One can hardly find adequate words to describe the intensity and the committment that the great Leonie Rysanek offered to her audiences. Here are some scenes from  Richard Strauss operas that show her to her very best:

Salome, Ariadne, Elektra, Aegyptische Helena, Die Frau Ohne Schatten

   I know these excerpts will thrill you as much as they thrilled countless audiences for so many years.

                    (71 min.)

A most exciting compilation that features some thrilling baritone top notes. Included are:

Piero Cappuccilli,Gino Bechi, Giangiacomo Guelfi, Cornell MacNeil (in photo), Sherrill Milnes, and Leonard Warren.

                                                      (75 min.)

   On November 16, 1959, the legendary Jussi Bjoerling made his return to the Met after a few years absence. The opera was Cavalleria Rusticana, and it starred Giulietta Simionato as a great Santuzza.
    Walter Cassell was Alfio, Thelma Votipka was Mamma Lucia, and Rosalind Elias was Lola. It was conducted by Nino Verchi.

                                            (50 min.)

To quote Dante (with one alteration):

    "Lasciate ogni speranza voi che ascoltate!"

       This is the party recording of all time, the second and third acts of Tosca, as recorded on Remington records in 1950. It was the dawn of the LP era, although this recording made things sem more like "Gotterdamerung."
          The Tosca is Vassilka Petrova, who paid for this recording, and the unsuspecting Eddy Ruhl and Piero Campolonghi complete the cast.
           If you are a purist and/or have any sensitive little animals in the room, I advise you not to listen;otherwise, please "enjoy" the great Petrova, whose high C's are almost as good as mine were.
                                   (69 stunning mintues)

Highlights from a glorious performance of Verdi's "Don Carlo" from Salzburg, 1960. The excellent cast features:

  Sena Jurinac, Regina Resnik, Eugenio Fernandi, Ettore Bastianini, and Boris Christoff, and is conducted by Nello Santi.

                                      (72 min.)

Volume Two of the Siegfried Finale Compilation.Included are:

   Gwyneth Jones and Manfred Jung  (Boulez)
   Florence Easton and Lauritz Melchior (Various)
   Astrid Varnay and Wolfgang Windgassen   (Keilberth)
   Rita Hunter and Alberto Remedios  (Goodall)
   Gertrude Grob-Prandl and Gunther Treptow  (Moralt) 
   Kirsten Flagstad and Set Svanholm  (Furtwangler)
                                 (74 min.)

Part One of two podcasts devoted to the great finale of Wagner's "Siegfried." Featured here are:

Anne Evans and Siegfried Jerusalem (in photo)  (Barenboim)
Hildegard Behrens and Reiner Goldberg   (Levine)
Martha Moedl and Ludwig Suthaus    (Furtwaengler)
Nadezda Kniplova and Gerald McKee   (Swarowsky)
Helen Traubel and Set Svanholm       (Stiedry)
Birgit Nilsson and Hans Hopf  (Kempe)
                                  (73 min.)

The third volume of selections as sung by the wonderful Marisa Galvany. I sincerely hope you will enjoy them as much as you have on previous podcasts. The selections are from:

Turandot, Medea in Corinto (photo with Charlie), Cavalleria Rusticana, Marin Faliero, Il Trovatore.
   The tenors are:   Harry Theyard (Turandot)
                            Jerry Lo Monaco (Trovatore)
                            Placido Domingo (Cavalleria)

                                      (70 min.)

By extremely popular request:
        More highlights from the career of dear Marisa Galvany, one of the most exciting and versatile sopranos. I hope you enjoy this podcast, and more to come soon. On this podcast we have scenes from:

           Nabucco, Salome, Ballo in Maschera, Medea

                                          (72 min.)

    Reminder: Volume One is in the archives on 12/28/07

A tribute podcast to the very first singers I heard in my youth. The great tenor,Aureliano Pertile, was featured on the 1929-1930 Aida and Trovatore sets (on 78 r.p.m. discs).
   In addition, one of the most exciting mezzos, Irene Minghini-Cattaneo, sang the Amneris and the Azucena. Sadly she died in a bombing of her villa in 1942.
    These recordings have special meaning to me, since they were the very first recordings of opera that I ever heard.

                                    ( 67 min.)

An exciting comparison of versions of the last scene of Bizet's "Carmen."
Included are the following artists:

Grace Bumbry/Jon Vickers
Regina Resnik/Placido Domingo
Rise Stevens/Mario DelMonaco
Rise Stevens/Giuseppe DiStefano
Giulietta Simionato/Franco Corelli (In Italian)
Ebe Stignani/Beniamino Gigli  (In Italian)
Irina Arkhipova/Mario DelMonaco (In Italian and Russian)
                              (70 min.)

  Live selections from the amazing career of Lucine Amara, whose voice to this day, remains as youthful and bright as when her professional career began, over 60 years ago. Selections are from:

Tosca,Tote Stadt, Oberon, Suor Angelica, Tales of Hoffman, Eugene Onegin, Aida,Turandot, Pagliacci, and Cavalleria Rusticana.

                                         (71 min.)

  I cannot apologize for feeling extremely "jaded" when I listen to this remarkable performance of my favorite opera. I saw this cast and the memories are still vivid. The cast includes:

Zinka Milanov
Mario del Monaco
George London
Blanche Thebom
Jerome Hines

     Conducted by Fausto Cleva              (68 min.)

Highlights from a truly magnificent performance of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" from a 1952 Bayreuth performance under Herbert Von Karajan.

Martha Moedl- Isolde
Ramon Vinay-Tristan
Ira Milaniuk-Brangaene
Hans Hotter-Kurvenal
Ludwig Weber- King Marke
Herman Uhde- Melot

                                                (72 minutes)

A tribute to four German tenors, famous for their work in operetta. Sadly, three of them met an early tragic death. They are:

Peter Anders  (1908-1954)
Josef Schmidt (1904-1942) (In photo)
Fritz Wunderlich (1930-1966)

Also, the great Richard Tauber (1891-1948)

                                   (68 minutes)

Two wonderful mezzos with names that often get confused:

Elena Nicolai (Bulgarian mezzo with a HUGE voice!)

Elena Nikolaidi (Greek mezzo with a luscious voice.)

       I hope you enjoy this podcast, especially if you are as big a mezzo fan as am I.                         (71 min.)

                                                        My best  Charlie

(Note:In my narration, the Macbeth aria comes AFTER the Don Fatale.)

Highlights from one of the greatest (in my humble opinion) Met broadcasts. This Simon Boccanegra features a stellar cast of:

Lawrence Tibbett,Elizabeth Rethberg, Giovanni Martinelli, Ezio Pinza, and, in his debut season, Leonard Warren, conducted by Ettore Panizza.
                                           (70 min.)

As I indicated, please feel free to request any specific performances and I will surely comply with your wishes.
                                                  My best always,
                                                          Charlie
    

Highlights from a Met Carmen of March 28,1936 featuring Rosa Ponselle, Rene Maison, Ezio Pinza and Hilda Burke
                  (The conductor is Louis Hasselmans)
                                      (70 min.)

In loving memory of divas who passed away too early. They are as follows:

Meta Seinemeyer (1895-1929)
Conchita Supervia (1895-1936)
Claudia Muzio (1889-1936)
Maria Cebotari  (1910-1949)
Kathleen Ferrier  (1912-1953)
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (1954-1996)
Mado Robin  (1918-1960)
Arlene Auger  (1940-1993)
Lucia Popp  (1939-1993)
Tatiana Troyanos (In photo) (1938-1993)
Maria Callas  (1924-1977)
                                           ( 71min.)