Oberon's Grove

Gia la Pleiade ardente al mar discende...

Above: Eleanor Steber

One of the most poetic love duets in all opera - and one of the few sung by a husband and wife - comes at the end of Act I of Verdi's OTELLO.

Above: Ramon Vinay

Eleanor Steber & Ramon Vinay - Gia nella notte densa ~ OTELLO

La Tassinari

Pia Tassinari sings arias by Mascagni, Massenet, and Cilea.

Read about this evocative singer here.

Listen to Pia Tassinari in arias from L'AMICO FRITZ, WERTHER, and L'ARLESIANA.

DIE WALKURE/Vienna State Opera ~ 2016

A 2016 telecast of Wagner's DIE WALKURE from The Vienna State Opera, conducted by Adam Fischer. Tomasz Konieczny (above) sings Wotan, with Linda Watson as Brunnhilde, Waltraud Meier as Sieglinde, Christopher Ventris as Siegmund, Michaela Schuster as Fricka, and Ain Anger as Hunding. The full cast is listed at the start of the video.

Watch and listen here.

Liebesnacht

The disc pictured above - of scenes from Acts II and III of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, was recorded in 2005 at Bratislava - features two vastly experienced Wagnerian singers: soprano Linda Watson and tenor Robert Dean Smith. The Slovak Radio Symphony play very well, under the baton of Ivan Anguélov.

Ms. Watson has been a go-to Brünnhilde for a couple of decades, notably at Bayreuth. The shortness of her top range has prevented me from fully enjoying her singing over the years, but last Summer I became quite taken with her whilst watching the documentary and performance of The Colón RING on DVD. Mr. Smith gave us a sterling Tristan as his Met debut in 2008 when he flew in to sing the HD Simulcast after Ben Heppner withdrew. Mr. Smith later sang Strauss's Bacchus and Puccini's Pinkerton at the Met; in both those roles he was somewhat compromised by mediocre conducting, but his fine singing carried the day.

The CD has been sitting here in a pile of un-played discs for several weeks; on a damp and dismal Sunday morning, I put it on for the first time and was frankly blown away by the two singers' breathtaking performance of the love duet.

Purists will probably take issue with the structuring of the opera's highlights as they are heard here (it's not an easy opera to excerpt): the Act II prelude (begun here with with a wonderfully furtive feeling) skips seamlessly to the ecstatic greeting of the impatient lovers, and then quite soon to "O sink hernieder, nacht der liebe".  The interjections of Brangäne are omitted, with linking orchestral passages turning the disc's opening tracks into a 30-minute feast of tender, passionate lyricism. Both singers adopt an intimate and finely-nuanced style of singing here, and the result is engrossing.

The end of Act II has now become one of my favorite parts of the opera. Broken-hearted by Tristan's betrayal, King Marke seeks answers from the young man: how did this come to pass? Tristan cannot explain, as he is under the spell of the love potion. Turning to Isolde, Tristan says he will go now to the realm of darkness, and asks if she will follow him there. Isolde replies:

Linda Watson & Robert Dean Smith - Tristan und Isolde ~ Als fur ein fremdes Land

"Wherever Tristan's goes,
there let Isolde go also.
There I shall follow him
in grace and faith."

Tristan turns to his friend Melot, who has betrayed him to King Marke, and challenges him. When Melot attacks with his sword, Tristan drops his guard and is run thru.

In Act III, Tristan, attended by his faithful servant Kurwenal, lies gravely wounded in the ruins of his ancestral home, Castle Kareol. In a delirium, he waits for Isolde's promised arrival; for King Marke has been told of the love potion and has sent Isolde to her beloved.

In a moment of calm, Tristan envisions his beloved's arrival...I've never heard this passage so beautifully sung:

Robert Dean Smith - Wie sie selig ~TRISTAN UND ISOLDE

"She sweetly,
bravely and gently
wanders across
the watery plains.
On soft waves
of blissful flowers,
she gently comes
ashore.
She smiles at me,
giving comfort and sweet peace,
she brings me
- at last - renewal.
Ah, Isolde! Isolde!
How lovely you are!"

The recording brings us much of Tristan's long scene, sung with an extraordinary mixture of poetry and madness by Mr. Smith.

Isolde arrives at last; Tristan dies in her arms, tenderly saying her name for one last time.

~ Oberon 

ELEKTRA ~ Final Scene

A thrilling performance of the final scene of Richard Strauss's ELEKTRA, from a full concert performance given by the Berlin Philharmonic in 2014. Christian Thielemann conducts, with Evelyn Herlitzius (photo above) as Elektra and Anne Schwanewilms as Chrysothemis.

Watch and listen here.