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Disc 1:

1. Le nozze di Figaro: Ouverture
2. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: 1. Duetto: 'Cinque, dieci, venti, trenta'
3. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: Recitativo: 'Cosa stai misurando'
4. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: 2. Duettino: 'Se a caso Madama la notte ti chiama'
5. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: Recitativo: 'Or bene, ascolta, e taci'
6. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: Recitativo: 'Bravo, Signor padrone!'
7. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: 3. Cavatina: 'Se vuol ballare, Signor Contino'
8. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: Recitativo: 'Ed aspettaste il giorno'
9. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: 4. Aria: 'La vendetta, oh, la vendetta'
10. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: Recitativo: 'Tutto ancor non ho perso'
11. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: 5. Duettino: 'Via, resti servita'
12. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: Recitativo: 'Va la, vecchia pedante'
13. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: 6. Aria: 'Non so piu cosa son, cosa faccio'
14. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: Recitativo: 'Ah, son perduto!'
15. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: 7. Terzetto: 'Cosa sento! tosto andante'
16. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: Recitativo: 'Basilio, in traccia tosto di Figaro'
17. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: 8. Coro: 'Giovani liete, fiori spargete'
18. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: Recitativo: 'Cos'e questa commedia?'
19. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: 8a. Coro: 'Giovani liete, fiori spargete'
20. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: Recitativo: 'Evviva!' - 'E voi non applaudite'
21. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 1: 9. Aria: 'Non piu andrai, farfallone amoroso'
22. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: 10. Cavatina: 'Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro'
23. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: Recitativo: 'Vieni, cara Susanna'
24. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: Recitativo: 'Quanto duolmo, Susanna'
25. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: 11. Canzano: 'Voi che sapete che cosa e amor'
26. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: Recitativo: 'Bravo! che bella voce!'
27. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: 12. Aria: 'Venite - inginocchiatevi..'

Disc 2:

1. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: Recitativo: 'Quante buffonerie!'
2. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: 'Che novita! non fu mai vostra usanza'
3. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: 13. Terzetto 'Susanna, or via, sortite'
4. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: Recitativo: 'Dunque, voi no aprite?'
5. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: 14. Duettino: 'Aprite, presto, aprite'
6. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: Recitativo: 'O guarda il demonietto!'
7. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: 'Tutto e come io lasciai'
8. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: 15. Finale: 'Esci, omai, garzon malnato'
9. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: 'Signore! Cos'e quel stupore?'
10. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: Recitativo: 'Susanna, son morta'
11. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: 'Signori, di fuori son gia i suonatori'
12. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: Recitativo: 'Conoscete, signor Figaro'
13. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: 'Ah! signore ... signor'
14. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: Recitativo: 'Vostre dunque saran queste carte'
15. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 2: 'Voi signor, che giusto siete'
16. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: Recitativo: 'Che imbarazzo e mai questo!'
17. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: 16. Duett: 'Crudel! perche finora farmi languir cosi?'
18. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: Recitativo: 'E perche fosti meco stamattina si austera?'
19. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: 17. Recitativo ed Aria: Recitativo: 'Hai gia vinta la causa!'
20. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: Aria: 'Vedro mentr'io sospiro'
21. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: Recitativo: 'E decisa la lite'
22. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: 18. Sestetto: 'Riconosci in questo amplesso'
23. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: 'Eccivum i cari amico'
24. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: 'Andiamo, andiam, bel paggio'
25. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: 19. Recitativo ed Aria: Recitativo: 'E Susanna non vien'
26. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: Aria: 'Dove sono i bei momenti'
27. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: Recitativo: 'lo vi dico, signor'
28. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: 20. Duettino: ('Sull'aria...') - 'Che soave zeffiretto'
29. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: Recitativo: 'Piegato e il foglio'
30. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: 21. Coro: 'Ricevete, o padroncina'
31. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: Recitativo: 'Queste sono, Madama, le ragazze del loco'
32. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: 22. Finale: 'Ecco la marcia....andiamo'
33. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: Allegretto - 'Amanti costanti'
34. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: Andante - 'Eh gia, solita usanza'
35. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 3: Recitativo: 'Andante, amici'

Disc 3:

1. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: 23. Cavatina: 'L'ho perduta...me meschina!'
2. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: Recitativo: 'Barbarina, cos'hai?'
3. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: 24. Aria: 'Il capro e la capretta'
4. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: Recitativo: 'Nel padiglione a manca'
5. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: 25. Aria: 'In quegli anni in cui val poco'
6. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: 26. Recitativo ed Aria: Recitativo: 'Tutto e disposto'
7. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: Aria: 'Aprite un po'quegli occhi'
8. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: Recitativo: 'Signora, ella mi disse'
9. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: 27. Recitativo ed Aria: Recitativo: 'Giunse alfin il momento'
10. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: Aria: 'Deh vieni, non tardar, o gioia bella'
11. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: Recitativo: 'Perfida! e in quella forma meco mentia?'
12. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: 28. Finale: 'Pian pianin le andro piu presso'
13. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: 'Ecco qui la mia Susanna'
14. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: 'Tutto e tranquillo e placido'
15. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: 'Pace, pace, mio dolce tesoro'
16. Le Nozze Di Figaro - Act 4: 'Gente, gente, all'armi, all'armi

Rating: - Mozart's Real Figaro: Bohm's "German Dream" Version
Hermann Prey (Figaro) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Count) Gundula Janowitz(Countess), Edith Mathis (Susanna) Tatiana Troyanos (Cherubino) Karl Bohm conducts the Berlin Opera Orchestra, 1968 LP remastered

THE "FIGARO" MOZART ORIGINALLY ENVISIONED:

Karl Bohm's "Figaro" recording from 1968 (in 3 LPs) is the stuff of opera legend; as much a classic and masterpiece of recorded opera as his previous successes: Wagner's Tristan and Isolde with the Bayreuth Festival forces and starring Birgit Nilsson and Wolfgang Windgassen and the Ring Des Nibelung operas with Nilsson, Windgassen, Leonie Rysanek and Theo Adam. While his Bayreuth career is undisputed and his Wagner repertoire is far more magnificent, his Mozart repertoire is equally impressive and shows a conductor who understood German music like no other, with the exception of Herbert Von Karajan. Bohm and Karajan, despite whatever differences they might have, were cut from the same cloth; essentially conducting similar works and in the rigidly German manner which extended to Austrian composers' ouvre like Mozart, who was Austrian.

"Figaro" is hard for some people to understand and can be an extremely dull operatic experience for the newcomer to opera. Running at 4 hours long, the action taking place in the course of only one day and confined to the inside a Count's grandiose mansion (except for the finale in the Garden exterior), the opera has a minimal plot: It's drawn from the 1780's French play by Beaumarchais whose French Revolution spirit is palpable as the story involves scheming and intelligent servants who outwit their masters and whose portrayal of aristocracy/nobility as represented in the character of the unfaithful, lusty, vainglorious, bafoonic Count is very negative and perhaps hinting at sexual preferences of the nobility at that period in time which flipped their wigs! Count Almaviva no longer loves his own wife and instead has turned his sexual advances to the servants, namely his own valet Figaro's betrothed Susanna. It's likely this Count has previously seduced other servant girls as he demands the droit de signeur, the ancient right of property owners and nobility to take lovers among the poorer servant class. Figaro and Susanna cannot live without one another so they come up with a scheme to get back at their own master and at the same time, they help the Countess, grieving the loss of her husband's former affection, to win him back. The opera was written in Italian (libretto by Da Ponte) and meant to be sung in the style of the popular Italian "boudoir" comedies which Viennese enjoyed. But the music is Mozart's and Austrian to the core, full of the most elegant but monumental, beautiful, charming and sublime, spiritual melodies Mozart had composed up to that point. He would do the same in an entirely different piece of theater - The Magic Flute- another opera in which the subject matter (fantasy) was treated to more inspirational music. Figaro is text-wise a comedy but the music is at a higher level. Karl Bohm understood all these things and here at last is the Mozart Figaro that Mozart himself had written.

Sadly, detractors and critics continue to bash this recording as being badly performed by a mainly German cast as opposed to Italian-trained singers (the general sentiment is that dramatic baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is too Germanic, cartoonish and over-the-top as the Count); that the whole thing is overly long (3 LPS!!) pretentious, excessive and completely lackluster but the reasons owing to most people's dislike of this version is that previous recordings had more lively, theatrical Italian comic attitudes and for a long time this was considered to be the truest way to do Figaro. Bohm did not cast Italian-school singers and did not play up the hilarious Italian comedy bit. He knew that this was a Viennese boudoir comedy and we get a very intimate, regal, cooly artistic and an efficiently performed version. It's a work of art period. Bohm conducts the Berlin forces with a loving, tender hand, guiding the instruments to play with lavish musicality and attention to details in every single scene, big and small. This is the most musical Figaro and if you pay close attention to the accompanying music and not the singing, you will find that this is the most stylish, artistic and excellent version of Figaro ever put to record. It is long, true, and too long for listeners used to hearing the music played faster for dramatic punch. But this is a dreamy recording, leisurely and really does feel as if we're in that huge manor house and the transition from scene to scene feels as if the hours are passing from day to night, which culminates in the garden scene and reconciliation between man and wife. That alone is enough to make this a classic and a winner. The Overture is not as large sounding as it is heard in other recordings but everything after that is played with continuous fluidity of sound, color and melody; beads of various shades and jewels as represented in the strings and winds, and at the same time the majestic brass, marches, fanfares and slightly darker nocturnal moments and such maintain a dramatic balance to the score. The orchestra is in tune with the same elegant, refined and beautiful phrasing and singing of the cast. It's Bohm's greatest recording of a Mozart opera, eventhough he would do a similar "mostly musical" thing in 1977 leading the Vienna Philharmonic with a Salzburg Festival Don Giovanni recorded live and available on Deutsche Grammophone (Sherill Milnes as Don Giovanni, Walter Berry as Leporello, Peter Schreier as Ottavio, Anna Tomowa Sintow as Anna). But while that one sounded very natural and was highly theatrical almost Shakespearean, this Figaro, being made as an LP recording, is artificial excellence, souding like a beautifully crafted light epic, so gorgeous to listen to and so relaxing, a real escape into the country. The downside for this and it's still not that big a deal for me (although i is to some) there is no real sense of reality to this entire drama and the garden scene, which I'm used to hearing as climatic and really very significant sounding (like a fairy tale ending) sounds too generic and unlike any of the other previous curtain-down closing numbers. The way Bohm continued the nearly eternal flow one would think that the lastt track is not even the end of the opera!! Put it on your best sound system at home during a soiree or just relax with the music on a summer afternoon and you will see that it's the most European and most endearing piece of music ever made.

DIETRICH FISCHER DIESKAU is in a class of his own.This one is a Count that is overdone only because listeners are used to the more realistic and multi-dimensional approach at the Count requiring us to pity him. But the character was written to be a ham and to be seen as an imperious prick so Dieskau is essentially doing the right thing in his performance. This is the same thing he did with his Don Giovanni on two other recordings - with Bohm and with Ferenc Fricsay. He is not trying, however, to sound as elegant, smooth-toned and lilting as the others in the cast and some listeners enjoy the masculine beauty of baritone sounds which Dieskau overlooks in favor of dramatic vitality and pure camp. This was usually his style though but if you're a fan of Dieskau this is one of his classic performances and he totally understood the comic potential of the character that, along with Figaro, provide for comedy which is what Figaro is at heart. HERMANN PREY is a very refined baritone singer playing up the seriousness of Figaro's character rather than the comic element. Figaro is cunning and intelligent and the way Hermann Prey sings it is also intelligently done and well-studied. Problem is he overdid it, much like Dieskau overdid the campiness of the Count, and so he sounds more like a nobleman himself than a funny, low-brow comedy servant. But every aria and scene with Hermann Prey is a wonderful treat for the ears.

GUNDULA JANOWITZ is no Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and in fact takes on an entirely different approach to the role of the Countess, long considered a fine debut for a serious opera singer that if sung successfuly can launch that soprano's meteroic career. It did just that for Janowitz but she had already sung full lyric roles and became an accomplished singer of German Lieder. Schwartzkopf was a perfectionist but at least she was able to emote as she sang and live her roles and her Countess was the stuff legends were made of, a warmer, more poignant and heartwarming Countess you'll be hard-pressed to find. Janowitz does not take this approach. She is not singing with any hint of emotion or warmth. Her Countess does not sound sad, not even when she is referring to her husband's lack of love for her!! Janowitz has a cool, metallic voice with a floating but insubstantial effect, giving me the idea that if Birgit Nilsson could sing Mozart well, she'd sound just like Janowitz. There is a kind of cold Netherlands royal tone to her voice, but there is no color and no nuance. For me, it's Janowitz who is miscast, not Dieskau who knew the significance of the hamming it up part. A very noble, touching Countess is always needed in Figaro but Janowitz is too distant to cut it for me. That being said, she still has glorious moments of pure lyricism and heavenly angelic beauty and when paired in ensembles or with Edith Mathis equally angelic voice (as in the Letter Due "Sull's Aria") it's absolutely spiritual! EDITH MATHIS' Susanna is unrivaled. She is also the one singer that really tries to sound Italian and especially in the talky recitatives in which she uses laughter or surprise in the voice. She has a beautiful, soubrette-ish voice that is perfectly suited to the ingenue role of Susanna. The thing is the irony is that Susanna has even more to sing than the Countess, and Edith Mathis sounds as if she's never done a bigger role than this one. But she mastered it! Finally Tatiana Troyanos. It's really she's who's the best singer on here and everyone seems to agree. Her dark, deep mezzo voice fully convinces us that she's playing the part of a man (Cherubino) and moreover, a young man experiencing adolescent passions. Troyanos has a very Italian voice and she is wonderful in everything she sings in this. It's a pity that Bohm does not care to showcase her voice and whenever she's on, it's far too fleeting a moment. Other conductors have captured more of a touching portrayal of Cheruino who can become a very significant character. Bohm does not seem to care for Tatiana on the count that she's the baby next to all the experienced German singers. And Troyanos was indeed the ingenue in this recording made very early in her operatic career as a mezzo.

There are many Figaros on recording and it's an opera that is beloved by the opera recording industry. You're spoilt for choice and seeing as there is always no money to spend on so many recordings unless you're some gazillionaire, then I suggest you purchase two recordings that represent either the more classical, Viennese charm (like this one) or the very Italian "hilarious comedy" but well orchestrated version. A lot of operaphiles enjoy the Giulini version which exemplifies the Italian masterpiece version, the modern-sound recordings of the 1980's and 1990's such as Abbado's, Levine's, Davis, Marriner's, Elliot-Gardiner's and Renee Jacobs. All of these are fine but Bohm represents a more delicate and art-house Figaro that is not made in today's opera scene, so what you hear in this classic LP Era recording is truly a lost treasure.

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Rating: - Böhm's Genial Mozart At Its Best
If you enjoy a quintessentially Viennese production of *Figaro*, then this recording is for you. Böhm leads a performance that consistently uplifts for its geniality, elegance and charm. This is a heartwarming rather than a sizzling account of the score, though Böhm's tempos do not strike me as excessively slow (as they did another reviewer on this website). Indeed Böhm can convey enormous vitality when the occasion demands--as in the Act II Finale. He also manages to get crisp and committed playing from his Viennese forces (nothing routine here). Few listeners will be able to resist Böhm's ideal combination of pathos and serenity in the great reconciliation scene of the Act IV Finale; this may be Böhm's finest moment on record.

But it is chiefly for the singing that I am always drawn back to this version. Arguably this is the finest cast ever assembled for a studio recording of the opera. Janowitz' Countess can seem cool at first, but the sheer beauty of her voice--silvery, angelic, like something one might hear in Galadriel's mythic realm--and the consistent perceptiveness of her characterization cannot be gainsaid. Opposite her, Fischer-Dieskau overacts as usual--sometimes distractingly playing the buffoon--but his commanding manner and intelligent way with the text make this otherwise slimy character unusually sympathetic, even noble. One believes every word of his penetential plea in Act IV--while remaining disposed to forgive him for any future lapses! Prey is a virile, at times overly serious Figaro who plays up the revolutionary subtext. One could wish for a bit more "smile in the voice" but with a singer as gifted as he, one is not disposed to complain. As his consort, Mathis is a pert and perky Susanna, sexy where she needs to be, believably scheming, and most movingly standing by her man (Figaro -- or the Count?) in "Deh, vieni non tardar." Best of all is Troyanos' Cherubino. I have never heard a more convincing portrayal of this terminally randy adolescent. Her agile and believably boyish voice is a perfect fit for the part; no matronly mezzo she. The comprimarios are everything they should be, with the possible exception of a "grandmatronly" Marcellina. Their Act IV arias, included here, do prove to be too much of a good thing too late in the game. If I were conducting *Figaro*, even for a recording, I would omit these arias (which suffer by contrast to the other, truly great, arias in Act IV) if only for the sake of preserving dramatic continuity. But listeners can, of course, choose to include them or program them out.

The remastering is a success. The sonics, which always were crisp and clear, are smoother than on LP, though there is a hint of peaking here and there. One might wish for a tad more warmth, but with superbly balanced orchestral textures and vocal ensembles, I count the engineering to be far more of an asset than a liability. I notice that used copies of this set are being offered for astonishingly low prices on this website; don't hesitate, then, to acquire a *Figaro* with all the classic virtues and an unbeatable cast.

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Rating: - The Marriage of Figaro - Viewpoint of a Novice
Some music just captures your senses and it was the one track on this CD that I had heard several times as part of a movie. The movie was Shawshank Redemption and one night while watching it, I heard "Duettino - Sull Aria".I don't know why I hadn't taken notice of it before. I am listening to the entire CD and although I am familiar with the story, the music is still very new to me.

I had difficulty in tracking down an outlet that had the CD I wanted and it was only Amazon that could provide me with it at a reasonable price.

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Rating: - Amazing performance
When I saw that some customers had rated this item with 2 stars or less, I couldn't believe my eyes. This is by far the best recording available. How can you go wrong with such a cast, a Fischer-Dieskau is at his best in any opera. He's such a delightful musician and artist. I disagree that the performance is plodding - it is anything but. Bohm contrasts well the fast and lyrical overture and opening numbers with the slower arias later on into the first act.

Bohm does well to contrast the characters with different voices. The rich and bold voice of Fischer-Dieskau with the energetic lightness of Prey. The same goes with the Countess and Susanna - Bohm's use of contrasts. How boring if all the characters sounded the same! The contrasts help to set the characters apart. It's such a stunning interpretation! Mozart would have been proud.

As for the lack of 'Italianness' - I think people forget that Mozart was Austrian, and not to mention that the opera is set in Spain and was based on a French play retooled by an Italian lyricist. I don't think that it is fair to listen to this opera for its 'Italian-ness'. It does the work an injustice to label it geographically or expect the music to represent a particular "culture" since it touches so many corners of Europe.

This is a wonderful recording, and you won't be disappointed.

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Rating: - A Sublime Figaro in the spirit of Beaumarchais
For those who quibble with this recording's pacing & pedigree, I offer this new & different perspective - this "Figaro" is entirely in the spirit of the source material, which is to say Beaumarchais' delightful comedy of class & manners. It's in no way over-wrought or over-sung, as many recordings of "Figaro" are, and reflects many of the rhythm changes Mozart intended (and which keep the tempo from becoming repetitive.) After all, who wants to see the singers racing to the end of each track with no regard for the music or the underlying dramatic story (especially in some of the most beautiful arias Mozart ever wrote?) Bohm's conducting is unsurpassable, each of the cast in "mellifluous" voice and the orchestra vibrant & dynamic. If you're in doubt, purchase several different recordings & compare them - I guarantee you'll come back to this one time & time again.