I take great pleasure in presenting a podcast, the first of several, in which I specifically choose material to assist the young students in Dolora Zajick's program with their repertory, allowing them to sample some of the great artists of the past and present, and offering examples chosen from their requests.
   At the same time, all of you have the opportunity to continue to enjoy the artistry of many of our superb singers, in various vocal categories.     We start with the tenors:

Mario del Monaco, Franco Corelli, Carlo Bergonzi, Jon Vickers, James King, Rene Kollo, Jonas Kaufmann, Wolfgang Windgassen, Peter Schreier, Lauritz Melchior, Set Svanholm, Stephen Gould, and Jose Carreras. (66 min.)
      
       Let us wish these young artists our best, and let us praise Mme.Zajick, one of opera's greatest treasures, for her efforts.
     

   As a special tribute to the great Mario Del Monaco, born on July 27, 1915, I present highlights from a La Scala 1954 Otello, conducted by Antonino Votto, and featuring the great Renata Tebaldi and Leonard Warren.
    I saw this exact same cast a year later, on the occasion of Mme.Tebaldi's Met debut, and it remains one of the great events of my operatic experience.
    Let us remember one of the greatest tenors in the opera world on the occasion of his birthday.          (66 min.)

Highights from the 10 Wagner operas featured in a new Decca 33 cd set (only 65.00 on Amazon). These are live performances from Bayreuth, and feature some of the greatest Wagnerian artists.The highlights are as follows:

Die Meistersinger       Hannelore Bode, Karl Ridderbusch
Fliegende Hollander    Anja Silja, Franz Crass, Josef Greindl
Tristan und Isolde       Birgit Nilsson,Wolfgang Windgassen
Parsifal                       Peter Hoffman, Waltraud Meier
Lohengrin                   Anja Silja, Astrid Varnay, Ramon Vinay
Tannhauser                 Wolfgang Windgassen, Grace Bumbry
Das Rheingold              Theo Adam, Erwin Wohlfart
Die Walkure                 Leonie Rysanek
Siegfried                       Birgit Nilson, Wolfgang Windgassen
Die Gotterdamerung      Birgit Nilsson, Thomas Stewart, Josef Greindl
                                 (71 min.)

Best way to get this is to use this link!!!!!!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00159679S?ie=UTF8&coliid=&ref%5F=olp%5Ftab%5Fnew&me=&qid=1248454681&qid=1248454681&sr=1-1&sr=1-1&seller=&colid=&condition=new

  Several years I was delighted to hear Argentinian soprano Fabiana Bravo as Giorgetta in "Il Tabarro" and at a concert as well.I found her voice what we call "old style," with mixed chest voice and quite a depth of emotion. I present three excerpts from her new CD and hope you enjoy her.

        The selections are from Verdi's "Il Corsaro," Giordano's "Andrea Chenier," and Puccini's "Edgar."

   The album is on the KLEOS Classics label,Number KL5149 and you might search on Helicon Records Site.

  (I get NO commission!!!!)

We honor the 96th birthday of the legendary Licia Albanese (born on July 22, 1913) by featuring highlights from two of her greatest performances:

Mme.Butterfly  1941  w. Armen Tokatyan, John Brownlee, and Lucille Browning.

Manon  1951  with Giuseppe Di Stefano

           All our best to this great lady!!!!!!!!!

                          (66 min.)

 I know that Signore Riccardo Muti (senza acuti**) would be scandalized at the kind of singing this Trovatore features. However, this is the kind of exciting singing that makes one's hair (if he has any) stand on end.
   This 1957 Naples Trovatore, conducted by Franco Capuana and featuring Antonietta Stella, Mario Filippeschi (who encores the "Di quella pira"), Fedora Barbieri, and Aldo Protti is an example of "white-hot" Verdi singing, and I wish there were more such performances today.
         (70 min.)

(**  without high notes) 

As a special birthday tribute to the great Nicolai Gedda, who turned 84 on July 11, 2009, we present him and Joan Sutherland in highlights from 1963 live performances of La Sonnambula and I Puritani. The singing is truly amazing, and I know you will be thrilled!  (65 min.)
                                              

On July 13, 2009, we celebrate the 85th birthday of Carlo Bergonzi, one of the greatest singers in opera history. His singing serves as a true "vocal lesson" for singers, and we have been blessed by his presence on opera and concert stages for over 50 years.

    This podcast, the second in his honor, features songs by Verdi, Caccini, De Curtis, Schubert, and Donizetti plus arias from Martha, La Boheme, Il Trovatore, Tosca, La Forza del Destino, L'Arlesiana, Mefistofele, and I Lombardi.
     Bergonzi always ended his recitals with "Non ti scordar di me," and we will surely never forget him!

                                      (71 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjvjU4QmVK0

Go to the above link to watch and listen to Stephen Costello, one of opera's finest young artists, as Romeo. Stephen will be the recipient of this year's Richard Tucker award, and will be singing in the Tucker Gala in November. Those of us who have followed his career,including his Met Edgardo, will attest to the fact that he is one of the brightest lights on the opera scene.  ENJOY!!!!!     Charlie

These photos are too big to place here...Go to this site and you will get a feeling for what I saw in the old Met...especially those gorgeous Zinka photos from her last performances......Nothing will replace these treasured memories...

http://images.google.com/images?sa=4&imgc=&imgsz=&q=color+opera+source%3Alife