Who made this all possible???

  May I pause and give credit for these podcasts to my buddy,James Jorden, of Parterre Box fame. He taught me how to podcast,videocast, and remain a legend in my own mind.

  If you wish to order any of the albums on the podcast page, click the selection(s) and James gets a commission from Amazon.That is at least something we can do to thank him for his special efforts..and great talent!

                                 Il tuo caro amico,   Charlie

Direct download: james_jorden.png
Category:general -- posted at: 3:02pm EDT

Simon Boccanegra 1950

  The great Leonard Warren stars in highlights from a 1950 Mexico City Simon Boccanegra.Also in the cast are Mario Filippeschi,Celia Garcia, Roberto Silva, and Ignacio Ruffino. The conductor is Renato Cellini   (62 min.)

Direct download: Warren_Simone_1950.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 6:09pm EDT

Renata Tebaldi  1949-1959

   The great Renata Tebaldi in scenes from Andrea Chenier,Manon Lescaut, L'Assedio di Corinto, Faust, and the Stabat Mater of Rossini (Inflammatus)                    (69 min.)

Direct download: Early_Tebaldi.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:24pm EDT

Operatic Oddities 2

A pot-pourri of some of the oddities I have previously pubished, but now all together to make you laugh,cry, or never talk to me again,etc. I think you will have fun..Great for parties!!!!  (74 min.)

Direct download: Oddities_Pot-pourri.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 4:29pm EDT

BUBBBBBBBBLES!!!!!
My dear friend just came back from Czechoslavakia where he coached and conducted Boheme act 3......but there was a slight mishap in the show...  Instead of SNOW falling at the end of the act...BUBBLES came down....and they were still coming down in the fourth act....Poor Bohemians...they could slip all over!!!!!!!!!!!!!
   They should have used Corn Flakes..They are  not slippery.
OI VEY...To run an opera house....   Charlie "Bubbles' Handelman
Direct download: bubbles-0004.jpg
Category:general -- posted at: 7:59pm EDT

Rest in Peace, beloved Cesare Siepi.

My all-time favorite basso passed away today.Cesare Siepi was the possessor of a luscious,velvety voice and on stage he was sensational.I saw him countless times and am so saddened at his passing. Here is a brief article about his  many successes.:

His international reputation was established in 1950, when Sir Rudolf Bing brought him to the Metropolitan Opera in New York to open the 1950 season as King Philip II in Don Carlos. He was to remain principal bass at the Met until 1974, adding roles such as Boris Godunov (in English) and Gurnemanz in Parsifal (in German), and singing all the major roles of the bass repertoire.

His also gave his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1950, and appeared there regularly until the mid 1970s.

In 1953 Siepi debuted at the Salzburg Festival with a legendary production of Don Giovanni conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler, staged by Herbert Graf, and designed by Clemens Holzmeister. He made an immediate impact in the title role of Don Giovanni which became perhaps his best known role, as it had been for the most famous Italian bass of the generation before, Ezio Pinza. This performance has been released on CD, and a 1954 mounting of this production was filmed in color and released in 1955.

Siepi was a frequent guest at the Vienna State Opera. In 43 performances he sang Don Giovanni, more often than any other singer in modern times except for Eberhard Waechter. In 1967 Siepi was Don Giovanni in a controversially received production staged by Otto Schenk and designed by Luciano Damiani that showed Mozart's masterpiece in the light of the commedia dell'arte, emphasizing the comic and ironic elements of this opera (conductor Josef Krips strongly opposed this production's concept). In Vienna he also sang Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Colline (La bohème), Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Padre Guardian (La forza del destino 1974 in a new production conducted by Riccardo Muti), Gurnemanz (Parsifal), Mephisto (Faust), Filippo II (Don Carlos), and Ramphis (Aïda). His final performance at the Vienna State Opera was in Norma (Oroveso) in 1994.

He was a particularly fine recital artist, especially in Community Concerts under Columbia Artist Management, and a sensitive interpreter of German Lieder. He married Met ballerina Luellen Sibley and they have two children.

Siepi enjoyed a long career, and performed regularly until the 1980s, including lead roles in the ill-fated Broadway musicals Bravo Giovanni and Carmelina. In addition to his studio recordings, there are also many live recordings of performances of his major roles.

According to the Italian Wikipedia, Siepi's formal farewell to the operatic stage occurred at the Teatro Carani in Sassuolo on 21 April 1989. Indeed, Capon's List shows live recordings made as late as 1988.

Siepi's last studio recording was as the old King Archibaldo in RCA's 1976 taping of Montemezzi's L'amore dei tre re, with Anna Moffo and Plácido Domingo in the cast.

    Rest in Peace, my beloved Cesare.

P.S. For my podcast on Siepi,see archives of May 3, 2006

 

Direct download: siepi.jpg
Category:general -- posted at: 9:40pm EDT

Met Jamboree  3/24/51

A Met benefit concert in 1951, featuring some of the artists who were singing at that time.They include:

Lucine Amara,Lily Pons, Dorothy Kirsten, Regina Resnik, Gladys Swarthout, Roberta Peters, Bidu Sayao, Rise Stevens, Giuseppe Valdengo, Brian Sullivan, Salvatore Baccaloni, with guest appearance by Jimmy Durante (tenor??baritone?? basso??)

Direct download: Met_Jamboree.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:27pm EDT

Renata Tebaldi's Farewell at La SCala, 1976

   The beloved Renata Tebaldi makes her final stage appearance at a recital in La Scala on May 23, 1976. No one could be as beloved as this great lady, and my life was made so much richer knowing her on and off stage. Bless her memory forever!   (60 min.)

Direct download: Tebaldi_Farewell.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:38pm EDT

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