Oberon's Grove

Deborah Polaski ~ Die stille Lotosblume

Deborah Polaski sings Clara Schumann's Die stille Lotosblume from a recital with pianist Charles Spencer.

Watch and listen here.

Giuseppe Giacomini Has Passed Away

The great Italian tenor Giuseppe Giacomini has passed away at the age of 80.

Giacomini made his operatic debut in 1966 at Vercelli as Pinkerton. and was soon singing throughout Italy. His international career commenced at Berlin in 1970, which led to engagements at Lisbon, Barcelona, Munich, and in Vienna, where he received the title Kammersänger.

He triumphed at La Scala, in Turin, and in Rome, and made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1976, with debuts at Paris and Covent Garden following soon after.

Giacomini is featured on the Metropolitan Opera's DVD of LA FORZA DEL DESTINO with Leontyne Price, and on commercial recordings as Turiddu (opposite Jessye Norman), Pollione (with Renata Scotto), Otello (with Dame Margaret Price), and he is Cavaradossi on the Muti TOSCA with Carol Vaness.

The tenor celebrated his 60th birthday singing in TOSCA at Covent Garden, and in 2010 he toured China with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra.

I first saw Giuseppe Giacomini onstage (his US debut) at The Bushnell in Hartford, where he appeared in an exciting FANCIULLA DEL WEST opposite Radmila Bakočević in 1975. At the 1987 Richard Tucker Gala, Giacomini brought down the house twice with his singing of the final scene of ANDREA CHENIER with Eva Marton, and with his powerhouse performance as Otello in the Act II duet with Sherrill Milnes; during the applause that followed, Mr. Milnes bestowed a comradely kiss on the tenor's cheek. Watch and listen here.

On December 10th, 1988, Giacomini gave a thrilling performance as Canio in PAGLIACCI at a Met matinee. The tenor - along with Diana Soviero (Nedda) and Juan Pons (Tonio) - was simply on fire, his top notes blazing into the hall. During the bows, a crowd gathered at the orchestra railing - like in the old days - to scream their heads off for the singers. I was so elated to be part of it. 

As it turned out, that PAGLIACCI was Giuseppe Giacomini's last Met performance.

Giuseppe Giacomini - Un tal gioco - PAGLIACCI - Met bcast 1988

There's lots of Giacomini to be found on YouTube; here are a few of my favorite things:

Giuseppe Giacomini sings Calaf's aria "Non piangere Liu" from TURANDOT from a Paris Opera production in 1981. Watch and listen here.

The tenor sings the Improviso from ANDREA CHENIER here...

...and Calaf's "Nessun dorma" from a 1989 Moscow concert here...with an encore!

And here's Giacomini as Radames...

Giuseppe Giacomini ~ Celeste Aida ~ Chicago 1988

...and in the final duet from ANDREA CHENIER, with Ghena Dimitrova:

ANDREA CHENIER ~ final duet - Ghena Dimitrova & Giuseppe Giacomini

Lusitano ~ Regina Coeli

The Choir of Somerville College, Oxford, directed by Will Dawes, perform a setting of the Regina coeli by the Portuguese composer Vicente Lusitano.

Watch and listen here.

George Szell ~ Verdi REQUIEM ~ Cleveland 1968

George Szell (above) conducts the Cleveland Orchestra in a live performance of the Messa di Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi given in 1968.  Gabriella Tucci, Dame Janet Baker, Pierre Duval, and Martti Talvela are the soloists.

Listen here.

Junetta Jones

Above: soprano Junetta Jones performing with the Goldman Band in Central Park in the early 1960s.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1936, Junetta Jones studied at the Peabody Conservatory and later at the New England Conservatory and the Tanglewood Music Center.

In 1963, Ms. Jones was a winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions (Jane Marsh and Justino Diaz were also winners that year); she made her Met debut as the Celestial Voice in Verdi's DON CARLO a few months after her Auditions win. Her other Met roles were a Genie in THE MAGIC FLUTE, the Page in RIGOLETTO, and Barbarina in NOZZE DI FIGARO. She last appeared at The Met in 1965.

Like so many young American singers at that time, Junetta Jones then re-located to Europe where she sang at Dusseldorf, Wuppertal, Regensburg, Munster, Trier, and Lucerne. She returned to the USA from time to time, singing with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. When she appeared in Handel's SAMSON at Carnegie Hall in 1965, the New York Times called her singing "beguiling".

Above: Junetta Jones in MADAMA BUTTERFLY; date and venue not specified

Following her retirement from performing, Ms. Jones worked for 20 years on the advisory committee for art and culture for the city of Baltimore. She passed away in 2015.

Listen to Junetta Jones in her Met debut role, the Celestial Voice, here.