This is the farewell of the great Shirley Verrett, born May 31, 1931. Words cannot express how I adored this great lady!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Omar Suitner leads a glorious cast in this Tannhauser. Featured are Wolfgang Windgassen, Leonie Rysanek,Eberhard Waechter, Martti Talvela, and Barbro Ericson.  (74 min.)

  This is an interesting change from the usual Cavalleria. I think you will enjoy this Cav from  the Royal Opera in Stockholm in 1963 under Herbert Sandberg. It features a favorite of mine, Barbro Ericson, with Ragnar Ulfung, Erik Sundqvist, Birgit Nordin (Lola), and Margareta Bergstrom (Mmma Lucia.)

  I discovered Olivia as Seymour in Bolena..She later changed to soprano.I adore this lady so much as a friend and what a powerhouse of a singer she was!!!!

 For my dear friend Olivia Stapp on her May 30 birthday. One of the sweetest ladies and a fabulous artist!!!!

On the occasion of his May 30 (1919) birthday, let us remember one of the most phenomenal singing actors in the history of opera. He was a veritable DYNAMO in a variety of roles. Some physical problems cut his career short, but we had many years of this great man!!!

A superb performance of Charpentier's Louise from 1999 San Francisco under Jonathan Summers. Featured are Renee Fleming, Jerry Hadley, Samuel Ramey, and Felicity Palmer. Sound is somewhat distant, since the performance was recorded in the theatre, but it is quite listenable. (Look, we have treasures galore in our collections because of those sneaky "pirates."

 Under the direction of conductor Giuseppe Morelli, I present highlights from Tosca, featuring Virginia Zeani, Placido Domingo, and Piero Francia. This must have been transferred to disc, and there are a few small skips.  ENJOY!!

  Here is part two of that glorious Rome Don Carlo.

PLEASE send me any comments, ideas,etc. to Placido21@aol.com. Remember,we cannot use the comment section of this site because it becomes invaded with ads.

An all-star Don Carlo from Rome,1968 under Fernando Previtali, with Leyla Gencer, Bruno Prevedi, Fiorenza Cossotto, Nicolai Ghiaurov, and Sesto Bruscantini. (Act 5 version)    PART ONE