Episode 498. November Surprise
If you are a like-minded (i.e., a left-minded) person, then you, too, must be rejoicing in the overwhelmingly good news coming from my home country, the US, this week. (And if you’re not, maybe you’re in the wrong place?) So much unexpected joy and hope that I have been breaking into spontaneous tears ever since I became aware of the election result. The thing is, that we are once again on the road this week (in Korea, in fact!) so I had to “pre-load” this week’s setlist. Since I wasn’t sure if we would be rejoicing or despondent, I had a challenging time choosing my setlist. It’s framed as yet another of my “Rescue Mission” series, in which I present singers who have either recently or in the more remote past, already been prominently featured on the podcast. So there is an overall sense of revisiting old friends. Those heard today include such recent subjects as Judith Blegen, whose passing was commemorated just last week, Georges Thill, José van Dam, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Jill Gomez, Maureen Forrester, Eleanor Steber, and Hanne-Lore Kuhse (who was also just featured in a bonus episode for my Patreon supporters this past week). Also heard are some perennial Countermelody favorites who have been absent in recent months, including Grace Bumbry, Jorma Hynninen, George Shirley, Carol Neblett, Maria Ewing, Edda Moser, Rachel Yakar, Sylvia Sass, Alexander Kipnis, Florence Quivar, and Gilda Cruz-Romo. There are sacred arias by Schubert, Handel, and Rossini, barnstorming operatic arias by Massenet, Verdi, Granados, and Berlioz, Lieder by Mahler, Schubert, and Kilpinen, and duets from Tosca, Fliegende Holländer, Nozze di Figaro, and Beethoven’s Leonore, his first version of Fidelio. Meanwhile, the countdown continues to Episode 500 of the podcast, which is planned as a special treat for all listeners, old and new.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
George Frideric Handel, Thomas Morell: So shall the lute and harp awake (Judas Maccabaeus). Judith Blegen, Stephen Simon, Wiener Volksopernorchester [1971]
Franz Schubert: Erstes Offertorium [Totus in corde langueo], D. 136. Rachel Yakar, Dieter Klöcker, Ernö Sebestyen, RIAS-Sinfonietta [1980]
Franz Schubert, Georg Philipp Schmidt von Lübeck: Der Wanderer, D 489. Alexander Kipnis, unknown pianist [1936 radio recording]
Gioacchino Rossini: Inflammatus et accensus (Stabat Mater). Edda Moser, Spiros Argiris, Boston Festival Opera Orchestra and Chorus [live Boston 13.X.1991]
George Frideric Handel, Biblical texts assembled by Charles Jennens: I Know that My Redeemer Liveth (Messiah). Eleanor Steber, Charles O’Connell, Victor Symphony Orchestra [1942]
Gustav Mahler, Friedrich Rückert: Oft denk’ ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen (Kindertotenlieder). Florence Quivar, Erich Leinsdorf, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra [live San Francisco X.1986]
Yrjö Kilpinen, Eino Leino: Illalla [In the Evening], Op. 19/4. Jorma Hynninen, Ralf Gothóni [1984]
Hector Berlioz, Almire Gandonnière, Gérard de Narval [after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]: Merci, doux crepuscule (La Damnation de Faust). Georges Thill, Egisto Tango, Denmarks Radio Symphony Orchestra [radio recording 02.XI.33]
Jules Massenet, Adolphe d’Ennery, Louis Gallet, Édouard Blau [after Pierre Corneille]: De cet affreux combat… Pleurez, mes yeux (Le Cid). Grace Bumbry, Nello Santi, Orchester der Oper Zürich [live Zürich 29.VI.1977]
R. Murray Schafer: Aria of Amente-Nufe [excerpt] (RA). Maureen Forrester, John Wyre, COMUS Music Theatre [1983]
Giuseppe Verdi, Antonio Ghislanzoni [after Auguste Mariette and Temistocle Solera]: Qui Radamès verrà… O patria mia (Aida). Sylvia Sass, Emőke Békésy [live Moscow 02.VII.1974]
Enrique Granados, Fernando Periquet y Zuaznabar: Fernando mio, porqué adiós dijiste? (Goyescas). Jill Gomez, Thomas Randle, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Philharmonia Orchestra [live London 27.XI.88]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Lorenzo da Ponte [after Pierre de Beaumarchais]: Cosa mi narri?… Che soave zeffiretto (Le nozze di Figaro). Maria Ewing, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Jeffrey Tate, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande [live Genève 30.I.1983]
Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Giacosa, Luigi Illica [after Victorien Sardou]: Or lasciami al lavoro… Mia gelosa!… Qual occhio al mondo (Tosca). Gilda Cruz-Romo, Carlo Bergonzi, Orchestra conducted by James Conlon [live New York 15.II.1979]
Richard Wagner: Wie aus der Ferne (Der fliegende Holländer). José van Dam, Carol Neblett, orchestra conducted by James Levine [live New York III.1979]
Ludwig Van Beethoven, Joseph Sonnleithner [after Jean-Nicolas Bouilly]: Ludwig Van Beethoven, Joseph Sonnleithner [after Jean-Nicolas Bouilly]: Ich kann mich noch nicht fassen… O namenlose Freude (Leonore). Hanne-Lore Kuhse, George Shirley, Erich Leinsdorf, Boston Symphony Orchestra [live Boston 05.VIII.67]