Episode 417. Hail, Queens!
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Okay, I confess that the title of this week’s episode is intentionally misleading, but if I told you what it actually was outright, you might not listen, and that would be a great loss! On Monday I celebrated Larry Kert for World AIDS Day, and today, I have made a selection of musical settings of the Marian Antiphon Salve Regina, which translated means, “Hail, Queen,” so there you have the inspiration for the episode. In fact, this is an episode chock-full of particularly glorious singing, and I don’t think you’ll regret spending the time with these glorious Queens of Song (with a few Kings tossed in)! The 11th-century Salve Regina text, far from being dry and dull, provided inspiration for a wide range of composers, primarily of the Baroque (Handel, Vivaldi, Hasse, the Scarlattis, Monteverdi, and a number of others), but also of later vintage (Mozart, Johann Christian Bach, Schubert, and even Puccini). The singers who perform these works are a Who’s Who of Countermelody favorites (Helen Donath, Rachel Yakar, Margaret Marshall, Francisco Araiza, Elly Ameling, and Roberta Alexander) and new friends, including three countertenors (Gérard Lesne, John Angelo Messana, and Jochen Kowalski) who provided inspiration to me as a young singer. Dive right in to this episode, my friends, and never fear: would I steer you wrong? Never! The episode begins with a tribute to Madeline Kahn, who died 26 years ago this week.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (Pal Joey) [reprise]. Madeline Kahn, Fred Barton [live 1995]
Gregorian Chant: Salve Regina. Coro de Monjes del Monasterio Benedictino de Santo Domingo de Silos [1980]
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: Salve Regina (Salve Regina). Patricia Neway, Arnold Black, Allegro Chamber Players [Arnold Black, Isidor Lateiner, Karen Tuttle, Laszlo Varga] [1950]
Alessandro Scarlatti: Salve Regina (Salve Regina). Gérard Lesne, Il Seminario Musicale [1999]
George Frideric Handel: Salve Regina, HWV 214.
Elly Ameling, Albert de Klerk, André Rieu [Sr.], Amsterdams Kamerorkest [1959] (movements 1,3)
Benita Valente, Michael Korn, Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia [1985] (Movements 2,4)
- I. Salve Regina
- II. Ad te clamamus
- III. Eia ergo
- IV. O clemens, o pia
Claudio Monteverdi: Salve Regina, SV 327. Gerald English, David Lumsden, Jennifer Ryan [1963]
Giovanni Rovetti: Salve Regina. John Angelo Messana, Newell Jenkins, Frederick Hammond, Orchestra del Teatro Accademico di Castelfranco Veneto [live Castelfranco Veneto 27.IX.82]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Offertorium ‘Salve Regina,’ KV Anh. C3.01. Helen Donath, Josef Suk, Klaus Donath, Suk Chamber Orchestra [1987]
Franz Schubert: Salve Regina in B-flat Major, D. 106. Francisco Araiza, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks [1983]
Giacomo Puccini: Salve Regina. Roberta Alexander, Thomas Provost [1987]
Leonardo Leo: Salve Regina (Salve Regina in F Major). Rachel Yakar, Helmut Müller-Brühl, Kölner Kammerorchester [Rainer Kussmaul, Therese Timoney, Barbara Lübke, Antonius Schröder, Rosalinde Haas] [1978]
Johann Christian Bach: Ad te clamamus (Salve Regina). Margaret Marshall, Rudolf Ewerhart, Die Deutschen Barocksolisten [1976]
Antonio Vivaldi: Ad te suspiramus (Salve Regina, RV 618). Jochen Kowalski, Vittorio Negri, English Chamber Orchestra [1990]
Antonio Vivaldi: Eia ergo (Salve Regina, RV 617). Margaret Marshall, Vittorio Negri, English Chamber Orchestra [1990]
Johann Adolf Hasse: Et Jesum benedictum (Salve Regina in A Major). Bernarda Fink, Reinhard Goebel, Musica Antiqua Köln [1997]
Domenico Scarlatti: O clemens, o pia… Amen (Salve Regina). Maureen Forrester, Anton Heiller, Die Wiener Solisten [1966]