Finally! It’s taken me a long time to finish this review – it took me about three full listens to “get into it.” I think the problem was that I’d read the negative review of this recording in the book Opera on Record too recently and it unfairly colored my first impression. One of these days I’ll have to write a piece about that book and others like it!

Carmen

1964, EMI

(Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Robert Massard, Andrea Guiot; Choeurs René Duclos; Orchestre de Théâtre National de l’Opéra de Paris, cond. Georges Prêtre)

If this recording featured any Carmen other than La Divina, Maria Callas, I would consider it just a good, solid performance, less than remarkable but effective all the same, and refreshingly French for an Read the rest of this entry »

A few days ago, much to my surprise, joy and pride, I received this Blogger Award from Raisa Massuda, whose reviews and musings on her blog, Mandolin Vision, I’ve always enjoyed.

I now have to share seven facts that you may not have known about me! Here they are: Read the rest of this entry »

In honor of World Autism Awareness Day, I’ve decided to write about what opera has meant to me in light of my Asperger’s Syndrome.

When I fell in love with opera at age fourteen, I was a textbook Aspie. I had no friends my own age and no desire for any. I was being homeschooled, because actual school had become unbearable for me. When I had gone to middle school in the preceding years, I was always Read the rest of this entry »

Cast

Cenerentola: Kate Lindsey

Clorinda: Stacey Tappan

Tisbe: Ronnita Nicole Miller Read the rest of this entry »

Just because it’s been a while.

Madama Butterfly. “Cio-Cio-San” is the heroine’s real name, while “Madame Butterfly” is a nickname.

I’ve read so many synopses of the opera that introduce the heroine as “Cio-Cio-San, nicknamed Butterfly,” “Cio-Cio-San, known as Madame Butterfly,” or some variation thereof. Actually, the two names are
one and the same. “Chouchou,” or “cho-cho” means “butterfly” in Japanese (“cio-cio” is the Italian spelling), while “san” is a title of respect, a la “Mr.” “Mrs.”… or “Madame.” This is presumably her professional name. Her birth name, in keeping with geisha tradition, is never mentioned. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve written this review in honor of the movie “Quartet.” When Maggie Smith’s character listens to her younger self singing “Caro nome” on recording, the voice we hear actually belongs to Ileana Cotrubas, from this recording.

Rigoletto

1979, Deutsche Grammophon

(Piero Cappuccilli, Plácido Domingo, Ileana Cotrubas, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Elena Obraztsova, Kurt Moll; Wiener Staatsopernchor; Wiener Philharmoniker cond. Carlo Maria Giulini)

This popular Rigoletto is excellent in almost every way. Its main drawback doesn’t involve any of the performances, but the sound engineering. Whoever thought it was a good idea for the dance music in Act I to be barely audible? Yes, it makes us feel as if we were in one room of the palace Read the rest of this entry »

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

2005, Teatri Regio di Parma

(Leo Nucci, Anna Bonitatibus, Raul Giménez, Alfonso Antoniozzi, Riccardo Zanellato, Gabriella Corsaro; Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma; Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Parma, cond. Maurizio Barbacini)

(dir. Beppe De Tomasi; video dir. Andrea Bevilacqua)

This Barbiere is an obscure one, and to be honest, I don’t regret that fact. Plenty of stronger versions are available. That said, this is still a decent performance with several outstanding elements. The production is a simple yet solid minimalist affair: a unit set seemingly made entirely of black Spanish lace, against which  Read the rest of this entry »