her as she is utterly charming in the little exchange following the Presentation of the Rose, teasing out his nickname "Quinquin". She also possesses great spunk in the following scenes with Ochs, sounding absolutely horrified by his behaviour.

Minton is one of the best Octavians I have heard anywhere. The voice is rich and varied in expression and her diction is superb. In the final scene of Act 1 she is alternately wooing and disgruntled with the Marschallin. The weird thing is that every time Minton goes for a high note, the acoustic suddenly changes - she suddenly sounds as though she is singing in a much more resonant space. Not quite sure what effect the sound engineers were going for here, but it's rather disorienting.

Manfred Jungwirth is a top-class Ochs, making the most of the text. Diction is clear and he is very funny. The voice is quite baritonal, so some of the very lowest notes seem a bit of a stretch, but he gets there. He indulges in less vocal mugging than some other Barons and, unlike most, does some beautiful singing when it is called for.

Otto Wiener is a stodgy-sounding Faninal; based on this, I hate to think what his complete Hans Sachs sounds like on the commercial recording with Keilberth. The young Pavarotti is easily the best Italian Tenor I have heard - at this stage of his career it is all spectacularly effortless. Moreover, he clearly sees no irony in the setting or in the music (I love the Italian tenor being played perfectly straight - Strauss' point comes over much more clearly). Mention must also be made of Anne Howells's spectacular Annina, equally adept when reading the letter as when yelling accusations at the Baron. There is some spectacular casting in some of the smaller roles as well such as Anton Dermota as the Landlord, and the young Arleen Auger makes an appearance as one of the Three Orphans! Veteran Alfred Jerger (who sang Ochs as long ago as 1917) is the Notary.

The Vienna Philharmonic play like gods, the wind beautifully inflected, the strings with their usual burnished tone. Even were the singing not so good, this performance would still be necessary listening for the gorgeous orchestral playing and little touches of tone-painting. There is one cute moment in Act 3 where the orchestral musicians sing along with Annina's coloratura cadenza at the words "Die Kaiserin muss ihn mir wieder geben!". Solti's view of the score is fairly expansive. Occasionally he can be a little bombastic - has the chord at Octavian's entrance in Act 2 ever been louder? Still, he never lets the tensions sag - even the sections in Act 3 that can drag in other performances seem to pass by relatively quickly here.

In terms of comparisons, I think this Solti recording wins out over the famous Karajan and Kleiber sets. First of all, the sound is still pretty spectacular. But also, despite their authoritative (but very different) conducting, neither of the two older sets can match Solti's cast. Ludwig is a great Octavian for Karajan but that can't make up for Schwarzkopf's mannered Marschallin and Stich-Randall's weird legato-less Sophie. And while the Sophie-Octavian pair of Gueden and Jurinac do match Donath and Minton, Maria Reining's Marschallin for Kleiber is just dull.

5 Reasons to be excited about the APO's 2013 season

The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra were kind enough to invite me to their 2013 Season Launch last night. We heard the orchestra play various snippets from their upcoming season and got to find out a bit more about what they will be performing and also about a lot of their very admirable work in the community. Here's five reasons to be excited about their upcoming season:

1. The Rake's Progress - Next year's Westpac Opera in Concert is, unexpectedly, Stravinsky's Rake's Progress in its Auckland premiere (it hasn't been seen in New Zealand at all since the late 1960s). This is one of my favourite 20th century operas and the APO are assembling a fine cast including the wonderful young New Zealand soprano Madeleine Pierard as Anne Trulove. She performed Anne's aria last night and it was stunning - clearly enunciated with effortless coloratura. The APO's lean, clear sound should suit Stravinsky's core down to the ground. Cannot wait to hear the whole work!

2. Madeleine Pierard - Ms Pierard will also be appearing in Mahler's 4th Symphony singing the last movement's vision of Heaven. I make no secret of my admiration for Ms Pierard and to have her singing another of my favourite works next year should be a total delight. The Mahler is coupled with the world premiere of Ross Harris's Symphony No. 5, with Australian mezzo-soprano Sally-Anne Russell.

3. Natalia Lomeiko - After her absolutely stunning Berg Concerto last year, Natalia Lomeiko will be returning to Auckland, this time in Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1. While I can't claim it's my favourite concerto, it should be a crowd-pleaser and I'm keen to hear Ms Lomeiko playing it.

4. War Requiem - In collaboration with the Auckland Festival, the APO will be putting on Britten's monumental requiem with Orla Boylan, Timothy Robinson and Ivan Ludlow in the solo parts. The occasion is the fiftieth anniversary of the Coventry bombing that it commemorates and also the one-hundredth anniversary of Britten's birth.

5. Zemlinsky, Hindemith and Martinu - OK, this is three separate concerts but I'm thrilled to find out we'll be getting one work from each of these unjustly neglected composers next year. Jun Markl will conduct Zemlinsky's Sinfonietta (coupled with the Four Last Songs and Schubert 9), Music Director Eckehard Stier will take on Martinu's Julietta suite (with Rach Concerto No. 2 and the Korngold Symphony in F# (!!)) and we'll hear Hindemith's Cello Concerto played by Johannes Moser in a programme devoted to music of the 1940s. Excruciatingly exciting for a mid-20th century classical music fiend like myself.

This is only scratching the surface of what the APO is offering next year (Steven Osborne, Cameron Carpenter, Nikolai Demidenko and Amy Dickson will all be making appearance, among others). What I really admire about the APO is their adventurous programming (adventurous for New Zealand anyway) - almost every concert has at least one thing I haven't heard live before. You can find out more about their 2013 season on their website here: http://apo.co.nz/concert-events

In other news, I recently went to see New Zealand Opera's Bartered Bride and reviewed it for Bachtrack. You can check that out here: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-new-zealand-opera-bartered-bride-slater