Under the baton of Riccardo Chailly, we hear a magnificent 1977 SF Turandot, with Montserrat Caballe, Luciano Pavarotti, Giorgio Tozzi, and Leona Mitchell. This is the brand of singing that lifts you out of your seat (second only to the Nilsson/Corelli performances of the 1960's.)    (73 min.)

   On her Jan.22 (1897) birthday we think of the person who once said, "First you have Caruso and Ponselle..and THEN come singers!"  No words are adequate to describe this phenomenon. Retired in 1937 after a feud with the Met, but left a great legacy of recordings unequalled in opera history.

  I was outside the Met stage door a few years ago after a Macbeth and this guy,whom I never met, looked at me and said,"Are you Charlie??You are more famous than I." This was our first encounter....Joe is a sweetheart of a man, and we wish him a happy Jan.22 birthday. Lovable in every way!!!!!

  Placido in Pique Dame on his birthday!!   Wonderful singing!!!!!!!

   I may kid around and may not agree with all of Placido's choices of repertory these days, but who could ever deny his incredible contribution to the world of music for 50 years, and so from this birthday boy to him, I wish him a wonderful happy birthday (Jan.21).   Charlie

  Renzo Rosselini's opera "La Guerra" from a 1960 RAI Rome broadcast under Massimo Freccia. The cast features:

Magda Olivero    Marta

Nicoletta Panni   Maria (her daughter)

Renato Cesari      Marco  (her son)

Giacinto Prandelli     Erik

Ottavio Taddei          Il Postino

Walter Alberti            Il prete                                 (60 min.with my narration)

 For your opera parties, here is another pot-pourri. (No narration.):

1.  Margarete Klose    Orfeo                     "Che faro"  (In Deutsch)

2.   Anna Moffo             Puritani                "Vien,diletto."

3. Elena Nikolaidi         Macbeth Sleepwalking Scene  (dig the TEMPI!)

4.  Theodore Uppman        "Nancy Hanks"

5. Julia Varady              Macbeth              "La luce langue"

6-7.    Leonard Warren  arias from Ernani and Barbiere

8. Licia Albanese and Afro Poli in Boheme act three scene.

9. Daniele Barioni         Mme.Butterfly    "Addio,fiorito asil":  (I adored that voice!)

10. Jussi Bjoerling         Turandot             "Nessun dorma"

11. Giuseppe Di Stefano      Aida               "Celeste Aida"

12. Leonce Escalais          Robert le Diable aria  (squillo like crazy!)

13. Mirella Freni                  Fedora             "O grandi occhi."

14. Christa Ludwig        Samson et Delilah     "Mon coeur"

              I sincerely hope you like these compilations. I think they are fun!!!!!

(ERROR:  Add Alessandro Ziliani Dame Blanche aria after the Warren selections.)

The Met 1961 Martha (in English) under Nino Verchi did not really catch on, despite the presence of Richard Tucker, Victoria de los Angeles, Giorgio Tozzi, and Rosalind Elias. However, for historical value, here is some of it.   (47 min.)

Here is one of many compilations of great artists at Covent Garden in the period 1904-1910.

    They're all good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Was I born too late?

1.Emmy Destinn    Lohengrin:            Elsa's Traum

2. Melba/Caruso   O soave fanciulla (her high C is to DIE FOR!)

3. Charles Dalmores  Carmen             Flower Song

4. Emma Calve            Herodiade        Il est doux.

5. Giuseppe Anselmi   Tosca   Recondita Armonia  (note slight change in ending)

6.Celestina Boninsegna     Ballo           Ma dall'arrido

7. Selma Kurz    Les Huguenots            O Beau pays  (famous for her trill)

8. Giovanni Zenatello      Andrea Chenier     Si, fui soldato

9. Riccardo Stracciari       Trovatore        Il Balen

10.Mattia Battistini           Faust                Valentin's aria

11. Clarence Whitehill      Meistersinger   Wahn! Wahn!

12. Maria Gay (Mrs.Zenatello)   Carmen    Card aria  (slight chest voice.)

13. John McCormack          Don Giovanni     Il mio tesoro  (considered the STANDARD!)

14. Alessandro Bonci          Pearl Fishers     Je crois entendre

15. Edoardo Garbin              Fedora                Vedi,io piango (w.Giannina Russ.)

16. Louise Kirkby-Lunn       Samson et Delilah     Printemps qui commence

17. Emile Vanni-Marcoux   Pelleas et Melisande   Una grande innocence

18. Mario Sammarco            Otello                   Era la notte

19. Peter Cornelius                Walkure              Wintursturme   (in Danish)

                                        (71 min.)

  I always brought opera to my foreign language students, and even staged the shaving scene from the Barbiere once. Kids need to be brought UP to appreciate what the arts are all about.

  In the Bronx, New York, the absolutely brilliant and lovable counter-tenor, Anthony Roth Costanzo has brought opera to sixth grade kids and I am just overwhelmed by his efforts. You do not have to be a teacher to love what you see here. May he continue on this quest to educate young people in this way, and of course continue to thrill opera audiences all over the globe.