Aronne 5,0 de 5 estrellas A Splendid English Die Fledermaus 16 de octubre de 2017 - Publicado en Amazon.com I adore this recording. If you've heard her in La Fille du Regiment, then you know Joan Sutherland had a flare for comic roles. In this recording, she gets to perform in her native language, and the result is delicious. The 1973 Sutherland was also incomparable vocally, and never has Rosalinde been sung with such power (and interpolated high notes - the one in the finale blasts over the full orchestra and chorus). It's during this run that a critic suggested Sutherland sounded like she was singing Hungarian during Rosalinde's Czardas, to which she responded that she was singing Hungarian and not English like he thought. Her humility and sense of fun are evident throughout this performance. When Rosalinde sees Adele in Act 2, she exclaims, "Adele! And in my gown. Cut down!" You probably found this recording because of Sutherland, but there really aren't any weak links in this performance. Nolan Van Way's bari-tenor sound fits the role of Eisenstein perfectly, and his cocky performance works well against Sutherland's coy Rosalinde. Casting a Wagnerian tenor (Ragnar Ulfung) as Alfred is surprisingly effective, especially when placed against a voice as large as Sutherland's. His frequent operatic interjections during dialogue brings the house down more than once. Bruce Yarnell is a jolly Falke (amusingly, his American accent messes up one of the rhymes in the translation). Judith Blegen is a delight as Adele, able to encompass all the difficulty of the role with almost as much aplomb as Sutherland. In the laughing song, Blegen has no qualms about legitimately turning the lines of music into snorting laughter, which the audience loves. Huguette Tourangeau is an exotic and charming Prince Orlofsky, and the remaining cast is also up to stuff. Bonynge has a blast conducting this music, giving it the oomph of spectacle that makes sense for an American/Australian performance. The translation is pretty good for a comic opera, with only the Act 3 Trio feeling all that stilted. When I'm listening to a German recording of Die Fledermaus, I find myself singing along in bits of this English translation. The sound is the only fault of the recording, being fairly standard of radio broadcasts from the 70s. It's mono, there's tape hiss (equivalent to an early 1950s recording), and audience noises, but once the ear adjusts, one is left with a romp through Strauss's classic operetta that I highly recommend.