Glyndebourne, von Karajan, and Joyce DiDonato from France Musique

Because my French comprehension is less than optimal, I listen to France Musique less frequently than British and Austrian online radio. But France Musique offers many musical gems.

Lirico Spinto is the French equivalent of the Austrian Stimmen Hören. The episodes are available for much longer after their original broadcasts than their Austrian counterparts, and they are available as podcasts from iTunes, which you can subscribe to for auto-downloading—much handier than trying to record them with Audacity!) The most recent two programs are wonderful compilations:

Don Carlo: In Spite of the Director

Baltsa & Carerras
(not from Don Carlo)

I will probably go to music hell for this, but whoever told Herbert Von Karajan, “Sure! Go ahead and do the staging! You’re a conducting god, and I am sure you will be a directing god, too,” should be shot.  But, I guess since it was his Festival, he could do whatever he wanted. And this 1986 Don Carlo does preserve some marvelous singing. HvK could certainly pick the super-singers! It’s a good thing, because beyond the singing, there is a lot left to be desired from this performance.