Oberon's Grove

Pilar Lorengar: "Marietta's lied" ~ Die Tote Stadt

The beloved Spanish soprano Pilar Lorengar sings "Marietta's Lied" from Korngold's Die Tote Stadt at a gala concert honoring Sir Rudolf Bing on the occasion of his retirement as General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in 1972. Max Rudolf conducts.

Listen here.

Neither this opera nor the aria itself were well-known in New York City at the time; it had last been heard here at The Met in 1923 when Maria Jeritza sang Marietta. The opera was given only 12 times and it had not been heard at The Met since. But Pilar's singing stirred up great interest; other sopranos took up the aria, and in 1975 the New York City Opera offered a Frank Corsaro production of the work starring Carol Neblett, that was a popular success.

Adieu, fière cité

Jessye Norman sings Dido's poignant farewell from Berlioz' LES TROYENS. 

Jessye Norman - Je vais mourir - TROYENS - Met 1988

From The Met: RIGOLETTO ~ 1977

Above: Ileana Cotrubas and Cornell MacNeil as Gilda and Rigoletto

James Levine conducts a classic 1977 Met RIGOLETTO starring Ileana Cotrubas, Isola Jones, Placido Domingo, Cornell MacNeil, and Justino Diaz.

Watch and listen here.

Celestina Casapietra Has Passed Away

Above: Celestina Casapietra as Eva in DIE MEISTERSINGER

The death of the Italian soprano Celestina Casapietra has been reported. Hers was a voice I discovered during the months of the pandemic, when I had so much free time to explore YouTube and hear singers I had only heard of until then.

The soprano is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Maddalena de Coigny in a film of Umberto Giordani's ANDREA CHENIER in which she co-stars with Franco Corelli and Piero Cappuccilli. Watch excerpts from the film here. Of course I'd known about this film for nearly 50 years but somehow I'd never watched it; finding the scenes on YouTube led me to seek out more of Ms. Casapietra's singing, and to learn about her career.

A native of Genoa, the soprano made her operatic debut at the Teatro Nuovo, Milan, in 1963. Conductor Otmar Suitner signed her to the Berlin State Opera in 1965 where she appeared for thirty years. She also sang at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, at Vienna, Munich, Hamburg, Salzburg, and The Bolshoi.

Ms. Casapietra's repertoire included Donna Anna, Agathe in FREISCHUTZ, Elsa in LOHENGRIN, Massenet's Manon, Handel's Cleopatra, and Tchaikovsky's Tatyana. She recorded for Berlin Classics, Philips, and Eurodisc.

Celestina Casapietra's son, Björn Casapietra, is a singer, actor, and television personality based in Berlin.

Ms. Casapietra sings "Ozean, du Ungeheuer" from Weber's OBERON here.

And here are more samplings of the Casapietra voice:

Celestina Casapietra - Come scoglio ~ COSI FAN TUTTE

Celestina Casapietra - Dich teure Halle ~ TANNHAUSER

Celestina Casapietra - Sehr behaglich ~ Mahler 4th Symphony

~ Oberon

Evening Star

Estonian baritone Georg Ots (1920-1975) sings "O du, mein holder Abendstern" from Wagner's TANNHAUSER.

Listen here.

BALLO IN MASCHERA ~ Geneva 1984

A televised performance of Verdi's BALLO IN MASCHERA from Geneva, 1984, conducted by Riccardo Chailly.

Watch and listen here.

CAST:

Riccardo: Luciano Pavarotti; Amelia: Anna Tomowa-Sintow; Renato: Piero Cappuccilli; Ulrica: Mignon Dunn; Oscar: Danielle Borst; Silvano: Marcel Vanaud; Sam: Giovanni Gusmeroli; Tom: Giovanni Foiani; Judge: Marcel Auzeville

Steve Davislim Has Passed Away

The Malaysian-born Australian operatic tenor Steve Davislim has passed away at the age of 57. Although I never saw him in live performance, his was a name that was frequently heard in the years following his participation in the 1997 Cardiff Singer of the World competition.

A detailed report on his musical career may be found here. Steve Davislim appeared at The Met in 2008 as Pedrillo in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail.

The cause of the tenor's death has not been disclosed. At the time of his passing, he had future engagements booked, as per Opera Base. Steve left us with several recordings, most notably his gorgeous singing of Ernest Chausson's Poème de l'amour et de la mer (listen here); and I am very taken with his renderings of "Comfort Ye My People" from the Messiah here, and of Wagner's "Ständchen" here.

FORZA DEL DESTINO ~ San Francisco 1976

Anna Tomowa-Sintow (above), Susanne Marsee, Barry Morell, Renato Bruson, Paul Plishka, and Domenico Trimarchi have the leading roles in a performance of Verdi's LA FORZA DEL DESTINO given at San Francisco in 1976.

Listen here.

Scotto/Bergonzi TRAVIATA ~ Arena di Verona 1970

Renata Scotto (above), Carlo Bergonzi, and Mario Zanasi are the principal artists in a performance of LA TRAVIATA given at the Arena di Verona in 1970. Eliahu Inbal is the conductor.

Listen here.

For years I had this exciting performance on reel-to-reel, in terrible sound. It's nice to find it again now, with improved audio quality.

Komm in den kleinen Pavillon

Above: tenor Nicolai Gedda

"See, over there...that little pavillion...
It's deliciously discrete and silent!
There, let darkness embrace us...
Surrender to my kiss!
Come into the little pavillion,
Come to the sweet rendezvous, my love!"

Erika Köth & Nicolai Gedda - Die lustige Witwe ~ Pavillion Duet