Oberon's Grove

Elizabeth Connell ~ Liebestod

Elizabeth Connell sings the Liebestod from TRISTAN UND ISOLDE at a 2007 concert conducted by Richard Hickox.

Watch and listen here.

From Tippet Rise

I hope you will take the time to watch this superb film from the Tippet Rise Art Center. It's one of the finest musical presentations I have watched during the pandemic.

Many thanks to composer Chris Rogerson for drawing my attention to this deeply pleasing film. Chris's work begins at 24:53 - his Partita for Violin, played by Benjamin Beilman. 

Watch and enjoy here.

Lioba Braun ~ Alto Rhapsody

Lioba Braun sings Johannes Brahms' Alto Rhapsody, with Helmuth Rilling conducting the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR.

Listen here.

German mezzo-soprano Lioba Braun was born in 1957. Based at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, she has appeared at the major opera houses and festivals of Europe. She became internationally known after singing Brangäne at the Bayreuth Festival in 1994, and she performed the soprano part of Isolde on stage first in 2012.

TURANDOT ~ Buenos Aires 2006

Above: Cynthia Makris

The Teatro Colon presented Puccini's TURANDOT at Luna Park, Buenos Aires, in 2006. Cynthia Makris sang Turandot, with Darío Volonté (Calaf), Eliana Bayón (Liú), Ariel Cazes (Timur), and Walter Schwarz (The Mandarin). Carlos Vieu conducts.

Watch and listen here.

SIEGFRIED @ The Met ~ 1988

Above: tenor Hubert Delamboye

In January of 1988, the Metropolitan Opera premiered Otto Schenk's production of Wagner's SIEGFRIED, the third installment of their new RING Cycle. I attended the fourth performance, with a one-time-only cast that featured three Met debuts: Linda Kelm (Brunnhilde), Hubert Delamboye (Mime), and Ekkehard Wlaschiha (Alberich). It was a highly enjoyable evening, and it changed SIEGFRIED - the scherzo of the RING - from an opera I admired to an opera I loved.

Here's my diary entry, written the morning after:

"A very good evening at The Met; the new production is impressive visually. Levine's Wagner is by far his best rep, and the orchestra played magnificently. The score is fill with beautiful music, by turns poetic and grandiose.

Amplification of voices is always a tricky business at The Met, but tonight the offstage singing of both Dawn Upshaw (Forest Bird) and John Macurdy (Fafner) was perfectly managed, with the basso making much of the sleepy, slovenly dragon's passages.

Wolfgang Neumann has the stamina and the 'big dumb blonde' looks for Siegfried; he also has a more appealing timbre than some who have essayed this role. He paced himself so as to arrive at the arduous final duet with more-than-sufficient voice.  Neumann made the character's long scenes perfectly palatable. 

Having previously heard Linda Kelm (above) as Turandot at New York City Opera [...twice! A week after her debut, I persuaded my friend Paul to make a quick trip into the City with me so he could experience 'a really big voice'], I had high expectations for her Met debut as Brunnhilde. She did not disappoint. Her voice has the ideal power and warmth for this music, though the staging had her at first singing rather into the wings; but when she came forward and sang into the hall, her vocal grandeur increased exponentially. Many very exciting moments, and the audience welcomed this Farrellesque singer enthusiastically.

Gweneth Bean's sizeable, glowing voice made a strong impression as Erda. She gave an emotionally and vocally thrilling performance of her scene with the Wanderer, her singing having both the authority and the maternal quality perfect for the role.

Hans Sotin's Wanderer was truly exciting, so powerfully sung with his voice wonderfully clear and strong throughout the role's vast range. Both his Act I riddle scene with Mime and his dialogue with Erda in Act III were highlights of the evening. The Wanderer is a perfect role for this impressive singer.

The debuting dwarves were simply magnificent. Ekkehard Wlaschiha (above) really sang Alberich - with a dark, vital baritone sound of curious beauty. He coloured the phrases of the distraught, vengeful character superbly, and was a menacing (if powerless) force.

Hubert Delamboye's Mime was the great centerpiece of the evening: his toneful approach to the music - very little whining or rasping - was a delight, and his sprightly, energetic portrayal could gain sympathy or annoy by turns. His clear, melancholy timbre fell ever-pleasantly on the ear; and when Mime's deceit and desperation were exposed in Act II, Delamboye had to work to make his singing less attractive.

The meeting of the dwarf-brothers outside Fafner's lair in Act II was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy these two newcomers - Delamboye and Wlaschiha, masters of their craft - playing off one another with their vivid singing. I look forward to hearing them often at The Met in the years to come. Along with their colleagues,  and Mr. Levine, they made the long evening a memorable Wagnerian experience."  

~~~And how did these three debutants fare at The Met after their auspicious debuts?  Mr. Wlaschiha sang nearly 70 performances with the Company (in the RING Operas, PARSIFAL, FIDELIO, and SALOME) thru the year 2000. Ms. Kelm sang six Turandots with The Met in the annual Parks season in 1988, and nothing more. And Mr. Delamboye, such a fine artist, sang only a single Mime in RHEINGOLD at the Met following his impressive debut; thereafter he returned to Europe where continued his very successful career, eventually taking on such helden- roles as Bacchus, Loge, Florestan, and Tristan. He passed away in 2018.~~~

~ Oberon