John McCormack- Recital #3

Given the upcoming St Paddy’s Day holiday, we are spending this week focusing on Irish music. At this point in the blog’s life, I was really struggling to find Irish records so we are goign to take some liberties but there is nothing more Irish than this , which I paid $4.

Not sure what year. Scala Records maybe? Is it that obvious I want to be done? Well, is record is half classical/ opera and half Irish tunes. From the opera half, we are goign with a segment from Rigoletto, ” Questa o Quella”. From the Irish side, here is “My Dark Rosaleen’. One of my biggest pet peeves of this blog has always been italics. Not sure why as they are actually quite easy.

Rigoletto
My Dark Rosaleen

Moussorgsky/ Boris Christoff/ Paris Conservatorie Orchestra w/ Andre Cluytens- Boris Godounov

If you have been paying attention to the blog, you may know that among my favorite classical pieces Modest Moussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition rank among my favorites, despite owing more of a debt to Ravel. I have posted the album here, here, here, here, and here. As this piece was known as Moussorgsky’s opus , plus the will of me to hear something different from this composer made this an inevitability.

However, for many months I did not want to listen to a four record set. Additionally, I do not really want to write this despite having the time to do so know. Well, as I have put this off every month last year and as this blog is coming to a close, here we have this which I paid $8 for, most likely at the closed Half Price Books in Rice Village which had a great classical section. Released by Angel.

As one of the Mighty 5 and as working a day job as a clerk, Moussorgsky composed his only completed opera between 1868 and 1873, making its debut in St Petersburg, 1874. The piece has an historical basis dealing with the Tsar Godunov and his foil the False Dmitry around the start of the 17th century.

With Boris Chrsitoff in the lead role, backed by the Paris Conservatorie Orchestra conducted by Andre Cluytens, we present this piece of work, which to follow my use of adjectives, was quite good.

For a samples, I decided to submit excerpts from the prologue, Act 1, Act 2, and Act 4. Pretty glad to be done with this record.

Prolong
Act 1
Act 2
Act 4

Franco Capuana and the Orchestra of L’Accademia Di Santa Cecilia, Rome- Puccini/ La Fanciulla Del West

Here is a record I bought for $6 of Puccini’s opera La Fanciulla Del West or The Girl Of The Golden West. I believe this came out around 1958 on London Records.

I bought this records as it was autographed, in this case by American baritone Cornell MacNeil ( Minneapolis, Minn 1922-2011), who sings the role of Sherriff Jack Rance on this. It is written out to one “Van” but I can not make out the inscription. MacNeil himself was once described as “a great baritone in (an) era of great baritones”. He also looks like the barrister from Pink Floyd’s The Wall.

Puccini’s 1910 opera tells the story of a women during the California gold rush who falls in love with a bandit. Renata Tebaldi and Mario Del Monaco play the starring roles. The cast is also rounded out by MacNeil and Giorgio Tozzi. Franco Capuana conducts the chorus and orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Ceciloa, Rome.

Decent record. As always ( or at least mostly) , I am submitting a long and short program. For the long selection we have Side 2 Band 2 from Act II in which our heroine Minne ( Tebaldi) is playing cards with the Sherrif, ( MacNeil). For the short, I believe we have the same singers on Side 1 Band 2, in which I believe Minnie is venting to the Sherrif in Act I.

side 2 band 2
side 1 band 2

Rossini- The Barber of Seville Highlights

We are blowing thru the rest of the week so here is this Angel Record with highlights from Rossini’s famous opera which kids of my age and older may know from various cartoons, the best of which is too politically incorrect for today’s tastes.

I paid $4 for this because it had Beverly Sills on it. She is rounded out by Sherrill Milnes, Nicolai Gedda, Renato Capecchi, Ruggero Raimondi, and the London Symphony Orchestra/ John Aldis Choir conducted by James Levine.

As much as I wanted to Largo it up, I went with “Contro un cor che accende” featuring Sills as Rosina and Gedda as the count. Good record.

Contro

Maggie Teyte- Operetta & Song: French- German – English

Here is a 1964 Record which I took a lousy picture of. Scratch that. I took lousy pictures of all the records this month. Regardless, this London Record for which I paid $ 1 for was purchased some time back.

This record features English soprano Dame Maggie Tetye ( Wolverhampton, 1888-1976). I liked a lot of this historical recording but for whatever reason, landed on “Wander Thirst”. I suppose I should have picked a French tune but more about that tomorow.

Joan Sutherland- The Art of the Prima Donna Vol 2

Winding down this month’s classical selection with another London Record, this time from 1963 and Aussie opera star Joan Sutherland ( 1926-2010) who brought back the bel canto. I paid $1 for it.

I really did not have the time to get too in depth with what this album was trying to do, which I believe was pay tribute to musical styles of great soprano’s of the past. The back cover is very firm when it says it in no way was trying to re-create or imitate . So if you are looking for that, turn back now. I regret not using Gounod’s “Waltz Song” from Romeo and Juliet, since I saw it live two days ago at the HGO. I think I liked the fact taht I knew the story and was not beholden to the words, Anyway, here in the style of Abraham Lincoln’s fav Jenny Lind with a series of pieces from Bellini’s La Sonnambula.

Jenny Jenny Jenny

Mantovani- Operatic Arias

Well, here we are with the last week of the month. Just trying to get these down so I can go about the rest of my Sunday. Three more records this month that focus on the classical so let’s start with this London release from 1956. I paid $4 for this. Seems like a lot.

Sen me a message if you can not figure out what this is from the title. For a sample, I really wanted to avoid going for old favorites. But again it is my blog, so yeah, I am going to do that. Here is “Habanero” and ” Musetta’s Waltz Song”.

Habanero
Waltz

Anthony Newman- Organ Orgy

We are keeping in line with this month’s classical theme. I recently bought this for $6, mainly for the title. On the great Aeolian Skinner Organ of St John the Divine, in New York City, here is Anthony Newman tackling the songs of Wagner, who still has not been cancelled as of the time of this writing.

Columbia Records’ Masterworks series. 1975. I am taking the easy way out and posting the song everyone wants to hear, ” The Ride of the Valkyries”.

Ride of the Valkyries

Alfredo Kraus/ Symphony Orchestra of Madrid- Famous Operatic Arias

So two things you should know about this month. 1) For the second time this year, I went record shopping ( this being one of the purchases. 2) The sub theme this month is classical. Those things being said, here we have this Montilla Record , circa 1960 from Spanish tenor Alfredo Kraus ( born 1927, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, died 1999), backed by the symphony Orchestra of Madrid, conducted by Mario Cordone. I cannot ( well I kind of can) believe I paid $1 for this in 2022.

See, three years ago I would have gone into great deal about one of the finest Bel Canto singers opera has seen. But not today. Not even a picture. How sad. Well, this was a decent collection. Beyond decent, actually. I liked it. I felt ” Tu che a Dio spiegasti’l ali” from Donizetti’s Lucia De Lammermoor was the best piece, but I am also a sucker for Rigoletto so here is “Ella mi fu rapita” as well.

Lucia De Lammermoor
Rigoletto

Sadler’s Wlls Opera of London- I Love Carmen

We are celebrating 7 years of this blog by posting things I love ( Carmen). We are trying to extend the blog one more year by keeping these brief. I paid $5 for this Capitol Record from some year I am not sure of. Featuring Patricia Johnson, Donald Smith, Raimund Herincx, and Elizabeth Robson among others, here is an English version of the Bizet classic.

Decent enough record. I am going to go with my three favorite pieces, “Habanera”, “Toreador Song”, and “Quintet”. I know. Way to take risks with this.

Toreador
Quintet
Habanera