The Whales of Chat
Our Own Dear Betsy reports: Right this way, ladies and gentlemen, for The Greatest Show on Earth, the world-famous La Cieca Chat. Feted (“Fated”? “Fetid”?) artistes from the far corners of the planet demolish reputations with a single mot. SEE — dainty Mam’zelle Manou soar high above the heads of the crowd in flights of aerial fantasy. WONDER — at the legerdemain of Harry who changes subjects !!! SIX TIMES !!! in a single ten-word sentence. THRILL — at the duel to the death between ferocious beasts Operacat and Clita_del_Toro. GASP — as Mighty CruzSF lifts the Napa Opera House using only his . . . . using only . . . his . . . Excuse me, I’ll be on the verandah.
(some time later) Postings are skimpy, but possibilities present themselves.
11:00-2:00 LRT KLASIKA: Martin Y Soler’s DIANA’S ARBOR. — An interesting piece, to be sure, and like much of the music from that period it will play nicely while the audience does something else.
12:00- 4:30 DEUTSCHLANDRADIO KULTUR: LOHENGRIN from Bayreuth. — Jonas Kaufmann, rats and foeti. We’ve done this one.
12:00-5:00 WRTI: SIEGFRIED from Los Angeles. That’s the problem with repeat broadcasts; they DON’T improve.
1:00-5:00 CBC TWO: Chabrier’s L’ETOILE. If you don’t know this opera, you really should. I mean, after all, it has been performed in NEW YORK !
1:00-5:15 DR P2: DON GIOVANNI from Drottningholm. I haven’t heard this one, so I can’t comment. Certainly it will be stylistically correct, and possibly enjoyable.
1:00-5:30 ESPACE MUSIQUE: LES TROYENS from Amsterdam. Eva-Marie Westbroek as Cassandra, but Yvonne Naef may be hitting Dido too late, and Markus Haddock is a bit light for Aeneas. (BTW, I heard he was “ill”; anyone know anything?)
1:00-6:00 WFMT: GOTTERDAMMERUNG from Los Angeles. When Treleaven dies, everyone applauds. I can only wonder why.
1:30-4:30 BARTOK RADIO: DON CARLO. — This would be my pick as the best snark opera of the day. We can cringe at Elena Nicolai, compare Mario Fillipeschi to such great Carlos of the past as Cesare Cinciabutti, Helmut Scheiss-Manifold, and Vicar favorite Wimple Donat. Then we can collapse in orgiastic puddles at the feet of Boris Christoff and Tito Gobbi.
2:00-7:00 HR2 KULTUR: SIEGFRIED from Bayreuth. Lance Ryan is not half-bad, a lot better than he was at The Met last season.
You know where to go: La Casa della Cieca.
Definitely Don Carlo…though I may have to switch over to the Chabrier occasionally (http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/programs/2010/08/when-you-wish-upon-a-star.html)
Fontainbleau act? In or out?
To me that’s always been the bleeding heart of this opera.
This recording was made in 1954, and as you know Verdi had not yet finished composing the Fountainbleu Scene. (He had to wait until Montserrat Caballe and Placido Domingo were born so they could sing it.)
Cannot BEAR Don Carlo(s) without the Fontainbleau. Agree that it is necessary and it gets the juices goin’ real swell, setting up all the unpleasantness to follow. With it, it’s one of the greatest operas – without it, I don’t bother (except in excerpts).
Westbroek as Cassandra sounds very very tempting to me. Though Farina as Otello might peel the paint off the walls of my happy little computer room. And I am always happy to do Mr. Kaufmann as often as I can.
Where this this Friendship-Loosing Walkure from?
Los Angeles, 2010. Personnel: Domingo, Kampe, Kowaljow, Watson, wives, husbands, and sisters. Conlon.
It’s been a rotten week and so therefore I will continue that trend with Don Giovanni. In the meantime, I will attempt for the third time to record Lohengrin.
BTW:
If it is repeated..I STRONGLY RECOMMEND a listen to ” Traumgorge”/Zelimsky, which was on WETA’s “vivalavoce” series, last Thursday evening
With Susan Anthony…Patricia Racette..Et Al.. under Conlon’s baton..it was …GORGEOUS…!!…
The Don Carlo is a studio recording, made by EMI in Rome 1954. I have the cds but haven’t heard them in a long time. My memory tells me that Filippeschi was pretty rough but not unlistenable and the rest of the cast was good. The still pretty young Antonietta Stella is the Elisabetta. Loretta Corelli, nee Di Lelio , graces the performance as Tebaldo, too bad Franco wasn’t called in to do the title role!
I will listen to Götterdämmerung, my favorite Ring opera although it is difficult for me to listen and chat at the same time.
The chats are too much fun.
Richard–Isn’t Gobbi on the EMI Don Carlo? Or am I mistaken?
I haven’t heard that recording in many, many years.
Yes he is. Most of the cast is listed above, but here’s the details from Hungarian Radio:
Verdi: Don Carlos –
Gabriele Santini, k
II. Fülöp spanyol király – Boris Christoff (basszus),
Don Carlos, infáns – Mario Filippeschi (tenor),
Posa márki – Tito Gobbi (bariton),
F?inkvizitor – Giulio Neri (bariton),
Egy szerzetes – Plinio Clabassi (basszus),
Erzsébet királyné – Antonietta Stella (szoprán),
Eboli hercegn? – Elena Nicolai (mezzoszoprán),
Tebaldo – Loretta Di Lelio (szoprán),
Lerma gróf, hírnök – Paolo Caroli, Mennyei hang – Orietta Moscucci (szoprán)
(Római Operaház,1954) (2 hrs., 55 min.)
Incomparabile, ineffabile, inextinguishibile Babs, Grazie!
Troyens freak on this end.
Which is as perky as the other end.
I’ll be listening to the tinkling of Ice cubes in my Planter’s Punch as I sit outside on this glorious day on Cape cod.
Sounds wonderful!