La Rondine with Virginia Zeani

A tender performance of Puccini's "La Rondine" with Virginia Zeani, Luciano Saldari, Gabriella Ravazzi, Angelo Marchiandi (Prunier), and Angelo Romero (Rambaldo.) This is from Lucca in 1971 under Nino Verchi.  (70 min.)

Direct download: Rondine_Zeani.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:51pm EDT

Olivia Stapp in Cavalleria Rusticana

Another  of my "diva buddies," Olivia Stapp, mezzo-turned-soprano, in a Cavalleria from 1978, with Giorgio Merighi and Matteo Manuguerra, under Riccardo Chailly. You know by now that I try to introduce people to singers who did not make 100 recordings!!!!  (65 min.)

Direct download: Cav_Stapp.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:38pm EDT

Luisa Miller from Turino

An exciting Luisa Miller featuring the young Jose Carreras and the young Katia Ricciarelli from Turino in the 1970's. The conductor is Fernando Previtali and the great Renato Bruson is Miller. Count Walter is sung by Mario Rinaudo and Federica is sung by Stella Silva. (72 min.)

Direct download: Luisa_Miller_Turino.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:01pm EDT

Il Trittico with Beverly Sills

From 1967, the only time Beverly Sills sang the Puccini Trittico. In Tabarro she is joined by a young Placido Domingo and Seymour Schwartzman; in Suor Angelica the wonderful Frances Bible is the Principessa.(Another superb artist who never got to the Met);In Gianni Schicchi we hear Norman Treigle,one of the greatest singers I ever heard, and Salvator Novoa. Julius Rudel is the conductor.

Even in 1967, there were decent tape recorders to preserve performances like this and we must be grateful to whomever recorded the one Sills Trittico.  (73 min.)

Direct download: Sills_Trittico.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 6:48pm EDT

Zinka Milanov in Song

  My most beloved favorite singer, Zinka Milanov, sings songs by Strauss,Schumann, Giordani,Bozidar Kunc (her brother and accompanist), Brahms, Hageman ,Bersa, and Pavcic.These are from 1955; following these are six Croatian songs, recorded in 1943.

  As a bonus, we hear the incredible rendition of the Trovatore aria, "D'amor sull'ali rosee," which got me hooked on Zinka at around age 14. I know you will enjoy these selections. (70 min.)

Direct download: Milanov_Songs.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:58pm EDT

Don Carlo with Eleanor Steber

In loving tribute to Eleanor Steber, one of opera's finest artists, I present a 1955 Don Carlo with Steber (Born July 17, 1914) and featuring Richard Tucker, Ettore Bastianini, Blanche Thebom, and Jerome Hines, under the direction of Kurt Adler  (72 min.)

Direct download: Don_Carlo_Steber.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:54pm EDT

Pippo sings Puccini

  Here are early recordings by the great Giuseppe "Pippo" Di Stefano from various Puccini operas, live and commercial. You know how angry I become when i hear how phenomenal he sounded and how he just let it all deteriorate. However, aside from that, this is glorious singing.  (65 min.)

Direct download: Di_Stefano_Puccini.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 5:09pm EDT

Falstaff Rehearsals under Toscanini

From 1950, I bring you some rehearsal excerpts from Falstaff Act 2 under the great Arturo Toscanini. The cast includes Giuseppe Valdengo,Frank Guarrera,Theresa Stich-Randall, Cloe Elmo, Nan Merriman, Virgilio Assandri, and Norman Scott   (62 min.)

Direct download: Falstaff_Tosc.Reh.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:06pm EDT

Magda Olivero sing Poulenc, etc.

The beloved Magda Olivero, now 102 years young, sings first Poulenc's "La Voix Humaine" from 1970 in Venice under Nicola Rescigno. This will be followed by a series of Ave Marias from several years:

Schubert( 1978), Bracesso ( 1979), Luzzi (1981), Saint-Saens (1985), and Leoncavallo ( 1987). The podcast concludes with a special arrangement,in 1994 (she was only 84), of an Ave Maria that is based on the Cavalleria Rusticana Intermezzo.  (72 min.) 

Magda is one of the great miracles of opera and when I speak to her every birthday and when friends of mine visit her in Milan, she speaks that gorgeous "Verism0" Italian, and is even more lucid than I am.

Magda Olivero (née Maria Maddalena Olivero, 25 March 1910) is a soprano of the verismo-school of singing. She was born in Saluzzo, Italy.

Olivero made her operatic debut in 1932 on Turin radio in Nino Cattozzo's (1886–1961) oratorio I misteri dolorosi.[1] She performed widely and increasingly successfully until 1941, when she married and retired from performing. She returned to the stage ten years later, at the request of Francesco Cilea, who asked her to sing the title role in his opera Adriana Lecouvreur.[2][3]

From 1951 until her final retirement, Olivero sang in opera houses around the world. Among her most renowned interpretations were the leading parts in Adriana Lecouvreur, Iris, Fedora, La bohème, La fanciulla del West, La traviata, La Wally, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, Mefistofele, and Turandot (as Liù.)

She sang in Cherubini's Médée in Dallas in 1967 and in Kansas City in 1968.[4] In 1975, already an international star for four decades, she made her début at the Metropolitan Opera House in Tosca. Her last performances on stage were in March 1981 in the one-woman opera, La voix humaine by Poulenc.[5] Thus, her stage career ended at age 71 and spanned nearly 50 years. She continued to sing church music locally and, well into her eighties, made a recording of several arias. Recordings exist of many of her great performances of both full operas and arias and scenes.

Among her studio recordings are Turandot (as Liù, with Gina Cigna, for Cetra, 1938), Fedora (with Mario Del Monaco and Tito Gobbi, conducted by Lamberto Gardelli, for Decca, 1969) and highlights from Francesca da Rimini (with Del Monaco, conducted by Nicola Rescigno, for Decca, 1969). In 1993, she recorded, with piano accompaniment, Adriana Lecouvreur (with Marta Moretto as the Princesse de Bouillon); excerpts from this recording were published on the Bongiovanni label. At age 86, she performed Adriana's monologue in Jan Schmidt-Garre's film Opera Fanatic. She made occasional singing appearances into her nineties. Olivero celebrated her 102nd birthday on 25 March 2012.

Direct download: Olivero_Voix-Aves.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:08pm EDT

For Carlo Bergonzi at 88!!  ERNANI

 In honor of the 88th birthday (July 13, 2012) of the great Carlo Bergonzi, one of the greatest singers of all-time, I present a 1962 Ernani with Leontyne Price, Cornell MacNeil, and Giorgio Tozzi, under Thomas Schippers. I could entitle Bergonzi's long career as "How to sing!!   68 min.

Direct download: Ernani_Bergonzi.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:48am EDT

Cavalleria Rusticana w.Elizabeth Rethberg

 From 1937, I bring you a Cavalleria Rusticana under Gennaro Papi, featuring the legendary Elizabeth Rethberg, Sydney Rayner, Carlo Morelli, Anna Kaskas (Mamma Lucia), and Irra Petina (Lola.). This is followed by commercial recordings of "Vissi d'arte" and "O Patria mia."  What a great artist she was!    (70 min.)

Direct download: Cavall.Reth..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:02pm EDT

I Puritani With Virginia Zeani

  I never get to hear my own collection, so,for a change, I decided to listen to this wonderful 1957 Trieste Puritani under Francesco Molinari-Pradelli with Virginia Zeani, Mario Filippeschi, Aldo Protti, and Andrea Mongelli.

    I was "weaned" on those old Cetra operas with Filippeschi in some of them, and despite a voice that is not gorgeous, it sounds like ten trumpets. Virginia said it was not that big, but the top was sensational. I also add as a bonus, Elvira's aria and cabaletta from a 1956 Florence Puritani with Virginia.  Have fun!!  (72 min.)

Direct download: Puritani_Zeani.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 4:50pm EDT

Kirsten Flagstad in Die Walkure on her birthday, 2012.

  The miraculous Kirsten Flagstad, born July 11, 1895, is heard in her debut as Sieglinde with Paul Althouse (1935) and then in a scene from 1937 with Marjorie Lawrence as Brunnhilde in act three. Both are conducted by Arthur Bodansky. We then move to her Brunnhilde in 1940, with Lawrence as the Sieglinde, Lauritz Melchior and Julius Huehn, under Erich Leinsdorf.  (68 min.)

Direct download: Flagstad_Walk.Birth.2012.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:01am EDT

HAPPY 87th BIRTHDAY TO NICOLAI GEDDA

 In celebration of the 87th birthday of the remarkable Nicolai Gedda,on July 11, 2012, I present a Boheme with Scotto,Guarrera,Boky,Flagello, and Goodloe completing the excellent cast under Henry Lewis from 1972. Gedda has been one of the great operatic ICONS and is beloved in the music world for his artistry, musicianship, versatility, and of course that fabulous voice. (72 min.)

  I have added the last act aria from William Tell on the commercial recording as a bonus. (Count the high C's!!)

 

Direct download: Boheme_Gedda_Birthday.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 5:47pm EDT

Aida From Mexico, 1950

 One of the legendary Maria Callas Mexico performances.This is Aida under Guido Picco from 1950. She is joined by Giulietta Simionato, Robert Weede, and our dear buddy Kurt Baum (well, if you had to see him as much as we did,you would probably agree that he was no Tucker,Corelli, or Del Monaco...and I do not want to hear that "today he would be famous".Nicola Moscona as Ramfis and Ignacio Ruffino as the King complete the cast.  (72 min.)

Direct download: Aida_Mex.1950.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 6:58pm EDT

Simone Boccanegra, 1960

 A stellar cast in this 1960 Simone Boccanegra under Dimitri Mitropolous, featuring Frank Guarrera,Zinka Milanov, Carlo Bergonzi, Giorgio Tozzi, and Ezio Flagello. (73 min.). Yes, I was there and the show was unforgettable!!!!

Direct download: Boccanegra_1960.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:03pm EDT

Dorothy Kirsten's Birthday,2012

  She sang magnificently into her 70's  ( as we discovered after her passing), we offer a July 6, birthday tribute to her. (1910-1992). Included are Gershwin songs (She knew how to sing pop, a rarity among opera divas), arias/scenes from La Rondine,Gianni Schicchi, Tosca, and Thais (with Robert Merrill), and some Louise scenes with Norman Treigle. We also include some Butterfly scenes when she was almost 65, with Russell Christopher and Nedda Casei. Kirsten was one of our finest American artists and we treasure her memory.  (68 min.)

Direct download: Kirsten_Birth.2012.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 5:57pm EDT

Macbeth, 1847 Version

 Scenes from the 1847 version of Verdi's Macbeth, from Royal Al;bert Hall in London, 1978 under John Matheson. The wonderful Rita Hunter, one of my favorite artists is the Lady Macbeth, with Peter Glossop, Jenneth Collins, and Richard Greager (Malcolm.) I did not include John Tomlinson,who played Banquo, in these scenes.  (68 min)

One of the beautiful elements of this podcast site is to behold the incredible number of countries that participate. When I listened back to my dialogue, dopey Charlie spoke of July 4th as if it were a "global" holiday. I apologize, since each country has its own special day. I think the excessive New York heat got to me.(if that is a good excuse)

Direct download: Macbeth_1847.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:55pm EDT

Caballe sings Donizetti

Scenes from two operas that featured Montserrat Caballe at her greatest!  First we have Maria Stuarda from Barcelona, 1969 under Reynald Giovaninetti, with Ina Delcampo,Pierre Duval, and John Darrenkamp, followed by a New York 1965 Roberto Devereux under Carlo Felice Cillario, with Lili Chookasian, Juan Oncina, Walter Alberti, and Ted Lambrinos. You will need a watch with a second hand at times to count how incredible is her breath control, especially in the Stuarda act two prayer.  (72 min.)

Direct download: Cab.Stu-Dever..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:59pm EDT

La Fille du Reggiment, 1973

  The glorious 1973 Fille du Reggiment under Richard Bonynge with the great Joan Sutherland, Luciano (9 high C's) Pavarotti, and Regina Resnik.  Fernando Corena and Jean Kraft complete the cast, which brought audiences to their FEET!!!!   (68 min.)

Direct download: Fille_Suth..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:44am EDT

Fedora from Montreal

   Another example of the great singing and emotional delivery of Diana Soviero in this 1995 Montreal performance of Giordano's Fedora,under Alfredo Silipigni. Ermanno Mauro and Gaetan Leperriere complete the cast, and I am sure you will enjoy it.  (71 min.)

P.S. Again, I thank you for your interest. At this rate,we may reach TWO million downloads before Domingo retires. (probably more like five million.)

Direct download: Fedora_Soviero.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:16am EDT

All-star Huguenots

   Reminding us of the olden days when they had the "Night of the Seven stars,"this Scala 1962 Huguenots under Gianandrea Gavazzeni features the voices of Corelli,Sutherland,Simionato,Ghiaurov,Tozzi, Cossotto, and Ganzarolli.  (73 min.)

Les Huguenots was chosen to open the present building of the Covent Garden Theatre in 1858. During the 1890s, when it was performed at the Metropolitan Opera, it was often called 'the night of the seven stars', as the cast would include Lillian Nordica, Nellie Melba, Sofia Scalchi, Jean de Reszke, Édouard de Reszke, Victor Maurel and Pol Plançon.

Direct download: Huguenots_Corelli.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:15pm EDT

Mefistofele from La Scala

 Scenes from a most exciting 1964 Scala performance of Boito's "Mefistofele," featuring Nicolai Ghiaurov, Carlo Bergonzi, and Raina Kabaiwanska, under Gianandrea Gavazzeni. (70 min.)

Direct download: Mef.Ghiaur.Scala.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 5:22pm EDT

WHAT A NABUCCO!!!!

Wait till you hear this superb performance of Nabucco.It is from San Francisco, 1982 under Kurt Herbert Adler, and it features two artists I cherish personally as well as vocally. Olivia Stapp is a marvelous Abigaille.Today she would eclipse everyone!! Paul Plishka, recently retired from opera after a 45 years plus fabulous career, Matteo Manuguerra, a baritone who should have been better recognized, tenor Gordon Greer as Ismaele, and Susan Quittmeyer as Fenena. This will thrill you!   (69 min.)

Direct download: Nabucco_Stapp.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:07pm EDT

Carmen with Regina Resnik

   I am especially nostalgic in presenting to you a beautiful 1969 Carmen under Zubin Mehta, featuring a great artist I have known and loved for over 50 years. Regina Resnik has been one of opera's icons, not only in her vocal careers as soprano and mezzo, but as director, producer,filmmaker, coach, and teacher. This Carmen features the magnificent Richard Tucker, Justino Diaz, and Judith Raskin, and i know you will truly enjoy it.  (73 min.)

Direct download: Carmen_Resnik_1969.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 5:35pm EDT

An Exciting La Gioconda

  I present an exciting La Gioconda from Chicago, 1966 under Nino Sanzogno. The cast is headed by Elena Suliotis, and features Renato Cioni, Fiorenza Cossotto, Giangiacomo Guelfi, Ivo Vinco, and Elena Zilio.  (69 min.)

Direct download: Gioconda_Suliotis.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

A Fine Faust

   From 1949 under Wilfred Pelletier, here are scenes from Gounod's Faust, featuring Giuseppe Di Stefano, Dorothy Kirsten, Leonard Warren, Italo Tajo, and Dorothea Manski.  (70 min.)

Direct download: Faust_1949_Met.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:56am EDT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MARISA GALVANY

  The happiest of birthdays to my beloved Marisa Galvany (June 19), one of the most exciting singers in my many years of opera-going. I present scenes from Ballo, Aida, Traviata, Attila, and Il Trovatore. (72 min.)

   The photo of the Nabucco scene is to remind you to go to Youtube, if you never have, and you will be amazed at the  high E flat at the end of the Nabucco duet which she takes "out of the air." It is another thrilling Galvany moment.

Love from Charlie

Direct download: Galvany_Birthday_2012.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:13am EDT

EUGENE ONEGIN FROM THE BOLSHOI

 A fine Bolshoi Theatre radio performance of Eugene Onegin, featuring Gallina Vishnevskaya, Sergei Lemeshev, Eugene Belov, Ivan Petrov (Gremin), and Larissa Avdeyeva (Olga.) The conductor is Boris Khiakin and the performance dates approximately from the 1960's. )71 min.)

Direct download: Onegin_Vish..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:01pm EDT

Four of the Greats!!

   Arias and scenes as sung by four of the great singers of the last opera era: Nicolai Gedda, Gundula Janowitz, the late Arlene Auger and the late Tatiana Troyanos. I am sure you will treasure their great artistry.  (72 min.)

Direct download: Jan.Aug.Ged.Troy..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:12pm EDT

MARIA STUARDA From La Scala

 A most exciting performance (highlights, as always) of Donizetti's "Maria Stuarda," from a 1971 La Scala performance under Carlo Felice Cillario. The cast features Montserrat Caballe, Shirley Verrett, Ottavio Garaventa, Giulio Fioravanti, and Rafael Arie   (64 min.)

Direct download: Stuarda_Caballe.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 6:36pm EDT

Fidelio from Cologne

A 1956 Fidelio under Erich Kleiber from Cologne,Germany. Featured are Birgit Nilsson, Hans Hopf, Paul Schoeffler, Gottlob Frick, Hans Braun (Don Fernando), Gerhard Unger (Jacquino), and Ingeborg Wenglor (Marzelline.)     (73 min.)

Direct download: Fidelio_Cologne.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:39pm EDT

Norma From La Scala 1955

  A dream cast in Bellini's "Norma" from La Scala 1955 under Antonino Votto,featuring Maria Callas, Giulietta Simionato, Mario Del Monaco, and Nicola Zaccaria. (70 min.)

Direct download: Norma_Scala_55.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:15pm EDT

HAPPY NO.99 TO DEAR RISE STEVENS

  How can I forget the very first opera star I ever met, and then we went to her apt.every year for the music club,and it was a joyful afternoon. In honor of her 99th birthday on June 11,2012, I present highlights from a 1939 Rosenkavalier with her idol, Lotte Lehmann, Emmanuel List, and Marita Farell. Bless her forever in my heart.   (70 min.)

Direct download: Rise_Rosen..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:58am EDT

The Pearl Fishers

  A superb rendition of Bizet's "Pearl Fishers" (Highlights, of course) from Los Angeles, 1980 under Calvin Simmons. We lost him and tenor Barry McCauley so young. Diana Soviero, Dominic Cossa, and John Seabury (Nourabad) complete the excellent cast  (72 min.)

Direct download: Pearl_Fishers_LA.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:36am EDT

MEINE ARABELLA!!

Highlights from a RAI Rome 1973 Arabella under Wolfgang Rennert, with Montserrat Caballe, Siegmund Nimsgern, Oliviera Miljakovic (Zdenka), and Jeanette Scovotti (Fiakermilli.)  (67 min.)

Direct download: Arabella_Caballe.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:56pm EDT

Thais from Trieste

An Italian Thais that features the great voice of Ettore Bastianini. Thais is sung by Fiorella Carmen Forti, and the Nicias is Glauco Scarlini. This is from Trieste, 1954, under Luigi Toffolo  (71 min.)

Direct download: Thais_Bastianini.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:17pm EDT

For the Great CONNOISSEUR

  As I indicated on the podcast narration, EVEN I never heard of some of these singers, and I am ashamed...but look, you need to live 5 lifetimes to even scratch the surface of what is out there. Here are the singers' names, in order of appearance: (like the podcast, 5 at a time.)    (72 min.)

Jose Garcia, Julius Lieban, Gertrude Forstel, Elisa Petri, Paul Payan

Riccardo Stracciari, Florence Smithson, Barbara Kemp, Heinrich Schlusnus, Umberto Urbano

Anne Roselle (In photo), Adamo Didur, Tinka Vesel-Polla, Karl Schmidt Walter, Alexander Sved,

Christina Maristany, Pierre Bernac and Leila Ben Sedira, Louis Orlac, Friedl Beckmann, and Margarita Carosio.

Direct download: Connoisseur-1.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:07am EDT

Piccolo Marat

  We know how marvelous an opera Cavalleria Rusticana is, but Mascagni wrote other operas with truly glorious music. One of them is "Piccolo Marat" (I can't find the plot anywhere so far.) You will hear Virginia Zeani as Mariella, Umberto Borso as Piccolo Marat, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni as L'Orco, Afro Poli as Il Carpentiere, and the coinductor is Oliviero de Fabrittis in a live performance from Livorno in 1961.

The audience goes wild after their duet,and demands an encore!!!!!!   (72 min.)

Direct download: Marat_Zeani.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:07pm EDT

Birgit Nilsson and Hans Hotter Sing Wagner

 Two of the greatest singers of Wagner, Birgit Nilsson and Hans Hotter,perform scenes from Die Walkure and the Flying Dutchman,plus a bonus of Hotter singing Schubert's "An die Musik" and "Meeresstille" accompanied by Gerald Moore.  (67 min.)

Direct download: Nilsson-Hotter.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:37am EDT

Otello by Rossini

What a shame that I did not know who Virginia Zeani was, when in 1968 the Rome opera brought Otello by Rossini to the Met. Well,at least we have this document featuring one of our favorite sopranos. This is from 1960 Rome under Fernando Previtali, and also features Agostino Lazzari as Otello, Giuseppe Baratti as Iago,Franco Ventriglia as Elmiro, and Anna Reynolds as Emilia. Look for the plot on Wikepedia or other sites. (70 min.)

Direct download: Otello_Rossini.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 6:58pm EDT

In memory of George London on his birthday.

 In memory of the marvelous George London, on his May 30th birthday, we shall hear duets  from Eugen Onegin (with Valerie Bak), Aida (with Astrid Varnay, Arabella (with Eleanor Steber, arias from Prince Igor,Flying Dutchman, and a scene from act one of Parsifal. Also included,from a live recital, are the Mussorgsky "Songs and Dances of Death." We pay tribute to this glorious artist.   (71 min.)

Direct download: London_Birthday.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:50pm EDT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DEAR OLIVIA STAPP

 For May 30, we wish the marvelous mezzo,turned soprano,Olivia Stapp, a very happy birthday. She has been one of our finest artists, and you will hear scenes from Elektra, Macbeth, Anna Bolena (as both Seymour and Anna), and Tosca (with Nicolai Gedda).    (60 min.)

Direct download: Stapp_Birthday.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:34pm EDT

I TROIANI

Highlights from an Italian version of Berlioz's "Les Troyens" from La Scala, 1960 under Rafael Kubelik. Mario del Monaco,Giulietta Simionato(Dido),Nell Rankin (Cassandra). and Nicola Zaccaria (Narbal) are in the cast.    (67 min.)

Direct download: Troj.Del_Mon..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:20am EDT

Forza del Destino, 1953

An all-star Forza from New Orleans, 1953 under Walter Herbert. In the cast are Zinka Milanov, Mario del Monaco, Leonard Warren, William Wilderman, and Norman Treigle (Marchese). Need I say more???   (72 min.)

Direct download: Forza_Orleans.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:49am EDT

An All-star Simone Boccanegra

  Yes, they did once make them like this:  A brilliant Scala 1972 Simone Boccanegra which features Piero Cappuccilli,Mirella Freni,Nicolai Ghiaurov, Gianni Raimondi, and Felice Schiavi (Paolo). The conductor is Claudio Abbado. (and stop telling me I only like dead and retired singers!!!)  (72 min.)

Direct download: Simone_Capp..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:44pm EDT

Francesca da Rimini w.Olivero,Del Monaco

 From Scala,1959 under Gianandrea Gavazzeni, highlights from Zabdonai's exciting opera, Francesca da Rimini, featuring Magda Olivero, Mario del Monaco, Gianpiero Malaspina (Gianciotto), Piero de Palma (Malatestino), etc.   (68 min.)

Direct download: Francesca_Magda.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:01pm EDT

An All-star Falstaff

 From 1958 Chicago under Tullio Serafin, here is a really fabulous cast in Verdi's "Falstaff," with Tito Gobbi,Cornell MacNeil,Renata Tebaldi,Giulietta Simionato,Anna Moffo,Alvino Misciano, and Anna Maria Canali.  (62 min.)

Direct download: Falstaff_Gobbi.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:38pm EDT

Alzira

 Most of the early Verdi opera "Alzira," from Rome 1967, under Franco Capuana. The cast features Virginia Zeani (Alzira), Cornell MacNeil (Gusmano), Gianfranco Cecchele (Zamoro), and Carlo Cava (Alvaro).      (72 minutes)

Direct download: Alzira.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:16pm EDT

Medea with Leonie Rysanek

Highlights from a live 1972 Vienna Medea under Horst Stein. The remarkable Leonie Rysanek is the Medea, with Bruno Prevedi, Lucia Popp, and Nicolai Ghiuselev completing the cast.  (54 min.)

Direct download: Medea_Rysanek.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:34pm EDT

Waltraute in Gotterdamerung

 A comparison of six marvelous mezzos in the Act One Waltraute Monologue from Die Gotterdamerung.  In order they are:

   Rosette Anday, Elizabeth Hoengen, Margarete Klose, Hanna Schwarz, Christa Ludwig, and Martha Moedl (who was a mezzo at the start and end of her career.).

  I wish to call your attention to the magnificent Youtube rendition by Katharine Goeldner, if you wish to go there. It is surely as fine a rendition as the above.  (62 min.)

Direct download: Waltraute.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:38pm EDT

Very Loud tenors

 A pot-pourri of tenors from the earlier part of the 20th century who excelled in a very bright and powerful top range for the most part. Those included (in order on the podcast) are:

Leonce Escalais, Bernardo de Muro, Eduardo Garbin, Mario Gillion, Aristodemi Giorgini, Icilio Calleja, Giovanni Zenatello, Antonio Paoli, Dimitri Smirnov, Leonid Sobinov, and (in photo), John O'Sullivan. (68 min.)

Direct download: Loud_tenors.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:11pm EDT

Elisir D'amore with Freni/Gedda

From 1965, highlights from a delightful "Elisir d'Amore" with Nicolai Gedda,Mirella Freni,Fernando Corena, and Mario Sereni under Thomas Schippers.   (71 min.)

Direct download: Elisir_Gedda.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 4:50pm EDT

L'Amico Fritz

A beautiful performance of Mascagni's "L'Amico Fritz," one of the operas that they ought to perform more often.This is from Milano, 1953 under Vittorio Gui, and features Cesare Valletti, Rosanna Carteri, Carlo Tagliabue, and Rina Corsi. (65 min.)

Direct download: Fritz_Carteri.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:31pm EDT

Tannhauser from 1955

  A fine live performance of Tannhauser under Rudolf Kempe from 1955. The cast includes Ramon Vinay,Astrid Varnay,George London, Blanche Thebom, and Jerome Hines. (69 min.)

Direct download: Tannh.1955.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:33pm EDT

More of the superb soprano, Marisa Galvany

 You all know of my great praise for dear Marisa Galvany, and you have responded with praise to my podcasts of her material. Here is another selection of her material, with some repeats, but sometimes it is more valuable to hear a compilation.  Included are scenes and arias from Ernani,Traviata, Cavalleria (with Domingo), and Aida (as Aida and Amneris.)  (58 min.)

Galvany studied primarily under Armen Boyajian (also the teacher of Paul Plishka and Samuel Ramey). She made her professional opera debut at the Seattle Opera in 1968 in the title role of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca. The following year, she portrayed the title heroine in Simon Mayr's Medea in Corinto in New York City, a performance which was recorded for Vanguard. She made her first international appearance in 1972 at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City in the title role of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida.

In 1972 Galvany was offered a contract to join the roster of principal singers at New York City Opera by Julius Rudel. She accepted, making her debut with the company later that year as Elisabetta in Gaetano Donizetti's Maria Stuarda opposite Beverly Sills in the title role. She continued to sing regularly with that company through 1983, portraying such roles as Abigaille in Nabucco, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, , Odabella in Attila, Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, Violetta in La traviata, and the title roles in Anna Bolena and Luigi Cherubini's Médée. She also sang in several different productions of Tosca where she partnered such tenors as José Carreras and Harry Theyard.

In 1973, Galvany filmed her acclaimed Lady Macbeth, in Macbeth, for the Canadian Broadcasting Company, opposite Louis Quilico. That same year she made her first appearance with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company as Aida with Pier Miranda Ferraro as Radamès, Joann Grillo as Amneris, and Gianfranco Rivoli conducting. In 1974 she made her first appearance at the New Orleans Opera opening the 1974-1975 season as Rachel in Fromental Halévy's La Juive with Richard Tucker as Eléazar. She returned to open the company's next two consecutive seasons as Aida and Valentin in Les Huguenots, the latter production with Rita Shane and Susanne Marsee. She later returned to New Orleans to sing Salomé in Jules Massenet's Hérodiade.

Galvany made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1979, in the title role of Norma. In 1985, the singing-actress sang Gertrud in Hänsel und Gretel and Ortrud in Lohengrin on tour with the company, then the Kostelnička in Jenůfa during the Fall Season in the theatre. At the Cincinnati Opera, she appeared in Turandot (with Harry Theyard) and Salome (with Ticho Parly as Herod).

During the mid 1980s, Galvany began to add mezzo-soprano roles to her repertoire. She sang Amneris in Aida at the Cincinnati Opera in 1985. In 1992 she sang the title role in Bizet's Carmen with the New York Grand Opera. (NYGO) She performed frequently with the NYGO up into the early 2000s.

On the international stage Galvany has appeared at the Opern- und Schauspielhaus Frankfurt, the Liceu, the Great Theatre, Warsaw, the National Theatre in Prague, and the National Theatre in Belgrade among others. She has also sang in operas in Brazil and Venezuela.

References

Direct download: Galvany4-2.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 4:40pm EDT

The Superb Soprano, Rosanna Carteri

Rosanna Carteri is, for me, an example of a "lost art" in opera. She possesses the emotion, the attention to word and phrase, the beauty of voice, and all the elements that I honestly feel are so rare in these days. I am not intending to denigrate anyone, but you "cognoscenti" by now (with slight prejudice from me)  might understand what I mean. I hope you enjoy this soprano as I do  (71 min.)

Rosanna Carteri (born 14 December 1930) was an Italian soprano primarily active in the 1950s through the mid-1960s.

Rosanna Carteri was born in Verona but was raised in Padua. She studied with Cusinati and started singing in concert at the age of twelve. She won a RAI singing contest in 1948 which led to her operatic debut at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome as Elsa in Lohengrin in 1949, aged only 19. She made her La Scala debut in 1951. Other debuts were at the Salzburg Festival as Desdemona in Otello in 1952 under the direction of Wilhelm Furtwängler, San Francisco as Mimi in La Bohème in 1954, the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Marguerite in Faust in 1955, the Arena di Verona as Mimi in 1958, Covent Garden as Tosca in 1960, Opéra de Paris in 1961 as Violetta in La Traviata.

Carteri made a few recordings for Cetra early in her career, in such operas as Guglielmo Tell, La Bohème and Suor Angelica. She recorded La Traviata for RCA Victor with Cesare Valletti and Leonard Warren under the direction of Pierre Monteux. She participated in several television productions for RAI such as Le nozze di Figaro, La Traviata, Otello, and Falstaff.

Carteri also participated in the creation of some contemporary works such as Ifegenia by Ildebrando Pizzetti in 1950, Proserpine e le straniero by Juan José Castro in 1952, Calzare d'argento again by Pizzetti in 1961 and Il mercante di Venizia by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco also in 1961.

Retirement

Carteri decided to retire from singing in the mid-1960s while still only in her thirties to devote herself to her family.

Direct download: Carteri.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:27pm EDT

Don Carlo 1980, Part two

 The second part of the 1980 Five Act Don Carlo.   (69 min.)

Direct download: Don_Carlo_Cruz-2.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 5:08pm EDT

Don Carlo 1980, Part One

Part one of highlights from a wonderful 1980 Don Carlo under James Levine. The cast features Giuseppe Giacomini, Gilda Cruz-Romo, Tatiana Troyanos, Sherrill Milnes, Paul Plishka, and Jerome Hines.   (66 min.)

Direct download: Don_Carlo_Cruz.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 4:21pm EDT

Il Pirata w.Caballe

A most exciting reading of Bellini's "Il Pirata" (highlights) with Montserrat Caballe, Flaviano Labo, and Piero Cappuccilli under Franco Cap[uana from Florence, 1967 (68 min.)

Direct download: Pirata_Caballe.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 4:10pm EDT

Boris Godunov with Hans Hotter

A most exciting performance of Boris Godunov (In German), featuring Hans Hotter, Hans Hopf, Martha Moedl,Lorenz Fehenberger, Kurt Boehme (Varlaam), Kim Borg (Pimen), under Eugen Jochum. Munich 1957  (65 min.)


Direct download: Boris_Hotter.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:49pm EDT

A Superb Lohengrin

Here are highlights from a marvelous Lohengrin from Berlin Radio 1942, under Robert Heger. The cast features two of my all-time favorites, Margarete Klose and Franz Voelker, and stars Maria Muller, Jaro Prohaska, and Ludwig Hofmann(the King.)  (71 min.)

Direct download: Loheng.Voelker.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:01am EDT

Maria Callas in I Puritani

Another of the great Callas Mexico performances,a Puritani under Guido Picco from 1952. Although the sound is not the greatest, we can judge how phenomenal Callas was in those historic Mexico performances. The cast includes Giuseppe Di Stefano, Piero Campolonghi, and Roberto Silva. (72 min.)

Direct download: Callas_Purit..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:40am EDT

A Superb Mefistofele from 1965

   This wonderful work is performed by the Chicago Opera, 1965, under  Nino Sanzogno, and features Nicolai Ghiaurov,Renata Tebaldi, Alfredo Kraus, and Elena Suliotis.  (69 min.)

Direct download: Mef.Ghiaurov.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:28pm EDT

Celebrating Astrid Varnay on her birthday

The great Astrid Varnay was born on April 25, 1918. Let us celebrate the memory of this legendary soprano with highlights from her illustrious career. All selections are from the 1950's and they include scenes from Parsifal, Tannhauser (Venus and Elizabeth),Tristan und Isolde, Flying Dutchman (with Hans Hotter),Elektra (w.Hoengen and Schoeffler, and concluding with the Gotterdmaerung Immolation Scene.  (68 min.)

She made her sensational debut at the Metropolitan Opera on 6 December 1941 in a broadcast performance singing Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre, substituting for the indisposed Lotte Lehmann with almost no rehearsal. This was her first appearance in a leading role, and it was a triumph. Six days later she replaced the ailing Helen Traubel as Brünnhilde in the same opera. Varnay and Weigert became closer and were married in 1944. It was also at this time that she had lessons with former Metropolitan Opera tenor, Paul Althouse.

In 1948 she made her debut at Covent Garden and in 1951 in Florence as Lady Macbeth. In that year she also made her debut at Bayreuth after Flagstad, who had declined the invitation to Bayreuth, recommended that Wieland Wagner engage Varnay. She sang at Bayreuth for the next seventeen years, and appeared regularly at the Metropolitan until 1956.

She left when it was clear that the Met director Rudolf Bing did not appreciate her, and went on to become a mainstay of the world's other great opera houses, especially in Germany, in Wagner and Strauss but also several Verdi and other roles. She had already made Munich her home, where audiences considered her a goddess.

In 1969 she gave up her repertoire of heavy dramatic soprano roles and began a new career singing mezzo roles. After being the world's leading Elektra for over twenty years, she now established herself as a great interpreter of Klytemnestra. The role of Herodias in Salome became her most often-performed role: 236 performances. She returned to the Metropolitan in 1974 and last appeared there in Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny in 1979.

In the mid-1980s, character roles now became Varnay's metier. Her last appearance on stage was in Munich in 1995, fifty-five years after her Metropolitan debut. In 1998 she published her autobiography Fifty-Five Years in Five Acts: My Life in Opera, written with Donald Arthur (German title is Hab'mir's gelobt).

In 2004, a documentary about her life and first New York career entitled Never Before, produced by Donald Collup, received acclaim in the USA. Her recordings of Strauss heroines such as Elektra and Salome along with the Wagnerian roles are among the treasures of the medium, while transcriptions of broadcast performances of her great roles document her art in sound, and a few video recordings of her late career preserve evidence of her acting ability. Astrid Varnay died in Munich on 4 September 2006, aged 88.

Selected recordings

Direct download: Varnay_Birthday.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:12pm EDT

Some of the best!!

12 selections featuring live performances by some of opera's greatest singers.Included are:

Renata Tebaldi,Leonie Rysanek,Leontyne Price, Zinka Milanov, Eleanor Steber, Birgit Nilsson, Kiri Te Kanawa,Kirsten Flagstad, Hilde Gueden, Judith Blegen, Renata Scotto, Tatiana Troyanos, Placido Domingo, Jon Vickers, Luciano Pavarotti, Franco Corelli, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and Lauritz Melchior  (70 min.)


Direct download: Met_125.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 5:47pm EDT

Die Meistersinger from Vienna, 1955

Scenes from a wonderful 1955 Meistersinger under Fritz Reiner. The cast includes Paul Schoeffler, Irmgard Seefried, Gottlob Frick, Hans Beirer, and Erich Kunz.  (72 min.)

Direct download: Meist.1955.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:40pm EDT

Walkure from Buenos Aires 1940, act Three

Act Three of the aforementioned Buenos Aires 1940 Walkure. (57 min.)

Direct download: Walk.B.A.-2.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:47am EDT

Die Walkure from Buenos Aires, Part One.

Highlights from acts and ond two from a historical 1940 Buenos Aires Walkure under Erich Kleiber. The cast includes Marjorie Lawrence, Irene Jessner, Rene Maison, Herbert Janssen, Emanuel List, and,in a rare early performance of Fricka near the start of her illustrious career, Rise Stevens as Fricka. ( 71 min. )

Direct download: Walk.B.A.-1.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:22am EDT

Giulietta in Favorita

EXCITING STUFF!   Naples, 1963 Favorita under Fernando Previtali, with Giulietta Simionato, Gianni Raimondi, Mario Zanasi, and Nicola Zaccaria.  (71 min.)

Direct download: Fav.Simionato.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:21pm EDT

In Memory of Leonard Warren

Leonard Warren was born on April 21, 1911. He was a sensational singer, up to the moment,on March 4, 1960 that he died on stage before our eyes. I present this 1945 Rigoletto in his memory.

  The cast also includes Jussi Bjoerling, Bidu Sayao, and William Hargrave, conducted by Cesare Sodero.  (71 min.)

Direct download: Warren_1945_Rig..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:44pm EDT

The Opera Debut of the Great Astrid Varnay

 A fascinating event, as the great soprano Astrid Varnay makes her Met debut as Sieglinde,replacing Lotte Lehmann, on the Dec.6 Walkure broadcast...her Met debut, (with no rehearsals) AND the first time she EVER sang on ANY stage. This must go down in opera history as one of the great events.

   In the cast are Lauritz Melchior,Helen Traubel,Friedrich Schorr, and Alexander Kipnis, under Erich Leinsdorf. (68 min.)

  I must also make mention of  Donald Collup,former singer and pianist, who interviewed Mme.Varnay in her later years, and produced a magnificent  documentary of her  fabulous career. Mr.Collup's fascinating home page can be found at: http://www.collup.com. I must also mention that his remarkable collection can be found at his store at: http://www.collup.com/dczcdz.html.


Direct download: Varnay_Debut.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:04pm EDT

 Die Piraten!!!!

  Gilbert und Sullivan in DEUTSCH?????   Why not??? It features my beloived Martha Moedl, the late great Arlene Auger, Gerd Nienstedt,Alexander Malta, and tenor Peter Bahrig.   This is from 1968 WDR radio. The conductor is Franz Marszalek. (60 min.)

    It's hard enough to sing "patter" in English....well, this should be fun!!!!

Direct download: Piraten.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:27am EDT

Un Ballo in Maschera w.Ljuba Welitsch

The marvelous Ljuba Welitsch as Amelia in Ballo from 1949 Edinbugh under Vittorio Gui. The cast includes Mirto Picchi, Alda Noni, Paolo Silveri, Jean Watson.(Ulrica), Ian Wallace (Sam), and Hervey Alan (Tom).    (65 min.)

Direct download: Ballo_Wel..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:52pm EDT

Barbro Ericson

The superb mezzo from Sweden, land of fabulous artists, Barbro Ericson, in selections from the Verdi Requiem,Don Carlo, Ballo, Pique Dame, Boris, Aida, Das Rheingold, Lohengrin, and Saul and David. (68 min.)

Barbro Ericson Hederén Helen Augusta, born April 2 1930 in Halmstad , is a Swedish opera singer ( mezzo-soprano and alto ).

Ericson was educated at the College of Music and Opera School in Stockholm . After debuting at the Opera in 1956 she was employed there in 1958 . She came to portray over 100 roles, mainly in the major mezzo roles in works by Wagner , Verdi and Strauss . She has also made ​​more modern roles such as Mother Goose and Baba in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress , Mescalina in Ligeti's The Great bern wife , Marie in Berg's Wozzeck , and Madame de Croissy in Poulenc's Karmelitsystrarna . Ericsson has also appeared in several scenes in foreign countries such as Bayreuth , Salzburg , Metropolitan , Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, La Scala and Covent Garden .

Her records span from Gluck's Orpheus to Carmen and the high soprano role of Santuzza in Mascagnis In Sicily . Two of her biggest successes was in 1975 as Amman in Richard Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten and previously as Klyteimnestra the same composer's Elektra .

Ericson was awarded a scholarship from the Set Svaneholms Memorial Fund in 1967 . She was appointed to the Royal Court Singer in 1968 and received Litteris et Artibus 1978th

Direct download: Ericson.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:36pm EDT

Manon from 1969, La Scala

Never mind the "wrong language." I adore French, but Freni and Pavarotti are in such glorious form, I had to do this one. Rolando Panerai is Lescaut,Antonio Zerbini is the Count, and Franco Ricciardi is De Bretigny. Conducted by Peter Maag. (71 min.)

Direct download: Manon_Pav.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:55pm EDT

Cavalleria Rusticana en Francais

An interesting  1934 recording of Cavalleria Rusticana in French,under Gustave Cloez. In the cast are Germaine Cernay, Gaston Micheletti, and Arthur Endreze, with Cernay singing also arias from Le Cid and Samson et Delilah.  (52 min.)

Born: April 28, 1900 - Le Havre, France
Died: 1943 - Paris, France

The French mezzo-soprano, Germaine Cernay (born: Pointu), studied piano and solfeggio when still a child. She joined the Conservatoire of Paris taking singing lessons with Albers and Engel.

Germaine Cernay she made her debut in 1925 at the Paris Opéra as Euryclée in Fauré’s Pénélope but she eventually appeared most of her career at the Opéra-Comique (Salle Favart), where she made her debut in 1927 in Alfano’s Risurrezione opposite Mary Garden. After a number of small parts she sang roles such as Mallika (Lakmé), Suzuki, Mignon, Geneviève, Carmen and Charlotte, among many others. She was also a star at the La Monnaie of Brussels and at a number of provincial French opera houses. She toured North Africa, England, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland. In a broadcast she tried to sing Mélisande (a soprano role). Without neglecting the stage, her mind continuosly changed to sing melodies and oratorios. She was a famous interpreter of Bach. Germaine believed deeply in God and intended to spend her life in a cloister, but she died before having fulfilled her wish.

Direct download: Cavall.French.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 4:46pm EDT

VIVA VERDI!!!!!!!

Decca,Phillips, and DGG put out a special commemorative cd set for the Verdi year,remembering the great man's death in 1901. How could anyone accomplish what he did?????

 I announce all selections and casts and I know you will enjoy the variety. (67 min.)

Direct download: Verdi_Commem..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:16pm EDT

Medea in Corinto

Giovanni Simone Mayr's rarely heard "Medea in Corinto" under Newell Jenkins.

The Medea is Marisa Galvany (play the high E natural 10 times),Joan Patenaude-Yarnell as Creusa, Allen Cathcart as Jason, Robert White as Aegeus, Thomas Palmer as Creonte, and Molly Stark as Ismene.  (72 min.)

(Our photo from the live perf. Galvany is the one with the makeup.)

Direct download: Corinto.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:34pm EDT

Parsifal Act 3 for Good Friday

An almost complete Act 3 1956 Parsifal from Rome under Eugen Jochum, with Wolfgang Windgassen, Ferdinand Frantz, and Ludwig Weber (my personal favorite Gurnemanz.)  (61 min.)

Direct download: Pars.1956.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:54pm EDT

Lauritz Melchior in Wagner

In London in 1926 and 1929, the phenomenal Lauritz Melchior made some recordings under the direction of Albert Coates. I know you will agree with most critics that Melchior was a "one-of-a-kind" artist. He sings the Tannhauser Rome Narrative, and then scenes from Siegfried with Rudolf Bockelman, Albert Reiss, and Norah Gruhn as the Forest Bird.   (58 min.)

   ...and speaking of a "one-of-a-kind Wagner singer, I have seen a few Wagnerian tenors who surely were "one-of-a-kind".....but I won't mention their names.

Direct download: Melchior_Coates.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:00pm EDT

A SUPERB RIGOLETTO

Conductor Rico Saccani seems to fancy himself the reincarnation of Toscanini,(look at his site) but he does have some superb recordings,mostly from Budapest. Unfortunately,he lists only the principals of this Rigoletto,Leo Nucci, Marcello Giordani, and Mariella Devia. (67 min.)

   Nucci is still singing and we sadly only had him briefly at the Met;likewise Devia, a great diva. Marcello takes a wild high D natural at the end of "Possente Amor" which made me CWAZY! Have fun!!!

Direct download: Saccani_Rigoletto.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:41pm EDT

The Great Ljuba Welitsch as Salome

  Ljuba Welitsch made a sensational debut as Salome at the Met. Here is a 1952 perf.under Fritz Reiner, with Elizabeth Hoengen,Set Svanholm, Hans Hotter, and Brian Sullivan. (65 min.)

Direct download: Welitsch_1952_Salome.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:38pm EDT

Walkure Exc.from Buenos Aires, 1960

 Only portions of this Walkure from 1960 Buenos Aires under Ferdinand Leitner exist, and nothing of act three, but there are some exciting moments for you to enjoy. The cast includes Martha Moedl, Hans Hotter, Gre Brouwenstijn, and Hans Beirer.   (58 min.).

   As I remarked on my narration, Martha Moedl's "Hojotojo" might be termed "OH LORD!" by most of you;we felt that way in 1957 when we first saw her. However, you know how I am crazy for her, and well...how many singers do we know who "let it all hang out?" The lady is still for me and for so many one of the greatest singers ever..as long as you do not expect an easy top. We could use more singers today with such "abandon." Well, not too much!

(Photo:Gre Brouwenstijn.)

Direct download: Walk.Leitner.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 5:03pm EDT

Rosa Ponselle in Popular Music, 1925-1950

21 popular selections (announced) by the sensational Rosa Ponselle. Unimaginable how she sounded live.  (65 min.)  Bio follows:

Legendary Operatic Diva, Rosa Ponselle, was discovered at age 21, while singing in vaudeville, by Enrico Caruso who brought her to the Met to appear opposite him as the "Leonora" in the 1918 Metropolitan Opera premiere performance of Verdi's La FORZA del DESTINO. She became the first American-born artist to sing a major role at the Met without the benefit of prior European training or experience, and is credited with opening the doors of the Met to the American-trained singer. Most remarkable about Ponselle is that she had no vocal training prior to her operatic debut. Born with a natural gift for singing and acting, she was a true Dramatic Soprano having many revivals done for her. For the 19 seasons that she sang with the Met, she was considered its reigning queen, and was dubbed by Huneker as "The Caruso in Petticoats". Geraldine Farrar is reported to have said when discussing singers, "There are two you must put aside, one is Enrico Caruso, the other is Rosa Ponselle. Then you may begin to discuss all the others." Leonard Bernstein, who credited Ponselle with changing the direction of his young life, wrote in a letter to her, "Yours is the first operatic voice I ever heard, at age eight, on an old Columbia 78, singing 'Suicido'. Even through all the scratchiness and surface noise, that voice rang through in such glory that it made me a music-lover forever. I thank you every day of my life." is is ultimate perfection.'"f us all."  Legendary Operatic Diva, Rosa Ponselle, was discovered at age 21, while singing in vaudeville, by Enrico Caruso who brought her to the Met to appear opposite him as the "Leonora" in the 1918 Metropolitan Opera premiere performance of Verdi's La FORZA del DESTINO. She became the first American-born artist to sing a major role at the Met without the benefit of prior European training or experience, and is credited with opening the doors of the Met to the American-trained singer. Most remarkable about Ponselle is that she had no vocal training prior to her operatic debut. Born with a natural gift for singing and acting, she was a true Dramatic Soprano having many revivals done for her. For the 19 seasons that she sang with the Met, she was considered its reigning queen, and was dubbed by Huneker as "The Caruso in Petticoats". Geraldine Farrar is reported to have said when discussing singers, "There are two you must put aside, one is Enrico Caruso, the other is Rosa Ponselle. Then you may begin to discuss all the others." Leonard Bernstein, who credited Ponselle with changing the direction of his young life, wrote in a letter to her, "Yours is the first operatic voice I ever heard, at age eight, on an old Columbia 78, singing 'Suicido'. Even through all the scratchiness and surface noise, that voice rang through in such glory that it made me a music-lover forever. I

Direct download: Ponselle_Pop.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 4:11pm EDT

Georges Thill- Volume 2

A very great tenor,Georges Thill ,in arias from Herodiade, Aida, La Juive, Alceste, Le Cid, Les Huguenots, Pagliacci, Lohengrin, Traviata,Wm.Tell, Joseph (Mehul), Sapho (Massenet), Romeo et Juliette, Fortunio (Messager), L'Attaque du Moulin (Bruneau), and Parsifal.    (67 min.)

Direct download: Thill-vol._2.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:02pm EDT

HAPPY 102nd BIRTHDAY TO BELOVED MAGDA OLIVERO

    Bless the great lady who reaches 102 on Mar.25. She is a miracle in the world of music, and in her honor here are scenes from the Fanciulla del West from Venice, 1967 under Oliviero de Fabritiis, with Daniele Barioni and Giangiacomo Guelfi.  (70 min>).

    Words always fail me when I speak of this beloved lady, and i know she will express her usual greeting to you all in our yearly phone conversation.  I do not imagine a world without her.

                                                       Love to you, my dear Magda.

P.S.   Called her Monday and she sounds like a KID!!! Her voice is so clear, and that "Verismo Italiano" is something I treasure.She sends you all her love, knowing how many people appreciate her.

Direct download: Magda_Fanc.102.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:35pm EDT

MARTHA MODEL AT 100 !!!!!

In my opera-going experience, I cannot say any singer touched my heart more than the lady who would be 100 years old this day, March 22, 2012. This 1964 scene from Elektra tells only a tiny fraction of what she was onstage. It had nothing to do with a pure vocal tone, but it was a "total package" of beauty and excitement that opera lovers will remember if they were able to witness at least some of her career, as I did.

    I behold her right now, from 55 years ago, as Isolde, and the Brunnhildes, and will never forget her.   (19 min.)

Direct download: Moedl_100.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 5:17pm EDT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY "MIMI"

 In honor of my dear Diana Soviero's 21st birthday, I present highlights from a 1980 Los Angeles Boheme under John Mauceri. This was the opera (in 1977) in which I first heard this very great artist, and you know the rest.

     In the cast are Riccardo Calleo, Frederick Burchinall, Robert McFarland (Schaunard),Stephanie Sundine, and Robert Hale.   (71 min.)

I follow this with the letter I wrote to everyone on this day.

                                                   She means so much to me.    Charlie

  Hello everyone,

                Every March 19 I celebrate the birthdays of two of the greatest divas in my life,those of Diana Soviero, and my ma. Ma didn't have much chest,but she could kick up  storm in the Follies in the 1920's. 
 
   I will never forget the first time (Mar.13, 1977) that I heard that glorious Soviero voice as Mimi ,and,coupled with the depth of emotion, the attention to phrase, the combination of what we term "Kunsst/Stimm divas (both voice and art divas). I wish my darlings,one in my memory forever, and one who has always been so appreciated by directors,colleagues,audiences and of course her students all my best on this day.
       Anyone who does not know her worth, just go to Youtube with 5 Pavarotti towels, and watch her Suor Angelica finale,which is an example of the kind of verismo singing you hear from Muzio,Favero, and Zeani,and does not exist today.

                                                  All my love to my two girls.

                                                                         Charlie

Direct download: Boheme_Soviero_1980_Birth..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:20pm EDT

A Brilliant 1970 Scala Vespri

This is a magnificent Vespri Sicilani from Scala 1970 under Gianandrea Gavazzeni. It features Renata Scotto, Piero Cappuccilli, Ruggero and Gianni Raimondi (no relations) and I know you will enjoy it. The more I hear Scotto, the more I am captivated by her feeling for the line and the style.  (71 min.)

Direct download: Vespri_Scala_1970.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:00pm EDT

Saving $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ at the Met

Mr.Gelb MUST cut corners at the Met since he spent 500 zillion dollars on the new Ring...so he has to cut down on the chorus...He will therefore use a new chorus for some spectacles.

Will the audience know??????

Direct download: Bad_Puma.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:32pm EDT

Rigoletto with Alfredo Kraus

This is the Met debut (1966) of the fabulous Alfredo Kraus (including a D natural). Francesco Molinari-Pradelli conducts, with Cornell MacNeil, Roberta Peters, and Ruza Baldani. (71 min.)

Direct download: Rig.Kraus_deb..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:17pm EDT

The Art of Geraldine Farrar

One of the world's most popular divas was Geraldine Farrar  (1882-1967). I present highlights from La Boheme, Mme.Butterfly, Tosca, and Il Segreto di Susanna (Wolf-Ferrari). In the duets we have Enrico Caruso, and in the Boheme quartet we have Caruso,  Antonio Scotti, and Gina Viafora

(55 min.)

Direct download: Farrar.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:21pm EDT

Medea with Magda Olivero

 A most exciting performnce of Cherubini's "Medea," from Dallas, 1967 under Nicola Rescigno. Magda Olivero makes a rare appearance in this opera, with Bruno Prevedi, Nicola Zaccaria, and Biancamaria Casoni.   

(64 min.)

Direct download: Medea_Olivero.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:32pm EDT

Walkure Act Three under Wilhelm Furtwaengler

From Covent Garden, 1937, a live performance of the third act of Die Walkure under Wilhelm Furtwaengler, featuring Kirsten Flagstad, Maria Muller, and Rudolf Bockelman.  (64 glorious minutes)

Direct download: Walkure_CG_Furt..mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:57pm EDT

Cesare Siepi as Gurnemanz

We rarely have heard the great Cesare Siepi in German opera. Here is act three of Parsifal from 1971 with Sandor Konya and Thomas Stewart. The conductor is Leopold Luwig. This is what we call "pure velvet." A great man!!!   (74 min.)

Direct download: Parsifal2_Siepi.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:43pm EDT

Tales of Hoffmann with Zeani, Part Two

Here is part Two of the Tales of Hoffmann from 1966, Geneva  (61 min.)

Direct download: Hoff.Zeani_2.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:58pm EDT

Tales of Hoffmann from Geneva,Part One

Virginia Zeani sings the three Hoffmann heroines from a Geneva 1966 perf.  Her husband,Nicola Rossi-Lemeni sings the villains, and Jon Crain is the Hoffmann. (Part One-28 min.)

Direct download: Hoff.Zeani_1.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:40pm EDT

OTELLO, Covent Garden 1962

 A most exciting Otello from Covent Garden under Sir Georg Solti. Mario del Monaco,Tito Gobbi, and Raina Kabaiwanska are the featured artists, supported by Josephine Veasey and John Lanigan. 

(70 min.)

Direct download: Otello_Kab.2.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:42pm EDT

Elektra with Astrid Varnay

A brilliant Elektra with Astrid Varnay, Leonie Rysanek, Hans Hotter, and Res Fischer from 1953 under Richard Kraus.   (71 min.)

 

 

She made her sensational debut at the Metropolitan Opera on 6 December 1941 in a broadcast performance singing Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre, substituting for the indisposed Lotte Lehmann with almost no rehearsal. This was her first appearance in a leading role, and it was a triumph. Six days later she replaced the ailing Helen Traubel as Brünnhilde in the same opera. Varnay and Weigert became closer and were married in 1944. It was also at this time that she had lessons with former Metropolitan Opera tenor, Paul Althouse.

In 1948 she made her debut at Covent Garden and in 1951 in Florence as Lady Macbeth. In that year she also made her debut at Bayreuth after Flagstad, who had declined the invitation to Bayreuth, recommended that Wieland Wagner engage Varnay. She sang at Bayreuth for the next seventeen years, and appeared regularly at the Metropolitan until 1956.

She left when it was clear that the Met director Rudolf Bing did not appreciate her, and went on to become a mainstay of the world's other great opera houses, especially in Germany, in Wagner and Strauss but also several Verdi and other roles. She had already made Munich her home, where audiences considered her a goddess.

In 1969 she gave up her repertoire of heavy dramatic soprano roles and began a new career singing mezzo roles. After being the world's leading Elektra for over twenty years, she now established herself as a great interpreter of Klytemnestra. The role of Herodias in Salome became her most often-performed role: 236 performances. She returned to the Metropolitan in 1974 and last appeared there in Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny in 1979.

In the mid-1980s, character roles now became Varnay's metier. Her last appearance on stage was in Munich in 1995, fifty-five years after her Metropolitan debut. In 1998 she published her autobiography Fifty-Five Years in Five Acts: My Life in Opera, written with Donald Arthur (German title is Hab'mir's gelobt).

In 2004, a documentary about her life and first New York career entitled Never before, produced by Donald Collup, who interviewed her, received acclaim in the USA. Her recordings of Strauss heroines such as Elektra and Salome along with the Wagnerian roles are among the treasures of the medium, while transcriptions of broadcast performances of her great roles document her art in sound, and a few video recordings of her late career preserve evidence of her acting ability. Astrid Varnay died in Munich on 4 September 2006, aged 88.

Direct download: Elektra_Varnay.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:18am EDT


More Great Music

March 2024
S M T W T F S
     
          1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31

Archives

Syndication

Contact