Pfitzner : Palestrina. Petrenko.

   in Opera Now (Sep, 2012)
This live recording of Pfitzner’s masterpiece is excellently recorded (Frankfurt Opera, June 2010), and rewards detailed listening. The composer certainly gives the orchestra a thorough workout, and Kirill Petrenko’s conducting is masterful: the incredibly detailed score is finely delineated, and at the same time he builds the massive scale of the piece with a great sense of pace and architecture. The singers are also admirable – Peter Bronder’s strong tenor has the edge of vulnerability the central character requires, and Wolfgang Koch’s fine baritone rolls magnificently through Borromeo’s music; in fact Frankfurt’s enviable home-grown stable of singers means some pretty luxurious casting. If you’re interested in Pfitzner I strongly recommend the …