Ladies and gentlemen, the fantastic Mr. Billy Eckstine.
August 29, 2010
disruption
Hey, everyone.
I’ve been meaning to post something about my trip to New York City and the fabulous time I had participating in “Così fan tutte: Some Assembly Required” at the Gershwin Hotel, a trip that culminated in an impromptu photo op with Renee Fleming:
But last week was kind of hectic, and then this happened on Friday evening:
A driver ran the red light at a downtown Portland intersection and plowed into the rear passenger side door of my Subaru. I’m fine – a bit battered and bruised and not moving very fast – but I’m obviously now having to deal with all of the junk associated with an auto accident.
I apologize for the disruption in service. I’ll be back soon…
August 19, 2010
airborne
Greetings from seat 20D on board Delta Flight 88 en route to New York City.
I’m heading back to the Big Apple to watch (and even kind of take part in) a really cool and amazing performance of Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Gershwin Hotel tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon organized by my Twitter friend, Jennifer Peterson.
I’ll have lots more to say about this in the next few days, but for now, take a look at what Jennifer has posted on her website.
The food and beverage service has just started, so I’m going to sign off for now….
August 18, 2010
if wishes were fishes…
I need a wealthy patron, someone who would be willing to put up a few bucks so that I could blog on a more regular basis.
Just saying…
August 9, 2010
wunderlich’s onegin
The talk on Twitter yesterday turned, as it often does, to Fritz Wunderlich, and the question of a complete Eugene Onegin recording came up. As far as I know, there’s only one: a live 1962 performance from Munich, with Hermann Prey in the title role, Ingeborg Bremert as Tatyana, Brigitte Fassbaender as Olga, and Joseph Keilberth conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the Bavarian State Opera.
(You can listen to the recording below, or follow the links to download it from Rapidshare.)
Acts One and Two
Acts Two and Three
Wunderlich also made a pair of German-language highlights discs around this same time, the first for EMI in 1961 (with Prey, Melitta Muzsely, and Gottlob Frick, and coupled with selections from Pique Dame), the second for Deutsche Grammophon four years later (with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Evelyn Lear, Brigitte Fassbaender, and Martti Talvela).
August 8, 2010
tristan und isolde – live from bayreuth (1976)
After one of my Twitter friends mentioned the Bulgarian tenor Spas Wenkoff on Friday, I rummaged through my iTunes playlists to see if I had any recordings of this relatively obscure singer. The only thing that turned up was a live 1976 Bayreuth performance of Tristan und Isolde under the baton of Carlos Kleiber, with Catarina Ligendza as Isolde, Yvonne Minton as Brangäne, Karl Ridderbusch as Marke, and Donald McIntyre as Kurwenal. Rounding out the cast are Heribert Steinbach (Melot), Heinz Feldhoff (the Steersman), and Heinz Zednik (the Shepherd).
Act One
Act Two
Act Three
I’m also providing links to Rapidshare for anyone interested in downloading all or part of the recording.
August 7, 2010
kurze pause
Apologies for the small number of postings this week, but when you’ve got a view like the one I’ve had since Monday, it’s kind of hard to think about writing.
I will have something up later this evening when we get back to Portland.
August 4, 2010
happy birthday deborah voigt
Wishing the happiest of birthdays to Deborah Voigt, who turns 50 today.
July 30, 2010
do you remember the ring?
Courtesy the great Anna Russell, here’s pretty much everything you need to know about today’s opera at Bayreuth, Siegfried. (For the record, Siegfried is my favorite part of the Ring, but I’ll admit that it’s not an easy work to love.)
