Oberon's Grove

Other Voices ~ III

Richard Novák graduated from the Brno Conservatory and from 1954 on, he performed as a soloist with the Opera of the State Theatre in Ostrava and at Brno.

He won the second prize at Toulouse in 1961 (José van Dam took first place). In 1962, Novák became a laureate at Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. He performed at the Teatro Colón, at the Salzburg Festival, Paris, Madrid, and Venice. He worked with great conductors like Claudio Abbado, Karel Ančerl, Václav Neumann, Sir Charles Mackerras, and Ricardo Chailly. As a recitalist, he favored Schubert, Schumann, Wolf, Křička, and Dvořák’s Biblical Songs.

In 2001, Richard Novák received the Thalia Award for lifetime achievement, and in 2005 he was honored by the Minister of Culture for his contribution to music.

Richard Novák as Prince Gremin ~ EUGENE ONEGIN

Richard Novák - Die Walküre ~ Wotan's Farewell

Richard Novák - Hear Oh Hear My Prayer ~ from Dvořák Biblical Songs

Eduard Giménez was born in Barcelona in 1940. The Catalan tenor studied in Barcelona, and in Rome, and made his operatic début in 1967 at the Reggio Emilia as Nemorino in Elisir d'Amore (photo above). He sang throughout Spain, and at La Scala, in Paris, and at Aix-en-Provence.

Among the many operas in which this lyric tenor has performed are La Cenerentola, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Semiramide, Maria Stuarda, Cosi fan Tutte, Don Giovanni, La Cambiale di Matrimonio, Il Re Pastore, Il Viaggio a Reims, Albert Herring, Les Troyens, and Le Nozze di Figaro.

Eduard Gimenez - Basilio's aria from LE NOZZE DI FIGARO.

In 1979, Giménez sang Leicester (photo above) in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda at the Liceu, Barcelona, opposite Montserrat Caballe and Bianca Berini. Watch the performance here.

From 1992, Eduard Giménez has been head of the voice department at the Centro Superior del Conservatori Liceu.

Serbian soprano Milka Stojanović made her operatic debut at Belgrade in 1960 as Amelia in BALLO IN MASCHERA. Two years later, an appearance at the Edinburgh Festival put her on the international map. Ms. Stojanović went on to sing at Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, at the Bolshoi, and at Vienna, Rome, Venice, Palermo, Madrid, and Barcelona.

In 1967-1968, she appeared at The Met in FORZA DEL DESTINO, AIDA, as Liu in TURANDOT, Amelia in SIMON BOCCANEGRA, GIOCONDA, and Mimi in BOHEME. I saw her as Gioconda (opposite Franco Corelli) and Mimi (opposite Richard Tucker) and, despite some pitch issues, I liked her darkish timbre. Certain aspects of the Stojanović voice put me in mind of Zinka Milanov, with whom Milka had been studying while in New York.

In addition to Verdi and verismo, Ms. Stojanović sang Yaroslavna in PRNCE IGOR, Lisa in PIQUE-DAME, and Leonore in FIDELIO. She remained prima donna of the Belgrade Opera until her retirement in 1993.

Click on the following opera titles to hear Milka Stojanović in arias from NORMA, AIDA, and ANDREA CHENIER.

Kevin Langan has been a favorite singer of mine since I first heard him in a broadcast of the 1980 Met Auditions Winners concert, which I happened to record:

Kevin Langan - BOCCANEGRA aria - Met Auditions Finals 1980

But it wasn't until 1998 that I actually saw Mr. Langan onstage, in Tobias Picker's EMMELINE - the first opera performance I attended as a resident of New York City.

Kevin Langan studied with Margaret Harshaw at the University of Indiana. As a protégé of Walter Legge, he made his recital debut at London's famed Wigmore Hall in 1979. From thence, the basso went on to a busy career with opera companies throughout America. He gave more than 300 performances with San Francisco Opera, and he appears on the SFO's DVDs of AIDA, TURANDOT, and SAMSON ET DALILA. He also sang with Canadian Opera and at the Maggio Musicale in Florence.

Langan made his Met debut in 1990 as Colline in LA BOHEME.

Kevin Langan - Colline's Coat Aria - BOHEME Met bcast 1990

Above: Lauren Flanigan and Kevin Langan as Christine and Ezra Mannon @ Chicago Lyric Opera

In 1998, Langan sang Ezra Mannon in the Chicago Lyric Opera's production of Marvin David Levy's MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA. And in 2015, I saw him as the Old Servant in a concert performance of Strauss's ELEKTRA given by the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

Kevin Langan matches sonorous sounds with the great Cesare Siepi in a 1984 recording of the dramatic confrontation of King Philip II and the Grand Inquisitor from Verdi's DON CARLO. Listen here.

Watch and listen to Mr. Langan in the scene of Seneca's death from Monteverdi's INCORNAZIONE DI POPPEA from a performance by Boston Baroque, 2019, here.

Bianca Sauler sang Susanna in Mozart's MARRIAGE OF FIGARO at New York City Opera in 1970; she made a very fine impression - in a cast of FIGARO experts - but thereafter she seems to have faded from view.

From what I can gather, Ms. Sauler and her sister were a popular vocal duo in their Brooklyn community. It seems that this song is one of the very few recordings of Ms. Sauler that exists.

I've included this brief entry about Bianca Sauler, not as an after-thought, but in the hope that some reader might contact me with more information about this singer.

~ Oberon

O terra addio

Ilva Ligabue and Franco Corelli in the final moments of Verdi's AIDA, with Fiorenza Cossotto as Amneris.

Watch and listen here.

Callas Goes Mad

Maria Callas - Spargi d'amaro pianto ~ LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR

Abbado conducts Pergolesi ~ STABAT MATER

Katia Ricciarelli and Lucia Valentini-Terrani are the soloists in this performance of Pergolesi's STABAT MATER conducted by Claudio Abbado.

Watch and listen here.

Mara Zampieri as Maria Stuarda

Mara Zampieri in the final scene of Donizetti's MARIA STUARDA. Jerry Hadley sings the Earl of Leicester.

(It takes a couple moments for the music to start):

Mara Zampieri as Maria Stuarda - Vienna 1986

Bianca Berini: Encores

In 1983, mezzo-soprano Bianca Berini (above) gave a recital at a church in West Hartford, Connecticut, with Dan Saunders at the piano. Berini was a great favorite of mine, an old-style Italian mezzo with an intense, chest-based voice. During the program, she sang several operatic arias from works by Donizetti, Verdi; and Saint-Saens. The audience responded with mad enthusiasm. For her encores, Berini brought forth more lyrical pieces, including a beautifully intimate Venetian lullabye.

Bianca Berini - O mio babbino caro - W Hartford CT 1983

Bianca Berini - Venetian Lullabye - W Hartford CT 1983

Judith Raskin

American soprano Judith Raskin (above) began taking voice lessons while attending Smith College. She began concertizing, and in 1957 sang Sister Constance in a televised performance of Poulenc's DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES. She made her New York City Opera debut as Despina in 1959, and enjoyed a personal success there in the title-role of Douglas Moore's BALLAD OF BABY DOE. 

Ms. Raskin made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1962 as Susanna in NOZZE DI FIGARO and went on to give more than a hundred performances with the Met company over the next decade. Her roles included Marzelline, Nanetta, Sophie in ROSENKAVALIER, Zerlina, Pamina, and Micaela.

I first saw Judith Raskin onstage as Pamina in the Marc Chagall production of THE MAGIC FLUTE. She made such a beautiful impression in Mozart's sublime music. Later I saw her in her signature role as Susanna in NOZZE DI FIGARO. Her last Met performance was as Marzelline in 1972.

Judith Raskin sang with the opera companies of Chicago and San Francisco, and appeared as Pamina at the Glyndebourne Festival, She also performed frequently in concerts, most notably with the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell. And she once said, "“In my heart of hearts, I have always been a recitalist."

After retiring from the stage, Judith Raskin taught at the Manhattan School of Music. She passed away in 1984.

Judith Raskin sings Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 here.

More lovely singing from Ms. Raskin:

Judith Raskin - I Go To Him! ~ THE RAKE'S PROGRESS

Judith Raskin - Mahler ~ Liebst du um Schönheit

Judith Raskin - Exultate jubilate ~ Alleluia

Judith Raskin - Mahler's 4th symphony - final movement - Szell conducting

~ Oberon

TABARRO ~ Madrid 1979

I heard soprano Ángeles Gulín (above) as Valentine in a concert performance of LES HUGUENOTS at Carnegie Hall in 1969, singing Valentine opposite Beverly Sills and Tony Poncet. Ms. Gulín had one of the biggest voices I ever encountered.

There are not many souvenirs of her career. This TABARRO, though not in great quality, is enjoyable.

Watch and listen here.

CAST: Luigi: Placido Domingo; Giorgietta: Ángeles Gulín; Michele: Sylvano Carrolli; Frugola: Isabel Rivas; Tinca: Jose Manzaneda; Talpa: Jose Luis Alcalde. Conductor: Olivero di Fabritiis

Martha Graham Dance Company~Immediate Tragedy

Above, clockwise from top left: Graham dancers Ying Xin, Lloyd Knight, Lorenzo Pagano, and Leslie Andrea Williams performing Immediate Tragedy from their homes. Photo by Ricki Quinn.

Update: You can now watch Immediate Tragedy on YouTube here.

Friday June 20th, 2020 - In a joint collaboration with The Soraya and Wild Up, the Martha Graham Dance Company today presented the world premiere performance of a digital dance creation, Immediate Tragedy, inspired by Martha Graham’s lost solo from 1937. This freshly-imagined version features the fourteen remarkable artists of the Graham Company performing from their homes to a new musical score composed by Wild Up’s Christopher Rountree (photo below).

The loss of the 2020 Graham season in New York City was for me one of the saddest after-shocks of the pandemic. Nowadays, I keep wondering if dance, music, opera, and theatre - not to mention museums - can return to what we think of as 'normal' in the foreseeable future.

The members of the Graham Company have, over the past decade or so, become very dear to me, not just as dancers but as human beings. Their energy, commitment, and their unique individual stories make them so appealing. I cannot wait to see them "live" again. But for now, today's webcast of Immediate Tragedy at least let me behold their beautiful faces and forms again. 

Host Thor Steingraber, executive director of The Soraya, welcomed viewers. Graham artistic director Janet Eilber and composer Christopher Rountree of Wild Up gave us some background information about the collaborative effort to bring Martha Graham's "lost" 1937 solo back to life in a new guise nearly eighty years after it was last seen.

Ms. Eilber spoke of receiving a collection of black-and-white images of Martha Graham performing Immediate Tragedy in 1937. They were taken by Robert Fraser, and it was Fraser's son who contacted Ms. Eilber to say, "I have these photos..."  One thing led to another, and when the pandemic forced dancers to remain isolated, the idea of a digital dancework in which each Graham dancer would be filmed dancing at home, elaborating on the poses from the Fraser photos, made perfect sense. Each dancer was mailed four of the Fraser images, showing various moments from the original solo. Ms. Eilber oversaw the "new"  choreography, but...there was no music to dance to. Enter Mr. Rountree, who provided an intriguing score which five musicians from Wild Up play superbly.

The last time Immediate Tragedy was performed, it was paired with another Graham solo, Deep Song. A gorgeous film of dancer Anne Souder performing Deep Song at the Teatro Real Madrid in 2017 opened today's presentation. The solo, also dating from 1937, was another Graham response to the Spanish Civil War  - a war that raged until 1939 - and its dire effect on the women of Spain. The music is by Henry Cowell. 

At first glance, the bench employed in Deep Song puts the viewer in mind of Graham's iconic Lamentation, which was created in 1930. The two solos have an indelible connection, though the sources of inspiration - and the music used - are vastly different. Ms. Souder, striking in a beautiful re-creation of Edythe Gilford's original black-and-white costume design, is a wonderfully supple and nuanced dancer; she gives a vivid performance. As the solo progresses, the bench becomes part of the choreography. Up-ended, it becomes a chair on which the dancer sits and slowly rotates in place. Later, she takes refuge under it and - momentarily - it has the feeling of a coffin. Then the dancer's hands tremble: her indomitable spirit cannot be stilled.

In a solo that runs an emotional gamut from defiance to despair, Ms. Souder's dancing of Deep Song showed a perfect mixture of vulnerability and resolve.

Above: Wild Up's Jodie Landau playing Intermediate Percussion; photo credit Ricki Quinn

Perhaps picking up from the black-and-white of Anne Souder's gown, the presentation continues with an entr'acte: a black-and-white film featuring Wild Up's percussionist Jodie Landau playing at home. He employs a kit of drums and cymbals, as well as some household items. Jodie plays in a relaxed, utterly delightful way, pairing two 'forgotten' Henry Cowell works to create an interlude entitled Intermediate Percussion. Composer Chris Rountree said that he wasn't sure if the brief Cowell works had ever been publicly performed, or even published, but that Jodie was playing from the manuscripts. The works are entitled Canto Hondo and Sarabande.

Intermediate Percussion, far from being an idle filler while the "stage" was being "reset", was a fascinating and integral part of today's presentation. The black-and-white film has a refreshing, journalistic feel, and Mr. Landau's playing was as pleasing to watch as to hear.

Above: Martha Graham performing Immediate Tragedy in 1937; photo by Robert Fraser, courtesy of the Martha Graham Dance Company

The black-and-white theme running thru the program now becomes palpable as a collage of the incredible Robert Fraser photos of Martha Graham from 1937 herald the start of Immediate Tragedy. Slowly, each individual photo of Ms. Graham is replaced by a photo of one of the current Graham dancers. Clad in dark colours, against white or neutral backgrounds, they are a sight to see. And then they begin to move.

The Graham dancers appear in individual frames, sometimes paired, or in trios, or foursomes, and periodically in solo shots. So Young An, Alessio Crognale, Laurel Dalley Smith, Natasha Diamond-Walker, Lloyd Knight, Charlotte Landreau, Jacob Larsen, Lloyd Mayor, Marzia Memoli, Anne O’Donnell, Lorenzo Pagano, Anne Souder, Leslie Andrea Williams, and Xin Ying each dance the Grahamian modes of movement: kneeling, collapsing, contracting, stretching tall, with gestures of longing, supplication, or hopelessness. 

The quintet of musicians of Wild Up - Jiji (guitar), Richard Valitutto (piano), Jodie Landau (percussion/harpejii/synth/voice), Brian Walsh (clarinets), and Derek Stein (cello) - play Mr. Rountree's score impeccably. The music sings of loneliness and quiet anguish; thanks to the acoustic guitar and clarinet, there is an aptly Spanish quality about it at times. Cunning use of the harpejii adds a melismatic flavour. As the piece nears its end, there is a slow crescendo and an exciting acceleration of tempo during which the harpejii sounds like a mad, swirling dulcimer. It reaches a mighty climax, and then all falls silent.

During this final musical build-up, the frames of the dancers move swiftly up the screen, shrinking in size whilst growing in numbers. When the music suddenly ends, the screen goes black. A hauntingly pensive clarinet coda is heard as, one by one, the dancers reappear in their frames. As they slowly attain the work's final pose - hands clasped behind their heads - the bass clarinet descends to the depths. 

In silence, the frames of the individual dancers all disappear, leaving only Leslie Andrea Williams. Just as Leslie fades from view, her figure morphs into the 1937 image of Martha Graham sustaining the same pose.

"I was upright, and was going to remain upright at all costs." ~ Martha Graham

Though originally a necessary response to the pandemic - a way to keep dancers dancing and musicians playing - Immediate Tragedy has taken on yet another dimension following the murder of George Floyd and the massive international protests opposing racism and injustice. We seem to be living now on the edge of a knife; the coming months will determine the future of our democracy and - no exaggeration - the fate of mankind. For now, music, dance, art, and poetry continue to give solace. Immediate Tragedy - so beautifully performed - today felt like a ray of hope in a chaotic, dimming world.

~ Oberon

Golden Rabbit

June 18th, 2020 - In late February 1998, I made my last visit to New York City prior to moving here. One of my tasks on that trip was to arrange for a private mailbox down in The Village, where I would be living. I chose The Golden Rabbit, a small shop which is part of the White Horse Tavern building. The little store sells cards, souvenirs, lottery tickets; they have fax and copy service, and private mailboxes for $15 a month, which includes package service. The couple who've run Golden Rabbit for some 25 years are so nice.

After meeting Wei, two weeks after I moved here, I added his name to the mailbox. He became friendly with the owners of the store. When, after five years of living on Perry Street, we moved up to Inwood, we always kept the mailbox; Wei or I would stop in every three or four days to pick up the mail.

When the White Horse Tavern (a designated historic landmark) was bought recently by a new landlord, he wanted to drastically increase the rent for the Golden Rabbit. The owner and tenant were trying to iron things out when the pandemic struck and everything shut down.

The Golden Rabbit re-opened in late May with reduced hours, and it soon became apparent that they could not sustain the business in the current atmosphere. And so they are closing as of June 30th, 2020.

Having a West Village address was a big deal for me: I'd waited so long to move to New York City, and at the time the Village was still wonderfully Bohemian, relatively inexpensive, and an oasis of drugs, sex, and rock n' roll. But today, when I went down to say goodbye to the couple, I realized how drastically things have changed. Restaurants and shops (mostly boarded up now) are for the most part unaffordable to mere mortals. Manatus closed years ago, as did the Chinese restaurant where we celebrated my 50th birthday. The piers where I used to sunbathe and misbehave have turned into a promenade for Latte-slurping, cellphone-addicted mothers wheeling double-wide baby strollers, whilst at the same time walking the dog.

So with the closing of the Golden Rabbit, it feels like a chapter of my life is coming to an end. I love it here in Inwood with its vastly diverse population, its beautiful park, great pizza and Chinese food, and laid-back atmosphere. But I'll always think fondly of the days we lived on Perry Street, where my longtime dream of living in Gotham came true.

~ Oberon