Although Frank Martin's Der Sturm (1952-5) gets regular outings, there aren't any full recordings on the market. So this is a rare opportunity to hear the whole opera, fully streamed from Opera Today. Click on the link, it's worth hearing. There's a synopsis, and a link to the complete libretto. There's also a link to a clip of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the famous storm scene at the end.
It's a fairly recent perfomance (2008) conducted by Thierry Fischer, recorded at the Concertegouw, Amsterdam. Robert Holl sings Prospero. Simon O'Neill is Ferdinand, Dennis Wilgenhof is Caliban and Christine Buffle sings Miranda. As Antonio, Prospero's crooked brother, James Gilchrist doesn't have a huge part but he does it so distinctively that the second Act brightens up. Last autumn, there was a broadcast of the full opera on the BBC, I can't remember the conductor (Chailly?) but the streaming on Opera Today is the nearest thing most of us will get to the whole opera short of attending a performance.
3 comments:
A great article indeed and a very detailed, realistic and superb analysis of the scenarios. I would like to thank the author of this article for contributing such a lovely and mind-opening article.
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I think both this performance and the BBC broadcast are the same. I recorded the BBC output,but performers' details were not given in the RT, except I recall it was given in the Concertgebouw as a concert. Universal Edition list only one recent performance and it is this one.
However, the main thing is that it is an excellent performance of a neglected work. The epilog has much more impact when you have heard the music before it - and in this performance it has a much wider range of expression than in Fischer-Dieskau's recording with the composer.
Isn't it a wonderful piece, all those "Freiheits". We should start a discussion and do more things about Frank Martin, he's so interesting. Please send suggestions and material.There is a new Golgotha out, too, which I haven't yet heard.
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