parterre box

94 comments

• Olivero is my Drug of Choice says:

  And of course Magda Oliver at 83 singing Sola,Perduta, Abbandonata!
  

  on December 22, 2009 at 4:47 PM
  • kashania says:

    God bless this Puccini thread for giving us so many great clips. Brava Olivero!

    on December 23, 2009 at 5:36 PM
• kashania says:

  For me, Corelli was one of the ultimate Puccini singers. One could accuse of him of sloppiness when singing Verdi but his Puccini rocked. That glamorous, throbbing sound, the passionate delivery, the sense of abandon…

  on December 22, 2009 at 4:53 PM
• irontongue says:

  The greatest of all Turandots; the live Riddle Scene doesn’t seem to be on YouTube:

  The Gigli/Albanese Boheme.

  Live, the greatest performances I’ve seen were Racette’s Butterfly and her recent Trittico at SF.

  on December 22, 2009 at 5:05 PM
• irontongue says:

  Sorry; used the YouTube embedding code, which didn’t work:

  Eva Turner, “In Questa Reggia”

  on December 22, 2009 at 5:07 PM
• iltenoredigrazia says:

  Wow, thanks for posting these clips. Kabaivanska, what a beautiful woman! Sad we never got her Tosca live this side of the Atlantic.

  Olivero, beyond words. She must have sung that aria hundreds of times and it still looks like she’s living every bit of it, every word. And some question why giants of the past cast such shadows.

  on December 22, 2009 at 5:12 PM
• Ercole Farnese says:

  
  This excerpts never fails to give me goosebumps.
  La signora Scotto, pucciniana per eccellenza: classic case of intelligence and supreme musicality triumphing over undeniable vocal limitations. Very few artists have been able to master the “canto di conversazione” like her: she chisels every phrase without sounding artificial, and it’s not easy task. Another one was of course Olivero. I saw the great lady only once, in Adriana, but unfortunately I have only vague remembrances because I was 7 years old.

  on December 22, 2009 at 6:24 PM
  • Cassandra says:

    Good god, this is a million miles past the garbage I sat through a few weeks ago. THIS is what a soprano should sound like in this repertoire (minus the age in the top.) So musical.

    on December 23, 2009 at 11:48 AM
    • La Cieca says:

      PUCCINI: IL TRITTICO
      Metropolitan Opera, January 22, 1976

      IL TABARRO
      Giorgetta……………Renata Scotto
      Luigi……………….Harry Theyard
      Michele……………..Cornell MacNeil
      Frugola……………..Lili Chookasian
      Talpa……………….Philip Booth
      Tinca……………….Charles Anthony
      Song Seller………….Jon Garrison
      Lover……………….Betsy Norden
      Lover……………….Douglas Ahlstedt

      SUOR ANGELICA
      Angelica…………….Renata Scotto
      Princess…………….Lili Chookasian
      Genovieffa…………..Betsy Norden
      Osmina………………Mary Fercana
      Dolcina……………..Elizabeth Anguish
      Monitor……………..Marcia Baldwin
      Abbess………………Jean Kraft
      Head Mistress………..Batyah Godfrey Ben-David
      Nurse……………….Cynthia Munzer
      Lay Sister…………..Maureen Smith
      Lay Sister…………..Joyce Olson
      Novice………………Linda Mays
      Novice………………Shinja Kwak
      Alms Collector……….Alma Jean Smith
      Alms Collector……….Elena Doria

      GIANNI SCHICCHI
      Gianni Schicchi………Frank Guarrera
      Lauretta…………….Renata Scotto
      Rinuccio…………….Raymond Gibbs
      Nella……………….Betsy Norden
      Ciesca………………Marcia Baldwin
      Zita………………..Lili Chookasian
      Gherardo…………….Charles Anthony
      Betto……………….Russell Christopher
      Marco……………….Gene Boucher
      Simone………………Raymond Michalski
      Gherardino…………..Lawrence Klein
      Spinelloccio…………Richard Best
      Amantio……………..Andrij Dobriansky
      Pinellino……………Herman Marcus
      Guccio………………Edmond Karlsrud
      Buoso Donati…………Terry Allen

      Conductor……………Sixten Ehrling

      In-house, 256kbps stereo mp3.

      IL TABARRO

      SUOR ANGELICA

      GIANNI SCHICCHI

      (PS: these are files I uploaded, so there’s no foul in my linking to them here.)

      on December 23, 2009 at 1:09 PM
      • Lindoro Almaviva says:

        Thank you cieca. I noticed something I had not noticed before. The Met has a tradition of mezzos singing also all 3 roles. I thought that Blythe had been the 1st one, but i see i was mistaken.

        on December 23, 2009 at 1:32 PM
      • Cassandra says:

        Wow! Thanks!

        on December 23, 2009 at 1:38 PM
      • La Cieca says:

        When I heard this production on tour, the mezzo parts were done by Irene Dalis, in her final Met appearances. The trick is to get someone with the stature to sing La Zia Principessa and then convince her to two the two supporting comic roles.

        on December 23, 2009 at 2:04 PM
• Quanto Painy Fakor says:

  on December 22, 2009 at 6:27 PM
• RDaggle says:

  An eccentric pairing, but I don’t care. I love it.

  on December 22, 2009 at 6:27 PM
• Dawson says:

  on December 22, 2009 at 6:32 PM
  • kashania says:

    The greatest “tre assi e un paio” ever!!!

    on December 23, 2009 at 12:01 AM
  • La marquise de Merteuil says:

    I’m not a Tebaldi fan – but thought this might be of interest to those who are and don’t know this vid from Tokyo 1960 in Tosca’s final few moments.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIwdILRjSgM&feature=related

    on December 23, 2009 at 2:35 AM
    • iltenoredigrazia says:

      Thanks. I had not seen that clip before. It’s not the first clip where I see Tebaldi not jump but instead walk off the set. I saw her Tosca at the Met several times starting in 1964 and she jumped off the castello every time. By that time she had lost weight and might have felt more comfortable jumping. She was also putting more emphasis on her acting.

      Nevertheless, I think that clip shows that she was a lot more involved in the drama that she’s often given credit for.

      The scream? Ah yes, she screamed from early in her career and probably took its toll. I think it was after her first Maddalena at the Met in 1955 that the Times reviewer mentioned it and predicted damage to her voice.

      on December 23, 2009 at 6:10 PM
• Lucky Pierre says:

  going back to tosca, OMG, has anyone seen this one? i thought she was gonna blow her brains out instead of jumping…

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UijJKHKjXeo

  who’s the tenor?

  on December 22, 2009 at 6:53 PM