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Shall I Go On?

"Party" CDz of Vocal Oddities


LISTEN TO EXCERPTS:



Volume XV:

CD 1: Aida thru Pecheurs
CD 2: Puritani thru Wozzeck




Volume I
Volume II
Volume III
Volume IV
Volume V
Volume VI
Volume VII
Volume VIII
Volume IX
Volume X
Volume XI
Volume XII
Volume XIII
Volume XIV
Volume XVI


01 AIDA

A soprano fakes a high pianissimo during a filmedrehearsal of a reggae Aida.

02 AIDA

Joan Sutherland sings "Ritorna vincitor" in English, very early in her career

03 AIDA

Giovanni Martinelli, in 1968, sings an excerpt from Aida. Not bad for an 83-year-old.

04 AN DIE MUSIK

Geraldine Farrar appeared often on Saturday broadcasts as commentator and guest. Here she sings Schubert's "An die Musik" some time in the 1930s.

05 AND I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU

Some young pipsqueak tries to imitate Natalie Cole. WARNING: her screams of frustration can be painful. She tries various keys but fails miserably.

06 BOHEME

Conductor Roberto Rizzi Brignoli must precede every act with a heavy sniff-suck. It's his debut too (October 16, 2010).

07 BUTTERFLY

January 17, 1987 marked the Met farewell of Renata Scotto in the opera of her debut, Madama Butterfly. She has a primal gut wrench before the line in Act II< "Ah, m'ha scordata!".

08 BUTTERFLY

In this studio execrpt from Act II with Clara Petrella and Giuseppe Taddei, you can hear Sharpless give Trouble a kiss after the word "biondi".

09 CAT DUET

Two choirboys sing Rossini's Cat Duet.

10 CHINESE FOLD SONG

Roberta Peters sings a Chinese fold song and sounds like a native in more ways than one. This recital dates from 1980.

11 DANNY BOY

The Leprechaun Brothers sing "Danny Boy" on Sesame Street. They make up the words.

12 DIDO

From a March 14, 1953 radio performance, Kirsten Flagstad sings Dido's Lament in Norwegian.

13 DON GIOVANNI

John Brecknock interpolates a cadenza, including a brief high C, during "Il mio tesoro in this March 25, 1978 broadcast of Don Giovanni

14 DON'T EVER SAY IT IS YOUR LAST TRIP

Shirley Verrett sings this song in Yiddish.

15 FLEDERMAUS

An Australian TV commentator introduces a clip from Traviata as her final appearance in Fledermaus. A day later he corrects himself after receiving one single correction from a viewer. They then play the finale of the Czardas (not her final appearance). He makes a third apology, thus making everyone uncomfortable at such a sad time in opera history..

16 GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG

Leonie Rysanek sings an excerpt from the Immolation Scene from Götterdämmerung.

17 LUCIA

Adelaide Negri decides to insert a macabre cadenza before "Quando rapita in estasi".

18 LUCIA

Here is the end of the Act I love duet with Patricia Wise and Franco Bonisolli during a Vienna performance of April 19, 1980. They sorta-kinda sing it come scritto, though Bonisolli fakes most of the high Eb

19 MACBETH

Olivia Stapp doesn't observe the dynamic marking at the end of the Sleepwalking Scene during this February 9, 1980 performance in Berlin.

20 NORMA

Grace Moore sings "Casta diva" in the 1930 film "A Lady's Morals".

21 NOZZE

A memory lapse heard the world over: Kiri te Kanawa sings "Dove soon" during the Met Centennial Gala, October 22, 1983.

22 ONEGIN

Soprano Lonne Pondman, member of the notorious Pondman Family, squeezes out the Letter Scene from Onegin.

23 PAGLIACCI

During what turned out to be his final appearance in the house, Richard Tucker really ends it all at the finale. His colleagues during this December 3, 1974 performance were Anna Moffo, Norman Mittelmann and Lenus Carlson.

24 PASQUALE

Roberta Peters interpolates a high F at the end of the rondo finale during this February 11, 1956 broadcast of Don Pasquale.

25 PECHEURS

Beniamino Gigli, in his early 60s, sings an excerpt from Nadir's aria from Les pecheurs de perles.

CD 2:


01 PURITANI

Nicolai Gedda delivers an easy high C# during "A te o cara" in this Florence Puritani performance from December 20, 1970. Cristina Deutekom is the Elvira.

02 PURITANI

From the same performance as track #1, the duet "Vieni, fra questa braccia".

03 PURITANI

From the same performance as track #1, the end of "Credeasi Misera". For the final note, Nicolai Gedda holds it until there is not one atom of air left.

04 PURITANI

Alfredo Kraus and Joan Sutherland sing prime high Ebs in this San Francisco performance of "Vieni, fra questa braccia", September 20, 1966

05 PURITANI

From the same performance as track #4, Alfredo Kraus sings the high Db in "Credeasi Misera with ease

06 RHEINGOLD

Not sure Bryn Terfel's "Curly" approach to this high F was in the best of taste during this September 28, 2010 performance of Das Rheingold

07 RIGOLETTO

Robert Merrill loses his place during the "Si vendetta" duet with Gabriella Tucci during this June 1, 1971 performance of Rigoletto.

08 SONNAMBULA

On November 4, 1982, Edita Gruberova interpolates a high F at the end of "Ah, non giunge" during this Geneva performance.

09 SOUND OF MUSIC

Petula Clark belts the title song from the Broadway show "The Sound of Music".

10 TRAVIATA

The 64-year-old Edita Gruberova proves she still has it all during this performance of "Sempre libera" in 2010.

11 TRAVIATA

Once again, Piero Cappuccilli shows off his upper extension at the end of Act 2 during this June 4, 1984 Berlin performance of La traviata. The Alfredo is Peter Dvorsky.

12 TRAVIATA

Paolo Silveri takes the optional ending of Act 2 and sings a high Ab during this December 2, 1950 broadcast of La traviata. The Alfredo is Ferruccio Tagliavini.

13 TRAVIATA

Geraldine Farrar sings excerpts from La traviata during this intermission feature from the 1930s. It's a bit out of order but it doesn't matter.

14 TRAVIATA

On October 31, 1970, Robert Merrill celebrated the 25th Aniversary of his Met debut in a performance of La Traviata with Joan Sutherland and Carlo Bergonzi. After Act II, there was a ceremony onstage with Merrill being greeted by 8 of his Violettas. Catch the names as Chairman of the Board, Lowell Wadmond, announces them

15 TROVATORE

After finishing the 2nd verse of "Di quella pira", one would swear that Jussi Björling went offstage to prepare for his re-entry onstage, maybe in some sort of a chariot? As he comes back onstage while attacking the high C, the voice increases with volume as he makes his way downstage. The performance dates from 1939.

16 TROVATORE

Like father, like son: Rolf Björling singing the same aria in 1972

17 TROVATORE

A role one wouldn't associate Alfredo Kraus with is Manrico. Here's his studio recording of "Di quella pira".

18 TROVATORE

Richard Tucker barks his way through "Di quell pira" during this 1971 performance.

19 TURANDOT

The then-unknown Ben Heppner sings his extended scene as the Prince of Persia in this Toronto Turandot dating from October of 1983. The Calaf is Ermanno Mauro and Timur is sung by Rolf Gerard.

20 VESPRI

Malcolm McEachern sings "O tu Palermo" dipping down to a low Db in the closing cadenza.

21 VERKAUFTE BRAUT

Fritz Wunderlich and Kurt Böhme sing a duet from Smetana's Die Verkaufter Braut. This is the tenor's final concert appearance.

22 VOTE REPUBLICAN

Roy Zimmerman is a Democrat.

23 WALKÜRE

Another example of Leonie Rysanek's Sieglinde scream during Act I of Die Walküre. Her Siegmund is James King, the conductor is Karl Böhm, the house is Bayreuth and the date is July 26, 1965.

24 WALKÜRE

Geraldine Farrar gives her rendition of "Winterstürme" during an intermission feature from the 1930s.

25 WHY I PREFER ONE

Anita Hollander makes the most of her single leg for her CD entitled "Still Standing". Among the other titles are " Dressing ", " Lazy Day ", " Funeral For A Replaceable Part ", " Difficult Woman Blues ", " Walkman! ", "I Want To Be There ", " Mommy Is A Mermaid " and " Here I Stand".

26 WOZZECK

From parterre.com"...an observation about the Levine 40th Wozzeck CD (Anja Silja/Jose van Dam) - the second CD (acts 2 and 3) has to be a different performance, different cast and different year. It is undoubtedly Hildegard Behrens on the 2nd CD. I don’t know who the baritone is but it is NOT van Dam. The orchestra/stage balance is different on the 2nd CD and it sounds like a "better" orchestra too. Am I nuts?

Here's a comparison of a couple of snippets of the two discs, with a brief silence in between. Any ideas what’s going on here?"