Sat, 29 October 2011
The famous tenor,Jon Vickers, turns 85 on Oct.29. Here are some scenes from Walkure,Parsifal, and Peter Grimes, plus a little "bonus" to celebrate his great career (60 min.) |
Wed, 26 October 2011
Scenes from Elektra featuring the remarkable Birgit Nilsson. We begin with her very first Elektra on May 14, 1965 under Berislav Klobucar, from Stockholm. In the cast are Berit Lindholm and Barbro Ericson. This is followed by a performance from 1966 under Thomas Schippers with Leonie Rysanek, and finally the last opera she ever did-also Elektra, from1982 in Frankfurt,under Ralf Weikert. (73 min.) Let us celebrate the career of a "miracle" in the world of opera. |
Tue, 25 October 2011
A compilation of material as sung by the superb French tenor, Alain Vanzo (announced) (60 min.) |
Sun, 23 October 2011
Katharine Goeldner sang her first Met Jayne Seymour in Anna Bolena last Friday. This is a magnificent voice and a consummate musician and artist. If you go to Youtube, you will hear a Waltraute scene to DIE FOR!!! I finally saw a show where everyone was superb,and you know what a crab-apple I am!! Charlie
Category:general
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Sun, 23 October 2011
GO to the Youtube page of soprano Angela Meade!! Her first Anna Bolena on Friday was stunning....The voice is big and rich, with an easy top...but the astounding thing for this Milanov lover was that she has pppppianissimi from HEAVEN!!! She received HUGE ovations, and I say that she will be our newest diva star!!! Hey Charlie...Tell us what you think!
Category:general
-- posted at: 5:39pm EDT
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Thu, 20 October 2011
The 75 year old Carlo Bergonzi returns to New York in 1999. This recital is one that exemplifies his incredible artistry, his joy in the phrasing of songs and arias,and in total, he has remained one of the icons in opera history. (68 min.) |
Thu, 20 October 2011
Happy birthday to my darling Virginia Zeani,one of the greatest divas in opera history. (No fooling.). In this tribute we present arias from Mefistofele, Turandot, Adriana Lecouvreur,Traviata, Lucia, Don Carlo, Maria di Rohan, Thais, Zelmira, La Boheme, and the Elisir duet with Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, her beloved husband. (72 min.) |
Thu, 20 October 2011
Camilla Williams, now 92, was my first Butterfly when I was about 16. Virginia Zeani's birthday is Oct.21,(tribute coming later) and she told me they were friends from Bloomington,Indiana, where they both taught. Williams had called her on her birthday, and I was so happy to remember her.I called her and told her I would do a little podcast for her. What a sweetheart;so sad that prejudice did not allow her and other Afro-American artists to appear at the Met for so long. I know you will enjoy this and go to Youtube for some of her material. (14 min.) |
Tue, 18 October 2011
A wonderful Traviata from 1990 under Rico Saccani featuring Diana Soviero, the dear late Jerry Hadley, and Brian Schexnayder..(72 min.) Diana and I go back 35 years.Remember,I do not love her because I know her. Many of us love singers onstage FIRST, and in some cases we get to know them (and are even MORE critical.) |
Tue, 18 October 2011
An abridged Ernani from Florence, 1957, under Dimitri Mitropolous. The exciting cast includes Mario Del Monaco,Anita Cerquetti, Ettore Bastianini, and Boris Christoff. (70 min.) |
Sun, 16 October 2011
An abridged performance of Boito's Mefistofele, featuring Norman Treigle, one of the greatest singing actors in opera history. Julius Rudel conducts this 1970 performance which features also Gilda Cruz-Romo and Robert Nagy. I heartily recommend the book as pictured in the photo. (68 min.) |
Sat, 15 October 2011
Hi all, As of this moment there have been 938,450 hits on this site over 5 plus years. I wish to thank you all,in all corners of the planet, for your support. I hope some of you (or maybe ALL) have become better acquainted with the great treasures that the vocal art affords to us mortals. My best, Charlie P.S. For those of you who never learned Italian from opera (like me), the photo reads: "A simple word that comes from the depths of my heart."
Category:general
-- posted at: 1:40am EDT
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Thu, 13 October 2011
An abridged performance of Salome from Cincinatti, 1982 under Christopher Keene. Marisa Galvany(who else?) is the Salome, with William Justus,Ticho Parley, Rosalind Elias, and Michael Talley (68 minutes) Please be aware of the fact that the lady in the photo is NOT Marisa Galvany. |
Tue, 11 October 2011
Despite some of the extra-hype, how could we deny the incredible voice of Luciano Pavarotti, born Oct.12, 1935...We lost him all too soon. When he sang, "Nessun dorma." Bless his memory!
Category:general
-- posted at: 12:50pm EDT
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Sun, 9 October 2011
A Queen of Spades performance in Italian from Florence in 1952.The conductor is Arthur Rodzinsky and the cast includes David Poleri, Sena Jurinac, Ettore Bastianini, and Gianna Pederzini. (67 min.) |
Sat, 8 October 2011
A special birthday tribute (Oct.10) to the great soprano Leyla Gencer. Included are scenes from Anna Bolena, Saffo (Pacini), and Roberto Devereux. I have always considered her one of the most interesting and versatile artists. (67 min.) (Photo is from 1972 when I was young.) |
Sat, 8 October 2011
A brief scene from Act Three of Parsifal (with Placido Domingo), sung by the great basso Rene Pape. I thought you might like to hear a sample of his superb new Wagner CD. |
Wed, 5 October 2011
Highlights from a brilliant 1954 Scala Lucia under Herbert Von Karajan. The incredible Maria Callas is in great voice, and Giuseppe Di Stefano, Rolando Panerai, and Giuseppe Modesti complete the cast (72 min.) |
Wed, 5 October 2011
Highlights from the exciting Cetra Soria Aida, recorded in the studio in 1951.The conductor is Vittorio Gui, and the cast features Caterina Mancini, Giulietta Simionato, Mario Filippeschi,Rolando Panerai, and Giulio Neri (71 min.) |
Sun, 2 October 2011
Highlights from a fine performance of Don Pasquale from 1940 under Gennaro Papi. The cast includes Salvatore Baccaloni,Bidu Sayao, Nino Martini, and Frank Valentino (73 min.) |
Sat, 1 October 2011
Highlights from a fine performance of Eugene Onegin under Valery Gergiev from 2007. The cast includes Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Renee Fleming, Ramon Vargas Sergei Aleksashkin, and Elena Zaremba (68 min.) |