Voce di donna
On a new episode of Unnatural Acts of Opera that can only be called fabulous, we hear the first act of Un ballo in maschera as it was performed at La Scala in April of 1956. Gianandrea Gavazzeni is the conductor, and even by the lofty standards of Unnatural Acts of Opera the cast is very starry indeed: Giuseppe di Stefano, Antonietta Stella, Ettore Bastianini, and Ebe Stignani. And what’s more, La Cieca herself makes her podcast singing debut!
Terrific!
Forgive my lack of knowledge of this era (I’m ducking my head right now), but Di Stefano reminds me of Domingo while Stella reminds me of Millo. Perhaps an obvious statement already known to the other buffs here.
I look forward to the rest of the acts. I’ve always had a great affinity to this opera for its tunefulness and nice dramatic flow.
I think a steady diet of painkillers does LaCieca some good.