Episode 389. Rescue Mission (Operatic Duets Edition)
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I have spent the past week planning forthcoming episodes and last night I realized I had to “throw together” something for this weekend’s episode. When this happens, it can often result in a very eclectic program, indeed, and one which many of my listeners find to be among the most enjoyable Countermelody episodes. I have collected more than enough material for at least a dozen of my so-called “Rescue Mission” episodes, in which I feature artists to whom an entire episode has already been devoted, but for whom I have unearthed additional recordings. For today’s episode, I decided to focus exclusively on duets, featuring at least one singer of each pair who has already been heard (sometimes quite recently) on the podcast. And thus we have David Rendall singing Erik in The Flying Dutchman opposite Rita Cullis; Renata Scotto (with Carlo Bergonzi) in Elisir; April Cantelo in Paul Hindemith’s Cardillac; Maureen Lehane as Penelope in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria; Carol Neblett as Donna Elvira; and Helen Donath (with Deborah Voigt in Strauss’s rare Die ägyptische Helena). Also heard are operas by Gottfried von Einem, Giuseppe Verdi, Lee Hoiby, and Carl Orff featuring Christa Ludwig, John Reardon, Grace Bumbry, Edda Moser, and upcoming Countermelody featured artists John Bröcheler, Roland Hermann, and Eberhard Wächter. The episode concludes with the unlikely pair of Ileana Cotrubaş and Jorma Hynninen (two of my most revered singers) as the title characters in a transcendent live recording of Pelléas et Mélisande.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Carl Maria von Weber, completed Gustav Mahler, Theodor Hell: Nur herein, Gebieterin… Seine Reden, seine Blicke (Die drei Pintos). Roberta Alexander, Elena Vink, Kenneth Montgomery, Omroeporkest, Groot Omroepkoor [live Concertgebouw 19.II.83]
Claudio Monteverdi, Giacomo Badoaro: Illustratevi, o cieli (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria). Maureen Lehane, Gerald English, Rudolf Ewerhart, Santini Chamber Orchestra [1964]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Lorenzo da Ponte: Ah, taci, ingiusto core (Don Giovanni). Carol Neblett, Richard Stilwell, Stafford Dean, John Pritchard, Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra [live 15.XI.1980]
Gaetano Donizetti, Felice Romani [after Eugène Scribe]: Una parola, o Adina… Chiedi all’aura lusinghiera… Per guarir di tal pazzia (L’elisir d’amore). Renata Scotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Orchestra conducted by Carlo Franci [live New York 19.II.1972]
Giuseppe Verdi, Temistocle Solera: Donna, chi sei?… Oh, di qual onta aggravasi (Nabucco). Grace Bumbry, John Bröcheler, Imre Pallo, New York City Opera Orchestra [live 20.IX.1981]
Richard Wagner: Weh’ mir! Es mahnt mich mein unsel’ger Traum! (Der fliegende Holländer) [sung in English]. David Rendall, Rita Cullis, Paul Daniel, Orchestra of the English National Opera [live 15.IX.1997]
Richard Strauss, Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Menelas, steh!… Aithra! Liebe Herrliche! (Die ägyptische Helena). Helen Donath, Deborah Voigt, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Philharmoniker [live Salzburg 28.VII.2003]
Paul Hindemith, Ferdinand Lion [after E.T.A. Hoffmann; English translation by Leo Blech]: Dies ist das Rechte… Strahlend umleuchtet ist der Geliebte (Cardillac) [sung in English]. April Cantelo, Thomas Hemsley, Walter Susskind, BBC Symphony Orchestra [BBC 1966]
Gottfried von Einem, Friedrich Dürrenmatt: Ich schätze Zigarren (Der Besuch der alten Dame). Christa Ludwig, Eberhard Wächter, Horst Stein, Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper [world premiere 23.V.1971]
Lee Hoiby, Lanford Wilson [after Tennessee Williams]: What is your father saying there?… Miss Alma, you don’t know how wrong [Anatomy Scene] (Summer and Smoke). John Reardon, Mary Beth Peil, Julius Rudel, New York City Opera Orchestra [live New York 19.III.1972]
Carl Orff, Friedrich Hölderlin [after Sophocles]: Du also, die zur Erde neigt das Haupt (Antigonae). Edda Moser, Roland Hermann, Ulf Schirmer, , ORF-Symphonie-Orchester Wien, ORF-Chor Wien [live Salzburg 17.VIII.1989]
Claude Debussy, Maurice Maeterlinck: Pelléas… Mélisande! Est-ce toi, Mélisande? (Pelléas et Mélisande). Jorma Hynninen, Ileana Cotrubaş, Lorin Maazel, Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris [live Paris 05.IV.1980]
