the a's of opera

i'm reading the companion-book to the cd-set 'the a to z of opera' -- and it's really...a book -- 760 pages

well, i just got into 'c,' but...a couple of interesting things, from 'a'

seemed like half the operas...in the 'a' section...were by handel -- what the heck -- either the guy...wanted to hog the front of the alphabet (in opera catalogues),...wrote a million operas,...or...was going through the book of myths and legends...in alphabetical order -- the library...of great figures...and stories -- and...exhausted himself...before he got to the end...or very far...or something

turns out, he wrote 46 operas, 12 of them...begin with the letter 'a'

all his operas...were opera seria -- all, in three acts -- i guess the guy was serious

other oddity...from the book -- from the 'a' section -- there are 23 operas...about alexander the great -- all of them,...written in the 18th century

made me wonder, what was going on, in the 18th century,...for there to be such a fascination with alexander -- on the popular...and high-art...levels

of course, we've got, in the renaissance, the 'rediscovery' of the classics -- of the greeks and the romans -- but....

the earliest of the operas listed...about alexander...is by handel -- 1726 -- 'alessandro' -- based on the libretto by paolo antonio rolli -- based on ortensio mauro's 'la superbia d'alessandro'

in the opera, the great rival sopranos faustina bordoni and francesca cuzzoni...got to play out their jealous enmity...on stage, vying for alessandro's affections -- in india

the other 22 operas about alexander are based on the libretto 'alessandro nell'indie,' by pietro metastasio

so,...the particular focus of the fascination with alexander...was his time in india -- specifically, his encounter with king porus -- east meets west -- vice versa, i guess -- west, meet east -- east, meet west -- how do you do -- nice to meet you

this painting, 'alexander and porus,' was done by charles le brun, in 1673 -- maybe it had a big effect

i'm sure there were a lot of writings too -- exhibitions?... -- talks...discussions...tours...the whole thing

handel composed the second of those 22 operas (based on metastasio's libretto 'alessandro nell'indie') -- 'poro' -- in 1731

the first one...appeared the year before -- composed by leonardo vinci -- relation? coincidence?

no mention, on the wikipedia page for vinci, of any relationship -- he was born in strongoli, near the ball of the foot, and was educated in naples -- higher up..., in the shin

the artist/inventor/...everything...was born...much higher up -- near the knee -- i think -- whatever it is,...way up there...in the boot...leg -- in vinci, of course, 44 kilometers west of florence

on our day in rome (the penultimate stop in the cruise for my father's 80th), our tour guide paolo took us to an exhibit of his machines -- da vinci's, not paolo's

a tank

a music machine, being played by my niece

the composer...was prolific -- and well regarded -- churned out 37 operas, in less than 12 years

he died at 40 -- apparently poisoned by a man...whose wife may have been having an affair with vinci

february -- the puccini month

i just realized, that boheme, butterfly and tosca...all debuted in february -- i wonder why

for the record, boheme debuted in 1896, with arturo toscanini, wielding the baton, in turin; butterfly, in 1904 -- milan; and tosca, in 1900, in turin

well, it's obvious, from the dates, that he's an olympian -- belongs with the gods...on mount olympus

community theater rigoletto

look what a little...moonlight can do

old friend jason budd...directed this rigoletto, for valley lyric opera, in sharpsville, pennsylvania

leonard warren,...and the curse of 'forze'

i just read that leonard warren, who sang that incredible rigoletto i was listening to, a couple of days ago, died, on stage -- he was 48

as a result -- or, maybe,...from even before -- 'la forze del destino' was considered a cursed opera -- pavarotti wouldn't touch it -- an opera director of 30 years, who provided sets and costumes to houses across italy, wouldn't touch those for 'forze'

la maledizione

movie about the signs of umpires

'gilda'

i didn't find leonard warren's cry of 'gilda,' when he finds out that roberta peters has been kidnapped, but i did find one, when his daughter from 14 years before, bidu sayao, was

jussi bjorling...was sayao's...amoroso

how would you like to see that...triangle...in action

leonard warren & roberta peters's rigoletto, 1959

this evening, on sirius radio, they were broadcasting the rigoletto from 1959, starring leonard warren and roberto peters -- fantastic

here are a few clips (just the audio), from that...same...show -- march 28

oops -- can't...include the videos, in this post

then,...the links

his 'pari siamo!'

then, again,...some...i can

figlia! mio padre!... quanto dolor

o veglia, o donna, questo fiore

they just...sing...together

his 'gilda,' after he discovers she's been kidnapped, is...blood-curdling...shiver...inducing -- i haven't found an audio,...on youtube

cortigiani, vil razza dannata

mio padre.. parla... siam soli... tutte le feste... piangi, fanciulla

chi è mai, chi è qui in sua vece? v`hotmail.com ingannato

look at gheorghiu & kaufmann, in action

too bad...it gets cut off, at the end

i think he and villazon are the two top tenors, today

what the heck -- here,...with her 'ex' -- before he was...'ex'

she's a powerhouse

i forgot florez

thomas hampson's art song project

thomas hampson, who was iago,...in the 'otello' i saw at the met, a year ago

and whom i saw sing american songs in akron, a little while before that

that's him, showing how to...'shake your sillies out'

actually, it was a technique...to get ready to sing -- straightening yourself up, i think -- maybe, grounding yourself -- creating...that straight...pipe

well,...he has a web-site (for his hampsong foundation), which is connected to the library of congress, and serves as a warehouse for songs from around the world, and, he said, it puts the songs in the context of their society and time

i just found out, he has a radio show, too -- of american songs

more importantly, though, he...begged me...to take a picture with him -- i succumbed

bjorling & de los angeles, in love -- in puccini love

maybe the best boheme...on record

then, from act 3

their butterfly...together

bartoli: qui la voce

wilhelmenia fernandez

i watched the movie 'diva,' last night -- for the first time in decades -- it became an instant cult-classic, when it came out, in '81, '82

the movie brought wilhelmenia wiggins fernandez to the attention of the world, with her great rendition of 'ebben? ne andro lontana' -- at the start of the movie

here are two more great performances

a very slow take...on 'patria mia' -- in luxor

a 'vissi d'arte'...that just floors you

she was musetta, in a 'boheme' with kiri te kanawa and placido domingo