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Diana Soviero sings "Un bel di" from Puccini's MADAMA BUTTERFLY at the 1993 Richard Tucker Gala. Watch and listen here.
Ms. Soviero's Marguerite, Leila, Violetta, Cio-Cio-San, and Nedda were among the finest performances of those roles I ever encountered.
In 2010, I had the great pleasure of sitting next to Diana Soviero at the dress rehearsal of the Lepage RHEINGOLD at The Met. Her first comment as the curtain fell was unforgettable...and spot-on.
~ Oberon
Above: Eva Marton and Margarita Lilowa in the opening scene of LA GIOCONDA
A rather odd collection of excerpts from a performance of Ponchielli's LA GIOCONDA given at Vienna in 1986 is available on YouTube. The principal roles are sung by Eva Marton (Gioconda), Ludmila Sementshuk (Laura), Margarita Lilowa (Cieca), Placido Domingo (Enzo), Matteo Manuguerra (Barnaba), and Kurt Rydl (Alvise). Adam Fischer conducts.
Watch and listen here.
I am not sure why some scenes were included, and others - more interesting - were not; the editing is haphazard. But it's nice to have a souvenir that recalls the performances of the opera at The Met with Marton and Domingo during the 1982-1983 season. Marton was a passionate Gioconda, and Domingo's dreamy falsetto at "...o sogni d'or" in his great aria is so pleasing to hear.
Above: Margarita Lilowa
And I always enjoy Margarita Lilowa's performances.
Actually, as I watched the excerpts included in this YouTube presentation, I remembered that this performance was previously available on VHS, and later on DVD and BluRay. For now, the YouTube highlights will suffice.
I fell in love with the bewitching Fanny Ara (above) when I saw her dancing on a mixed programme in 2012 at Joyce SoHo. Since then, I have been following her via her website and on YouTube.
Although it's a short work, I was much taken when I watched Aragorn's Horse, which Fanny performed with the Celtic harp trio Triskela for a Celtic & Flamenco Night at the La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley in August 2009. Watch and listen here.
Another aspect of Fanny's artistry here.
Happy birthday, Fanny!
An impressive line-up:
LEO NUCCI
GHENA DIMITROVA
PETER DVORSKY
SONA GHAZARIAN
GIACOMO ARAGALL
RUGGERO RAIMONDI
ELENA OBRATZSOVA
FERRUCIO FURLANETTO
NATALIA TROITSKAYA
LUCA CANONICI
MONTSERRAT CABALLE
SAMUEL RAMEY
APRILE MILLO
VINCENZO LA SCOLA
MARA ZAMPIERI
RENE KOLLO
SILVANO CARROLI
EVA MARTON
JUAN PONS
ANTONIO ORDOÑEZ
ILEANA COTRUBAS
JOSE CARRERAS
Watch and listen here.
Doori Na plays Jessie Montgomery's Rhapsody #1 in an at-home performance during the pandemic. Watch and listen here.
Doori is the resident violinist of Miro Magloire's New Chamber Ballet. During this period of isolation, Doori has been producing a series of Laid Bach Concerts: watch them here.
Read about composer Jessie Montgomery here.
Above: Martina Arroyo and Oralia Dominguez
A televised performance of the Verdi REQUIEM given at the Salle Pleyel, Paris, in June 1969. Martina Arroyo, Oralia Dominguez, Aldo Bottion, and Nicolai Ghiuselev are the soloists; Jean Martinon conducts.
Watch and listen here.
The great American basso Norman Treigle (above) sings songs from Carlisle Floyd's Pilgrimage. Listen here.
Pilgrimage is described as a "solo cantata on Biblical texts, for low voice and piano or orchestra"; it was premiered by Mr. Treigle at Syracuse, New York, in 1960. Further information on this work may be found here.
The artists of the Deutsche Philharmonie Merck, led by Chief Conductor Ben Palmer, perform the prelude to Act III of Wagner's LOHENGRIN in isolation.
Watch and listen here.
A performance of TRAVIATA given in Madrid in 1977 with Elena Mauti-Nunziata, Alfredo Kraus, and Vicente Sardinero in the principal roles. Unfortunately, part of Act II (including "Di Provenza") is missing. But it's a valuable document of Ms. Mauti-Nunziata in one of her finest roles.
Watch and listen here.
Elena Mauti-Nunziata sang several performances of Mimi, Violetta, and Nedda at The Met from 1977-1979. I'm not sure how I managed to miss them.
In 1982, I caught the last act of a broadcast of MADAMA BUTTERFLY from Dallas and was much taken with Ms. Mauti-Nunziata's rendering of the opera's final scene:
Elena Mauti-Nunziata - Morte di Butterfly - Dallas 1982
In 1985, I saw Ms.Mauti-Nunziata onstage for the only time: as Violetta at The Bushnell in Hartfford, Connecticut. She gave a memorable portrayal.
~ Oberon
Natalia Makarova and Ivan Nagy dance the White Swan pas de deux from SWAN LAKE at the 100th anniversary celebration of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1984. Ivan Nagy came out of retirement to dance with Ms. Makarova on this occasion. The dancers are accompanied on-stage by violinist Itzhak Perlman and cellist Lynn Harrell.
Watch and listen here.