Light a candle for Luciano

[aude]

We mourn with you Gitte. Truly one of the greats.

[Becky (Berkeleytravelers)]

Amen!

I saw him in person in a concert a few years ago - he couldn't really move all that well and sang leaning against an unobtrusive brace, but still was wonderful. I also saw him in 1977 in a San Francisco Opera production, with Montserrat Caballé in "Turandot" (had standing room ticket, it was worth it even after three hours of being on my feet not counting the 90 minutes or so in line to get the standing room ticket). That was an amazing experience and of course included one of the arias for which he is most famous (Nessun Dorma).

Larger than life, and will be greatly missed.

[geordy]

I was fortunate to see him twice..both times large outdoor concerts.He was in Central Park..for free of course on the Great Lawn several years back..my niece had just moved to the City so early '90's. It was a great event for all of us having our picnic there and listening to HIM but imagine a young woman just moving to the City having that experience!

The second time equally compelling at the Eiffel Tower 1998 with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras for the World Cup Concert!

So sad for music lovers everywhere.

[Happygoin]

I remember seeing the show at the Eiffel Tower on television. It was filmed for PBS. I imagine it was much better for someone lucky enough to be there in person, but it was still wonderful!

[cybee]

Wow. It would have been incredible to hear him sing in person! I know that World Cup Concert was so incredible it set the stage for the 3 Tenors successful album.....so that must have been quite the experience, Geordy..and to see him for free at Central Park! Amazing! (yes, your niece must have found it awesome!). Yes, Becky, his singing in Turandot (esp Nessum Dorma) was especially moving! Certainly worth standing three plus hours ! I get tears in my eyes sometimes just listening to his wonderful voice. Certainly his passing is a loss to this world.

[geordy]

Happy I watched that on PBS everytime they aired it..and they aired it often! Wonderful memories and of course that "I can't believe i was there !" feeling. And I play the CD often!

And to think the whole 3 Tenors thing partially came about, supposedly, because of Luciano and Placido wanting to help re-start Carreras' career after his bout with Leukemia.

[Happygoin]

Kind of tells you something about their character, doesn't it, geordy?

[luckyluc]

Ok I will be the discording voice! Pavarotti had great qualities but personally I find that he hold the notes to long and he was not always respectful of the score. In music the composer should come first and the interprète should be a vehicule, not the other way around. Subtaining high notes and projecting them when the composer asked for a decrescendo, make for a great show but is not really truthful to the music.

Domingo is much more a real musician than Pavarotti was and personnaly I find that Alagna is also very moving.

[Becky (Berkeleytravelers)]

Luckyluc, I agree on some levels, as I find Domingo's voice and style a bit more elegant - but, that said, my admiration for Domingo doesn't (to me) take away from what a charismatic performer (and great voice) Pavarotti was.

[geordy]

BTW ....... Domingo is the handsomest devil ever to appear on an opera stage.......

Ah Gitte he was a looker...but when Carreras was young ....with a "normal "physique...the first time I saw him on a PBS Gala special I was like who is this Opera singer who is young and not barrel chested..or fat!

[Truffaut]

While P's musicianship can (and should) be called into question, there is no doubt in my mind that his was the singularly most exquisite tenor voice ever produced (and yes, I do know about Gigli, Caruso, DelMonaco, etc.). Many, if not most, tenors who have major careers start off as high baritones and tend to carry that timbre with them throughout the singing years (e.g., Domingo). That's part of what gives the voice the heft it needs to cut through a large orchestra. P was always a lyric tenor, but with the extraordinary great fortune to have the size and tone to make a career. I did hear him live once in one of his stadium mega-concerts. I had to laugh at the NPR special where they quoted him as saying opera and music should be for the masses and that he wanted to make it available to everyone (as I recall, I paid over $100 for a nosebleed ticket when I was a poor college student in 1986 or 87).

Even though marooned in Kentucky during my formative years, I did manage to hear live stage or recital performances from Pavarotti, Domingo, Renata Scotto, Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, José Carreras, Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman, and Leontyne Price all within the space of a couple of years!

Overall assessments:
Pavarotti--beautiful, but the stadium ambience didn't exactly make for a memorable performance
Domingo--fabulous musician and stage presence
Scotto--ho-hum
Sutherland--Oh My God magnificent, there will never be another singer like that
Marilyn Horne--what a pregnant dog!
Jose Carreras--hmm, cute!
Kathleen Battle--pretty, talented, sparkling singer; surprised she eventually turned out like Marilyn Horne!
Jessye Norman--third row seats for Strauss "Four Last Songs"--I wanted to crawl into her throat (I would have fit) and live there where all those luscious sounds could just roll over me; taught me the art of the final consonant
Leontyne Price--totally different, but the reaction was a mix of the Sutherland and Norman feelings

[Truffaut]

Oh, that's so funny! I actuall said of Marilyn Horne "What a b*tch!", but the automatic obscenity filter changed it to "pregnant dog". Well, that too!!

[Happygoin]

Glad you clarified that, Truffaut. I was wondering what made you characterize her that way

[Becky (Berkeleytravelers)]

Too funny, T - the soprano I heard live who most stands out in my mind above the others, even though the ones you have listed are fabulous and I have been lucky enough to hear some of them live, is Ileana Cotrubas. I heard her sing Mimi in La Boheme in a San Francisco Opera production in the late 1970s, and it literally gave me goosebumps.

The soprano I most would have wanted to hear live is Maria Callas - not everyone's cup of tea, but still. (Berkeley Rep did a production of "Master Class" with Rita Moreno playing Callas - wonderfully done, and a very convincing portrait.)

[luckyluc]

Oh! Becky I just love Callas's masterclass. did you know that there is an live recording of the masterclasses she gave at Julliard. It is a EMI Records: 7 49601

She actually coach a student doing Si, mi chiamano Mini, you would really enjoyed it.

[Anne]

Sunday will be the 30th anniversay of the death of La Callas, and since she died in Paris, where she had lived for the 16 last years of her life, the Mairie de Paris is going to pay a tribute to her on Sunday with some films projections on a big screen in front of the mairie .
So if Geordy or Holger read this and are interested, they will play "Carmen" from a 1962 concert and they will also show the 2nd part of Tosca from 1964 . There will also be a documentary on her life .
The only problem is that I couldn't find the time schedule for this . Will search again tomorrow .

[luckyluc]

Anne, comme j'aimerai y être! Callas and Carmen just go so well together. I often cited to our students ,her French diction of "Les tringles des sistres tintaient " , it is so crisp and clear and she sing the aria in perfect crescendo as Bizet wrote.

[iank9]

Hi,

(Truffaut): "Jessye Norman--third row seats for Strauss "Four Last Songs"--I wanted to crawl into her throat (I would have fit) and live there where all those luscious sounds could just roll over me; taught me the art of the final consonant"

We were in France in the summer of 1999, when we were fortunate to be standing in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Reims, where we witnessed the total eclipse (Wed 11th Aug). Singing on a stage outside of the Cathedral was Jessye Norman who sang, among other songs, "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands": very moving

Norman considers France to be her second home and has ben awarded the titles, Legion d'Honneur, and Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government.

She has an album taken from "The Jessye Norman Collection - A French Collection" on Decca, with the London Symphony Orchestra.

And to link another thread, "Mussee de l'Homme", she had an Orchid named after at the National Museum of Natural History!

I have a picture of her singing that day and when I find it.............

[Anne]

Finally found the information : the show (or whatever you may call it) will be from 6.30 pm on the parvis (front) of the Hotel de Ville .

[Truffaut]

Ian,
I'm always amazed by affected accent Norman has--quite something for a poor black girl from Mississippi! Let's face it--the world of opera is all about appearances and affectations--but, really!!

Sometimes her imposing personality gets in the way of the operas. In "Les Troyens", for example, she always sang "Cassandra". Now I ask you, if Jessye Norman points her finger toward the gate, wails out and tells you to get the hell of out of town, who's not going to listen? But, of course, then the opera would be two hours shorter.