Oberon's Grove

Cesare Siepi Sings Wagner

The great Italian basso Cesare Siepi sings Gurnemanz's narrative from PARSIFAL here, and Wotan's farewell from WALKURE here.

TRAVIATA ~ Jaho/Meli/Domingo

A performance from France 3 of Verdi's LA TRAVIATA given in the Spring of 2019, conducted by Daniele Rustioni with Ermonela Jaho (above), Francesco Meli, and Placido Domingo in the leading roles.

Watch and listen here.

ELEKTRA ~ Final Scene

A thrilling performance of the final scene of Richard Strauss's ELEKTRA, from a full concert performance given by the Berlin Philharmonic in 2014. Christian Thielemann conducts, with Evelyn Herlitzius (photo above) as Elektra and Anne Schwanewilms as Chrysothemis.

Watch and listen here.

Robert Hale Has Passed Away

Robert Hale, the versatile American bass-baritone, has passed away at the age of 90.

A native of Texas who grew up in Louisiana, Mr. Hale made his operatic debut as Colline in LA BOHEME in 1967 at the New York City Opera; he was, for several seasons, a pillar of that Company, and I saw him many times in a wide variety of roles: his Sparafucile, Colline, Mozart's Figaro, and Don Giovanni were all first-class. He was a magnificent Raimondo in the famed 'Sills production' of LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, and also sang Escamillo, Henry VIII in ANNA BOLENA, and Handel's Giulio Cesare. Hale was truly impressive in every one of these roles...here he is in the Don's serenade:

Robert Hale - Serenade - DON GIOVANNI - NYCO 1972

His performance as Scarpia in TOSCA was extraordinarily powerful, especially as he dominated the chorus and orchestra in the Te Deum that ends the first act. Hale's vocalism was thrilling here, and as the curtain fell, he crushed a rose in his hand. I was so bowled over by his Scarpia that I made a special return trip from Hartford to New York City to see it a second time, one week later.

Mr. Hale's huge international career found him singing at Berlin, Covent Garden, La Scala, Vienna, Barcelona, Hamburg, San Francisco, Sydney, the Royal Danish Opera, Teatro Colon, the Bolshoi, Finnish National Opera, and the Salzburg Festival.

Above: Robert Hale as Wotan, with Hildegard Behrens as Brunnhilde

Robert Hale became a leading exponent of the roles of Wotan/The Wanderer in the RING Cycle and the title-role of the FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER. He sang these roles at The Met - as well as Don Pizarro in FIDELIO - between 1990 and 1996, He recorded the RING and the Dutchman (video) with both Sawallisch and von Dohnányi. Hale also sings Jochanaan on a recording of Strauss's SALOME, and portrays Barak in a video of DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN conducted by Sir Georg Solti.

This sampling of Hale's Wotan from the Dohnányi recording:

Robert Hale - Das Rheingold ~ Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge

Robert Hale's abiding love for sacred music and spirituals took him on concert tours with other artists offering varying programs of this music, and he made several recordings: listen to him sing "Deep River".

One of my very favorite "Robert Hale" evenings at New York City Opera was this performance of LA BOHEME in which the five principal roles were taken by artists who I particularly admired.

~ Oberon

Collier & Gobbi ~ IL TABARRO

A fascinating black & white film of Puccini's IL TABARRO presented by BBC Roma in 1966 stars Tito Gobbi as Michele and Marie Collier as Giorgetta.

Watch and listen here.

Michele:Tito Gobbi
Luigi: Charles Craig
Il Tinca: John Lanigan
Il Talpa: Eric Garrett
Giorgetta: Marie Collier
La Frugola: Elisabet Bainbridge
Young Lovers: Nicholas Curtis and Joanne Brown

Bowles Bevan Singers
The New Symphony Orchestra
Conductor| Edward Downes

Verdi REQUIEM @ Cardiff ~ 1987

Soloists Dame Margaret Price, Della Jones, Stuart Burrows, and Robert Lloyd (above) are featured in a 1987 performance of the Verdi REQUIEM given at Cardiff, with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Cardiff Polyphonic Choral, Cantorian Ardwynm, and the Swansea Bach Choir. James Lockhart is the conductor.

Watch and listen here.

US Open Qualifiers ~ 2023

Tuesday August 22nd, 2023 - One of the most pleasant days, weather-wise, I have ever spent at the US Open. In recent years, my enjoyment of the matches has been compromised by extreme heat; the sun beats down on the courts, and there's no escaping it. I sometimes wonder why more people - and especially the players and ball-boys - don't faint. But today, clouds allowed the sun to make only passing appearances, and there was a lovely breeze.

I watched two matches: Taro Daniel of Japan (seeded 4th in the qualifying tournament) facing India's Samit Nagal, and then the 18-year-old Chinese "rising star" (according to Wei) Shang Juncheng dueled the Argentine Genaro Alberto Olivieri.

Tall and lean, Taro Daniel dominated the first set of his match against Samit Nagal. Nagal is a talented and energetic player, but despite some fine moments, he had few answers for Taro, who took the set 6-1. But Nagal fared much better in the second set, winning the crowd's acclaim for some brilliant shots. Nagal pulled ahead at one point, and it seemed that we might be headed to a third set, but then Taro's years of experience took hold and he swept to victory.

Above and below: Taro after the match.

I had expected to go directly from the Daniel/Nagal match to watch the Shang/Olivieri contest, but the women's match on court 15 was running late. I took a long walkabout, checking out several matches in progress; very few of the players were familiar to me. They all seemed terribly young.

Shang Juncheng (above) opened his match with a perfectly placed ace. His Argentine opponent fought ardently but most of the first set was all about China. Olivieri stepped up his game in set 2, and the momentum shifted somewhat. Shang Juncheng's serve could be erratic - there were a couple of double faults - but in the end he prevailed.

Each year, I think: "This will be my last Open!" In fact, I almost didn't go today. But in the end, I was glad that I did.

~ Oberon

Susan Dunn: Vier letzte Lieder

Soprano Susan Dunn (above) sings Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder from a concert given in 1986 by the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Günther Herbig. Listen here.

Gabriella Tucci ~ "Vissi d'arte"

While it was the voice of Renata Tebaldi that initiated my lifelong obsession with opera, it was her compatriot, Gabriella Tucci, who was my favorite soprano during the 1960s when I was glued to the radio for every Met matinee radio broadcast. Tucci's singing of Aida, both Leonoras, Violetta, Desdemona, Cio-Cio-San, Alice Ford, and Marguerite in FAUST on these broadcasts captivated me, and thru her I developed a love for hearing the words sung with such colour and feeling.

Seeing Gabriella Tucci in TROVATORE at the Old Met was a very special experience for me. I went on to see her in more roles - Liu, Elisabetta, Mimi - at the New Met, and enjoyed her so much, yet it was those formative Old Met broadcasts that linger in my mind to this day: I was learning these great operas at the time, and she taught me how beautifully they could be sung.

I've just come upon this video of Ms. Tucci singing Tosca's "Vissi d'arte" on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1962, and it reminds me of everything I loved about her.

Watch and listen here.

Ravel: Shéhérazade ~ Christiane Karg

Soprano Christiane Karg (above) sings Maurice Ravel's Shéhérazade with Stanisław Skrowaczewski conducting the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. The performance took place in September 2013.

Watch and listen here.