Giudizioso
With this performance, we encounter a production of BALLO in its Swedish setting that is old-fashioned in the good sense. Film/stage director John Schlesinger's work has aged well -- better than has his celebrated Covent Garden LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN with the same tenor, which admittedly suffers from a dated performing edition for which the maestro shares blame. In the Salzburg BALLO (taped 28 July 1990), Schlesinger does nothing eccentric, but there are intelligence, clarity and strong intent in his work. He knows he has a good story and he trusts it. William Dudley's sets are good-looking and detailed without being smothering or overwhelming, and there is a dazzling in-sight scene change for the masked ball itself in the final scene. Schlesinger's work with the actors is above average for this period. For a BALLO to look at, this is far ahead of two well-sung earlier entries, the Tokyo '67 with Bergonzi and Stella (VAI) and the Covent Garden '75 conducted by Abbado (Kultur)...
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