There are so many incredible recordings available now that it seems almost futile to attempt to compile a list of important ones. All I am hoping to do here is to perhaps bring to your attention some of the recordings that have affected me and perhaps tickled me in an exciting way. You may or may not agree with me on many points, but at least you will find that this is a jumping off point for some incredible and historic memorabilia and hopefully some fun discussion. Check back each week. I will add two or three more to my list for your consideration.
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is a tradition. It is a tradition of women attempting to bring to life an opera steeped in the pride and the mystery of the Japanese culture and emotional singing on such a scale that cannot truly be measured. There have been many Cio-Cio-Sans who have had the correct, incandescent combination of qualities that brought them to the forefront as primary interpreters of this extremely difficult role, a role which took Puccini 4 years to write. Among them was the American creator of the role at the old MET, Geraldine Farrar. You would also have to include these incredible ladies in the Butterfly mix: Licia Albanese, Victoria De Los Angeles, Anna Moffo, Maria Callas, Eleanor Steber, Renata Scotto, and Mirella Freni. Freni stayed away from it until later in her career for fear that it was too vocally dramatic a role to sustain on the stage. I'm going to have to tuck American dramatic soprano Eileen Farrell in there because still, to my ears, has sung one of the most hopeful, stunning, and powerful renditions of Un bel di that I have ever heard. You'll have to check out the DVD called Great Moments in Opera Volume 2 to view it, however. Farrell also sings Pace, Pace from La Forza del Destino on this DVD. The interesting tidbit here is that she studied Leonora with perhaps the greatest interpreter of the role: Rosa Ponselle. Here is a her legacy carried on, indeed! This video is a chance to see the melded spirits of these two women, both formerly from Connecticut, spiritually connecting in one performance. It is spellbinding. You'll also get the late, great Beverly Sills singing a bubbly version of "O luce di quest'anima" from Linda Di Chamounix where she rips out high notes as if she were just taking a jaunty walk down the street. And wonder of wonders you'll also get the stentorian Birgit Nilsson singing "Pace, Pace". Hold onto your hats for the last note when she grabs the hem of her gown, clutches it to her bosom and pings out the old microphones on set as we get a glimpse of the absolute power this woman brought to everything she sang. Brünnhilde as Leonora? Why the heck not! Nilsson often said, "Wagner made me famous, but Puccini made me rich!" Hey- variety is the spice of life, right? I promise you, you will cheer for her. But we were talking about Butterfly, right? My favorite recording is an elegant portrayal by a very young Leontyne Price flanked by Rosalind Elias as Suzuki and the italianate gusto of Richard Tucker's Pinkerton in his prime. The Price/Tucker Butterfly was recorded in the RCA Italiana Studios, Rome, Italy on July 10-20 in 1962. The conductor was Erich Leinsdorf who helps to flank the singers with an orchestral power and elegance that completely supports the singing and the dynamics of Puccini’s score. This recording gives a glimpse of a fragile Price, upon Butterfly's first entrance, acting solely with that golden spun silk of a voice until she comes into her power by the Love Duet sung heroically in tandem with Richard Tucker. Upon listening to this, we have a sense that these two were fated to be together and that the universe itself is singing as they climb up and up through Puccini’s climatic Love Duet at the end of Act 1. From the first words “Bimba, bimba, non piangere…” through “Vogliatemi bene…” we can feel the passion and fear of first love and we are swept away with the pair as they sing with impeccable diction and incomparable legato line. Of Leontyne Price I can only say her voice is spun of golden velvet with flashes of satin and silk from bottom to top. Of American tenor Richard Tucker, I will quote Dorothy Caruso who once said that “his voice is the only tenor voice I have heard that comes close to capturing what I heard when my late husband sang.” High compliments, indeed. Do yourself a favor, go out and buy recording number 09026-68884-2 on the RCA/BMG label and just allow the timbre of these two exciting singers to wash over you.
Aida
This one isn't’t a tough one at all. Most sopranos took this role out their rep pretty quickly because of the fear factor during the exposed bits in the Nile Scene. Poor Rosa Ponselle, after what she considered a less than perfect performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music just decided that she was done with the role. She then tried to convince the MET that she was more Amneris than Aida. After all, many of the operatic cognoscenti have often commented that the opera should be called Amneris and not Aida because of the dramatic material that Verdi wrote for the mezzo. Unfortunately, the MET wouldn't’t hear of allowing the great Ponselle soprano to get her formidable vocal powers around Amneris. What a recording that would have been! You can get a little taste of Rosa singing Aida on the Nimbus/Prima Voce label volumes one, two and three: Ponselle Prima Voce. The combined recordings have a number of great seletions from the opera. The operatic love of my life, Maria Callas, sang a few Aidas There was one incredible one in Mexico in 1950 where she out-sang the un chivalrous and disturbed Kurt Baum by interpolating a soaring high E at the end of the Triumphal Scene mimicking the the legend of the Mexican soprano Angela Peralta who was arguably the first to do it. She did it again a year later opposite Mario Del Monaco- this one was recorded. Its not a clean recording by any means, but when you consider the technology for live recordings back in 1951, you have to sit in awe at the sheer size and power of her voice as the note cuts like a rich, thick laser beam through the din of the roaring Mexican crowd. Check out the EMI label recording Verdi: Aida (complete opera live 1951) Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City. Ahhh, folklore! But these are the stories on which legends are built. There really was only one voice and person who seemed to be born just to play this role. This is, of course, Leontyne Price. The recording to listen to is number 417 416-2 on the London label and was recorded at the Rome Opera House with its stunning chorus and orchestra in 1962 and conducted by the great Sir George Solti. Who and what you get on this disc is unbelievable. You get a sexy, young and still hungry for fame Jon Vickers whose spinning breath makes you jump from your chair cheering during the fanfare prior to his incredible rendition of Celeste Aida and then dizzy enough to want to fall to your knees sobbing during the Tomb Scene. You also get the exciting mezzo of Rita Gorr and the rich, dark, ringing sounds of a young Robert Merrill showing us how a Verdi baritone ought to sing Amonastro. The voice to follow through this recording is Miss Price. Verdian sopranos must melt in envy hearing her negotiate this role with the precision of a sparrow flying from flower to flower. And then you get to Act Three “Qui Radames verra!...” and you just have to sit there stunned at the heavenly beauty of such a voice. It seems like she is somehow flying through this entire recording. But the final Tomb Scene is sublime, and an awesome voice lesson, as Vickers and Price climb up and down that Gb chord and onto the top of those high Bb’s as if they were one voice, one breath, like the clear blue of the Nile gently vibrating tones that lap as ocean surf laps at your feet. This Aida and this Radames are destined to take their last breaths together because they must. It is the only way they can be together forever. And as they say goodbye to the earth, we weep from the sheer ecstasy of their final sounds. I understood this for the first time when I listened to these people sing this opera. There are no notes un spun, no music unrealized in this performance. Leontyne Price is Aida come to earth to tell her story. She is perfect. We were so lucky to have had her interpret this great role in our lifetimes and on such a recording so that future, aspiring singers and operaphiles alike can have just a glimpse into the pain and power of such an elegant woman and voice.
Otello
Considering the role of Otello means you are considering a role that is a notorious voice wrecker and spirit breaker for the tenor who tries and fails to live up to its vocal requirements. It is a role that requires of its interpreters a superhuman amount of stamina, chiaroscuro or and bright/dark vocal timbre, intense drama, and stylistic histrionics coupled with vocal smarts that few singers possess. Though there have been more than a handful of very successful Otellos since the work premiered at La Scala February 5th, 1887, some have been more successful than others. All, however, have brought an array of varying artistic gifts to the Moor's castle. The original interpreter for whom Verdi wrote the work was the over-the-top, squillo-toned tenor and sometimes butterfly collector Francesco Tamagno. Tamagno's temperament seemed tailor-made for the role as Verdi had hoped. Since then, we’ve had several noteworthy tenors throw the gauntlet down for a chance to fight with this demanding work including: Enrico Caruso (he never performed the role on stage, he only recorded a couple of parts of it), Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, Giovanni Martinelli, Giovanni Zenatello, Lauritz Melchior, Aureliano Pertile, Ramon Vinay, Giuseppe Giacomini, Vladimir Atlantov, Placido Domingo, Jose Cura, and Jon Vickers to name a few. Unfortunately for us, Franco Corelli never performed the role though he was attempting to learning it as a going away present for Rudolf Bing when Bing was retiring from the MET. But fear and neurosis intervened and so he kept tabling it until he finally let it go. We do have some bits recorded including Otello's entrance, the ever popular litmus test for any tenor trying his hand at the role: "Esultate!" There is also video of the Rudolf Bing Gala from 1972 where we can hear the love duet "Gia della notte densa". Check out YOU TUBE if you're curious. We can only dream about what Corelli might have done with this character if he had the proper director who could have guided this role into his already formidable repertoire. But let's get down to brass tacks here. For my money, there is only one Otello for the history books and that is the one from the “Brass Bull of Milan” Mario Del Monaco. He reportedly performed this role an incomprehensible 427 times during his career. Although he was often criticized for his lack of grace and subtlety, in the role of Otello he seemed to have found a home and a character who could withstand his exceptionally volcanic nature. The recording is number 411618-2 on the London label from Vienna with Herbert von Karajan conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker. The year is 1961, Renata Tebaldi is Desdemona and Aldo Protti is Jago. This recording has all the fire, and the thunder and the lightning of jealousy and deception swirling in the storm of impending doom from the downbeat through the end. All of this hyperbole is mainly due to Mr. Del Monaco who growls and sings in his stentorian manner throughout the entire piece competing against von Karajan and his heavy baton egging on the orchestra at every juncture. The pain Otello feels is real- its palpable and audible. The anger and power Del Monaco brings to this recording is superhuman. Tebaldi certainly shines with her angelic, full colored soprano as she quivers with love, fear and hope at every vocal turn. Protti is dark and devious and tries valiantly to hold his own against the explosive Del Monaco though I do wish that this baritone had more colors especially more ring or the brighter end of the bright/dark tone. Where is Titto Ruffo when you need him? If you get a chance to listen to Ruffo and Caruso singing that monster duet Si pel ciel marmoreo guiro, see if you can tell which voice is the tenor voice and which voice is the baritone as they rise and fall together with almost the same incredible colors! Conductor Herbert von Karajan brings bravado to an orchestra that truly accompanies and supports the huge personalities in this recording. The orchestra becomes a jealous monster along with poor Otello and seems to push him over the edge with Jago’s urging. This recording delivers all the excitement that this event must have inspired on that day in Vienna in 1961 when it was recorded. I could go on and on- but this is a dream cast and certainly what the composer intended.
Tosca
Yes, historically there have been many important Toscas. Certainly Ponselle made Puccini cry when she sang the Vissi d’arte for him at his home. Tebaldi sang the role beautifully and Magda Olivero brought perhaps the first believable, vulnerable, woman to the role. You’d have to throw Zinka Milanov in there as well as Caballe for the sheer dynamics and even Birgit Nilsson for the pure thrill of it. Check out the recording with Franco Corelli and Fischer- Diskau. Then there is Maria Callas- perhaps the role that brought her to more people because of its popularity in the repertoire. But I am not going to single her out again. We all know of her legend and I obviously adore her. The recording I’d like to offer you is perhaps a strange pairing of hero and heroine with an even stranger orchestra but a young and hungry conductor. It is a live recording from the Academy of Music in Philadelphia with Riccardo Muti conducting. It was released in 1993, but recorded prior to that in March of ’91 and January of ’92. The number of the recording is 434 595-2 on the Philips label. La Tosca is the beautiful, young, and gracefully liquid Carol Vaness and her Mario Cavaradossi is the bronzed, velveted throat of the incredible dramatic tenor Giuseppe Giacomini. This recording makes me hold my breath. Giacomini and that incredible Melocchi method and Vaness and her purity of tone breathe sex and intrigue into these over-performed characters. The duets here are spellbinding. The Vissi d’arte is fresh and as if Tosca does not expect to say such things to God himself at that moment. The aria seems to come upon her as a surprise. We seem to find the aria together. It’s just impeccably sung. And Giacomini’s voice take about 2 minutes to get used to because of the sheer size and color- but its so heroic you want to weep from the power of it. This might be a difficult recording to find, but don’t miss it. It will take your breath away.
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