Classical Music & Opera Forums

Brunnie

Because of your mentioning Behrens' Salome, I bought the CDs on Amazon, and they have just arrived. Excellent cast--and HvK! I especially like Jose van Dam, and Agnes Baltsa ain't chopped liver either. This is the first recording of Salome I have ever bought.

I'll let you know when I have listened to the set.

Speaking of Strauss, this morning I just saw a clip from a Rosenkavalier DVD on Classic Arts Showcase. Weird Salzburg production, but beautiful: Sophie and "Quinquin" were making out (and I mean making out) on a bed in the--get this---, in the LAST ACT---when the Marschallin walks by and sings her fabulous, "Ja, Ja." --should have been "oy vey!"

At the end the young "servant," who usually picks up the handkerchief is older and very drunk, drinking form a champaign bottle--he then picks up a rifle aims it--and there appear soldiers in the background

PS I think the Marschallin was Pieczonka,the Sophie was Persson and the boy/girl, that pretty German mezzo--senior moment!--it's Kirschschlager

PPS Just looked it up--Dir. was Canadian, Robert Carsen

brunnhilde wrote:Mogs, lulu explained the reference to "eh", Canada's national oral punctuation. But your spelling gives you away as a Yank. My American mother has been living in Canada since the early fifties, and she still can't spell "Labour Day".

Poor Mom (or do you call her "Mum"?) I've long been fond of the "extra" u's in the Queen's English, but decided not to adopt them into my own writing lest people think me affected.

Shows how much I know -- I had to look up "Canuck"! So, are you folks the ones (on this side of the pond) who say, "oot of the hoose" (besides the Scots, I mean)?

And now for something completely different...

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

I haven't heard this since I was about 9 years old. Believe it or not, this is a very strong childhood memory for me. My grandfather, who was from England, had this album by Stanley Holloway, and I played this song incessantly, trying to figure out the words. It's very funny, if you can.

Funny the things that move us, eh? My earliest musical memories, other than that great tenor, Mighty Mouse, was "The Jolson Story", with this classic:
"You Made Me Love You", Al Jolson rendition. (For some reason, Explorer 8 won't let me paste the browser address of You Tube. Very annoying. So you'll have to find it by title.) Before I started school, I could sing Jolson songs by heart. (Remember the scene where Jolson accidentally mistakes the horseradish for the mashed potatoes? My uncle actually did that.) Years later, when I was at the Opera School at University of Toronto, I got a part time job in a honky tonk bar as a singing barmaid. Very interesting place, in a part of the city undergoing yuppie renovation, so our clientele ran the gamut from lawyer, stockbrokers and doctors to two rival bike gangs. The bouncer was a former wrestler named Killer Conroy, who, the first time I sang, took my hand in his hamhock of a fist and kissed it, wheezing through his broken nose, "Ja sing jes like my muddah". I sang "You Made Me Love You", inadvertently making eye contact with an audience member with Love and Hate tattooed on his knuckles, and a swastika hanging from his ear, who thereafter wanted to take me to biker picnics, and on one occasion, offered to take care of an obstreperous customer by "throwing him in front of a car". I politely declined - and quit the job soon after. But I still love Jolson.

At the moment, I'm watching a movie called "U-Carmen", which is the opera set in a township in South Africa, and sung in the African language. The voices are quite amateur, but it's rather interesting, and the setting, with its poverty, is appalling. Carmen works in a cigarette factory, of course, and the Don Jose character is a local police cadet. An interesting motivation for Carmen's willingness to victimize the Zuniga character, a police sargeant, is the fact that he is extorting sexual favours from the women of the township. Occasionally, they mix African music into the scenes. It's interesting, but I'm not entirely sure that it's successful. But more interesting is the fact that this movie group is motivated to explore an art form, Western opera, that is so totally foreign to their culture.

Ammie: The first time I sat down to listen to that Salome, I had a pigout binge of calf liver with onions and ketchup - Yum! - so I can never hear Salome without an associated memeory of that scent. Maybe it has something to do with the bloodthirstiness of the story.

calvert wrote:And now for something completely different...

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

I haven't heard this since I was about 9 years old. Believe it or not, this is a very strong childhood memory for me. My grandfather, who was from England, had this album by Stanley Holloway, and I played this song incessantly, trying to figure out the words. It's very funny, if you can.

Loved it, understood almost every word, and adore Sterling Holloway from Peter and the Wolf.
My childhood remembrance is John Charles Thomas singing The Green-Eyed Dragon with the 13 Tails.

Celibidache must have been conducting Holloway's song. I think I prefer Cyrill Scott's version, nearly twice as fast without sounded a bit rushed: [urlnw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soeBL3Vuts8&feature=related[/urlnw].

My early vocal memories are of the Hungarian baritone Mihály Székely singing some so-called "gypsy" songs on an Angel LP titled "Toki Horvath, King of the Gypsies". I've long longed for that album, but have never been able to find it.

Brunnie writes:

"Ammie: The first time I sat down to listen to that Salome, I had a pigout binge of calf liver with onions and ketchup - Yum! - so I can never hear Salome without an associated memeory of that scent. Maybe it has something to do with the bloodthirstiness of the story."

As a vegetarian, I hope that image (yuck!) doesn't stick in my head when I listen to the opera! <g>

Has anyone ever heard of Rusty in Orchestraville? (don't all shout out at once). But it was a great way to teach children the love of musical instruments, the basic one being the piano. Our kids were weaned on that one along with Danny Kaye's delightful Tubby the Tuba and Hans Christian Andersen.
Aah! them's were the days.
I wonder what parents feed to their kids these days...

mogliettina:

I just sent this to my nephew's kids:

maestrob wrote:mogliettina:

I just sent this to my nephew's kids:

So it is still around, eh? Great!
I always loved Sterling Holloway's version. Wonder if it is still available.

Apropos of our earlier discussion of a certain baritone, I was leafing through a 1930s songbook, and came across "My Baby Just Cares For Me" with this verse:

"My baby's no Gilbert fan, Ron Colman is not her man. My baby just cares for me.
My baby don't care for Lawrence Tibbets, she'd rather have me around to kibbitz.
Bud Rogers is not her style, and even Chevalier's smile is something she can't see.
I wonder what's wrong with baby? My baby just cares for me."

How about that? An opera singer made it into a pop song listing romantic icons.

Apropos of our earlier discussion of a certain baritone, I was leafing through a 1930s songbook, and came across "My Baby Just Cares For Me" with this verse:

"My baby's no Gilbert fan, Ron Colman is not her man. My baby just cares for me.
My baby don't care for Lawrence Tibbets, she'd rather have me around to kibbitz.
Bud Rogers is not her style, and even Chevalier's smile is something she can't see.
I wonder what's wrong with baby? My baby just cares for me."

How about that? An opera singer made it into a pop song listing romantic icons.

nyoka:

I forgot all about Rusty in Orchestraville. Wasn't it on 78 and came in those binders with inserts for each record?

That's the one, Lulu. Wasn't that a great way for kids to learn to appreciate instruments of the orchestra?

mogliettina wrote:

maestrob wrote:mogliettina:

I just sent this to my nephew's kids:

So it is still around, eh? Great!
I always loved Sterling Holloway's version. Wonder if it is still available.

They're both still around and are requested regularly by our four-year-old grandson. The Disney/Sterling Holloway version is available on Youtube.

I remember "Rusty in Orchestraville" - what a blast from the past! My grandmother, who was a musician and very important in the early formation of my musical interests (and tastes, fortunately!) gave us that record (LP, not 78). I don't remember the specifics but I do remember listening to it.

Ghena Dimitrova


I just listened to her in Gioconda on Sirius--pretty exciting. Tenor Bruno Beccaria is pretty good as are Alain Fondary and S. Toczyska.

I saw Ghena in Turandot in 1996 and thought she was too loud! But the funny thing is, I remember the tenor Lando Bartolini as Calaf, but not seeing Gheorghiu as Liu??

calvert wrote:I remember "Rusty in Orchestraville" - what a blast from the past! My grandmother, who was a musician and very important in the early formation of my musical interests (and tastes, fortunately!) gave us that record (LP, not 78). I don't remember the specifics but I do remember listening to it.

I stand corrected. We too had the 33 1/3 record. My kids simply adored it.

Anyone ever hear of Leah Partridge (soprano)? Thoughts?

Did she ever share a stage with Peter Pears?