Oberon's Grove

Light Shall Lift Us

More than a hundred opera singers unite in a sing-from-home performance of Light Shall Lift Us. Paul Moravec is the composer, and Mark Campbell the lyricist. Watch and listen here.

Andrew Whitfield conducts, and I'm so happy to see (and hear!) Matthew Polenzani leading things off, and so many people I love taking part: Sasha Cooke, Vicky Livengood, Joyce Castle, Leo Capalbo, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Jason Ferrante, Eve Gigliotti, John Moore, Stephen Powell, Morris Robinson, Lucy Schaufer,  Raehann Bryce-Davis, William Burden, Jennifer Zetlan, Alek Shrader, David Portillo, Mary Dunleavy, Keith Jameson, and Miles Mykkanen.

Thank you all!!

Gabriel Bacquier Has Passed Away

Above: Gabriel Bacquier as Baron Scarpia

I've just heard the news of the death of Gabriel Bacquier; he passed away on May 13th, 2020, just a few days shy of his 96th birthday.

Bacquier was born at Béziers, France, in 1924. From his early childhood, he was fascinated with singing. Pursuing vocal studies, he graduated from the Paris Conservatoire in 1950. He spent three years (1953-1956) with La Monnaie, Brussels, singing roles from the French and Italian repertoire.

Bacquier made his debut at the Opéra-Comique as Sharpless in 1956, and in 1960 sang Don Giovanni at the  festival at Aix-en-Provence. A performance of TOSCA opposite Renata Tebaldi at the Paris Opéra marked the start of his international career, and he was soon appearing at Glyndebourne, Vienna, La Scala, and Covent Garden, developing a reputation as an incomparable singer and actor. 

Above: In 1963, Bacquier created the role of Abdul in Gian Carlo Menotti's LE DERNIER SAUVAGE at the Opéra-Comique; Mady Mesplé sang Kitty Scattergood. 

Bacquier's American debut came with the Chicago Lyric Opera in 1962 as the High Priest in SAMSON ET DALILA; in that same role, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1964.

Above: Gabriel Bacquier and Rosalind Elias in the Venetian Scene from HOFFMANN

Bacquier was greatly loved by Met audiences. During his seasons there, he sang Massenet's Lescaut, Mozart's Leporello and Count Almaviva, Iago, Fra Melitone, the four Villains in CONTES D'HOFFMANN, Don Pasquale, Gianni Schicchi, and Bartolo in BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA.

For me, his greatest roles were Scarpia and Golaud in PELLEAS ET MELISANDE. His Saturday matinee broadcasts of those operas were magnificent: the TOSCA (1968) with Régine Crespin and Gianni Raimondi, conducted by Zubin Mehta, and the PELLEAS (1978) with Teresa Stratas and Raymond Gibbs, James Levine conducting.

A complete Act II of TOSCA in French with Bacquier, Jane Rhodes, and Albert Lance, conducted by Manuel Rosenthal, has come to my attention:

TOSCA - Act II ~ in French - Jane Rhodes - Albert Lance - Gabrel Bacquier - Rosenthal cond

And here are some more souvenirs from Bacquier's extensive catalog of recordings:

Gabriel Bacquier - Damnation de Faust ~ Voici des roses

Gabriel Bacquier - Les Contes d'Hoffmann ~ Scintille diamant

Gabriel Bacquier - Serenade ~ DON GIOVANNI

Gabriel Bacquier sings Fauré's Clair de lune

Bacquier sings music of Gluck, Berlioz, Thomas, and Ravel in this televised concert conducted by Jacques Houtmann at the Salle Pleyel in Paris on March 26th, 1966.

~ Oberon

Dunja Vejzović as Adalgisa

One of the most intriguing singers in my long years of listening to opera is Dunja Vejzović. The Croatian soprano - who is best-known from her recordings of Senta, Kundry, and Ortrud with Herbert von Karajan - fascinated me the only time I saw her live: singing the mezzo-soprano part in the Verdi REQUIEM at Carnegie Hall in 1982. Lorin Maazel conducted, and Hildegard Behrens was the soprano. I saw Ms. Vejzović at the stage door after the concert; she radiated a bewitching mystique, and I found myself too awestruck to ask for her autograph.

You can read about the Vejzović career here, and of the wide range of roles she sang - from Cherubini's Medea to Marie in WOZZECK.

Finding a film of a performance of Bellini's NORMA from Zagreb 1984 in which Ms. Vejzović sings Adalgisa was a pleasant surprise for me. She makes a lovely impression, both vocally and physically, and the prolonged mid-scene applause for "Mira, O Norma" (and the curtain calls for the two singers afterward) is moving to behold. Watch the performance here.

~ Oberon

John Macurdy Has Passed Away

Following the recent deaths of Jeannette Pilou and Rosalind Elias, it is sad to hear of the passing of the Metropolitan Opera's stalwart basso, John Macurdy, who sang over 1,000 performances with the Company in New York and on tour between 1962 and 2000. A native of Detroit, he had sung with New Orleans Opera from 1952 to 1958, and at New York City Opera from 1959 to 1962 before making his Met debut in 1962 as Tom in UN BALLO IN MASCHERA.

In his first Met seasons, Macurdy sang such roles as Lodovico in OTELLO, Dr. Grenvil in TRAVIATA, and the Old Hebrew in SAMSON ET DALILA. Over time, the basso made several "role jumps": he went from being the King in AIDA to singing Ramfis, from Monterone to Sparafucile, and - the grandest leap of all - from Titurel to Gurnemanz in PARSIFAL

Thru the seasons, Macurdy added a wide variety of roles: the Commendatore, Ferrando in TROVATORE, Colline in BOHEME, Crespel in HOFFMANN, Daland in FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER, the Landgraf in TANNHAUSER, Raimondo in LUCIA, King Henry in LOHENGRIN, Gounod's Frere Laurent and Mephistopheles, Hunding, Alvise in GIOCONDA, King Arkel, Fafner, and Pimen in BORIS GODUNOV. 

In the opening season at the New Met, Macurdy sang Sarastro (above) in the Chagall MAGIC FLUTE, and he created the role of General Ezra Mannon in Marvin David Levy's MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA, which I consider to be the "great American opera".

MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA ~ Murder of Ezra Mannon - John Macurdy - Marie Collier - Evelyn Lear

Rocco in FIDELIO was a particularly felicitous role for Mr. Macurdy (above). He made a striking impression as King Marke in TRISTAN UND ISOLDE In 1971 (my first-ever TRISTAN), and enjoyed a great personal success as Narbal in LES TROYENS in 1973. In 1975, Macurdy took on the role of Hagen in GOTTERDAMMERUNG; twenty-five years later - on May 6th, 2000 - he sang his final Met performance in this same role.

John Macurdy appeared in several Met broadcasts and telecasts throughout his career. The 1982 televised TANNHAUSER rated a Hirschfeld commemoration (above: Bernd Weikl, Tatiana Troyanos, Eva Marton, Richard Cassilly, and John Macurdy). The basso sang Ramfis in the 1984 telecast of AIDA that marked Leontyne Price's farewell to opera.

One of Macurdy's most frequent Met roles was that of the Grand Inquisitor in Verdi's DON CARLO. Here is the great scene of King Philip's lament and the argument between the king and the Grand Inquisitor. Cesare Siepi is the tormented monarch.

Cesare Siepi & John Macurdy - DON CARLO scene - Met ~ October 11th 1971

While The Met was John Macurdy's home base, he did make guest appearances at other major opera houses. He sang at the Teatro Colon and the Salzburg Festival, and appeared at L'Opera, Paris, as Arkel in PELLEAS ET MELISANDE, and at La Scala as Rocco and as the Landgraf in TANNHAUSER.  

Macurdy portrays the Commendatore in the 1979 Joseph Losey film of Mozart's DON GIOVANNI, with Ruggero Raimondi in the title role and Jose van Dam as Leporello; watch the scene of the Commendatore's statue arriving at the Don's palace for dinner here.

The first time I ever heard SAMSON ET DALILA was on a 1964 Met broadcast; Jess Thomas and Irene Dalis had the title roles that afternoon.  Here is the end of Act I of that performance, in which John Macurdy as the Old Hebrew tries to forestall Samson's fatal surrender to the allure of Dalila.  It's only a few phrases, but it shows the gentle power of the Macurdy voice. 

SAMSON & DALILA - scene from Act I - Irene Dalis - Jess Thomas - John Macurdy - Met bcast 1964

~ Oberon

Being A Mother Is Hell

Renata Tebaldi sings Mama Rosai's anguished aria from Cilea's L'ARLESIANA.

Renata Tebaldi - Cilèa~ L'Arlesiana - Esser madre è un inferno

 

Birgit Nilsson as Salome

Above: Birgit Nilsson as Salome. She autographed this photo for me after a performance of TURANDOT at the New Met in 1966.

Birgit Nilsson sang Salome in a new production at the Old Met in 1965; she gave ten performances of the opera in New York City. Reportedly, Salome was the only role Nilsson herself ever requested to sing during her career; when Rudolf Bing offered her any role of her choosing, she chose Strauss's petulant princess, which she had first sung at Stockholm in 1954. Karl Böhm conducted the Met production; it was a huge success.

Birgit Nilsson performed the final scene of SALOME, again conducted by Dr. Böhm, at the 1972 gala honoring Sir Rudolf Bing on his retirement from The Met.

Birgit Nilsson - SALOME ~ final scene - Karl Böhm cond - Rudolf Bing Gala 1972

Méditation

Metropolitan Opera concert-master David Chan, with the Met's Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin at the piano, played the Méditation from Jules Massenet's opera THAIS for the Metropolitan Opera's At-Home Gala on April 25th, 2020.

Watch and listen here.

Riddle Scene

On a broadcast of Puccini's TURANDOT from The Met in 1987, an unexpected interjection from Eva Marton -  something I have never heard before or since - gave a special edge to the drama of the Riddle Scene. Placido Domingo is Calaf.

TURANDOT - Act II scene - Eva Marton & Placido Domingo - Met 1987

Rosalind Elias Has Passed Away

Above: Rosalind Elias as Olga in EUGENE ONEGIN

One of my all-time favorite singers, Rosalind Elias, has passed away at the age of 90. Her voice was once described as "high-caloric", which says it all: it was a warm, sensuous, and wonderfully appealing sound. Add to this her beautiful face and form, and you have a singer as pleasing to watch as to hear.

A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, Rosalind Elias studied at the New England Conservatory and later at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. She sang with New England Opera Theatre for three years, and in 1954 made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Grimgerde in WALKURE. The Met was Ms. Elias's artistic home: she sang nearly 700 performances with the Company in New York and on tour, appearing there for the last time in 1996.

The Elias Met career began with small roles - Bersi in CHENIER, the Priestess in AIDA, the Shepherd in TOSCA,  Mecedes in CARMEN - before slowly graduating to parts like Siebel, Maddalena in RIGOLETTO, Preziosilla, Wellgunde, Suzuki, Lola in CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA, Olga in ONEGIN, and Cherubino.

Above: Rosalind Elias and Nicolai Gedda in VANESSA

At the Met, on January 15th, 1958, Rosalind Elias created the role of Erika in Samuel Barber's VANESSA, a role she perfectly inhabited. Years later, she took on the role of the Old Baroness in Barber's opera, in which role I saw her (for the last time) at New York City Opera.

Above, the original VANESSA cast: Regina Resnik (in the background) as the Old Baroness, Eleanor Steber as Vanessa, and Rosalind Elias as Erika

Ms. Elias put her definitive stamp on the opera's most famous passage:

Rosalind Elias - Must the Winter Come so Soon - VANESSA

And here - preceded by the interlude and hymn - is Erika's searing renunciation of Anatol:

VANESSA - Interlude - Hymn - Renunciation ~ Rosalind Elias

Thereafter, the Elias career bloomed further: Carmen, Marina in BORIS GODUNOV, Fenena in the Met premiere of NABUCCO, Offenbach's Giulietta, Amneris, Azucena, Nancy in MARTHA, both Laura and La Cieca in GIOCONDA, both Annina and Octavian in ROSENKAVALIER, Meg Page in the Bernstein FALSTAFF, the 2nd Lady in the Chagall MAGIC FLUTE, Hansel (and later The Witch), Charlotte in WERTHER, and Rossini's Rosina.

Above: Justino Diaz, Rosalind Elias, Leontyne Price, and Belen Amparan in ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA.

In 1966, Rosalind Elias created her second Barber role, Charmian in ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA for the opening of the New Met. In the original version, Charmian took over after Cleopatra's dying final words: "What? Should I Stay..." and sang, "...in this vile world. Now boast ye death..." Barber later changed this, eliminating Charmian's moving interjection, to make for a more 'operatic' ending.

Above, a treat: Teresa Stratas and Rosalind Elias as Gretel and Hansel

Above: Roz's sexy Zerlina with Theodor Uppman

In 1968, Roz and Franco Corelli electrified a massive crowd when the Met offered an outdoor performance of CARMEN:

Rosalind Elias & Franco Corelli - CARMEN - final scene - Met in Parks 1968

From 1965 to 1992, Ms. Elias was absent from The Met. She returned to sing the voice of the Mother in HOFFMANN, Madane Larina in ONEGIN, Madame de Croissy in CARMELITES, Mozart's Marcellina, and the Countess de Coigny in CHENIER. Her final Met staged performances were as Hata in THE BARTERED BRIDE.

In 1996, Rosalind Elias joined dozens of other Met stars in a televised gala saluting the 25th anniversary of James Levine's Met debut. She sang Nicklausse in the sextet from CONTES D'HOFFMANN with some illustrious colleagues. Although she is only briefly on-camera, but it's simply wonderful to have this memento of her from the Met stage. And that gown! My father would have described her affectionately as "a dish".

It's especially touching that Ms. Elias sang Nicklausse at that gala; Giulietta (above) in the Offenbach opera had been one of her most felicitous roles:

HOFFMANN - Venetian Scene - R Elias - Vanni - Gedda - G London - Met bcast 1959

In 2011-2012, Rosalind Elias appeared as Heidi Schiller in Stephen Sondheim's FOLLIES in Washington DC and in New York City.

My own first Elias performance was at the Old Met: she was Dorabella (above) in the English-language COSI FAN TUTTE opposite Leontyne Price, Richard Tucker, Theodor Uppman, Roberta Peters, and Donald Gramm. Her luscious voice and glamorous décolletage captivated me.

At the New Met, she was a gorgeous Laura in GIOCONDA opposite Renata Tebaldi as the hapless street singer. I saw the Elias Annina, Charmian, Cherubino, Zerlina, and Witch in HANSEL...and loved all of them.

Rosalind Elias - Stella del marinar! ~ GIOCONDA

In 1977, we trekked up to Boston to see a performance of RIGOLETTO in which Roz played a terrific Maddalena, clad all in black: stilettos, jodhpur-style trousers, and a leatherette corset. I memory serves, she brandished a riding crop.

One afternoon, while I was working a Tower Records, I had the pleasure of meeting Rosalind Elias. I hastily ran to the registers and purchased a second copy of the "original cast" VANESSA recording, and she signed the booklet for me. It's lovely to have a souvenir of something she once held in her hands.

And now, let's listen to Rosalind Elias:

Rosalind Elias - Cherubino's arias - NOZZE - Met bcast 1976

Rosalind Elias sings Cantaloube's Baïlèro

Rosalind Elias - O Holy Night

Rosalind Elias - Premiers Transports ~ Berlioz ROMEO & JULIETTE

Rosalind Elias - Olga's Aria ~ EUGENE ONEGIN

Ms. Elias was the mezzo-soprano soloist for Fritz Reiner's classic recording of the Verdi REQUIEM; her frequent Met colleague, Leontyne Price, was the soprano soloist:

Rosalind Elias - Liber scriptus ~ Verdi REQUIEM

Leontyne Price & Rosalind Elias - Recordare ~ Verdi REQUIEM

~ Oberon

Stephen Costello @ The Met's At-Home Gala

Tenor Stephen Costello and violinist Yoon Kwon Costello offer "Salut! demeure chaste et pure" from Gounod's FAUST for the Metropolitan Opera's At-Home Gala on April 25th, 2020. Watch and listen here.