Tosca - And the Stars Shone

[Guest greatness]

Recently went to see the opera "Tosca". I loved it. Here is one of the songs in the opera I liked.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yr1U5x6Nw0&feature=related

 

 

How the stars used to shine there,

How sweet the earth smelled,

The orchard gate would creak,

And a footstep would lightly crease the sand.

She'd come in, fragrant as a flower,

And she'd fall into my arms.

 

 

Oh! sweet kisses, oh! lingering caresses,

Trembling, I'd slowly uncover her dazzling beauty.

Now, my dream of love has vanished forever.

My last hour has flown, and I die, hopeless!

And never have I loved life more!

[Guest Tristan]

Thanks for posting this wonderful aria from a great opera.

 

Tosca is my second favorite Puccini opera after La Boheme.

 

Another famous aria from Tosca is "Recondita armonia".

 

I have a boxed set of a historic recording of Tosca. The opera was recorded in 1971 and transferred to a London CD in 1989. The cast includes: Leontyne Price, Giuseppe di Stefano, and Fernando Corena. Opera fans may recognize these names. The performance is outstanding, and the sound as good as an original digital CD. London did a great job in transferring it from LP to CD.

[Guest Tristan]

Recondita Armonia from Tosca

 

The aria, "Recondita armonia", is sung by Franco Corelli, one of the greatest tenors of all time:

 

[+ honcho]

It is highly likely they didn't just play a pristine copy of an LP. They would have either gone to a stereo mixdown tape

from which the original LP was derived or re-mixed the work entirely.

 

In mastering for LP certain compromises are made that aren't required for Compact Disc (very loud bass notes

cause wide excursions of the needle which can cause it to jump out of the track and certainly require larger spacing

between tracks, for example).

[Guest greatness]

Oh my friend Tristan

 

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.. I'm so full.. You and I like music.. It heals me when I'm in pain.. I love Recondita armonia.. Thank you for sharing it here. Kisses and hugs~~~

 

Thanks for posting this wonderful aria from a great opera.

 

Tosca is my second favorite Puccini opera after La Boheme.

 

Another famous aria from Tosca is "Recondita armonia".

 

I have a boxed set of a historic recording of Tosca. The opera was recorded in 1971 and transferred to a London CD in 1989. The cast includes: Leontyne Price, Giuseppe di Stefano, and Fernando Corena. Opera fans may recognize these names. The performance is outstanding, and the sound as good as an original digital CD. London did a great job in transferring it from LP to CD.

[leigh.bess.toad]

So G -- you've got Tristan and you've Liebestod commenting on Tosca -- Wagner would be turning in his grave if he gave a rat's ass about anyone other than himself

 

My first performance of Tosca is one of those rare events in opera that will stay permanently etched into my very soul. My first performance was a mistake.

 

March 1, 1977. A group of us from Hartt College had tickets to a series of performances at the Met. March 1 was the one we were ALL focused on. It was to be La Forza del Destino with Leontyne Price (who was and is a Godess to me as she was to all my friends in the group), Placido Domingo, our fellow alumnus Cornell MacNeill, and Marti Talvela. A dream cast you couldn't put together if you tried. We piled into my car and drove to the Met -- although we were so excited we could have flown in anticipation. But as we approached the theater, there was a huge announcement that devastated us: Due to the illness of Mr. MacNeill, Forza was cancelled for the night and in its place was to be Tosca. Devastated would be too mild of a word. To this day, for this along with one other mid-performance cancellation of Otello, I have never forgiven MacNeill and he will forever remain on my SHIT LIST. Even though he is a fellow alum.

 

And since she had not performed Tosca in several years, Leontyne did not want to do it, so instead we got a very good Gilda Cruz-Romo -- good but not Leontyne. But what I remember most of that performance, in spite of the sense of loss of missing such a dream cast, was Domingo. I always have been and always will be one of his biggest fans. But that night he was simply spectacular. It was as if he knew he owed the audience something special and boy did we get it. But what I remember most was 2 phrases, one word. In the 2nd act, when Cavaradossi is dragged in, then raises him self to sing; VITTORIA! VITTORIA! The second Vittoria still rings in my ears today -- virtually each character pronounced separately, with a force and commitment of delivery I don't know if I have seen matched in any performance of anything anywhere. The A-sharp seemingly going on forever. How one simple phrase lasting only seconds can remain seared in my memory some 33 years later should tell you how truly remarkable it was. I have heard Domingo many, many times. But I don't think I've ever seen a performance quite like this one. It was truly one of those moments in theater you live for. And it wasn't supposed to happen.

 

And then Tristan has posted the Recondita with Corelli – another one of my all time favorites. Perhaps one of the last true tenore di forza voices (although I could also include McCracken and Vickers). And I got to see his final performance with the Met – only we didn’t know it at the time. And it wasn’t at the Met. It was at Wolf Trap Farm Park in Vienna, VA in a matinee performance of Boheme. With my other diva, Renata Scotto. John Reardon, who was the baritone in the most memorable musical event of my life, my first performance of War Requiem, was the Marcello. And a young bass sang Colline – James Morris. Almost a throw away performance. Except the cast and the significance of it being Corelli’s last performance with the company. In retrospect, another great musical event I have had the privilege to see.

[+ Italiano]

But what I remember most of that performance, in spite of the sense of loss of missing such a dream cast, was Domingo.

 

Definitely Placido Domingo is the male opera singer who has fascinated me the most every time I have seen an opera where he was in, and still he does whenever I watch a DVD or a youtube clip.

I don't think he is a singer who thrills on CDs. Yes he was good, but to really catch what he was capable of he had to be seen on stage.

 

His voice was very beautiful, his technique not perfect, sometimes his high notes were a bit strained or constricted, and there have been other tenors with a more beautiful and effortless voice.

But his whole approach with a character remains unique. His voice combined with his gesture, his facial expressions, and his skills as an actor/interpreter, and his ability to give sense to the words have not been yet equalled to me.

 

His Otello, his Cavaradossi, his don Carlos, his Turiddu, his Canio, his don Jose, his Rodolfo, his Hoffmann, his Parsifal, his Riccardo (Masked Ball) and so many other characters remain unforgettable in my visual memory.

 

Same aria sung by him:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1Sxl8XsMzQ

[leigh.bess.toad]

His voice was very beautiful, his technique not perfect, sometimes his high notes were a bit strained or constricted, and there have been other tenors with a more beautiful and effortless voice.

But his whole approach with a character remains unique. His voice combined with his gesture, his facial expressions, and his skills as an actor/interpreter, and his ability to give sense to the words have not been yet equalled to me.

 

He will always be MY tenor, in much the same way the Birgit, Leontyne and Renata occupy the soprano spots and Milnes the baritone, Cossotto the mezzo and believe it or not, being a bass-baritone myself, I have no one in the bass slots -- there have been just too damned many good ones while I've been observing.

 

Another signature role that I remember vividly was Chenier. The great thing about Chenier is there's like a tenor area every 3 minutes or so, whether you need one or not.

 

But he didn't give me my one wish. A couple of years ago when the Met was starting their disastrous 2 season, 12-performance run of T&I, , when Heppner pulled out of the HD Transmission, the boards were buzzing who would get it. Domingo had recorded it, but never did it on stage because of the intensity. I checked his performance schedule and it would have been doable -- a one-off -- the only time he could have performed it on stage. It eventually went to Robert Dean Smith who did a very admirable job. But I mourn what we almost had a chance to see. That would have truly been specatular.

 

But in spite of the dozens of times I've seen him live and the thousands of different recordings I've heard, that A-sharp from my first Tosca still rings in my ears today. I don't think I have ever seen such an intense moment in all my years at the opera. Ingvar Wixell was doing Scarpia that night. Domingo sang most of it laying face down facing the audience but started to rise at the end. And it was so intense I feared for Wixell's health -- I thought he was going to get up and go postal on his ass.

 

How can under 30 seconds of one performance remain so vivid, especially when it wasn't even supposed to happen at all? The mystery and magic of live theater

[Guest greatness]

My best singer is the one and only Lee! You, Tristan and I should go on a road trip to see an opera!

[Guest Tristan]

Jussi Bjoerling, The Pearl Fishers

 

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.. I'm so full.. You and I like music.. It heals me when I'm in pain.. I love Recondita armonia.. Thank you for sharing it here. Kisses and hugs~~~

 

I thought you would like it. Again, thank you for starting this thread.

 

It seems everyone has his favorite tenor. I very much like Placido Domingo. I always thought he stood out among "The Three Tenors".

 

But my very favorite tenor of all time is Jussi Bjoerling. His duet with Robert Merrill from The Pearl Fishers is probably the best male opera duet ever. Whenever I hear a recording of this duet on the radio, I immediately know if it's JB & RM. IMO, no other duo comes close.

 

This duet is for you, Greatness. It soothes everything that hurts.

 

For me, it's the most beautiful operatic music ever written, though in an obscure opera.

 

This is the opera piece that makes me soar like an eagle.

This is the opera piece I would most want to share with a lover.

This is the opera piece I would want to be the last music I hear before I die.

 

[Guest greatness]

One of the comments on youtube is that

 

"Totally revives my faith in the whole human race when I realise how much beauty we as a species can occasionally produce.

 

My dearest, dearest thanks to both artists !!!"

 

Thank you I think I can find faith in myself... Kisses and hugs..

 

 

I thought you would like it. Again, thank you for starting this thread.

 

It seems everyone has his favorite tenor. I very much like Placido Domingo. I always thought he stood out among "The Three Tenors".

 

But my very favorite tenor of all time is Jussi Bjoerling. His duet with Robert Merrill from The Pearl Fishers is probably the best male opera duet ever. Whenever I hear a recording of this duet on the radio, I immediately know if it's JB & RM. IMO, no other duo comes close.

 

This duet is for you, Greatness. It soothes everything that hurts.

 

For me, it's the most beautiful operatic music ever written, though in an obscure opera.

 

This is the opera piece that makes me soar like an eagle.

This is the opera piece I would most want to share with a lover.

This is the opera piece I would want to be the last music I hear before I die.

 

[leigh.bess.toad]

Tristan -- While I do gretly admire Bjorling (how in the hell could you not), he always seemed a bit too limited to me. Maybe he was too type cast in my mind by his brilliant performance in the Boheme recording with de los Angeles -- perhaps the greatest single opera recording ever made. And if not THE greatest, certainly in the top 3 or 5 (the Callas Tosca, the Nilsson/Corelli Turandot, and the Scotto/Bergonzi Butterfly are the only ones I could consider put it in the same class).

 

For me though, Au Fond du Temple Saints will always be associated with the very early recording of Domingo/Milnes duets. I think it was made either shortly before or shortly after Domingo made his Met debut. For some reason, I think it was between when Milnes made his debut in 1965 and Domingo made his in 1968 (and trust me, I'm not looking up those dates -- they are permanently etched in my memory). The youthfuness of that recording was, to me, spectacular. The foreshadowing of the brilliant performances to come of the Otello duet was amazing.

 

This is not to take anything away from Jussi. It's funny how we Americans normally associate Merrill with Tucker, but I really think Merrill and Bjorling were an even better and closer fit personally as well as professionally.

 

But Domingo/Milnes was to my generation what Bjorling/Merrill was to the prior generation -- sheer perfection.

[Guest greatness]

Ice skating meets Tosca

 

2009 World Championship Belbin/Agosto

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCexZEuAiWo

[Guest Tristan]

Tristan -- While I do gretly admire Bjorling (how in the hell could you not), he always seemed a bit too limited to me. Maybe he was too type cast in my mind by his brilliant performance in the Boheme recording with de los Angeles -- perhaps the greatest single opera recording ever made. And if not THE greatest, certainly in the top 3 or 5 (the Callas Tosca, the Nilsson/Corelli Turandot, and the Scotto/Bergonzi Butterfly are the only ones I could consider put it in the same class).

 

This is not to take anything away from Jussi. It's funny how we Americans normally associate Merrill with Tucker, but I really think Merrill and Bjorling were an even better and closer fit personally as well as professionally.

 

But Domingo/Milnes was to my generation what Bjorling/Merrill was to the prior generation -- sheer perfection.

 

Lee, thanks for your post. You certainly have a very in-depth knowledge of opera history.

 

It's funny that you mentioned the Boheme recording with Bjoerling. Among the full opera recordings I own, that CD set is by far my very favorite. As you know, the performance also has Merrill, Tozzi, and Corena. What a great cast! It was transferred to CD in 1986 from the 1956 recording. Both the performance and sound are spectacular. EMI seems to be the best in transferring older recordings, especially opera.

 

Whether Bjoerling was a bit limited or typecast, I'll leave that to the opera historians. For me, it doesn't matter. What matters is how listening to Bjoerling, or the Bjoerling/Merrill Pearl Fishers duet, affects me emotionally.

[leigh.bess.toad]

Lee, thanks for your post. You certainly have a very in-depth knowledge of opera history.

 

It's funny that you mentioned the Boheme recording with Bjoerling. Among the full opera recordings I own, that CD set is by far my very favorite. As you know, the performance also has Merrill, Tozzi, and Corena. What a great cast! It was transferred to CD in 1986 from the 1956 recording. Both the performance and sound are spectacular. EMI seems to be the best in transferring older recordings, especially opera.

 

And if I remember correctly, wasn't Lucine Amara the Musetta? Talk about a long, underappreciated career. Although she did almost define the term "house soprano" all by herself. She was so closely tied to the Met, it would almost qualify as B&D.

 

I do love each of those recordings (Tosca, Turandot, Butterfly & Boheme). But you know, all of a sudden, just now it hit me: What do those 4 all have in common: Puccini -- every last one of them. So each of his biggestt works all seem to have definitive recordings.

 

While I do love the Boheme, I am absolutely in love with the Scotto/Bergonzi/Panerai Butterfly. I have 2 divas: Leontyne and Renata. And I heard Renata live more than any other soprano. Many bitch and moan about her wobble, and at times it was excessive. And she did try roles that were too big by half for her. But when she had it, she really had it. And for me, the Scotto/Bergonzi Butterfly was nailed from first note to last. I can summon at will her performance of Che Tua Madre almost at will and the "morta, morta" near the end still rips my heart out everytime I've every heard it -- some 40+ years later.

 

And I think one of the board members here said they served as a super for a performance of turandot with Nilsson and Correlli and the volume those two produced in the riddle scene was ear-splitting.

[Guest greatness]

Wow Tristan, you didn't major in music for nothing~~~

 

And if I remember correctly, wasn't Lucine Amara the Musetta? Talk about a long, underappreciated career. Although she did almost define the term "house soprano" all by herself. She was so closely tied to the Met, it would almost qualify as B&D.

 

I do love each of those recordings (Tosca, Turandot, Butterfly & Boheme). But you know, all of a sudden, just now it hit me: What do those 4 all have in common: Puccini -- every last one of them. So each of his biggestt works all seem to have definitive recordings.

 

While I do love the Boheme, I am absolutely in love with the Scotto/Bergonzi/Panerai Butterfly. I have 2 divas: Leontyne and Renata. And I heard Renata live more than any other soprano. Many bitch and moan about her wobble, and at times it was excessive. And she did try roles that were too big by half for her. But when she had it, she really had it. And for me, the Scotto/Bergonzi Butterfly was nailed from first note to last. I can summon at will her performance of Che Tua Madre almost at will and the "morta, morta" near the end still rips my heart out everytime I've every heard it -- some 40+ years later.

 

And I think one of the board members here said they served as a super for a performance of turandot with Nilsson and Correlli and the volume those two produced in the riddle scene was ear-splitting.

[leigh.bess.toad]

Wow Tristan, you didn't major in music for nothing~~~

 

So close, but so far. that was Lee, not Tristan. Nice try though.

[Guest greatness]

Oh my I did I say Tristan~~~ I meant Lee. Kisses and hugs~~~

 

So close, but so far. that was Lee, not Tristan. Nice try though.