• 1475
• Articles
• 10 Ott 2014

Maria Callas – “Il Dolce Suono … Ardon Gli Incensi … Spargi D’Amaro Pianto” – Mad Scene from “Lucia di Lammermoor” (1835) – Gaetano Maria Donizetti. EMI Classic studio recording – 1953. Audio CD, Original recording remastered – 2004. Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino M.° Tullio Serafin Conductor. Cast: Maria Callas – Giuseppe […]

• 888
• Articles
• 10 Ott 2014

Carlo Bergonzi and Edita Gruberová – “Lucia, perdona … Sulla tomba che rinserra il tradito genitore … Ah” Deh, ti placa … Qui di sposa eterna fede … Ah! Soltanto il nostro foco spegnerà di morte il gel … Ah! Talor del tuo pensiero venga un foglio messaggero … Ah! Verranno a te sull’aure i […]

• 1132
• Articles
• 10 Ott 2014

There was no finer interpreter of Donizetti’s, Verdi’s and Puccini’s tenor roles throughout his long career than Carlo Bergonzi, who has died aged 90. His singing of all three composers’ music evinced an innate sense of how to mould an immaculate line projected on a long breath, an exemplary clarity of diction, and an authoritative […]

• 954
• Articles
• 10 Ott 2014

Carlo Bergonzi (1924 – 2014) R.I.P. – “Tombe degli avi miei … Tra poco a me ricovero … Tu che a Dio piegasti l’ali” – “Lucia di Lammermoor” (1835 – Teatro di San Carlo – Napoli – I) – Gaetano Maria Donizetti. RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra and Chorus M.° Georges Prêtre Conductor. Album RCA Victor […]

• 1086
• Articles
• 10 Ott 2014

More than one hundred years after she last sang Norma in the United States, Lilli Lehmann and her assumption of the title role in Bellini’s opera continue to tantalize admirers of great singing and torment sopranos who would emulate her. Her statement regarding the strains of singing three Brünnhildes versus one Norma is constantly repeated. […]

• 872
• Articles
• 10 Ott 2014

Lilli Lehmann (24 November 1848, in Würzburg – 17 May 1929, in Berlin) – “Casta Diva” – “Norma” (1831) – Vincenzo Bellini. A beautiful dramatic-coloratura voice. Perfect technique and amazing voice color. She was very admired by Maria Callas, and considered the greatest Norma of her time.

• 1014
• Articles
• 10 Ott 2014

Wait Till You Hear Her! In the annals of the Metropolitan Opera, the second week of November 1918 has more than a passing significance. On Monday, a performance of Samson et Dalila, with Enrico Caruso and Louise Homer in the title roles, opened the Metropolitan’s thirty-fifth season. The date of that performance (11 November 1918) […]

• 1165
• Articles
• 10 Ott 2014

Norma was absent from the MET, since the times of Lilli Lehmann, whose last performance in the role was back in 1891. Lehmann herself, an artist of an almost incredible flexibility, able to sing more than one hundred roles, from Wagner to Bellini to Mozart, said about Norma: “the most difficult role of all… It […]

• 2025
• Articles
• 10 Ott 2014

Marion Telva & Rosa Ponselle – “Mira O Norma” Duet Adalgisa-Norma – “Norma” (1831) – Vincenzo Bellini. Rosa Ponselle (January 22, 1897 – May 25, 1981), was an American operatic soprano with a large, opulent voice. She sang mainly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and is generally considered by music critics to have been […]