Episode 461. Bubbles on the Nile (Original Edition)
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I recently obtained a copy of the rare pirate recording entitled “Bubbles on the Nile (and Other Rare Phenomena): Familiar Divas in Unfamiliar Repertoire.” It foregrounds 13 favorite twentieth-century divas singing roles with which they were not commonly associated. Prominently featured, of course, is the artist featured in a lovingly caricatured drawing on the cover of the LP, Beverly Sills (AKA Bubbles) singing, as the title implies, the title role of Verdi’s Aida, a role which she seldom sang, and then only at the beginning of her career. Today I am offering the (somewhat expanded) contents of that album, which also features Ghena Dimitrova, Licia Albanese, Regina Resnik, Virginia Zeani, Renata Tebaldi, Sylvia Sass, Montserrat Caballé, among others, in operatic roles that might surprise you. I am hoping that today’s episode might lead to a series of similar episodes this summer: I did a survey earlier this week among my listeners about what favorite divas they would like to see featured in uncommon roles and I received some amazing recommendations and suggestions. So take your seats and hold tight: the maiden voyage of this barge is about to depart down the Nile. (And for those of you who are concerned that I never seem to have a snarky word to say about anyone, you’ll want to fasten your seatbelts: I might have a choice word or two about some of the singers heard today!)
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Giuseppe Verdi, Antonio Ghislanzoni [after Auguste Mariette and Temistocle Solera]: Io tremo… O patria mia (Aida). Beverly Sills, Orchestra conducted by Walter Schroeder [1955]
Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Giacosa, Luigi Illica [after Henri Murger]: Donde lieta uscì (La bohème). Sylvia Sass, Orchestra conducted by Ken’ichiro Kobayashi [1981]
Giuseppe Verdi, Francesco Maria Piave [after Alexandre Dumas fils]: È strano!… Ah, fors’è lui… Sempre libera (La Traviata). Magda Olivero, Manlio Giovagnoli, Orchestra conducted by Ugo Tansini [1940]
Giacomo Puccini, Carlo Zangarini, Guelfo Civinini [after David Belasco]: Laggiù nel Soledad (La fanciulla del West). Ghena Dimitrova, Silvano Carroli, Orchestra conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli [1982]
Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Giacosa, Luigi Illica [after John Luther Long, David Belasco]: Ancora un passo or via (Madama Butterfly). Gwyneth Jones, Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Heinrich Bender [1979]
Ruggero Leoncavallo: Qual fiamma avea nel guardo… Stridono lassù (Pagliacci). Marilyn Horne, Orchestra conducted by Oliviero de Fabritiis [1962]
Giacomo Puccini, Giovacchino Forzano (after Dante Alighieri): O mio babbino caro (Gianni Schicchi). Elena Obraztsova, Vazha Chachava [1979]
Giuseppe Verdi, Antonio Ghislanzoni [after Auguste Mariette and Temistocle Solera]: Ritorna vincitor (Aida). Licia Albanese, Orchestra conducted by Carlo Moresco [1966]
Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, Marco Praga, Domenico Oliva [after Abbé Prévost]: In quelle trine morbide (Manon Lescaut). Bidú Sayão, Orchestra conducted by Donald Voorhees [1951]
Giuseppe Verdi, Francesco Maria Piave [after Victor Hugo]: Surta è la notte… Ernani, involami (Ernani). Regina Resnik, Orchestra conducted by Tommaso Quinto [1944]
Richard Wagner [Italian translation by Salvatore Marchesi]: Sola ne’ miei primi anni [Einsam in trüben Tagen] (Lohengrin) Renata Tebaldi, Giulio Neri, Orchestra conducted by Gabriele Santini [1954]
Jules Massenet, Louis Gallet [after Anatole France]: Ah! Je suis seule… Dis-moi que je suis belle (Thaïs). Virginia Zeani, unknown conductor and orchestra [1958]
Richard Strauss, Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Da geht er hin (Der Rosenkavalier). Montserrat Caballé, Orchestra conducted by Uwe Mund [1984]
Gian Carlo Menotti [German translation by Marcel Prawy]: Lucy’s Aria (Das Telefon). Anja Silja, Wolfgang Rennert, ORF Sinfonieorchester [ORF telecast 03.VI.1968]
