Not Tosca, of course, cher public — La Cieca could never say that about her dear, dear Tosca. But it does seem both shabby and shocking that the combined forces of The New York Philharmonic and Charles Zachary Bornstein, the Philharmonic’s Leonard Bernstein Scholar-in-Residence would not at the very least ask for a retake of the following video clip embedded in the NYP’s site. Wait patiently through the early platitudinizing for the final thirty seconds or so of the clip, when soprano (?) Courtenay Schowalter bravely attempts to sight-read the spiky intervals of that rarely-heard vocal work “Vissi d’arte” whilst Maestro Bornstein fakes the accompaniment by ear. (What, the New York Philharmonic couldn’t afford a vocal score of Tosca? Or couldn’t they afford a Scholar-in-Residence who can read six flats?)
La Cieca is thrilled to note that VAI have continued their series of releases from the NHK Lirica Italiana telecasts of the 1960s and 1970s. These DVDs, remastered from original broadcasts on Japanese television, preserve performances by some of the greatest Italian artists of the mid-20th century. The most recent treasure to be unearthed is a 1967 video of Un ballo in maschera
As quite a few of the cher public surmised, the most recent Regiequiz depicted a production of Don Giovanni (at the Landestheater Linz, to be precise) featuring barihunk Martin Achrainer as the eponymous erotomaniac:
Herr Achrainer has become something of a blogger’s darling of late, featured at Barihunks as well as Our Own site in a previous Regiequiz. Almost all of the baritone may be seen in this (not suitable for work) television report on the Don Giovanni premiere.
Cher Public