I was an extra, as one of the soldiers in the triumphal march scene, in a production by Milwaukee's Florentine Opera Company. Exhilarating experience!!
The Florentine Opera! The saw an unforgettable Nabucco they did. I went with 5 friends friend Chicago and personally around us kept saying dude intermission “ Of course it’s not Lyric Opera!” I told them it was just as good and any Opera in the world would be proud of a production of so wonderful.
@waynesmith3767 That brings back another Florentine memory... a bittersweet/sad one: it was the last opera my wife Carol and I watched. Four months later, she passed from breast cancer which metastized to her lungs. It's very hard for me to even listen to "Nabucco" now. .
“I agree. Price and Vickers are just perfect. I love both singers! The recording is wonderful. But Aida by Muti with Caballé and Domingo is equally good for me.
I'm listening to this recording as I type. I'm up to the judgement scene. It's been my favourite Aida for years. Thank you for reminding me how fabulous it is.
1962 . . . I graduated high school in 1963 and began my love of opera in the fall of that year when I befriended a fellow college freshman from NY who was a crazy Met (the opera company) fan and worshipper of Joan Sutherland. Among my first CD purchases was the Solti Ring and I went on to buy most of Solti's full opera recordings of the late 50s/early 60's including this one.
The LP highlights edition of this recording hooked me on opera for life. An older college friend thought I would like it and lent it to me sometime in 1971. I listened to it one afternoon and vaguely remember following along with the printed text and translation. What I definitely remember is the that the tomb scene shook me to the core and I broke down sobbing by the end. By the time I dried my tears, I realized two things: first, I had to figure out how to listen to more opera; and second, I was in love with the guy who lent me the LP. The first part has given me more than 50 years of joy including another handful or so of earth shattering experiences. The second part? Well, he turned out to be a jerk - but a least he introduced me to this recording which in turn opened the doors to my life.
My first live opera was - believe it or not - Britten's 'A Midsummer Night's Eve' in Indianola, Iowa 1975. The year before, my parents took the family to the Guthrie Theater's production of Shakespeare's play in Minneapolis. They probably thought it would be a good cultural bookend for us kids - my sister, brother and me. It made an impression on me that didn't manifest until years later. I watched the legendary PBS broadcast of Leontyne Price's farewell performance at the Met. Later, I attended a recital concert of Madame Price at the O'Shaugnessy Hall in St. Paul. Minnesota. As her final encore she sang Strauss' Morgen. As the audience rose in rapturous applause, La Diva Price ensconced herself within the curve of the piano, leaned back and spread her arms.
Exactly. That 1955 RCA lineup. Barbieri is underappreciated these days but her Amneris was considered so essential that she recorded it twice that same summer. The other is the EMI with Callas. Tebaldi/Karajan--can't somebody remaster some of those Decca sets and bring the dang voices forward in the balance instead of down the street and around the corner? Though admittedly the Sofiensaal recordings are much better than the Italian sets. Caballe is miraculous in Act 3 and the Tomb Scene of the Muti set. But I love Price in both of her recordings.
Totally agree. Price, Vickers, Gorr, Merrill and Solti conducting. Well it just doesn’t get any better than that. Ok the VPO on the 1959 Karajan recording way outclasses the Rome Opera Orchestra and I love Simionato as Amneris,, however Tebaldi doesn’t match Price in the title role. In addition as much as I love MacNeil I think Merrill in the Solti set is even better.
A greatest reciording for sure. Thanks for the reminder. Dave, I have a request, and sorry if it's annoying or impossible to do anything about. When you mention recordings by artists or conductors with challenging international and not terribly widely-known names (this morning in watching a Scriabin video of yours, Kaja Danczowksa comes to mind as an example) is there any way you can try to visibly hold up a disc or start adding more text to videos in the notes when you feel someone has a version worth hearing?). I know many of your viewers know all of these people upon hearing their names go by but I consider myself only an intermediate fan and music lover, who knows many but not all of them (as I learn so much from you all the time in rep and artists that I didn't know!) You can just put it in the back of your mind. I know you are not here to spoon-feed us but I'm so eager to hear those you mention as worthwhile and I find myself playing spelling games trying to suss some of them out. It seems particularly the case with Slavic, Asian, and other less familiar countries. Anyway, every day is another day to enjoy your marvelous content so I will keep on listening always.
Great choice! The only other one i listen to is von Karajans with Carreras, for the latter's pianissimo high B flats. His voice may be a little light for Radanes, but in a recording it hardly makes a difference. And what a gorgeous voice!
On Jan 03, 1985, Leontyne Price's final performance before retiring was in AIDA at the Met. Fortunately it was recorded. The Met's most recent AIDA was Oct 06, 2018, with Anna Netrebko. I hadn't thought to watch Price's performance but will now. Also ordered the CD set. Dave, and others, opera question. Dave, you seem to know a lot of languages so opera seems accessible to you -- you mention you know the libretto languages. Or is it that you have watched them so much you know what's being said because you know the translations from memory?
And in 1962 Price also recorded the greatest Tosca ever, with Karajan conducting the Vienne Phil. Early 60's must have been the greatest era for opera lovers.
The greatest recording of Tosca is indisputably Callas/di Stefano//Gobbi under de Sabata. Actually, it's one of the greatest recordings of anything evaaaah! Geheimtipp: there is a great live recording of Tosca from January 1956 with Tebaldi/Tucker/Warren under Mitropoulos, who completely electrifies the proceedings. This is one of the rare occasions, where I find Tebaldi not only singing beautifully, but totally commited and involved (another example of that is the live Forza del destino from 1953, again under Mitropoulos - he certainly seems to have had that effect on her!).
For me, Aida will always be connected - maybe for the wrong reasons - with the Toscanini 1949 televised version (available on YT) with the awful sound and flattened picture and the eerie atmosphere (the singers - Tucker, Nelli, Valdengo - virtually scared stiff by the little dictator with the baton). Yet what music (when you close your eyes)!
My first one was last year! The Pearl Fishers. What a one to start out with. I did no research, just went with my friend. The audience was laughing through most of it. It's a terrible libretto in my opinion, but it's got some lovely moments otherwise.
To this point, there's a revealing recording-session photo in the libretto booklet of the original RCA "living stereo" LP recording that indeed shows Vickers with a very intense facial expression in a seemingly heated debate with Solti, aka: "the screaming skull." (P.S. The RCA Walkure (Nilsson, Vickers, London, Gorr...) was with Leinsdorf, not Solti.)
We love your stories. And your enthusiasm as well.
Vickers and Pryce are glorious. Solti gets all the right energy, drama, and lyricism out of the orchestra. My ideal Aida.
Don't forget Rita. She's glorious too.
I was an extra, as one of the soldiers in the triumphal march scene, in a production by Milwaukee's Florentine Opera Company.
Exhilarating experience!!
The Florentine Opera! The saw an unforgettable Nabucco they did. I went with 5 friends friend Chicago and personally around us kept saying dude intermission “ Of course it’s not Lyric Opera!” I told them it was just as good and any Opera in the world would be proud of a production of so wonderful.
@waynesmith3767 That brings back another Florentine memory... a bittersweet/sad one: it was the last opera my wife Carol and I watched.
Four months later, she passed from breast cancer which metastized to her lungs.
It's very hard for me to even listen to "Nabucco" now.
.
At the start of the Nile scene you can almost hear the crickets. A marvelous moment!
This is the recording that led me to Verdi, who became my favorite 19th century opera composer. I can't overstate how much I love it.
“I agree. Price and Vickers are just perfect. I love both singers! The recording is wonderful. But Aida by Muti with Caballé and Domingo is equally good for me.
I totally agree with you. The Muti one is my 2nd best favorite. It is really great..
I'm listening to this recording as I type. I'm up to the judgement scene. It's been my favourite Aida for years. Thank you for reminding me how fabulous it is.
1962 . . . I graduated high school in 1963 and began my love of opera in the fall of that year when I befriended a fellow college freshman from NY who was a crazy Met (the opera company) fan and worshipper of Joan Sutherland. Among my first CD purchases was the Solti Ring and I went on to buy most of Solti's full opera recordings of the late 50s/early 60's including this one.
The LP highlights edition of this recording hooked me on opera for life. An older college friend thought I would like it and lent it to me sometime in 1971. I listened to it one afternoon and vaguely remember following along with the printed text and translation. What I definitely remember is the that the tomb scene shook me to the core and I broke down sobbing by the end. By the time I dried my tears, I realized two things: first, I had to figure out how to listen to more opera; and second, I was in love with the guy who lent me the LP. The first part has given me more than 50 years of joy including another handful or so of earth shattering experiences. The second part? Well, he turned out to be a jerk - but a least he introduced me to this recording which in turn opened the doors to my life.
My first live opera was - believe it or not - Britten's 'A Midsummer Night's Eve' in Indianola, Iowa 1975. The year before, my parents took the family to the Guthrie Theater's production of Shakespeare's play in Minneapolis. They probably thought it would be a good cultural bookend for us kids - my sister, brother and me. It made an impression on me that didn't manifest until years later. I watched the legendary PBS broadcast of Leontyne Price's farewell performance at the Met. Later, I attended a recital concert of Madame Price at the O'Shaugnessy Hall in St. Paul. Minnesota. As her final encore she sang Strauss' Morgen. As the audience rose in rapturous applause, La Diva Price ensconced herself within the curve of the piano, leaned back and spread her arms.
If you saw Price and Cornell sing Aida at the Metropolitan Opera in the 70's, you more than likely attended the performances of February - March 1976.
Yes, probably.
For most frequently performed, the old mnemonic was "ABCD." Aida, Bohème, Carmen, Don Giovanni. And, yes, this is a fantastic recording! Thanks.
But La Traviata beats out all of them, except maybe Boheme. Aida is expensive to produce.
I saw the same MET Aida the same year you did. It also made lifetime opera fans and Met subscribers of friends of ours who were at their first opera.
The Dexter production premiered at the Met in 1976. Price, Horne, McCracken, MacNeil. It was televised in 1985 in the occasion of Price's farewell.
The best Amneris in Rita Gorr. She doesn’t have to chew the scenery in the Judgement Scene all she has to do is unleash a flood of gorgeous tone
Milanov/Bjoerling/Barbieri/Warren for me. But I must admit, Dave‘s choice is excellent too (and Karajan/Tebaldi/Bergonzi, and Muti/Caballé/Domingo)
Exactly. That 1955 RCA lineup. Barbieri is underappreciated these days but her Amneris was considered so essential that she recorded it twice that same summer. The other is the EMI with Callas.
Tebaldi/Karajan--can't somebody remaster some of those Decca sets and bring the dang voices forward in the balance instead of down the street and around the corner? Though admittedly the Sofiensaal recordings are much better than the Italian sets.
Caballe is miraculous in Act 3 and the Tomb Scene of the Muti set. But I love Price in both of her recordings.
Totally agree. Price, Vickers, Gorr, Merrill and Solti conducting. Well it just doesn’t get any better than that. Ok the VPO on the 1959 Karajan recording way outclasses the Rome Opera Orchestra and I love Simionato as Amneris,, however Tebaldi doesn’t match Price in the title role. In addition as much as I love MacNeil I think Merrill in the Solti set is even better.
Now happily remastered on two CDs
A greatest reciording for sure. Thanks for the reminder. Dave, I have a request, and sorry if it's annoying or impossible to do anything about. When you mention recordings by artists or conductors with challenging international and not terribly widely-known names (this morning in watching a Scriabin video of yours, Kaja Danczowksa comes to mind as an example) is there any way you can try to visibly hold up a disc or start adding more text to videos in the notes when you feel someone has a version worth hearing?). I know many of your viewers know all of these people upon hearing their names go by but I consider myself only an intermediate fan and music lover, who knows many but not all of them (as I learn so much from you all the time in rep and artists that I didn't know!) You can just put it in the back of your mind. I know you are not here to spoon-feed us but I'm so eager to hear those you mention as worthwhile and I find myself playing spelling games trying to suss some of them out. It seems particularly the case with Slavic, Asian, and other less familiar countries. Anyway, every day is another day to enjoy your marvelous content so I will keep on listening always.
I'll think about it. Thanks for the suggestion.
Great choice! The only other one i listen to is von Karajans with Carreras, for the latter's pianissimo high B flats. His voice may be a little light for Radanes, but in a recording it hardly makes a difference. And what a gorgeous voice!
On Jan 03, 1985, Leontyne Price's final performance before retiring was in AIDA at the Met. Fortunately it was recorded. The Met's most recent AIDA was Oct 06, 2018, with Anna Netrebko. I hadn't thought to watch Price's performance but will now. Also ordered the CD set.
Dave, and others, opera question. Dave, you seem to know a lot of languages so opera seems accessible to you -- you mention you know the libretto languages. Or is it that you have watched them so much you know what's being said because you know the translations from memory?
A little of both.
And Fiorenza Cossotto totally stole the show in Price's final Aida's.
@@damianjb1 Great! She is on the Met video recording with Price.
And in 1962 Price also recorded the greatest Tosca ever, with Karajan conducting the Vienne Phil. Early 60's must have been the greatest era for opera lovers.
I see your 1962 Price and raise you. 1953 Callas.
The greatest recording of Tosca is indisputably Callas/di Stefano//Gobbi under de Sabata. Actually, it's one of the greatest recordings of anything evaaaah!
Geheimtipp: there is a great live recording of Tosca from January 1956 with Tebaldi/Tucker/Warren under Mitropoulos, who completely electrifies the proceedings. This is one of the rare occasions, where I find Tebaldi not only singing beautifully, but totally commited and involved (another example of that is the live Forza del destino from 1953, again under Mitropoulos - he certainly seems to have had that effect on her!).
For me, Aida will always be connected - maybe for the wrong reasons - with the Toscanini 1949 televised version (available on YT) with the awful sound and flattened picture and the eerie atmosphere (the singers - Tucker, Nelli, Valdengo - virtually scared stiff by the little dictator with the baton). Yet what music (when you close your eyes)!
Was that trip to the Met a bar mitzvah present?
Just a school trip, actually.
My first one was last year! The Pearl Fishers. What a one to start out with. I did no research, just went with my friend. The audience was laughing through most of it. It's a terrible libretto in my opinion, but it's got some lovely moments otherwise.
Is this the recording where Vickers said he'd never work with Solti again?
It’s the **only Vickers recording with Solti.
Didn't the problem happen at the ROH?
@@poturbg8698 Solti made 1961 a "Walküre" with Vickers.
To this point, there's a revealing recording-session photo in the libretto booklet of the original RCA "living stereo" LP recording that indeed shows Vickers with a very intense facial expression in a seemingly heated debate with Solti, aka: "the screaming skull." (P.S. The RCA Walkure (Nilsson, Vickers, London, Gorr...) was with Leinsdorf, not Solti.)
I'm sure it's somewhere on there, under his breath. 😅
quit wearing that shirt I want it!! haha