The final scene of Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites from a 2004 performance of the opera at La Scala, conducted by Riccardo Muti.
Watch and listen here.
Birgit Nilsson ~ Ozean, du Ungeheuer!
Birgit Nilsson sings Rezia's great aria Ozean, du Ungeheuer! from Carl Maria von Weber's opera OBERON at a 1964 concert with the Swedish Radio Symphony.
Watch and listen here.
All-Mozart @ Mostly Mozart
Above: the Mozart REQUIEM at Alice Tully Hall with Maestro Louis Langrée, the the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the Unsung Collective, and soloists Daniela Mack, Sunhae Im, Matthew Swensen, and Dashon Burton; photo by Sachyn Miital © Lincoln Center.
Author : Oberon
Friday August 5th, 2022 - In the days leading up to this concert by the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, rumors hovered on the air that this All-Mozart program might mark the end of the Mostly Mozart era at Lincoln Center. The program certainly had a feeling of "farewell": the Master's penultimate symphony, followed by his final work, the uncompleted REQUIEM.
I have been going to Mostly Mozart for many years, way back to the time when I lived in Hartford and came down to NYC often for opera, ballet, and concerts. I have many wonderful memories of hearing such renowned artists as Alicia de Larrocha, Brian Asawa, Frederic Chiu, Garrick Ohlsson, Richard Goode, Gil Shaham, Joshua Bell, Hei-Kyung Hong, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and Kirill Gerstein performing at the Mostly Mozart Festival. It was sad to think that tonight's concert might be my final encounter with this beloved orchestra.
But before commencing the program's opening work tonight, Maestro Langrée announced that the orchestra would be back next Summer. He did not elaborate, but I believe it will be as it has been this year: that the orchestra will give a few concerts as part of a larger entertainment festival, entitled Summer for the City. Something is better than nothing, and we shall see what transpires.
One off-putting aspect of this new approach: they did not give out a printed program tonight (aside from texts for the Requiem); we were told to scan a small sign in the lobby to get the program and notes onto our phones. So where does that leave those of us who - like me - don't have a cellphone? Minimally, a printed page showing the evening's repertoire and participating artists should be available.
The Symphony #40 in G-minor was beautifully played by the MMFO tonight, Maestro Langrée very much in his element as he drew the familiar melodies from his dedicated musicians. From the very start, the anxious, darkish accompaniment set the mood: the orchestra sounding rich and vibrant. I always love the little quote from Tamino's aria in the Andante, and here - as all evening long - the orchestra's first-class wind soloists made excellent impressions. Maestro Langrée savored the elegant swagger of the Minuet, and in the Finale, his energy transmitted directly to the players, making for a brilliant finish.
After the interval, the soloists for the REQUIEM - Sunhae Im, soprano; Daniela Mack, mezzo-soprano; Matthew Swensen, tenor; and Dashon Burton, bass - joined The Unsung Collective under the direction of Tyrone Clinton, with Maestro Langrée at the helm. Photo above by Sachyn Miital © Lincoln Center.
Everyone wore black, giving a sense of gravitas to the proceedings. And while the evening's opening speech was upbeat and optimistic, there is much to mourn in these days of plague, war, threats to our democracy, and a decline of civility.
Maestro Langrée molded the music to perfection, his players alert to his every gesture. Again, the beauty of the wind voices made a special effect. A very fine quartet of vocal soloists gave a lot of pleasure:
Soprano Sunhae Im, her singing poised and with a tinge of girlishness...
...mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, so beautiful to watch, bringing intensity and an appealing range of colors to her singing...
...tenor Matthew Swensen's wonderfully communicative voice is both lyrical and passionate...
...and basso Dashon Burton's impressive, wide-ranging singing and handsome presence were a steadfast pleasure to encounter.
Giving the performance a special glow, the Unsung Collective (above, photo by Sachyn Miital © Lincoln Center) sang all of the magnificent choral music Mozart gave them with fervor. Their dynamic variety in the Rex tremendae was fascinating, and they excelled in the Confutatis, in the sublime harmonies of the Lacrimosa, and again in the Agnus Dei.
Above: the women of the Unsung Collective...
...and the gentlemen of this outstanding choral group.
The evening ended with a resounding standing ovation. In an incredibly brief and moving encore, the Maestro played the final eight bars of music that Mozart wrote, not long before the composer's tragically premature passing.
At one point earlier in the evening, Maestro Langrée asked how many in the audience were attending their first classical concert. There was no response. It occurred to me that the audience - which had listened to the music in a state of total and attentive silence (no applause between movements of the symphony) - were not crossovers from the worlds of jazz, rock, or pop, but classical music lovers who perhaps cannot afford to attend a lot of live classical concerts but who took advantage of the "choose-what-you-pay" policy for these summertime events. I know that, without press seats (and score desks at The Met), I would never be able to attend all the events that I do.
All photos by Sachyn Miital © Lincoln Center.
~ Oberon
If I Loved You
On August 13th, 1966, Renata Tebaldi gave a concert with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Lewisohn Stadium. In the announced program, conducted by Lamberto Gardelli, Tebaldi sang arias from NOZZE DI FIGARO, OTELLO, AIDA, MEFISTOFELE, and CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA as well Rossini's "La Regata Veneziana". Her first two encores were songs by Tosti and Ponce.
Tebaldi then stunned her devoted fans with "If I Loved You" from CAROUSEL; it was the first time she had sung for them in English, and though she confused the song's lyrics, the response of the crowd was delirious.
A couple of weeks after the concert, I made my first solo trip to New York City to buy tickets for performances during the opening weeks of the new Met. Among the many people I met during that visit was David S, one of Tebaldi's most ardent admirers. He gave me a reel-to-reel copy of a tape he had made of Tebaldi's Lewisohn Stadium concert.
Many years later, when I was about to give up my reel-to-reel collection, I spent some time copying certain treasures onto cassette. Because the overall sound quality of the tape of the Tebaldi concert was pretty poor, I didn't bother to copy it. But I did save "If I Loved You", both because it was an iconic Tebaldi moment and also as a souvenir of one of my first New York friendships.
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