DIOS MIO!!!!!!  My friends (including Virginia Zeani) heard Boheme in Florida last night and went NUTS over this guy!!!  This is a fabulous voice and i hope we hear much more of him.. BRAVISSIMO!!!!

    My favorite part of my favorite opera!! I had mentioned that a few years ago Dolora Zajick asked me to give a "Handelmanian" class for her young students; she has a project with young singers, trying to bring back the kind of singing so missing today. Note how she sings the end of this scene with incredible abandon. I will see her as Amneris in two weeks. Note she takes the high B that usually only Aida takes toward the end. She has FUN!!!!

  Not just Cavalleria Rusticana!! Mascagni wrote such gorgeous music...This scene from his Piccolo Marat is just amazing. Virginia Zeani, Umberto Borso, and a loud prompter perform. The audience actually made them repeat this whole duet!!!!!

  Just enjoy these marvelous scenes from an opera written by Giuseppe Verdi, who made his fame at the premiere. However, not all performances are up to his standards. If you are a basso, I suggest you do not attempt to learn Zaccaria with this recording.  (16 wonderful minutes.)

 The sensational Kirsten Flagstad is heard in the World Premiere of Strauss' Four Last Songs from 1950 under Wilhelm Furtwaengler  in London.She is then heard in three Strauss songs: Befreit, Allerseelen, and Caecilie, from San Francisco in 1950 under Merolla.

She is joined by Set Svanholm in Wagner Scenes from The Flying Dutchman, Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, and Die Meistersinger, from 1949 also under Gaetano Merolla.   (70 min.)

 Carreras was born on Dec.5, 1946. In his prime it was a glorious voice, one of the greatest in opera;yes,he did push the voice into heavier roles and even before the illness he was having problems, but for a time he was a true sensation, and he came thrugh a serious illness with great dignity and amazing courage.

  I always like to "spread the word' about exciting young artists. Here is info.on Othalie Graham....A great singer..and GORGEOUS!!!!

Canadian-American Soprano Othalie Graham is critically acclaimed throughout North America. As Turandot, the Boston Globe says her “timbre and power were thrilling - steely ring from top to bottom - and her path from imperiousness to passion was convincing.” Of a recent performance as Tosca, the San Francisco Chronicle praised her “high-powered blend of musical assurance and theatrical temperament. Singing the role for the first time, Graham displayed a potent and secure soprano that soared effortlessly through the role. Most impressive was her blend of delicacy and sheer muscle, which often combined forces within the space of a single phrase...her rendition of ‘Vissi d’arte’ was a heartbreaker.”

Emerging into the Wagnerian repertoire, Ms. Graham’s notable roles include Senta in Der Fliegender Holländer, Isolde in Tristan und Isolde, Brünnhilde and Sieglinde in Die Walküre, and Elisabeth in Tannhäuser. Other prominent roles include the title role in Elektra, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Leonora in Fidelio, Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera, Leonora in La Forza del Destino, Ariane in Ariane et Barbe-Bleue, Serena in Porgy and Bess, and Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana.

Recent engagements include the title role in Turandot with Arizona Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Columbus, Opera Delaware, Utah Festival Opera, Connecticut Grand Opera, and Sacramento Opera; Odabella in Attila with Sarasota Opera; the title role of Aida for the inaugural performance of the Istanbul International Opera Festival; Leonora in Il Trovatore with Utah Festival Opera; the title role in Tosca with Festival Opera; and the title role in Elektra at Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts. In the current 2010-2011 season and beyond, engagements include the title role of Turandot with the Vancouver Opera and Pensacola Opera, Minnie in La Fanciulla del West at the Nashville Opera, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Turandot excerpts in concert with the Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center, and Isolde in Tristan und Isolde with the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra in California.

Concert highlights include a New York recital debut with the Liederkranz Society after winning its annual competition; a Wagner concert co-sponsored by the Wagner Society of Washington D.C. featuring Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene from Götterdämmerung and Isolde’s Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde; Brünnhilde excerpts from Die Walküre for the L’Opera de Montreal gala; the title role in Turandot with Boston’s Chorus Pro Musica, the Westfield Symphony Orchestra, and the Harrisburg Symphony; Elijah with Bryn Terfel and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; a featured appearance with Eve Queler at the Dahesh Museum of Art; as well as opera galas for Pacific Opera Victoria, Vancouver Opera, and Canada’s Oakville Symphony.

Ms. Graham was the first-place winner of the 2010 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition in the Wagner Division; the first-place winner of the 2005 Joyce Dutka Competition; a recipient of the prestigious Sullivan Foundation Grant for 2005; and the first-place winner in the Wagner Division of the 2009 Liederkranz Competition. In Canada, her many awards and honors include the coveted Jean Chalmers prize in the Canadian Music Competition, winner of the Edward Johnson Competition, and first place in the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques Competition.

She is a graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts.

Awards

 Have you ever seen this adorable 1932 clip of the great Tetrazzini singing with Caruso??I think it is PRECIOUS!!!!!!

Here is a comparison podcast of some wonderful mezzos and contraltos singing the Ulrica Scene from Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera." The singers,in order, are:

Bruna Castagna, Grace Bumbry, Jean Madeira, Susanne Resmark, Marian Anderson, Ewa Podles, Giulietta Simionato, Ebe Stignani, Regina Resnik, Fedora Barbieri, and last (and least), Sylvia Sawyer (66 minutes)

Just listen to the section beginning "Coraggio" in the Vespri aria..That tells it ALL! The exciting attacks, the intensity, the verve....something unheard today!!!!