Lucia's Mad Scene is one of opera's most popular arias, and for a good reason: is there a more true depicition of human madness in music? Although some have come think that Lucia's aria is only a showpiece for the soprano, it was only a view of the more verisimo-orientated opera world of that time. Many wonderful sopranos, especially Maria Callas, proved that, in the right hands, this scene can become a wonderful dramatic situation, which can break even the coldest heart. In 1959 Joan Sutherland sang the role of Lucia at Covent Garden... well, no need to say what a success it was. Though Joan Sutherland sang Lucia all her career and made several recordings of the opera, I think that her best version of Lucia's Mad Scene was recorded on a small Verdi-Donizetti recital (Operatic arias) in 1959, right after the Covent Garden version. Presented here is the recitative from the aria (I am posting the recititave and the aria separetly). Hope you enjoy (comments are required :-) ).. + Informações

Tenore: LUCIANO PAVAROTTI Pianista ROLANDO NICOLOSI Presenta: PIPPO BAUDO. + Informações

Recently I acquired another two recordings of Donizetti's "Don Pasquale" and "L'elisir d'amore" into my collection. Both these pieces are well-known and don't need any kind of introduction. Saying that the works have received numerous recordings would be a very big understatement: according to one of the best sites for discographies, operadis-opera-discography.org.uk, there are, respectively, 62 and 77 recordings of the operas. I have several recordings of the operas with which I am pretty happy: Abbado's recording of "Don Pasquale" with Allen, Mei, Lopardo and Scimone's "L'elisir" with Carreras, Ricciarelli, Trimarchi and Nucci would have to be the highlights... At least, they were before I bought the two new ones. Heinz Wallberg was a German conductor. He became principal music director in Augsburg in 1954, and in Bremen in 1955, concluding in both posts in 1960. From 1964 to 1975, Wallberg was principal conductor of the Tonkünstler Orchestra, Vienna. He held the same post with the Munich Radio Orchestra from 1975 to 1982, and with the Essen Philharmonic from 1975 to 1991. From what I managed to read on him, most of his recordings are set firmly in Wagnerian operas and verisimo. And yet, in 1979 and in 1984, with the help of Bavaria Radio and BMG Music, he recorded Donizetti's comic masterpieces (in the order already given at the beginning)... One would imagine that the recordings are bound to be heavy, over-emphasized affairs... They aren't even close to these .... + Informações

This new mini-series (three in total) of uploads is dedicated to something of a most pleasant enigma of the musical world: two people, a married couple, who can be considered one of the truly best and complementary singing partnerships in the twentieth century. Both of French-Canadian heritage, both possessors of light, lyric voices of excellent technique; both most suited to classicist works of the 18th century; both extremely lovely people. I'm talking, of course, of Leopold Simoneau and Pierrette Alarie. Their recordings, both presented and available in other sources, testify to a personal and artistic relationship that can only be properly described as "the perfect vocal marriage". As an additional point of interest, I'm providing a short biography of Simoneau, the male part of the duo. Tenor, pefagogue and administrator, Simoneau studied at Levis College and Laval University before continuing voice studies in Montréal with Salvator Issaurel. There he met Pierrette Alarie. A year later he won the Prix Archambault; this led to studies in New York in 1945. He and Pierrette were married in 1946. He moved with his wife to Paris in 1949 to make their debuts at the Opéra Comique. The couple's reputation continued to grow following appearances at the Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh, Glyndebourne, Vienna, Munich and Salzburg Festivals. Many of their performances on stage, in concerts and in recording studios were made together: Romeo and Juliet, Vincent and Mireille, Tonio and .... + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Adina - Anna Netrebko Nemorino - Rolando Villazon Dulcamara - Ildebrando d' Arcangelo Belcore - Leo Nucci Giannetta - Inna Los Conductor - Alfred Eschwe Orchestra - Wiener Staatsoper Chorus - Wiener Staatsoper. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Adina - Ekaterina Siurina Castronovo Nemorino - Peter Auty Dulcamara - Alfredo Daza Belcore - Luciano di Pasquale Orchestra - London Philharmonic Chorus - The Glyndebourne Conductor - Maurizio Benini. + Informações

The mini-series of uploads from Wallberg's recordings of Donizetti's two great buffo operas continues :)! Adina and Nemorino surprisingly don't actually have a real "suspended-over-time" love duet (similar to, for example, "Tornami a dir"): their first number together narratively follows Adina as she gently pokes fun of Nemorino's sentimental outpourings; while their second duet, a part of the first Finale, finds both characters a bit angry and confused, so no love duettino there. Only in Adina's aria or, to be more precise, its' cabaletta do we get close to the traditional love scene. But the whole thing works without any obligatory nocturnal duettino. The first duet is quite unconventional, mainly due to the fact that it skips the central andante and, after the characters' statements, plunges straight into an impassioned but slowly moving stretta. The music is touching throughout: especially charming are the final two sections ("si, si, si/no, no, no" and the succeeding section) leading up to the climatic Cs from both characters. Lucia Popp and Peter Dvorsky seems to me almost perfect as, respectively, Adina and Nemorino :). Enjoy :)! Your comments will be appreciated.. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Lucia - Mariella Devia Edgardo - Vincenzo La Scola Enrico - Renato Bruson Raimondo - Carlo Colombara Arturo - Marco Berti Alisa - Ernesto Gavazzi Conductor - Stefano Ranzani Orchestra - Teatro alla Scala Chorus - Teatro alla Scala. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Don Pasquale - Simone Alaimo Norina - Patrizia Ciofi Malatesta - Marzio Giossi Ernesto - Norman Shankle Un notaio - Romaric Braun Orchestra - Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Chorus - Grand Théâtre de Genève Conductor : Evelino Pido. + Informações

Gaetano Donizetti - Dies Irae messa da Requiem. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Lucia - Joan Sutherland Edgardo - Alfredo Kraus Enrico - Vincenzo Sardinero Raimondo - Harry Dworchak Arturo - José (Josep) Ruiz Alisa - Maria Àngels Sarroca Normanno - Alfredo Heilbron Conductor - Richard Bonynge Orchestra - Gran Teatro del Liceo Chorus - Gran Teatro del Liceo. + Informações

Recently I acquired another two recordings of Donizetti's "Don Pasquale" and "L'elisir d'amore" into my collection. Both these pieces are well-known and don't need any kind of introduction. Saying that the works have received numerous recordings would be a very big understatement: according to one of the best sites for discographies, operadis-opera-discography.org.uk, there are, respectively, 62 and 77 recordings of the operas. I have several recordings of the operas with which I am pretty happy: Abbado's recording of "Don Pasquale" with Allen, Mei, Lopardo and Scimone's "L'elisir" with Carreras, Ricciarelli, Trimarchi and Nucci would have to be the highlights... At least, they were before I bought the two new ones. Heinz Wallberg was a German conductor. He became principal music director in Augsburg in 1954, and in Bremen in 1955, concluding in both posts in 1960. From 1964 to 1975, Wallberg was principal conductor of the Tonkünstler Orchestra, Vienna. He held the same post with the Munich Radio Orchestra from 1975 to 1982, and with the Essen Philharmonic from 1975 to 1991. From what I managed to read on him, most of his recordings are set firmly in Wagnerian operas and verisimo. And yet, in 1979 and in 1984, with the help of Bavaria Radio and BMG Music, he recorded Donizetti's comic masterpieces (in the order already given at the beginning)... One would imagine that the recordings are bound to be heavy, over-emphasized affairs... They aren't even close to these .... + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Linda: Edita Gruberova Pierotto : Cornelia Kallisch Antonio : Armando Ariostini Maddalena : Nadine Asher il Marchese : Jacob Will Carlo : Deon Van Der Walt il Prefetto : Laszlo Polgár l'Intendente : Miroslav Christoff Conductor : Adam Fischer Director : Daniel Schmid Staging : Erich Wonder Orchestra and Chorus : Orchester der Oper Zürich Chor des Opernhauses Zürich Date : September 4, 1996 Theatre : Opernhaus, Zurich (CH). + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI www.facebook.com Belisario - Renato Bruson Antonina - Mara Zampieri Irene - Stefania Toczyska Alamiro - Vittorio Terranova Eutropio - Dante Ranieri Giustiniano - Nino Meneghetti Eudora - Vera Portella Eusebio - Jairo Vaz Ottario - Hercilio Pinto Centurion - Dorival Panzani Conductor - Gian-Franco Masini Orchestra - Teatro Colón - Buenos Aires Chorus - Teatro Colón - Buenos Aires. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Roberto Devereux - John Alexander Elisabetta - Beverly Sills Duca di Nottingham - Richard Fredricks Sara - Susanne Marsee Lord Cecil - John Lankston Sir Gualtiero Raleigh - David Rae Smith Conductor - Julius Rudel Orchestra - Filene Center Orchestra Chorus - Wolf Trap Company Chorus. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Lucia - Katia Ricciarelli Edgardo - Jose Carreras Enrico - Leo Nucci Raimondo - John-Paul Bogart Arturo - John Dickie Alisa - Waltraud Winsauer Normanno - Ermanno Lorenzi Conductor - Lamberto Gardelli Orchestra - Wiener Symphoniker Chorus - CHORUS. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Marie - Natalie Dessay Tonio - Juan Diego Florez Sulplice - Alessandro Corbelli La Maquise - Felicity Palmer Hortensius - Donald Maxwell Caporale - Bryan Secombe Un Paysan - Luke Price La Duchesse - Dawn French Conductor - Bruno Campanella Orchestra - Covent Garden Chorus - Covent Garden. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Alfonso - Gabriel Bacquier Leonora - Fiorenza Cossotto Fernando - Luciano Pavarotti Baldassare - Nicolai Ghiaurov Don Gasparo - Piero De Palma Ines - Ileana Cotrubas Conductor - Richard Bonynge Orchestra - Teatro Comunale di Bologna Chorus - Teatro Comunale di Bologna. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Lucrezia Borgia - Joan Sutherland Gennaro - Alfredo Kraus Maffio Orsini - Anne Howells Don Alfonso - Stafford Dean Jacopo Liveretto - Robin Leggate Don Apostolo Gazella - Jonathan Summers Ascanio Petrucci - Phillip Gelling Oloferno Vitellozzo - Michael Goldthorpe Gubetta - Paul Hudson Rustighello - Francis Egerton Astolfo - Roderick Kennedy Conductor Richard Bonynge Orchestra - Covent Garden Chorus - Covent Garden. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Maria - Maria Pia Piscitelli Elisabeta - Laura Polverelli Leicester - Roberto De Biasio Talbot - Simone Alberghini Anna - Giovanna Lanza Cecil - Mario Cassi Conductor - Riccardo Frizza Orchestra - Orchestra Regionale delle Marche Chorus - Coro Lirico Marchigiano Vincenzo Bellini di Ancona. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Roberto Devereux - Roberto Alagna Elisabetta - Mariana Nicolesco Sara - Gloria Scalchi Lord Nottingham - Robert McFarland Lord Cecil - Allan Adams Sir Gualtiero Raleigh - Nicolas Cavallier Conductor - Gianfranco Masini Orchestra - Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo Chorus - L'Opéra de Monte-Carlo. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Adina - Inva Mula ( -Tchako ) Nemorino - Ramon Vargas Dulcamara - Alessandro Corbelli Belcore - Giorgio Caoduro Giannetta - Ji-Young Yang Conductor - Bruno Campanella Orchestra - San Francisco Chorus - San Francisco. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Roberto Devereux - Jose Carreras Elisabetta - Montserrat Caballe Duca di Nottingham - Franco Bordont Sara - Janet Coster Lord Cecil - Ferruccio Furlanetto Sir Gualtiero Raleigh - Michel Philippe Conductor - Julius Rudel Orchestra - Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse Chorus - Choeurs du Capitole de Toulouse. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Leonora - Fiorenza Cossotto Fernando - Alfredo Kraus Alfonso - Sesto Bruscantini Baldassare - Ruggero Raimondi Don Gasparo - Augusto Pedroni Ines - Marisa Zotti Conductor - Oliviero De Fabritiis Orchestra - NHK Symphony Orchestra Chorus - NHK Italian Opera Chorus Live from Tokio. + Informações

FAN PAGE OF GAETANO DONIZETTI - www.facebook.com Leonora - Stefania Toczyska Fernando - Alfredo Kraus Alfonso - Giorgio Zancanaro Baldassare - Alfonso Echeverria Don Gasparo - Jose Antonio Urdiain Ines - Inmaculada Martinez Conductor - Gian Paolo Sanzogno Orchestra - Lodz Symphony Orchestra Chorus - Coro de la Asociación Bilbaina de Amigos de la Opera (ABAO). + Informações