Marty Costa

[Guest alanm]

I recently bought DVDs of the later Bing Crosby TV Christmas specials. I bought the DVDs for Crosby's last special with David Bowie (1977) and an earlier one with Mary Martin and Andre Previn (1962). Bowie and Crosby are wonderful together. There's also some nice bonus stuff with Sinatra and Crosby from Christmas 1957. But, it's easy from watching these specials to see why TV variety shows are dead in the water these days.

 

For those who are still reading.....Now to my question. The 1971 show's guests are Robert Goulet and opera star Mary Costas. I had to look Costa up on Wikipedia. Am I the only one who never hear of Costa? She was apparently a big enough star to headline an important TV special in the early 1970s, or that's what Bing Crosby believed.

 

Bing Crosby died a few weeks after the Bowie special was filmed/taped, his wife introduced the Christmas show broadcast three months after his death. Without that last show, these specials would have been forgotten by now.

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Costa

[whipped guy]

I remember seeing Mary Costa quite a bit on TV during that time frame... I really never considered her to be a big star... though I do recall her as Musetta in the Leinsdorf recording of La Boheme... which recording I have not heard in years. I remember her as a lyric coloratura of sorts who would sing lighter operatic fare on TV... possibly something like "Musetta's Waltz" or "Sempre libera", etc. I actually had forgotten about her until reading this!

[Guest alanm]

On a quick second viewing, Bing Crosby's voice is a much better match with Mary Martin's voice than Mary Costa's. In those days, there was talk about TV naturals (Perry Como, Dinah Shore) vs. more flamboyant singers (Judy Garland, Ethel Merman). Mary Costa fits into the latter category.

[leigh.bess.toad]

On a quick second viewing, Bing Crosby's voice is a much better match with Mary Martin's voice than Mary Costa's. In those days, there was talk about TV naturals (Perry Como, Dinah Shore) vs. more flamboyant singers (Judy Garland, Ethel Merman). Mary Costa fits into the latter category.

 

I don't inow what's going on but I've lost at least 3 or 4 posts I've made tonight. Including one here.

 

The name Mary Costa rang familiar to me. So I went poking around the Met Opera Database. And there it was. The performance I remembered. One that I have mentioned on another thread for an entirely different reason. One of those "historic" events associated with the Met. June 28, 1975. Wolf Trap Farm Park, Vienna Virginia. A Saturday matinee performance of La Boheme. Nowadays you have trouble getting A-list performers for any performers for any performance of Boheme it seems like -- it almoxt has gotten to be fluff city in casting. But not this one. Especially the top 2. The Mimi was Renata Scotto. My diva. And the Rodolfo, making his final performance with the Metropolitan Opera that performance was Franco Correlli. Costa did not strike me either way. The Marcello of John Reardon will always have a place in my heart because it is John Reardon (the baritone soloist in my first War Requiem). And the Colline was a young bass from nearby Baltimore named James Morris, who went on to not have a really bad career himself.

 

All in all, a special day if for no other reason than it was Correlli's last performance with the company. I remember hearing him the year before at Wolf Trap in one of his signature roles: Calaf. And he was simply magnificent. Wolf Trap Farm Park is what his voice really needed. All outdoors. The true tenore di forza.

[whipped guy]

And the Rodolfo, making his final performance with the Metropolitan Opera that performance was Franco Correlli....

All in all, a special day if for no other reason than it was Correlli's last performance with the company. I remember hearing him the year before at Wolf Trap in one of his signature roles: Calaf. And he was simply magnificent. Wolf Trap Farm Park is what his voice really needed. All outdoors. The true tenore di forza.

 

Lee... Your post reminded me of a performance (see below) that I saw at the MET just after the Wolf Trap Turandot that you reference. I recall that a friend and I went to the China Bowl Restaurant just off Times Square before the performance and sat in one of those God-forsaken Family Circle boxes with a partial view of the stage... and the old hag sitting next to me was singing along the whole time... Notice that Anna Moffo canceled after the first act. She was not in the best of voice and someone yelled out, "You stink!" from the standing room section of the Family Circle after her first aria... there was no applause and just a collective gasp from the audience and she looked as if she were ready to cry. Of course Calaf then sings the line, "Non piangere Liu"... Lucine Amara came in to sub for the final two acts and was sublime... another under-rated and under-appreciated artist. (For the record I had bad luck when it came to Moffo and the MET... I was present for her infamous February 1969 broadcast of Lucia di Lammermoor as well!) As for Corelli... he was the real deal and was hot in more ways than one!!! They don't make 'em like that any more!!!

 

Metropolitan Opera House

June 14, 1974

 

 

TURANDOT {115}

 

Turandot................Elinor Ross

Calàf...................Franco Corelli

Liù.....................Anna Moffo [Act I]

Liù.....................Lucine Amara [Acts II, III]

Timur...................John Macurdy

Ping....................Robert Goodloe

Pang....................Andrea Velis

Pong....................Nico Castel

Emperor Altoum..........Robert Schmorr

Mandarin................David Holloway

Prince of Persia........Jacques Cesbron

Servant.................Ivan Allen

Servant.................Jack Hertzog

Servant.................Marc Verzatt

Executioner.............Edilio Ferraro

Executioner.............Jeremy Ives

Executioner.............Donald Mahler

 

Conductor...............Gabor Ötvös

[Moffo cancelled after Act I and was replaced as Liù by Amara.]

[+ Charlie]

Elinor Ross as Turandot?! The last time I saw her was as Tosca in Philadelphia; she jumped from the tower at the end, but her dress got caught on the parapet, and the audience couldn't help snickering, since it was obvious she couldn't have fallen all the way to the Tiber.

 

I didn't see Corelli very often--he cancelled a lot--but I especially remember a Werther: when he started to sing "Pourquoi me reveiller," the whole audience held its breath. Who wouldn't want to help him forget his sorrows?

 

I agree that Lucine Amara was a very underappreciated artist, always given the second cast, or asked to substitute for someone else, and usually gave a better performance than the originally cast soprano. By the time of Bing's farewell gala she was no longer on the roster, but she and Bianca Berini (I think?) gave a stunning rendition of the Gioconda confrontation duet. I never heard her again.

 

I remember Mary Costa as a very pretty woman with a pleasant but undistinctive voice.

[leigh.bess.toad]

WG -- Actually your Turandot was 5 days before mine -- yours was June 14, mine was June 19. And yes, Charlie, Elinor Ross as Turandot. But Corelli was simply magnificent. Not the same as early in the career of course, but still youl could still hear the Corelli magic. And yes Lucine Amara was Liu. I heard all 7 performances she gave at Wolf Trap for the Met as well as many she was in at the Met in NYC. She was a vastly underappreciated soprano. Unfortunately, she was disparaged with the term "house soprano" more than probably any soprano in history i think. She sang almost 750 performances for the company. And in looking at the Met Opera Database, the range of the roles and operas she did is just simply stunning -- I'm just blown away. At the Wolf Trap, she sang 7 performances in 6 operas: Carmen (Micaela), Turandot (Liu), Pagliacci (Nedda), Falstaff (Alice Ford), Le Nozze di Figaro (the Countess), and the one that really blew me away -- Lohengrin (Elsa). But I think you are mistaken Charie because she was on the roster for every year between 1950 and 1977 and then a few more years intermittently after that over a period of 41 years. Her last lead role performance was in 1988 as Santuzza in Cavalleria. And I bet it was a wonderful performance.

 

And I remember the Lohengrin performance like it yesterday. June 9,1977. Early June but it was FREEZING. And the wind was howling. That night couldn't have been more than the 30's or 40's in the audience. I'm sure it was warmer on the stage. But the wind wasn't helping. But what I remember most was Act II, with Ortrud and Telramund in front of the castle. Now the Ortrud was one of my all-time favorite mezzos, Mignon Dunn and Telramund was Morely Meredith. But the castle wall was a scrim. And with the howling wind. They kept getting engulfed by the castle wall, the scrim, every few seconds, and they would have to fight their way out of the wall to be heard. Absolutely hysterical. Everyone that night deserved combat pay for that performance. I'd forgotten that Lucine Amara was the Elsa, but I did remember that John Alexander was the Lohengrin (a house tenor if ever there was one). All in all, I never heard Lucine Amara give a bad performance. I never heard her give a truly brilliant performance but they were all well above average, thoughtful well sung performances that we would rush to hear in a heartbeat today. And in looking at the Met Opera Database I just saw something that completely blew me away. Friday night, March 23 she sang Micaela in Carmen. The next afternoon, for the Saturday broadcast, she sang Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes -- probably not much more than 15-18 hours after finishing the night before. I mean I realize Micaela isn't the most taxing role. But how different are the roles. And they did it to her earlier -- the week before the but reversed Orford then Micaela but a whole day apart. It was intentional. She wasn't filling in due to illness. Just amazing. My respect for her just grew even more.

 

And Charlie, you mentioned another name that I just loved to hear to -- Bianca Berini. Another wonderful artist who is woefully under appreciated.

[+ Charlie]

Berini was very un-diva-like, which was probably why she was underappreciated. A friend of mine went to a party once, and there weren't enough chairs, so the host asked him to come with him to a neighbor's apartment to ask for a few more. The lady who answered graciously agreed to loan some chairs, and even helped carry them next door. My friend said to the host afterwards, "Why did that woman look so familiar to me?" and he replied, "Oh, that was Bianca Berini."

 

The first time I saw her was in London, in a concert performance of "Adriana Lecouvreur" with Caballe. I had never heard of her before, but I found her more exciting than Caballe that night.

[leigh.bess.toad]

Charlie -- thanks for the lovely story about Bianca Berini. Just what in the hell has happened to the Verdi mezzo. We have 1, count 'em one left -- Dolora Zajick. We have no Berini, Simionato, Cossotto today. save Zajick.

 

I got to hear Bereini only twice, within a 2 day period at Wolf Trap again as Laura in Gioconda and Amneris in Aida. Both wonderful performances.

 

And as a wonderful reminder of what Lucine Amara gave us, I just found this on You Tube: the final 10 minutes of Act 2 of the Beecham recording of La Boheme. Amara is brilliant here as Musetta. This may be the best 10 minutes on the best recording in operatic history. You can certainly make a case for this recording being the best of all time.

 

But sit back and enjoy. I know I did:

[+ Charlie]

I did, too.

[whipped guy]

Lee mentioned John Alexander above... he was another artist who was probably under appreciated. I saw him a number of times and he always performed honorably... The very first time was at the MET in 1972 in La Fille du Regiment opposite the Marie of Joan Sutherland... Not only did Rudolf Bing not have the foresight to cast Pavarotti for the entire run of performances, but he gave the broadcast to the incompetent and feeble-sounding Enrico Di Giuseppe. Alexander sang two performances that season and at the performance I attended he nailed all 9 high Cs perfectly... Of course the loudest ovation of the night was not for him or even Sutherland but for Ljuba Welitsch in the walk-on speaking role of La Duchesse de Crackentorp. Since she made very few recording, I really did not know much about her at the time, but from the tumult that she caused upon her entrance it was obvious that she was much appreciated.

[leigh.bess.toad]

WG -- It's remarkable. John Alexander -- The Met's Perfect House Tenor. Lucine Amara -- The Met's Perfect House Soprano. He did 379 performances. She did almost 750 performances. And do you know how many times they performed together, including the Met Marathon's? 16 times. that's all. I just find that absolutely remarkable. I find that both artists were remarkable in their ability to give good strong consistent performances over a long period of time. I would never have to worry if I saw their name on the playbill. And I guess that the mark of a true pro. We sure don't have any like either any more. And mores the pity.

[+ Charlie]

I agree completely about John Alexander. I never understood why he didn't have a bigger career.

[+ Charlie]

Leigh, you are right about Amara still being on the Met roster in 1972. It was my error in misremembering when I saw her and Berini do that Gioconda duet: it was at the Met centennial gala in 1983, not the Bing farewell. By then she was no longer on the roster, but amazed everyone by how good she still sounded. And Berini wasn't yet at the Met in 1972.