WOW -- act two duet, traviata

act-4 duet from trovatore: fleming & hvorostovsky

the met's doing trovatore, tomorrow afternoon -- can be heard, live, on radio stations

spine-tingling,...tear-inducing...beverly-sills sempre libera

because i can't hear pandora in jordan (turns out, it can only be heard in the u.s., australia and new zealand), i'm resorting to i-tunes -- beverly sills's sempre libera came on, with nicolai gedda -- spine-tingling -- sills is splendid -- lets it all out -- i was writing an e-mail to a friend, and mentioned it

i went to youtube, to send it to her -- the one i hit...brought tears to my eyes

not the same recording -- the audio i heard...is from the series 'great operas at the met': the traviata volume -- the video is from 1976, at wolf trap -- don't know who her alfredo was

they're back

hvorostovsky's 'il balen'

the met just announced its lineup for next season, and they're doing 'il trovatore' in september, october and february, with the october 3 show kicking off their season's live screenings in movie theaters -- dmitri hvorostovsky will be their count di luna -- i love 'il balen'

i hope i'll be able to make it to cincinnati, in june, to hear stephen powell sing it

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

'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

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

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

the reigning queens

i think joyce didonato and sondra radvanovsky are the two...premier divas...of america

makes me wonder...if we have any...comparable tenors...or basses

n.y.c.o. rigoletto: wow!

just finished watching this 1988 'rigoletto'...from new york city opera -- what a trio -- and quartet -- with beverly sills, introducing...and narrating the behind-the-scenes...scenes -- who could ask for anything more

the sparafucile, mark s. doss, we are told by the broadcast announcer, is from cleveland, and the amazing gilda, faith esham, was born in portsmouth, ohio

he conducts the audience

last night (wednesday), i saw, on the silver screen, 'nabucco,' from la scala -- this has sent me on a...'va, pensiero'...trek

somebody on one of the youtube pages...recommended a muti-led rendition

here's the first one that turned up, with muti...conducting the audience

next, i saw...a little-longer version, with muti...introducing the singing, then...with the full applause, afterwards

finally, i saw a much-longer version...of the whole thing -- it's the encore...that gets muti speaking,...to the audience...and introducing the encore

the scala 'nabucco'...was fantastic, with leo nucci...in the lead -- what can you say about him -- all the principals...were resplendant, especially liudmyla monastyrska, as abigail -- what a powerful instrument she possesses

a year ago, she blew me away, from the first time she opened her mouth, as aida, from the met

i've yet to find a 'pensiero'...from the scala production

quanto dolor

for my friend duraid -- and those who have loved him

toscanini...leading rehearsal of traviata

for the last three days, i've been listening in the car to this cd i recently picked up at a library sale

it's shot up...to one of my all-time favorites

here's the first track -- 'coro di zingarelle'

it's such a delight...hearing the maestro...sing...hum...feel...cajole his way...through the piece, as he leads the orchestra -- the nbc symphony orchestra, in 1946 -- makes the masterpiece, so much more thrilling -- makes it soar...even more -- enhances my appreciation...many fold

here's 'di sprezzo degno' -- may not be...from the same cd -- doesn't match, exactly, the tracks on my cd

bastianini-scotto rigoletto duet

another...gilda-rigoletto duet...by renata scotto and ettore bastianini -- this one, from the first act -- just...amazing -- spine-tingling

interview with the cleveland rigoletto & maestro

an interview with our marco stella, the lead of this weekend's 'rigoletto' (he belongs to us now) -- preceded by an interview with the conductor, andrea raffanini

yesterday, we rehearsed in playhouse square's ohio theater, where the opera circle production will take place, saturday evening -- it was a lot of fun -- like seeing the opera, two, three times, in one night -- such...incredibly beautiful music -- and...what gorgeous singing -- the choral pieces, along with...all the rest

in honor of marco stella, here's ettore bastianini, one of marco's favorite baritones -- if not his favorite -- along with renata scotto, in the concluding scene of act two -- the full scene -- with...so much....

i love this scene -- the music, the singing, the...feeling -- feelings -- especially the feelings -- the depth of emotion -- gilda's high notes -- soaring -- flying -- in the sky, above everything -- 'piangi -- piangi -- piangi, funciulla -- fanciulla, piangi' -- love it -- actually,...love...doesn't...say it -- doesn't...say enough -- how deeply...it touches me -- rigoletto's 'non's -- 'mia figlia...mia gilda'

as soon as the pictures arrive in my e-mail (from my phone), i'll put them here

the swedish-italian connection; rigoletto comes to cleveland

yesterday (or was it the day before), i heard this incredible rendition of 'o soave fanciulla'...by jussi bjorling and renata tebaldi

all right -- i don't like the word 'incredible'...so much -- it was, certainly,...gorgeous -- amazing -- spine-tingling -- profound -- well,...you fill in...your own....

well, that combination...of a swede and an italian...connected, nicely, with my recent meeting of marco stella, the product of another...swedish-italian...duo -- marco's father is italian; his mother is swedish -- macro lives in gothenborg (pronounced 'yot'ti'bori' -- i think i got that right) -- and he's a very good guy

marco's in cleveland, to play rigoletto, on june 15, in a production by our local...opera circle -- in a return of opera to downtown cleveland -- playhouse square

i met marco, wednesday, after he performed with dorota sobieska, with her husband, jacek (yat'sek) on piano -- in a preview concert

i only caught part...of gilda's death scene...of the concert -- i'd come from the much-more-important concert of my nephew's fifth-grade...orchestra/band/chorus -- he plays the flute (like me, when i was a couple of years older than him)

speaking of...me -- my...musical...involvements -- i tried out for rigoletto's chorus -- joined in...two rehearsals -- couldn't cut it -- can't read the stitches on the fastball, couldn't hit the curve -- why, i couldn't even tell the difference between a fastball and a breaking pitch -- didn't know the count -- my batting stance...was a mess -- swinging...at all kinds of pitches -- fishing.... -- it was fun...fishing, though -- i'll keep on fishing

i might still get...to walk on stage

someone who will definitely be on the stage...is christina carr, as maddalena -- i met christina, a couple of months ago, at the wagner symposium, in walsh college

i just told marco about the great bjorling-tebaldi duet, and asked him if there's anything special -- in opera -- in history -- culturally -- between italy and sweden

'no,' he said, 'i think i'm writing that chapter'

i told him i was going to write this, and he...very helpfully...suggested a link...to a sample of his singing -- why didn't i think of that -- where does he get off,...telling me...how to do my job,...what to do

here goes

by the way, marco...loves his uncle bob

well,...here's another swedish-italian...coupling -- bjorling and pavarotti -- also from 'la boheme'

where do they get off...doing that duet

new bbc documentary 'the genius of verdi'