Hey!!!! Who has so much voice at 87. Lucine turns 89 on Mar.1 and she continues to sound as young and fresh as anyone could sound at her age. She saved many Met shows and retained so much of the voice. I made her tapes from 1948, and believe me, there is still that youthful quality.

Happy birthday to a fun lady!!!!!

Maria Callas as Norma in various performances as follows:

1. Trieste 1953 with Elena Nicolai and Franco Corelli under Antonino Votto.(Note the end of the trio has Corelli attacking a B natural and Callas' D natural, making for the kind of singing that just cannot exist today). I love to go to the opera, but they do not seem to "permit" this kind of vocalism. Perhaps singing teachers are afraid that their pupils will not last if they emit sounds like these. I disagree violently!

2. The first part of the "Mira,O Norma" scene w.Fedora Barbieri from Buenos Aires 6/17/49

3.  From a Gala in Buenos Aires from 7/9/49, the Casta Diva and cabaletta. These two Buenos Aires scenes are conducted by Tullio Serafin.

4. The Casta Diva and cabaletta from the 1958 Rome 1/2/58 performance, which she did not complete owing to illness. This was a scandal in those days. Gabriele Santini conducts. (Anita Cerquetti completed the performance.)

 Erich Leinsdorf leads a 1969 Parsifal from Buenos Aires with Wolfgang Windgassen, Regine Crespin, Franz Crass, and Theo Adam. It had taken quite a number of years for me to totally appreciate this work, but now it is a favorite.(as long as I can listen at home!)   (73 min.)

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJef71OpgiU

  If I had to pick ONE,just ONE commercial recording of ANYONE, this aria for me sung by the fabulous Lehmann,born Feb.27, 1888, would be my choice. This "Ich ging zu ihm" from Korngold's "Das Wunder der Heliane" for me is the most lasting tribute to her greatness.

The beautiful Grace Moore sadly died in an airplane crash at age 47. She possessed a beautiful voice and was a truly glamorous artist. She is joined by Raoul Jobin, Ezio Pinza, and Doris Doe in a 1940 Louise under Ettore Panizza.  (74 min.)

 Il Guarany (Gomes) duet with Enrico Caruso (born Feb.25 or 27) in 1873, and Emmy Destinn, born Feb.26, 1878. What more can one say????

 People wonder why I am so critical of the carryings-on of Franco Bonisolli. In the words of Anna Russell, "tenors have resonance where their brains should be." Of course that is not true in general, but if you heard all the crazy speeches-to-audiences the man makes during live performances and his general conduct as a singer, you might agree that he gives tenors a very bad name!

  However, he has a lot of fun in this San Francisco Gala (wearing Errol Flynn's boots) and the C's are fabulous. He died too soon, and I am indeed sorry, but I always felt a superb talent was partly  wasted with his carryings-on.

 By the way, he always DEMANDED an encore of the aria. On a Vienna tape, he yells "Wasser' before the first high C and gets booed. I do not know if he sang it twice that night, but anyway you cannot say he was dull!

Another of my compilations, derived from various files of the past. I am happy you enjoy this kind of post, because it allows you to play a guessing game and/or enjoy a wide variety of great singing. Here is the information:

1. Beniamino Gigli      Fedora         "Amor ti vieta"  (HONEY!!)

2. Maria Ivogun           Seraglio       "Martern aller artern"

3. Selma Kurz               Rigoletto      "Caro nome"    (Can she TRILL!)

4. Marjorie Lawrence/Lauritz Melchior   Gotterdamerung       Dawn Duet

5. Giannina Arangi-Lombardi      Aida    "O patria mia"

6. Leyla Gencer            Idomeneo           Electra's aria

7. Beverly Sills              Louise                "Depuis le jour"

8. Christa Ludwig/Sherril Milnes            Macbeth duet

9. Meta Seinemeyer     Andrea Chenier   "La mamma morta"  (Sadly,she died at 33.)

10. Nelly Melba/Enrico Caruso     La Boheme    "O soave fanciulla'  (Just her high C indicates what she was!)

11. Beverly Sills          Aida (her only one)  "Ritorna Vincitor"

12. Mark Reizen           Boris Coronation Scene  (See his Onegin aria at age 90 on Youtube.)

13.John O'Sullivan       William Tell       "O muto asil."  (He must have shaken the chandeliers.)

14. Rosetta Pampanini     Adriana Lecouvreur    "Poveri fiori"

15. Aureliano Pertile      Andrea Chenier         "Come un bel di di Maggio"

16. Ewa Podles                Rinaldo             "Or la tromba"

17. Diana Soviero/Dominic Cossa    Pearl Fishers Duet

18. Renata Tebaldi      Tristan und Isolde      "Liebestod" (In Italian)

19. Luisa Tetrazzini      La Sonnambula          "Ah non giunge"

20. Marcel Wittrisch      Paganini aria

Scenes from two brilliant Andrea Chenier performances. The first is from La Scala 1949,under Victor de Sabata, and features Renata Tebaldi,Mario del Monaco,Paolo Silveri, and Fedora Barbieri.

 This is followed by a Venice 1972 performance under Paolo Peloso, and features Carlo Bergonzi,Raina Kabaiwanska, and Aldo Protti. (The final duet, by the way, is in the high key.) (74 min.)

Please note: My computer expert has advised me that it is much easier for you to read text if I do not use colors, since many individuals listen to the podcasts on various media other than on the internet.