Franck - Hulda (Freiburg Oper)

[edurban]

My French is pretty rusty, but I'm pretty sure "versión integrale sans coupure" indicates that the recording will be of the Prologue + 4 acts original version, not the abreviated Monte Carlo Hulda.

[adriano]

Well, this is the unabridged version which was heard on SWR2 Radio on 26th April 2020 - which had been uploaded in here.

[edurban]

The performances will be in Liege, Namur and Paris next May and June.  Recording will presumably  follow.  The cast, with the exceptions of Jennifer Holloway and Veronique Gens, are new to me.  The Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Lieges and its conductor, Gergely Madaras, are also unfamiliar.

[Alan Howe]

versión integrale sans coupure

...means 'complete version without cut(s)'.

[Alan Howe]

The Freiburg performance is due out on 8th October on Naxos (3 CDs):
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9247184--franck-hulda

[Alan Howe]

[Alan Howe]

Teaser video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkf6Z78naH0&t=20s

The only caveat is some pretty variable singing.

[M. Yaskovsky]

Perhaps it's worth waiting for the future Bru Zane release? https://bru-zane.com/en/evento/hulda/

[Alan Howe]

I think I'll be buying both.

[Mark Thomas]

I won't. I'll stick with the recording of the Hulda broadcast and wait for the Bru Zane, then decide based on what reviews and friends here think of each one.

[Alan Howe]

I suspect that the Naxos will have the better tenor and Bru Zane the better Hulda, but there probably won't be much in it. Neither will score a knockout blow.

There is a major problem with many, if not most modern-day opera recording projects. Inevitably, given the costs involved these days, they are either based on or are actual recordings of live performances; in other words, no longer do we have record companies putting together casts of the best singers (if they exist, of course!) to make high quality studio recordings. This leads on the one hand to some advantages in spontaneity and a sense of performances being 'lived in'; however, on the other hand, the casts are too often extremely variable in quality. It is now very rare indeed to find a new recording of any opera that bears comparison with the best recordings of the past - and, in the case of unsung repertoire, this situation usually results in a product that is seriously below par in some important area, usually vocal. There is also the problem of putting out DVDs of dreadful, unwatchable Regietheater-style productions. Just give us the soundtrack!

I suspect that we'll end up with two recordings of Hulda, each with serious flaws - which is why I'll buy both the Naxos and the Bru Zane - and wish I could mix and match the casts!

[BerlinExpat]

I'll stick with the recording of the Hulda broadcast and wait for the Bru Zane

It seems the new recording is about 28 minutes longer and that can't be accounted for by the ballet music alone which is around 17 minutes long! If I remember correctly only two numbers were played in the theatre.

I have had a suspicion for some time now that non-live radio broadcasts of "complete" operas are sometimes cut.

[Alan Howe]

Excerpts are now available at jpc:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/hulda/hnum/10696524

As is evident, there's some dreadful singing here. Caveat emptor - although my copy's already on order. There's some absolutely sublime music on offer.

[Alan Howe]

This is eminently worth having. The orchestral contribution is first-rate and the recording suitably resplendant. Most of the singing is good; only Anja Jung (Hulda's mother) really lets the side down. However, there's little of the vocal glamour needed to lift this performance from the very acceptable to the truly outstanding; how this beautiful opera would have benefited from singers of the calibre of Teresa Zylis-Gara, Gösta Winbergh, Gilles Cachemaille and Gino Quilico who were cast a generation and more ago in Chausson's Le roi Arthus. However, these days record companies rarely bring together top-flight casts in the studio; instead we rely on recordings made at or based on live performances in provincial theatres, with all the inconsistencies of casting involved.

As I said, well worth having. But not outstanding overall.

Not a great opera; but an opera with some great music in it - try the close of Act 2.

[Alan Howe]

Positively reviewed by Dave Hurwitz here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHCjx0lVzRg