Oberon's Grove

Deborah Polaski ~ Die stille Lotosblume

Deborah Polaski sings Clara Schumann's Die stille Lotosblume from a recital with pianist Charles Spencer.

Watch and listen here.

Giuseppe Giacomini Has Passed Away

The great Italian tenor Giuseppe Giacomini has passed away at the age of 80.

Giacomini made his operatic debut in 1966 at Vercelli as Pinkerton. and was soon singing throughout Italy. His international career commenced at Berlin in 1970, which led to engagements at Lisbon, Barcelona, Munich, and in Vienna, where he received the title Kammersänger.

He triumphed at La Scala, in Turin, and in Rome, and made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1976, with debuts at Paris and Covent Garden following soon after.

Giacomini is featured on the Metropolitan Opera's DVD of LA FORZA DEL DESTINO with Leontyne Price, and on commercial recordings as Turiddu (opposite Jessye Norman), Pollione (with Renata Scotto), Otello (with Dame Margaret Price), and he is Cavaradossi on the Muti TOSCA with Carol Vaness.

The tenor celebrated his 60th birthday singing in TOSCA at Covent Garden, and in 2010 he toured China with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra.

I first saw Giuseppe Giacomini onstage (his US debut) at The Bushnell in Hartford, where he appeared in an exciting FANCIULLA DEL WEST opposite Radmila Bakočević in 1975. At the 1987 Richard Tucker Gala, Giacomini brought down the house twice with his singing of the final scene of ANDREA CHENIER with Eva Marton, and with his powerhouse performance as Otello in the Act II duet with Sherrill Milnes; during the applause that followed, Mr. Milnes bestowed a comradely kiss on the tenor's cheek. Watch and listen here.

On December 10th, 1988, Giacomini gave a thrilling performance as Canio in PAGLIACCI at a Met matinee. The tenor - along with Diana Soviero (Nedda) and Juan Pons (Tonio) - was simply on fire, his top notes blazing into the hall. During the bows, a crowd gathered at the orchestra railing - like in the old days - to scream their heads off for the singers. I was so elated to be part of it. 

As it turned out, that PAGLIACCI was Giuseppe Giacomini's last Met performance.

Giuseppe Giacomini - Un tal gioco - PAGLIACCI - Met bcast 1988

There's lots of Giacomini to be found on YouTube; here are a few of my favorite things:

Giuseppe Giacomini sings Calaf's aria "Non piangere Liu" from TURANDOT from a Paris Opera production in 1981. Watch and listen here.

The tenor sings the Improviso from ANDREA CHENIER here...

...and Calaf's "Nessun dorma" from a 1989 Moscow concert here...with an encore!

And here's Giacomini as Radames...

Giuseppe Giacomini ~ Celeste Aida ~ Chicago 1988

...and in the final duet from ANDREA CHENIER, with Ghena Dimitrova:

ANDREA CHENIER ~ final duet - Ghena Dimitrova & Giuseppe Giacomini

George Szell ~ Verdi REQUIEM ~ Cleveland 1968

George Szell (above) conducts the Cleveland Orchestra in a live performance of the Messa di Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi given in 1968.  Gabriella Tucci, Dame Janet Baker, Pierre Duval, and Martti Talvela are the soloists.

Listen here.

Junetta Jones

Above: soprano Junetta Jones performing with the Goldman Band in Central Park in the early 1960s.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1936, Junetta Jones studied at the Peabody Conservatory and later at the New England Conservatory and the Tanglewood Music Center.

In 1963, Ms. Jones was a winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions (Jane Marsh and Justino Diaz were also winners that year); she made her Met debut as the Celestial Voice in Verdi's DON CARLO a few months after her Auditions win. Her other Met roles were a Genie in THE MAGIC FLUTE, the Page in RIGOLETTO, and Barbarina in NOZZE DI FIGARO. She last appeared at The Met in 1965.

Like so many young American singers at that time, Junetta Jones then re-located to Europe where she sang at Dusseldorf, Wuppertal, Regensburg, Munster, Trier, and Lucerne. She returned to the USA from time to time, singing with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. When she appeared in Handel's SAMSON at Carnegie Hall in 1965, the New York Times called her singing "beguiling".

Above: Junetta Jones in MADAMA BUTTERFLY; date and venue not specified

Following her retirement from performing, Ms. Jones worked for 20 years on the advisory committee for art and culture for the city of Baltimore. She passed away in 2015.

Listen to Junetta Jones in her Met debut role, the Celestial Voice, here.

Riccardo Muti ~ Schubert's "Kupelwieser Waltz"

Maestro Riccardo Muti plays Schubert's Kupelwieser Waltz. Watch and listen here.

Discoveries IV

Things I found by chance on YouTube during the pandemic:

Gustav Mahler's "Frühlingsmorgen" sung by soprano Dési Halban. Listen here.

Ms. Halban was the daughter of the celebrated soprano Selma Kurz.

Colette Boky and Richard Verreau sing the duet "Ah! viens, dans la forêt profonde" from Léo Delibes' LAKME from a televised program presented by Radio-Canada in 1963.

Watch and listen here.

I saw Ms. Boky at The Met as Gilda and Juliette, and I was at Mr. Verreau's Met debut (at the Old House) as FAUST in November 1963.

A rare pairing of Ileana Cotrubas and Lucia Valentini-Terrani in a duet from Bellini's NORMA from a concert in Macau in 1987.

Listen watch and listen here.

Benjamin Luxon sings George Butterworth's 'With rue my heart is laden'; the pianist is David Willison. Listen here.

Reri Grist sings Claude Debussy's Quatre chansons de jeunesse from a live performance; the date and location of the performance are unknown, and we don't have the name of the pianist either. Listen here.

Reri Grist is a very special singer for me: she was my first Zerbinetta, Sophie in ROSENKAVALIER, and Oscar in BALLO IN MASCHERA.

Listen to basso Boris Carmeli sing "Quia fecit mihi magna" from Bach's Magnificat in D-major here. This is from a live performance conducted by Hermann Scherchen in 1963.

My first experience hearing Mr. Carmeli was in a speaking role in the 1998 U.S. premiere of Krzystof Penderecki's seventh symphony, which is almost always referred to as SEVEN GATES OF JERUSALEM. Mr. Carmeli owned this part during his lifetime, and he appears in both CD and DVD performances of the work.

ANDREA CHENIER ~ Final Duet

So thrilled to have found this souvenir of one of my favorite sopranos, Gilda Cruz-Romo, singing Maddalena in the final duet from Giordano's ANDREA CHENIER. Tenor Ermanno Mauro is the poet Chenier in this performance from Tulsa 1981. I simply love the vast wave of applause that sweeps over the house after "Viva la morte insiem!"

I met and befriended Gilda at the time of her New York City Opera debut in 1969. I saw her many times at both NYC Opera and The Met. We stayed in touch after she retired and settled in San Antonio, Texas. I shall never forget her great kindness to me.

Jean Kraft Has Passed Away

Above: Jean Kraft as Emilia in OTELLO

Jean Kraft, a unique singing-actress of the highest calibre, has passed away at the age of 94. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1970 as Flora Bervoix in TRAVIATA and went on to give nearly 800 performances with the Company at Lincoln Center and on tour.

Slender of form, and with a face that could register the slightest nuances of emotion with uncanny clarity, Ms. Kraft excelled in every role she took on. I saw her countless times during her Met career, and she never failed to lure my eye...and ear. 

She was a fascinatingly stoic/vulnerable Mamma Lucia in CAVALLERIA (above with Placido Domingo), an uptight Emilia under her husband's evil thumb in OTELLO, a regal Hecuba in the Met premiere of TROYENS, an aristocrat striving to keep her composure as the Comtesse in CHENIER, the struggling, poverty-stricken Gertrude in HANSEL & GRETEL, the gracious Madame Larina in EUGENE ONEGIN, the arthritic Mother Jeanne managing her walk to the guillotine in DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES.

Jean Kraft was the Borough's busybody/drug addict Mrs. Sedley in PETER GRIMES (above), Berta in BARRBIERE, Marthe in FAUST, Duchess Federica in LUISA MILLER, Marcellina in NOZZE DI FIGARO, the Duchesse in FILLE DU REGIMENT, Dryade in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, a stalwart Rossweisse in WALKURE, Annina in ROSENKAVALIER, Suzuki in BUTTERFLY, and - a couple of times - Ulrica in BALLO IN MASCHERA. She gave her last Met performance as Madama Larina on April 5th, 1989.

Here is a brief audio excerpt of Ms. Kraft as Mamma Lucia with Reneta Scotto as Santuzza, from the commercial recording:

Renata Scotto & Jean Kraft - Cavalleria Rusticana ~ scene

And it's so wonderful to have this thrilling souvenir of Jean Kraft performing the trio from HOFFMANN with Catherine Malfitano and James Morris at the 1984 Gala of Stars, conducted by James Levine. Watch and listen here.

Here is an incredible audio-only document of Ms. Kraft's 1969 Town Hall debut recital, accompanied by David Garvey. Listen here.

And here is a fascinating interview that she gave Bruce Duffie: LINK

Rest peacefully, dear Ms. Kraft. You are unforgettable.

~ Oberon

Ponte Singers ~ Pilgrims' Chorus

The Ponte Singers and Orchestra perform the Pilgrims' Chorus from Wagner's TANNHAUSER at a 2013 concert given in Hong Kong. Stephen Lam Lik Hin is the conductor.

Watch and listen here.

Anna Tomowa-Sintow ~ Vissi d'arte

Anna Tomowa-Sintow sings the Vissi d'arte from Act II of Puccini's TOSCA, from Lisbon 1995.

Watch and listen here.