Great mezzo Margarete Klose was born on 8/6/1899. Together with my favorite mezzo,Ebe Stignani, I am thrilled by the richness of her voice.

Category:general -- posted at: 3:14am EDT

Another great new tenor????????????????

Madre de Dios!!!!! Really superb....but can't we have ONE Tebaldi?????

 

This guy is superb.Go to YouTube for more!

Category:general -- posted at: 2:19pm EDT

   I flipped out at "Loris,ove sei" when I saw her live..A miracle!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 9:26pm EDT

Norman Treigle left us too soon, but his accomplishments were legendary. I saw him in almost everything he did at City Opera...Unforgettable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Direct download: Treig.Boris.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:13pm EDT

Scotto,Domingo (and MacNeil) sing this fabulous scene to thrill audiences at the Met!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 HEY!!! Lots of new stuff for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 3:07pm EDT

Despite the noise of the wind, my two favorite tenors, Piotr Beczala and Michael Fabiano sing "O sole mio" in outdoor park.

Who is the other guy?

 Two of the GREAT singers of today and wonderful guys!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 3:01pm EDT

What a night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

First time we heard them live. Corelli holds the all'armi forever and the ovation for her after the "D'amor" went on and on and on.

Direct download: Trov.61.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:38pm EDT

Dear Dmitri returned two years ago for Trovatore. However, things are not going too well now. We pray he may be able to fight his serious health problem. God bless him!!!!!!!

He came back in May and sang "Cortigiani" in the Gala It was labored, but he is a fighter.!

 

I always got the two kisses on the cheeks....I am glad I finally found out it was the custom!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 8:19pm EDT

Not always an easy voice to take..but a MONUMENTAL MAN!!!!  My friend became close with this great icon..In person the voice must have ben a sensation....a bit "white" in color...but nevertheless a great man.

 

He told my friend, "Del Monaco sings like a truck driver but McCracken is the TRUCK!!!!

Direct download: Pag_Mart..mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:11pm EDT

  For next season,Susi Sommers replaces Peretyatko. Audience must wear earplugs.

Even Larry Brownlee does not have a high T over L.

Direct download: sus.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:22pm EDT

  Piotr loved the late Nicolai Gedda so much. Once he put on a jacket in a Paris Faust, and the label inside read "Nicolai Gedda."

 Here is a tribute to Gedda, who always sang this so beautifully. I sang it for my mother (lower key) and she said, "Good...but I prefer Gedda!"

Category:general -- posted at: 3:57pm EDT

When dumb Met audiences laugh at some titles during act one Tosca (You know "Make her eyes black") I get mad.In Chicago once, Eva Marton was furious at the "Give her black eyes" title.

Well, I am a big crab. I feel like Jon Vickers in a Dallas Tristan (Dristan??) where he told the audience to "shut up."

   Hey, I am putting lots of stuff here..and even some old podcasts, which I am sure you forgot about!!!!!

Direct download: Vickers_shut.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:50pm EDT

Nice party for Willfred Pelletier with Licia and Tucker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 3:41pm EDT

Sad how intolerance kept Afro-Americans out of the Met until Marian Anderson in Ballo 1955.I was there!

I spoke to Camilla Williams, a friend of Virginia Zeani,shortly before she passed away. She was my first Butterfly at City Opera. A great voice and a lovely lady!

Direct download: Camilla.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:37pm EDT

I saw 5 of them in 1954!!!!!! Trouble with top notes but she did lose the C in the 50's....However for me the greatest singer in my life..saw her 88 times...well 88 and a half,as she fainted during a Verdi Requiem.

  She sounded so bad that night the "faint" might have been faked!

The tenor was Gino Penno..loudest top I ever heard, but did not last long. Blanche Thebom was Adalgisa and Cesare Siepi was Oroveso.

IN MIA MAN in last act is an example of her greatness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Direct download: MilanovNorma.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:29pm EDT

Great Caterina Mancini and Rolando Panerai in duet from La Battaglia di Legnano.She thrilled me since age 17 on Cetra recordings..I have a letter from her.

Direct download: 13_-__Battaglia_Manc.duet-1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:15pm EDT

    My dear buddy Diana Soviero in Romeo et Juliette.  The GREATEST

Direct download: Diana_Poison_aria.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:07pm EDT

  Some of us (including some great singers) LOVE this stuff...I hope you do also!!!!!

 

She is the 567th cover for Flute next yr.

 

 

 

 

Category:general -- posted at: 9:01pm EDT

One of the GREATS  Born 7/17/14.  Saw her many times!!

Category:general -- posted at: 8:51pm EDT

At least he has cojones grandes.........

Category:general -- posted at: 8:48pm EDT

  Mrs.Fischer-Dieskau (Who??) sure can sing Nabucco!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Direct download: 09_-_Varady_Nabucco.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:45pm EDT

   The great Piotr Beczala in a new DVD from Dresden w.Anna Netrebko. It is a gorgeous performance and I urge you to purchase it, since he gives me five bucks for every copy sold.

Category:general -- posted at: 8:26pm EDT

Semiramide aria as sung by the superb Elena Nikolaidi.

 

I will be doing some shorter audio clips, plus videos until I can do longer podcasts.  Enjoy!!!

Direct download: Nik.Sem..mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:20pm EDT

  She retired rather early. One of the most touching singers in my experience.

Direct download: 08_-_Cart_Mi_chiam.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:08pm EDT

One of our great stars    Born 7/23/1960

Category:general -- posted at: 5:59pm EDT

  Happy Birthday,Licia Albanese

 

Born 7/22/05..Made it to 105!!!

One of the greats of opera!

 

Category:general -- posted at: 5:54pm EDT

Met Opera singer.."The Drunken tenor"

Category:general -- posted at: 5:44pm EDT

Amazing new tenor from the Phillipines. I am so thrilled. This is an era of these types of tenors who can sing coloratura and sail up to high Z!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 10:09am EDT

I sure find them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Listen to the LOWS especially..NO ONE sings like this today!!!!! thrilled.

Category:general -- posted at: 11:15am EDT

Sign him up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Tim Jon Sarris...superb young tenor....

Category:general -- posted at: 6:36pm EDT

I always find them...superb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 6:01pm EDT

Dear friends,

  I have always felt so bad that Lybsyn cannot allow feedback from you, because if I allow comments, I get all sorts of ads from companies.

  My e-mail is Placido21@aol.com and I wish you could comment on any of my podcasts.I welcome your feedback.

  My best  Charlie

Category:general -- posted at: 10:44am EDT

My dear Piotr Beczala does a BIS. His Lohengrin will be out soon on DVD.I had given him the CD set of Gedda's only Lohengrin..He adored Gedda.

Nicest guy in the universe, and a great artist.

  Until I do the audios, I am sending lots of videos.,,,Have fun!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 2:15am EDT

Videos

Category:general -- posted at: 2:12am EDT

Dmitri has cancer and it does not look good. We adore him.This is last month....I wish him love....

Category:general -- posted at: 2:02am EDT

Luciano...Perche mangia tanto????

Category:general -- posted at: 1:46am EDT

Riccardo Stracciari,Incredible voice..My favorite baritone.

Category:general -- posted at: 1:43am EDT

Gorgeous new voice..From S.Africa

Category:general -- posted at: 10:12pm EDT

p>6/26/1902  Made it to 104.

Category:general -- posted at: 10:06pm EDT

I am fixing the site..Here is darling Virginia...my "sister"

Category:general -- posted at: 7:57pm EDT

Hi again.

  I see by the stats you are still with me. Until I get those glitches fixed, I am sending clips and also you can use the archives and listen to past material.

 Sorry for the delay. Libsyn made some changes and I must adapt.   Love  Charlie

Category:general -- posted at: 1:30pm EDT

I miss him at the Met!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Great guy! Some people do not like the squillo,as he tells me..Tough!!!!!

 

 I Lombardi aria

Direct download: 09_-__Giordani_Lombardi.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:27pm EDT

My old buddy...Sam Ramey. I asked him if Sam Jr. sang Mefistofele...Probably RAP!!!!!!

Direct download: 02_-_Mef.Ramey1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:15pm EDT

Joseph Calleja met me for the first time once. Said,"Are you Charlie??You are more famous than I am"......big hug...I always remind him of this.

Direct download: Licitr.Tur.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:09pm EDT

Until I get things worked out again,here are some old clips:The first is my dear Piotr Beczala Prince Igor Aria.

Nicest guy in captivity!!!!!! (He actually reads my posts on Facebook)

Direct download: Beczaligor.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:44pm EDT

Stats still show people are still here...although I have not been lately..Good....scroll down all over and listen to old stuff..there is plenty until I work out the glitches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 12:15am EDT

Dear friends (I hope),

Please forgive me, but the glitches are killing my podcast files. Hope to get back soon.

Love   Carlo Magno Traditore

Category:general -- posted at: 6:30pm EDT

Hi...Libsyn is changing format so have to adjust to it. Sorry for delays but will be back to bore you soon.....Love  Charlie

Category:general -- posted at: 8:28am EDT

Jennifer Zarchy's HERO>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Direct download: Napuko31.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:36pm EDT

My darling Virginia Met 1967 debut..My favorite part of the opera.

Not easy for her at 91.....She is my "family."

Bad knees...never wore knee pads (died 365 times plus rehearsals) since she felt knee pads placed her "out of character."

Direct download: Virg.alfredo.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:57pm EDT

While I am working on the glitches, will post some earlier files.Here is the fabulous Hans Hotter in a section of Siegfried Act 3

Direct download: Hot__sieg.act_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:44pm EDT

Hi..Sorry for delay.......will be back as soon as possible...glitches!!!!!!

 

Non mi abbandonare

 

ch

Category:general -- posted at: 1:44pm EDT

FLU GOT ME>>BACK LATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 7:44pm EDT

If you heard her live...you would need oxygen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 2:20pm EDT

Have fun with the great Sue Hassell!! Fourth riddle...  Why am I here??????????????????

Category:general -- posted at: 2:08pm EDT

Ed Rosen,Vinnie Titone, Marty Broms, and Carlo Handelmaniac

Category:general -- posted at: 1:13pm EDT

I never forgave Ed for those HUGE high notes.  Farewell, mio amico......My tears flow.   It came out twice...once in honor of Pinza/Ruffo

Category:general -- posted at: 12:56pm EDT

We just lost Ed Rosen, one of the great collectors and live tape distributors.Rest in Peace.

Category:general -- posted at: 12:49pm EDT

Never came here....Carteri is the greatest..and he makes you cry  12/14/60

Category:general -- posted at: 11:13pm EDT

pupil of the Neapolitan tenor Fernando De Lucia (1860–1925), Thill made his opera debut at the Paris Opéra in 1924, and he continued to appear there and at the Opéra-Comique for several decades, undertaking a busy schedule of performances.

In addition, he sang throughout Europe and in South America, receiving the acclaim of audiences and critics at La Scala, Milan, the Rome Opera, the Verona Arena, the Vienna State Opera, the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. He also gave 14 performances, of seven roles, across two seasons (1931–1932), at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City; but he had difficulty fitting in with the unfamiliar American cultural environment, experiencing health difficulties, and he was less well received by the Met's patrons as a consequence.

His voice began to show signs of decline during the 1940s and he retired from the stage in 1953. He died in 1984 in Draguignan.

Chronologically, Thill's operatic repertoire ranged from Gluck to Puccini and embraced works by Gounod, Massenet, Berlioz, Meyerbeer, Wagner, Verdi and Leoncavallo, among others. He also gave song recitals and was a frequent visitor to the recording studio. He cut many 78-rpm discs of French, Italian and German operatic arias and duets, and participated in the recording of an entire performance of Massenet's Werther by French Columbia Records. The finest of his 78s, dating from 1927 to circa 1940, display the gleaming tone of his voice at its superlative best, as well as demonstrating his spotless taste, stylish phrasing and pellucid diction.

Thill also appeared in several film clips and French-language motion pictures, including Louise (1939), based on Gustave Charpentier's opera. It was directed by Abel Gance and featured Grace Moore as Thill's co-star. Privately, Thill, while a dedicated musician, enjoyed a convivial off-stage lifestyle, and he later blamed his propensity to burn the candle at both ends for shortening the span of his vocal prime.

 

Video came out twice................................so it is worth listening again.

Category:general -- posted at: 2:46pm EDT

 

Category:general -- posted at: 2:43pm EDT

Crying for her all night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Loved her so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 10:57pm EDT

  Piangero per sempre

Category:general -- posted at: 4:04pm EDT

One day in my Spanish class, a brilliant,lovable student named Rosario (Rusty) Salemi,knowing I loved opera, said "My aunt sings opera." To myself, I thought, "big deal...probably someone named Elsie Schlachermeyer." No..It was Elizabeth Carron, who just passed away,and with my tears now flowing, I remember her Butterfly, and her Regina of Blitztein (created Miss Birdie.),and how we met and always had so much fun on the phone over the years.
She was Italian,by the way, and I did meet her hubby, who played tennis at age 98!!!!! She sang some Mimi with Ed Rosen at a party..voice still there..HATED Zerbinetta.......but did a lot...except that her family choices did not let her sing more....even in Scala......her choice....... She is on the Callas Medea,by the way.
  I can't stop crying...just so sad...but at 94.. good life...fun lady...........They are leaving us.....but never forgotten.   Clips on Youtube

 With my heart so full for her..........Charlie

Category:general -- posted at: 3:56pm EDT

To cry forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 11:02am EDT

After last season....she could wipe them out if she was 90......   1982 Frankfurt.

 

MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Direct download: 02_-_Nils.Last_El..mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:54am EDT

Ran into him before Boheme Sat. No one as sweet and lovable....plus that great voice..His idols are Gedda and Wunderlich..FIGURES!!!!!

Direct download: 01_-_Piotr_wer.wav
Category:general -- posted at: 10:43am EDT

Turkeys in my Operatic Existance

Is this not a poifekt day to use that "Broadway" expression??
Here are mine:

1. Angela Gheourghiu reading the Traviata letter in Braille

2. Except for great high C's, the career of Kurt Baum

3. New Zealand horrid tenor Reginald Byers forgetting to come in offstage during Galvany's "Sempre Libera" and she also told me his dentures fell down the toilet bowl..GIUSTIZIA!!!!!!

4. Cannot list all the La Puma Opera turkeys...just maybe the chorus lady in Aida wearing a watch..(Memphis time?????)

5. Some jerk who had no business singing Ramfis at an early age, cracking on "Folgore, MOOOORTE!"  (But I made up for it later on and even sang the RE the same night)

6. Tenor Mario Ortica,ruining Tebaldi's Aida....After "Vicino a sol," I think his madre only applauded.

7.Some Met dude backstage pulling the Walkure act 2 final curtain BEFORE the great James Morris uttered his last words....It went back up..too late...Did he kill anyone with his speer?

8. Tenor Jon Crain at City Opera in 1954 HUGGING Tosca at "Morto..morto..." I guess he forgot to read the libretto.

9. The greatest air raid siren in history....The Milanov high C at the end of "Ma dall'arrido" at Marian Anderson's debut. NY Fire Dept.thought it might replace their usual sirens. (See how fair I am about my all-time favorite singer.??)
10.Not having Ebe Stignani at the Met

   FELICE TURKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Love you all




















 
Category:general -- posted at: 12:45pm EDT

One night at the old Met,the rope that held us,that really contained 50 people instead of maybe 10...we let our friends in at 7....BROKE...and we all fell on the pavement..

 

I am still laughing....we were absolutely hysterical!

Category:general -- posted at: 12:37pm EDT

I thought she was smarter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 12:11pm EDT

Dear Paul was 19.We sang a lot together.......We never dreamed he would become an ICON!!!!! He did a few Bohemes last yr..Alc/Benoit.  A sweet guy with several serious tragedies in his life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 11:51am EDT

Leech was so good.Came over once to get a tape of Don Sebastien. Lorengar had wide vibrato..but a treasure!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 11:45am EDT

I saw him in his farewell tour..a GOD!!!!!

Direct download: 01_-_Forza_Gigli1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:37am EDT

Sounded MIKED live...amazing resonance!!!

Direct download: 01_-_Cossotto-Condotta.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:31am EDT

My beloved Virginia just turned 91. I told her that her knees would not be so bad after 645 Violettas if she wore knee pads.       OR....ask to die on a mattress (or on a bad tenor)

Category:general -- posted at: 10:40am EDT

If you have your towels ready, here is Renata's return to New YOrk.

 

Hard for me to take...since she was the kindest person imaginable!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 10:32am EDT

Michael knows I think he is Franco 2...Different of course, but GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Great guy!!

Category:general -- posted at: 10:24am EDT

Hans Hotter.....Forgot who Erda is..Oh well..She is no help anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Direct download: 01_-_Hotter_Sieg.act_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:19am EDT

Repeats of some old stuff for new people and oldies who forgot!!!!!!

 

Tebaldi,Tucker..(Scarpia is dead)

 

Placido21@aol.com    Can I do this?

 

She would not DARE scream at me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She was my second mommy!!!!

Direct download: 02_-_Tosca_1956_act_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:10am EDT

Love you Anna...but Tucker Gala..You have NO CLUE!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 7:31am EDT

   If you laugh...it means you have no taste...Note tenor PASSAGGIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 4:23am EDT

     NEXT:     ELEKTRA???????????????????????

Category:general -- posted at: 4:17am EDT

Her attacks were FRIGHTENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

\\

Category:general -- posted at: 10:43pm EDT

11/14/ 1926..She knew she had little time left....The most BELOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 1:27am EDT

GLITCHES//will fix soon...non mi abbandonare..

Category:general -- posted at: 2:04pm EDT

 Handelmania Madness

For new members, or for older ones who want more torture, here is a reminder of the first nutty clips I made, before I became normal..no CRACKS!!!

 http://handelmania.com/mad.htm

Category:general -- posted at: 11:38pm EDT

A note from Charlie

In the nine years I have had the pleasure of sending you material, it has been a great success..over one million and a half "hits."

You see the archives on the podcast page, but often it is difficult to remember where things are, although I keep my own records.

However,some of the compilations are hard to locate, so if I do some repeats, I am sure you will understand, and even enjoy things all over again.

I wish I could allow comments, but as I have explained, if you allow for them, I get ads for all kinds of commercial products. You are always invited to send comments and/or suggestions to my e-mail address at Placido21@aol.com.

 Thanks for your great support and have a look at teenage me with my adopted mommy.

"Vat?" You like my pianissimi?"

Category:general -- posted at: 12:06am EDT

Carmen and my birthday

On Jan.21, 1956, my 20th birthday, this Carmen w.Rise Stevens,Giuseppe Di Stefano,Robert Merrill,Lucine Amara cond.by Max Rudolf was to precede a surprise birthday party for me on the next day. However (listen to end of act 3),you hear Rise say "put my arm down,"(1:46:24) which dear Pippo broke, and the Rise Stevens music club meeting,scheduled for the next day...to get me out of the house while my friends assembled,was cancelled! PANIC!!!!

  My ma convinced me to go see Rise when she came from the hospital, and happily I was able to arrive home and shockingly had the biggest surprise imaginable!

  I was so surprised, but there was one person who was too busy to show up..her name was Renata Tebaldi! I would have fainted!

  Well,despite Pippo, it turned out well, but it was a close call.

Direct download: carmen56.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:06am EDT

We lost this wonderful artist at age 51.He died of cancer this week. I saw his superb Tannhauser last season.  So sad!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 1:35am EDT

  We spoke every birthday! NO ONE made me happier on that birthday day.....The "Verismo voice" and the love of life. Heaven must have become a more beautiful place on Sept.8, 2014, when she entered.

Category:general -- posted at: 12:52am EDT

Happy birthday to dear Irina Rindzuner,

a good friend & fine voice.

China looks rather strange!

Category:general -- posted at: 6:51pm EDT

  I try to spread the word about new talent.Here is tenor Jamison Walker, one of my zillions of Facebook buddies.

Category:general -- posted at: 6:05pm EDT

Nice to find superb young singers, and here is one of them!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 3:25pm EDT

I play Michael's high C on "rendero" as much as I play Corelli's. Mike is a great guy.

One of our great young tenors!!!!!!

...and remember whom I have seen in my operatic life!!!!!!!

Please but the new Poliuto DVD, as I get 5% of the sales. 

Seriously, it is a great Fabianolous DVD!!

Category:general -- posted at: 1:22am EDT

https://www.youtube.com/user/MrFriendofopera. Good stuff!

Click PLAYLISTS.

When scrolling ends,

Click last item for more.

 

 

 

Category:general -- posted at: 8:31am EDT

A

Proclaimed a “gifted young tenor” by the New York Times, Joshua Guerrero returns to the Los Angeles Opera in his role debut as Macduff in Macbeth with Plácido Domingo as Macbeth and James Conlon conducting, a role in which he will debut at the Zurich Opera with Gianandrea Noseda conducting. Mr. Guerrero makes his London debut at the English National Opera as the Duke of Mantova in Jonathan Miller's famous production of Rigoletto. In concert, he will tour Europe with Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolivar Orchestra singing Beethoven's 9th Symphony and sing Haydn's

 
    • Photo: Gabriel Guzman
      Photo: Gabriel Guzman
    • Photo: Gabriel Guzman
      Photo: Gabriel Guzman
    • Photo: Gabriel Guzman
      Photo: Gabriel Guzman
    • Photo: Gabriel Guzman
      Photo: Gabriel Guzman

Buy Online

 
  • rigliano & William M. Hoffman: The Ghosts of Versailles
◀ Back

Category:general -- posted at: 11:56am EDT

Happy Birthday to a marvelous soprano.Her Met Amelia was a joy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Hope she returns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Category:general -- posted at: 12:59pm EDT

OK..So his German was not like Svanholm's.

Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am EDT

Mario in the Limo (circa 1955)
Category:general -- posted at: 12:26am EDT

On the great Mario Del Monaco's birthday on 7/27 (1915), here, in outline form, are some recollections:


1.November 1951.My first opera.EXPENSIVE orchestra seat at 7.50. I remember very little, except the curtain opened, and a guy with WHITE TEETH came forward..First singer in my LIFE!


2. Oct.31, 1956  Callas debut.(bad!).  Act two (in those days in was act 4) he sings one low-lying line in the duet: "No,si vil non sono!"  I swear to this day it seemed he was singing that "innocent" line in my poor EAR, but one night he did say "Hello,boys" when he came out the stage door in my poor EAR again!


3. A friend supered in Otello.In act three he scared everyone with "Anima mia, ti malediiiico!" My friend's poor EAR!!!!!!!


4.Samson et Delilah 1958 matinee.(Rise and Mario looked even better than Vic and Hedy).End act 2...."No,I sing "TRAHISON" not off stage." (In his mind!)  It is a matinee....He ran out of the tent.....remember it was a BROADCAST!!! and sang it in front of the stage!  You big HAM!!!!  (Grazie a Dio!!)


5. Hard for him to sing over the passaggio with that voice..(Celeste AidOOOO) on F....but tried to sing piano and with Zinka did sing high B flat pp with her at end of Aida. He apologized once to Magda in Francesca rehearsal when he entered too LOUD...but at least he was aware of his shortcomings.


6. As years passed, the middle became "white," especially after his motorcycle accident, but last video is 1976 and the top remained great..but his "Riders to the sky" is disaster...and his live Fedora entrance,before the aria,  has someone saying something like "OI VEY," or something..I think it might be "Ma no!!!!! (It was with Magda.)


7. He got very sick, and was on Dialysis for a few years,until a rather early death..in his 60's.


8. He gave 1000% every night..Never faked it.....we adored him so much! When he came down those stairs in act one Chenier (our first Chenier..we sneaked in to dress rehearsal) and full voice started the Improvisso..we went nuts!


9. Gala once around 1960...Act One Butterfly..Why the white hair? Pinkerton didn't retire!


10. Called Franco a "goat" but they later made up. (It's in the Corelli book.)


11. He hardly did Manrico..but at my first Trovatore, he sang it. I saw him 40 times..Never will forget him.God Bless!!!!

 

Some of the lines are cut off..I just could not fit it all, but you get the idea....

Category:general -- posted at: 12:22am EDT


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