a mesmerizing orfeo

i watched the met's orfeo, yesterday -- first time i watch the whole thing -- i was mesmerized -- stephanie blythe was just incredible

i don't know what i just pulled here,..from youtube -- probably,....

wow -- great cecilia

gruberova: qui la voce....

listening to the puritani from the met, i remembered this amazing 'qui la voce' by edita gruberova

bartoli: qui la voce

nine-year-old dutch girl...belts out 'mio babbino caro'

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julia novikova

where's she been,...all my life

the amazing hui he

look what love can do...to you: lacrime

leading off, enrico caruso -- what a great lead-off hitter

batting second, beniamino gigli -- look out, though,...he's got a gentle touch -- he can lay one down

batting third, jussi bjorling -- maybe he should be batting cleanup, but...i'm kind of batting them, by age

cleaning up, our female...member -- our token female -- nana mouskouri -- hey, we need a woman, don't we, to clean up

batting fifth, mario lanza -- man, i'd like to have him...on my team -- he was...batting third, but then i saw...gigli...at the other end of the dugout

in fact,...there's lanza again, stealing second -- stealing the scene

next up, fritz wunderlich -- our switch-hitter, swinging...with a german bat

batting seventh, luciano -- he's touchin' all the bases

next up, domingo -- remember, he pronounces his name...plathido (as in throw)

and batting ninth, josep carreras

wow -- what a lineup -- how'd you like to have those guys...in the bottom of your order

on the bench, we've got some youngins -- all,...from the latin leagues

the king of the high seas...can hit 'em out of the park -- and here,...he sails around the bases...twice -- a rare feat, especially nowadays

rolando's also going around the bases twice -- what's going on here

and look -- one of our regulars, doing double-duty, waving ramon vargas in from third

here's marcelo alvarez, back when he was with an argentinian minor-league team -- no hesitation step...from the kid

good guys...to have on the bench

and we're back to the top of the order

what a tremendous 'di provenza': renato bruson

over dinner, yesterday, after the butterfly in pittsburgh, my opera buddy sheila shared that verdi was disowned (or the like) by his father, which made me think...that's the source for this song -- the source for the sentiment...behind the song

anna moffo's lucia

how could i have not put this on, before

from a 1971 film version

looks/sounds...like a studio recording, of the whole scene

another filmed version (1964)

finally, this sounds like the recording i have (on her debut recordings cd), but...without the 'spargi' portion

here's a 'spargi d'amore pianto'

i'd like to get the entire...16-minute, 15-second...'dolce suono'...from 'la bellissima'...on here -- i need to learn to do that -- ...dive in

so thaaaat's casta diva

cruising youtube over the months, i've come across a lot of casta divas, and didn't know what it was -- it looked important -- it's come up, for many singers, as if it's a test -- gauge -- of a singer's...capabilities...or something

well, my friend myron gave me a cd of 'norma,' a week ago, and i've been listening to it, in the car, since then, and...the first track...was sooo...hauntingly beautiful -- or is it, beautifully...haunting -- that, today,...i looked on the back of the cd

'casta diva'

here's...the version i've been listening to -- maria callas -- 1960 -- with la scala's orchestra -- tulio serafin, conducting

i attended a very good production of 'norma' by our local company opera circle, a couple of months ago, but...wasn't as struck...by this piece of music, then

nucci...at the piano: di provenza

singing...one of my favorites -- i intend to learn this,...real soon -- at the top of my list

'addio' encore: marie mclaughlin & her glyndebourne traviata

how felicitous

during the quiz portion of yesterday's met broadcast of 'don carlo,' the superb soprano diana damrau, for her...quiz, played a line...from marie mclaughlin's violetta -- 'gran dio!...morir si giovine' -- she said, watching the glyndebourne production of 'traviata,' at the age of 12,...hooked her on opera

so i went to youtube -- to my favorite piece ('teneste la promessa' -- anna moffo's rendition of which...made me fall in love with her) -- mclaughlin's...is incredible

there's also, there, the entire...glyndebourne production -- i've seen/heard...the first act -- looks...magnificent -- just...gripping

addio, del passato

on this day...in 2006, anna moffo passed away -- it was her rendition...of this...fitting song...that hooked me