Arabella discography

This is a list of recordings of Arabella, a three-act opera by Richard Strauss with a German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It was first performed on 1 July 1933, at the Dresden Sächsisches Staatstheater. The music critic Richard Lawrence compared 10 audio and 3 video recordings in the December 2021 issue of Gramophone. He favored the 1957 Vienna audio recording with Lisa Della Casa in the title role (partly because it is uncut) and the 1977 Vienna film with Gundula Janowitz, both conducted by Georg Solti.

Audio recordings

Year Cast
(Arabella, Zdenka,
Mandryka)		 Conductor,
Opera house and orchestra		 Label
1942 Viorica Ursuleac
Trude Eipperle
Hans Reinmar		 Clemens Krauss
Salzburg Festival		 CD: Opera Depot
Cat: OD 11496-2
1947 Maria Reining
Lisa della Casa
Hans Hotter		 Karl Böhm
Vienna Philharmonic orchestra and chorus		 CD: DG
Cat: 445 342-2
1953 Lisa della Casa
Elfride Trötschel
Hermann Uhde		 Rudolf Kempe
Bavarian State Opera orchestra and chorus
(recorded at Royal Opera House on 21 Sept)		 CD: Testament
Cat: SBT2 1367
1955 Eleanor Steber
Hilde Güden
George London		 Rudolf Kempe
Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus
(recorded on 26 February; sung in English)		 CD: Andromeda
Cat: ANDRCD 5013
1957 Lisa della Casa
Hilde Güden
George London		 Georg Solti
Vienna Philharmonic orchestra and chorus		 CD: Decca
Cat: 478 1400
1958 Lisa della Casa
Anneliese Rothenberger
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau		 Joseph Keilberth
Vienna Philharmonic orchestra and chorus		 CD: Orfeo
Cat: C651053D
1963 Lisa della Casa
Anneliese Rothenberger
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau		 Joseph Keilberth
Bavarian State Opera orchestra and chorus		 CD: DG
Cat: 477 5625
1977 Julia Varady
Edith Mathis
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau		 Wolfgang Sawallisch
Bavarian State Opera orchestra and chorus		 CD: Golden Melodram
Cat: 3.0046-2
1981 Julia Varady
Helen Donath
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau		 Wolfgang Sawallisch
Bavarian State Opera orchestra and chorus		 CD: Orfeo
Cat: C169882H
1986 Kiri te Kanawa
Gabriele Fontana
Franz Grundheber		 Jeffrey Tate
Royal Opera House orchestra and chorus		 CD: Decca
Cat: 417 623-2
2015 Jacquelyn Wagner
Agneta Eichenholz,
James Rutherford		 Marc Albrecht
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra		 CD: Challenge Classics
Cat: 72686

Video recordings

Year Cast
(Arabella,
Zdenka,
Adelaide,
Fiakermilli,
Matteo,
Mandryka,
Count Waldner)		 Conductor,
Opera house and orchestra
(Production details)		 Label
1977 Gundula Janowitz,
Sona Ghazarian,
Margarita Lilowa,
Edita Gruberova,
René Kollo,
Bernd Weikl,
Hans Kraemmer [de]		 Georg Solti,
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra & Vienna State Opera Chorus
(Director: Otto Schenk, lip-synched film of 1977 Vienna production)		 DVD: Decca/Unitel
Cat: B0011WMWX4
1984 Ashley Putnam,
Gianna Rolandi,
Regina Sarfaty,
Gwendolyn Bradley,
Keith Lewis,
John Bröcheler,
Artur Korn [de]		 Bernard Haitink,
Glyndebourne Festival Opera, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Glyndebourne Chorus
(Staging: John Cox; recorded live, 22 August, Glyndebourne)		 DVD:
Warner Music Vision
Cat: 0630-16912-2
1994 Kiri te Kanawa,
Marie McLaughlin,
Helga Dernesch,
Natalie Dessay,
David Kuebler,
Wolfgang Brendel,
Donald McIntyre		 Christian Thielemann,
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus
(Production: Otto Schenk; recorded live, 3 November 1994)		 DVD: DGG
Cat: 073 005-9
Streaming video:
Met Opera on Demand
2007 Renée Fleming,
Julia Kleiter,
Cornelia Kallisch,
Sen Guo,
Johan Weigel,
Morten Frank Larsen [da],
Alfred Muff		 Franz Welser-Möst,
Zürich Opera House Orchestra & Chorus
(Director: Götz Friedrich; recorded live, June 2007)		 DVD: Decca
Cat: 074 3263
Cat: 11380
2012 Emily Magee,
Genia Kühmeier,
Zoryana Kushpler [de],
Daniela Fally,
Michael Schade,
Tomasz Konieczny,
Wolfgang Bankl [de]		 Franz Welser-Möst,
Vienna State Opera Orchestra & Chorus
(Stage director: Sven-Eric Bechtolf [de]; recorded live, 6 & 9 May 2012)		 Blu-ray/DVD:
Electric Picture
Cat: EPC04BD/
EPC03DVD
2014 Renée Fleming,
Hanna-Elisabeth Müller,
Gabriela Beňačková,
Daniela Fally,
Daniel Behle,
Thomas Hampson,
Albert Dohmen		 Christian Thielemann,
Salzburg Easter Festival, Staatskapelle Dresden, Sächsischer Staatsopernchor
(Stage director: Florentine Klepper; recorded live, April 2014, Großes Festspielhaus)		 Full HD:
Unitel Classica
Blu-ray:
C Major
2023 Sara Jakubiak [it],
Elena Tsallagova,
Doris Soffel,
Hye-Young Moon,
Robert Watson,
Russell Braun,
Albert Pesendorfer [de]		 Donald Runnicles,
Deutsche Oper Berlin Orchestra & Chorus
(Stage director: Tobias Kratzer; recorded live, 18 & 23 March 2023)		 Blu-ray/DVD:
Naxos
Streaming video:
medici.tv
2025 Rachel Willis-Sørensen,
Louise Alder,
Karen Cargill,
Julie Roset,
Pavol Breslik [de],
Tomasz Konieczny,
Brindley Sherratt		 Nicholas Carter,
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus
(Production: Otto Schenk; recorded live, 22 November 2025)		 HD video:
Met Opera on Demand

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Richard Lawrence, "The Gramophone Collection: Strauss's Arabella", Gramophone, December 2021, pp. 126–131.
  2. 1 2 Recordings of Arabella on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
  3. 1 2 Arthur Lintgen, Review of the 1977 Vienna and 2007 Zurich videos, Fanfare, November/December 2008.
  4. ↑ 1977 film of Vienna production, operadis; Decca DVD (2008): OCLC 232978833; Review by Robert McKechnie, Music Web International. Review by Charles Osborne, Opera, January 1993, pp. 120–121.
  5. ↑ Rodney Milnes, Review of 1984 Glyndebourne video, Opera, February 2006, pp. 232–234; Review by Ian Lace, Music Web International.
  6. ↑ Arabella, 3 November 1994, Met Opera on Demand; CID: 318370, Met Opera Archives DB.
  7. ↑ Guy Rickards, "Bechtolf’s 2006 Arabella on screen from Vienna", Gramophone, January 2013, p. 81.
  8. ↑ 2014 Salzburg production streaming video: Carnegie Hall+; Prime Video; medici.tv. Blu-ray: OCLC 892635145; ASIN B00M0D28ZA. Review by Paul Corfield Godfrey, Music Web International.
  9. ↑ Hugo Shirley, Review of 2023 Deutsche Oper video, Gramophone, August 2025, p. 87; Review by Stephan Barber, Music Web International.
  10. ↑ 2023 Deutsche Oper streaming video: medici.tv.
  11. ↑ Arabella, 22 November 2025, Met Opera on Demand; CID: 387844, Met Opera Archives DB.