deh of reckoning
La Cieca’s old, old, old friend Sanford writes:Â
On May 15th, 1976, The Met was on tour with Le Nozze di Figaro, starring:
Figaro: Justino DÃaz
Susanna: Loretta Di Franco
Count Almaviva: John Reardon
Countess Almaviva: Lucine Amara
Cherubino: Huguette Tourangeau
Dr. Bartolo: Andrew Foldi
Marcellina: Shirley Love
Don Basilio: Andrea Velis
Antonio: Richard Best
Barbarina: Alma Jean Smith
Don Curzio: Robert Schmorr
Peasant: Linda Mays
Peasant: Dorothy Shawn
Conductor: Steuart Bedford
Of course our JJ recalls that afternoon’s performance, if not exactly with the vividness associated with that night’s Trittico (with Renata Scotto, for those of you who have been following along at home). His main recollection, JJ tells La Cieca, is that he mistook the starting time for the Figaro (which, in fact, began at 1:30) and so he had to sprint the distance of about half a mile from his motel to the Dallas State Fair Music Hall, arriving breathless and sweaty just as Mozart’s charming overture commenced.
Your doyenne has enjoyed the occasional breathless and sweaty evening at the opera in the 32 years since that fateful double-header, and she is delighted to inform her cher public that our Sanford has once again performed his cut-and-paste wizardry to create another vocal identification quiz for your delight and possible financial gain.
In honor of that long-ago Figaro, this quiz is based on La Cieca’s favorite aria from the opera, Susanna’s “Deh vieni non tardar.” Eight artists sing segments of the aria; it is your task to recognize all eight and then email La Cieca at lacieca@parterre.com with your solution. The sender of the first email received with all eight correct answers will win an amazon.com
Oh, JJ also remembers that Lucine wore a yellow dress in Act 3. After all, that’s not the sort of thing you would tend to forget, is it?
Tebaldi was number 2. Garciella, number 3 is Bartoli. Number 1 is Schwarzkopf, but you’re not the only one to have guessed Vicky D.
Sanford groaned :
“Tebaldi was number 2. Graciella,
number 3 is Bartoli. Number 1 is……..”
Dearest Sanford…yes, I know..but thankyou for
reminding me..lol..I’m not good at these parlor games, but I will defend to the death your right
to hang your hat on them, and am genuinely in awe of your industry and, for the most part, your taste,
and bow to no one in my admiration for Cieca’s
slide show, lovely portraits, especially the one
of my namesake, given pride of place to bring the
curtain down…had I known that, nothing would
have stopped me in fighting my way to the end….
I would not have easily identified Tebaldi,
though at least I fell at her feet and sang her
praises…as for #3, well, if you wanted to put
up an example to illustrate your opinion that
Bartoli does not support the voice, you found the
right one..lol..to me it wasn’t typical.
AND, as for Schwartzkopf, I went back and
forth with that one, to me it sounded like both,
there was a pure tone and exquisite musicianship
that is native to both, so I went with the
less likely, there was very little of the
mannered preciousness that became Betty’s trademark,
so I’ll take at least cold comfort that I
wasn’t alone in my mistake..
As you know, the format of one or two
phrases per diva really sticks in my craw, to
use an elegant euphemism…but your quiz was
widely praised as the best yet, so BRAVA