Sat, 24 March 2012
A FORCE OF NATURE!!!! I always told Dolora we need to clone her...because there is NO ONE ELSE these days who sings like the "old-timers." LOVE from Charlie
Category:general
-- posted at: 8:53pm EDT
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Sat, 24 March 2012
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. |
Thu, 22 March 2012
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.) |
Mon, 19 March 2012
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, |
Mon, 12 March 2012
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.) |
Sat, 10 March 2012
Treigle was born in New Orleans, the fifth and final child of a poor carpenter and his wife. Following his 1946 marriage to the former Loraine Siegel, the bass-baritone began vocal studies with the contralto Elisabeth Wood. In 1947, he made his operatic debut with the New Orleans Opera Association, as the Duke of Verona in Roméo et Juliette. Between 1949 and 1951, he attended Loyola University of the South's College of Music, while performing various roles with the local opera company. In 1953, Treigle made his New York City Opera debut, as Colline in La bohème. Three years later, the bass-baritone scored his first significant success, as the tormented Reverend Olin Blitch, in the New York premiere of Floyd's Susannah. He made his European debut in this same opera, at the Brussels World's Fair, in 1958. In succeeding seasons, Treigle became one of the top bass-baritones in North America, and was acclaimed as one of the world's foremost singing-actors. He sang in many experimental productions and participated in several important premieres, in operas by Einem, Copland, Moore, Floyd, Orff, Dallapiccola and Ward (The Crucible). Perhaps his greatest roles were in Faust (as Méphistophélès), Carmen (as Escamillo), Susannah, Il prigioniero, Les contes d'Hoffmann (the four Villains), Boris Godunov and, especially, Mefistofele. In the autumn of 1974, Treigle made his London debut at Covent Garden in a new production of Faust. On February 16, 1975, Treigle was found dead in his New Orleans apartment. He had been diagnosed as a chronic insomniac and it was determined that he had consumed an accidental overdose of sleeping pills. By his first wife, he had a son (who died in 1993) and a daughter, Phyllis. He had also adopted the daughter of his second wife, from whom he was separated at the time of his death.
Category:general
-- posted at: 10:32am EDT
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Sun, 4 March 2012
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?????? |
Sat, 3 March 2012
So,we had the Talmud, the Koran, War and Peace, Don Quijote (I had to read ALL of it), but now comes my review of the wonderful Latonia Moore's Met debut!!! (Do not worry,it will be somewhat shorter than the above.).For me, the most important element of the Aida was that the DUMB theory, totally dispelled by the marvelous low register of Latonia, that you cannot sing chest because "it shortens the top range." Just take the phrase in act three " O patria,patria,quando mi costi,etc.) or the opening of "Ritorna Vincitor" where unlike every Aida I have heard in recent years cannot say "parola" like a true Italian. (Sweet said, "parowwwwwlah).
Category:general
-- posted at: 10:05pm EDT
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Thu, 1 March 2012
At a Licia Albanese gala years ago, and then in the complete Puccini "Edgar" at Carnegie Hall, I heard the magnificent voice of Latonia Moore,who brought the house down, and when I met this sweet and lovely lady, I threatened to picket the Met if they didn't grab her up!!!!
Category:general
-- posted at: 8:08pm EDT
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Thu, 1 March 2012
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.) |