Sat, 28 March 2009
The great aria from Giordano's "Andrea Chenier." Riccardo Stracciari, Giuseppe Danise, Paolo Silveri, Heinrich Schlusnus, |
Wed, 25 March 2009
Many selections sung by Clara Butt, a very great artist: 1.Softly and gently (Elgar:The Dream of Gerontius)
Clara Butt was born in Southwick, Sussex. Her father was Henry Albert Butt who was a sea captain and who was born in 1848 in Saint Martin, Jersey, Channel Islands. He married Clara Hook in 1869, who was born in Shoreham, the daughter of Joseph Hook, mariner (1861 and 1871 census, in 1881 in New Shoreham workhouse). In 1880 the family moved to Bristol and Clara was educated at South Bristol High School, where her singing talent was recognised and encouraged. At the request of her headmistress, she was trained by the bass Daniel Rootham and joined the Bristol Festival Chorus, of which he was musical director. In January 1890 she won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music. In her fourth year she spent three months studying in Paris at the expense of Queen Victoria. She also studied in Berlin and Italy. She made her professional début at the Royal Albert Hall in London in Sir Arthur Sullivan’s The Golden Legend on 7 December 1892. Three days later she appeared as Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice at the Lyceum Theatre. Bernard Shaw wrote in The World that she ‘far surpassed the utmost expectations that could reasonably be entertained’ (14 December 1892). She returned to Paris and made further studies with Jacques Bouhy (the teacher of Louise Homer and Louise Kirkby Lunn) and later with the soprano Etelka Gerster in Berlin. Camille Saint-Saëns wanted her to study Dalila, but due to laws then extant forbidding the representation of biblical subjects on the British stage, nothing came of it. Soon she had acquired an excellent reputation, aided by her physical presence - she was 6 feet 2 inches tall. She made many gramophone recordings, often accompanied by the (uncredited) pianist Miss Lillian Bryant. She was primarily a concert singer and only ever appeared in two opera productions, both of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, in 1892 and 1920. Edward Elgar composed his Sea Pictures for contralto and orchestra with Clara Butt in mind as the soloist, and she sang at the first performance at the Norwich Festival on 5 October 1899, with the composer conducting. In 1900 she married the baritone Kennerly Rumford, and thenceforth often appeared with him in concerts. The couple eventually had three children two sons and a daughter. Besides singing in many important festivals and concerts, she was honoured with royal commands from Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, and King George V. She made tours to Australia, Japan, Canada, the United States and to many European cities. During the First World War she organised and sang in many concerts for service charities, and for this she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1920 civilian war honours. That year she sang four performances of Gluck's Orphee at Covent Garden under the baton of Sir Thomas Beecham. According to The Times she 'played fast and loose with the time and spoilt the phrasing' and it appears not to have been a success. Butt's three sisters were also singers. One of them, Ethel Hook, became a famous artist in her own right and made some superb solo recordings. In later life Clara Butt was dogged by tragedies. Her elder son died of meningitis while still at school, and the younger committed suicide. During the 1920s she became seriously ill of cancer of the spine, but her faith gave her the strength to continue working. She made many of her later records seated in a wheelchair. She died in 1936 at the age of 63 at her home in North Stoke, Oxfordshire, as a result of an accident she suffered in 1931. Sir Thomas Beecham once said, jokingly, that "on a clear day, you could have heard her across the English Channel". Not all serious musicians admired her booming contralto, which can be mistaken for a man's voice on some recordings, or her rather 'populist' approach to her art.
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Sun, 22 March 2009
The third volume of great artists in the act two scene from Puccini's Tosca. The artists are: Zinka Milanov(in photo),Giangiacomo Guelfi,Franco Corelli (73 minutes)
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Sun, 22 March 2009
Part Two of the great Scarpia/Tosca scene compilation. The artists are: |
Sun, 22 March 2009
The first of three exciting podcasts that feature the dramatic scene between Tosca and Scarpia in Act two, followed by the "Vittoria." |
Sat, 21 March 2009
Volume Two of the Manon Lescaut Act Two duet compilation: Maria Zamboni/Francesco Merli (Photo: Daniela Dessi and Fabio Armiliato) (63 min.) |
Sat, 21 March 2009
Part one of a compilation of the duet from Manon Lescaut Act Two. The pairs are as follows: Renata Tebaldi.Mario Del Monaco |
Fri, 13 March 2009
A series of recordings that were discovered at the St.Petersburg State Museum in Russia. The Russian artists,in order of presentation on the podcast are: Tenors: Boris Slovstov, Yvgenyi Vitting, Lev Klement'yev, Baritones:Nikolai Shevelyov, Oscar Kamionsky, Maximian Maksakov The International artists are: |
Mon, 9 March 2009
The second volume of "Casta Diva," featuring: Beverly Sills, Gina Cigna, Montserrat Caballe, Joan Sutherland, (74 min.) |
Sun, 8 March 2009
A collection of ensembles from 14 Verdi operas. Some of the world's most famous artists are included.The operas,in this order are: Nabucco, Giovanna D'Arco, Attila, Ernani, Ballo in Maschera, (74 min.) |
Sat, 7 March 2009
A tribute to one of the greatest all-time tenors, Alfredo Kraus (1927-1999).The live selections are from the following operas: Lucia,Traviata,Barbiere,Werther, Manon, Rigoletto, La Favorita, |
Fri, 6 March 2009
I have waited far too long to present a podcast that features one of the great artists of all time, Carlo Bergonzi. There is so much material, but at least this is a good start. Included are arias and songs from his earlier days, up to his singing at age 67, and when I saw a New York recital at around age 77, there was still plenty of voice! Werther, Luisa Miller, Le Roi D'Ys, Forza Del Destino (original version), Elisir D'amore, L'Arlesiana, Martha, Mefistofele, the Verdi Requiem, and several songs. (73 min.) |
Mon, 2 March 2009
A compilation of scenes from Giuseppe Verdi's "I Lombardi"(1843) |
Mon, 2 March 2009
Ten versions of the great "Liebestod" from Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde." Astrid Varnay,Helen Traubel, Lotte Lehmann, Nanny Larsen-Todsen,
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