Oberon's Glade

Category: Music

  • Junetta Jones

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    Above: soprano Junetta Jones performing with the Goldman Band in Central Park in the early 1960s.

    Born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1936, Junetta Jones studied at the Peabody Conservatory and later at the New England Conservatory and the Tanglewood Music Center.

    In 1963, Ms. Jones was a winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions (Jane Marsh and Justino Diaz were also winners that year); she made her Met debut as the Celestial Voice in Verdi’s DON CARLO a few months after her Auditions win. Her other Met roles were a Genie in THE MAGIC FLUTE, the Page in RIGOLETTO, and Barbarina in NOZZE DI FIGARO. She last appeared at The Met in 1965.

    Like so many young American singers at that time, Junetta Jones then re-located to Europe where she sang at Dusseldorf, Wuppertal, Regensburg, Munster, Trier, and Lucerne. She returned to the USA from time to time, singing with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. When she appeared in Handel’s SAMSON at Carnegie Hall in 1965, the New York Times called her singing “beguiling”.

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    Above: Junetta Jones in MADAMA BUTTERFLY; date and venue not specified

    Following her retirement from performing, Ms. Jones worked for 20 years on the advisory committee for art and culture for the city of Baltimore. She passed away in 2015.

    Listen to Junetta Jones in her Met debut role, the Celestial Voice, here.

  • Jean Kraft Has Passed Away

    Emilia

    Above: Jean Kraft as Emilia in OTELLO

    Jean Kraft, a unique singing-actress of the highest calibre, has passed away at the age of 94. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1970 as Flora Bervoix in TRAVIATA and went on to give nearly 800 performances with the Company at Lincoln Center and on tour.

    Slender of form, and with a face that could register the slightest nuances of emotion with uncanny clarity, Ms. Kraft excelled in every role she took on. I saw her countless times during her Met career, and she never failed to lure my eye…and ear. 

    Cav

    She was a fascinatingly stoic/vulnerable Mamma Lucia in CAVALLERIA (above with Placido Domingo), an uptight Emilia under her husband’s evil thumb in OTELLO, a regal Hecuba in the Met premiere of TROYENS, an aristocrat striving to keep her composure as the Comtesse in CHENIER, the struggling, poverty-stricken Gertrude in HANSEL & GRETEL, the gracious Madame Larina in EUGENE ONEGIN, the arthritic Mother Jeanne managing her walk to the guillotine in DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES.

    Kraft mrs sedley

    Jean Kraft was the Borough’s busybody/drug addict Mrs. Sedley in PETER GRIMES (above), Berta in BARRBIERE, Marthe in FAUST, Duchess Federica in LUISA MILLER, Marcellina in NOZZE DI FIGARO, the Duchesse in FILLE DU REGIMENT, Dryade in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, a stalwart Rossweisse in WALKURE, Annina in ROSENKAVALIER, Suzuki in BUTTERFLY, and – a couple of times – Ulrica in BALLO IN MASCHERA. She gave her last Met performance as Madama Larina on April 5th, 1989.

    Here is a brief audio excerpt of Ms. Kraft as Mamma Lucia with Reneta Scotto as Santuzza, from the commercial recording:

    Renata Scotto & Jean Kraft – Cavalleria Rusticana ~ scene

    And it’s so wonderful to have this thrilling souvenir of Jean Kraft performing the trio from HOFFMANN with Catherine Malfitano and James Morris at the 1984 Gala of Stars, conducted by James Levine. Watch and listen here.

    Here is an incredible audio-only document of Ms. Kraft’s 1969 Town Hall debut recital, accompanied by David Garvey. Listen here.

    And here is a fascinating interview that she gave Bruce Duffie: LINK

    Rest peacefully, dear Ms. Kraft. You are unforgettable.

    ~ Oberon

  • Ponte Singers ~ Pilgrims’ Chorus

    Snapshot -ponte

    The Ponte Singers and Orchestra perform the Pilgrims’ Chorus from Wagner’s TANNHAUSER at a 2013 concert given in Hong Kong. Stephen Lam Lik Hin is the conductor.

    Watch and listen here.

  • Ponte Singers ~ Pilgrims’ Chorus

    Snapshot -ponte

    The Ponte Singers and Orchestra perform the Pilgrims’ Chorus from Wagner’s TANNHAUSER at a 2013 concert given in Hong Kong. Stephen Lam Lik Hin is the conductor.

    Watch and listen here.

  • Rossini’s STABAT MATER

    The abbey

    Not the best video quality, but this performance of Rossini’s STABAT MATER is quite a find.

    Given in 1988 at Tewkesbury Abbey, the performance is conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes, and features the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra with soloists Suzanne Murphy, Sarah Walker, David Rendall, and John Tomlinson.

    Watch and listen here.

  • Rossini’s STABAT MATER

    The abbey

    Not the best video quality, but this performance of Rossini’s STABAT MATER is quite a find.

    Given in 1988 at Tewkesbury Abbey, the performance is conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes, and features the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra with soloists Suzanne Murphy, Sarah Walker, David Rendall, and John Tomlinson.

    Watch and listen here.

  • Edward Pierson

    Pierson

    Bass-baritone Edward Pierson, a stalwart of the New York City Opera for twelve years, was born in Chicago. A scholarship basketball player, he worked for a while as a public school music teacher before pursuing his operatic career.

    His performance of “Ol’ Man River” in several civic productions of SHOWBOAT in the mid-West put Mr. Pierson on the map. By chance, he stepped into a small role in PORGY AND BESS, and soon after made the jump to the role of Porgy himself. 

    At the New York City Opera, his roles included Scarpia, Jochanaan, and Wagner’s Dutchman. I’ll never forget hearing him in the title-role of the Company’s English-language production of Borodin’s PRINCE IGOR:

    Edward Pierson as Prince Igor – NYCO 1969

    Snapshot makropolous

    He also made a memorable impression as Dr. Kolenaty in Frank Corsaro’s multi-media setting of Janacek’s MAKROPOULOS AFFAIR. In the above photo are Maralin Niska (Emilia Marty), Chester Ludgin (Baron Prus), Harry Theyard (Albert Gregor), and Mr. Pierson.

    In concert repertoire, Edward Pierson was a frequent interpreter of Mendelssohn’s Elijah. And he appears on the Deutsche Grammophon recording of Scott Joplin’s TREEMONISHA:

    Edward Pierson – Good Advice ~ TREEMONISHA

    Watch a lovely interview with Mr. Pierson here.

  • Gianna Rolandi Has Passed Away

    Rolandi

    Gianna Rolandi has passed away at the age of 68. She studied at the Curtis Institute, and appeared in many productions at the New York City Opera, starting in 1975. I saw her there several times, her delightful voice sailing into the house effortlessly, tossing off scintillating roulades, and ascending with ease to the highest notes.  

    Roles in which Ms. Rolandi delighted me at New York City Opera were Adele in FLEDERMAUS, Gilda, Rosina, Lucia di Lammermoor, Zerbinetta, and Lakmé. She shone particularly as Handel’s Cleopatra, and she had a great personal success as Janacek’s Vixen Sharp-Ears.

    Ms. Rolandi was a Met Auditions winner in 1974, and she made her Met debut in 1979 as Sophie in DER ROSENKAVALIER; her Octavian was Agnes Baltsa, and they made beautiful music together. I also saw Gianna’s Zerbinetta at The Met.

    She appeared at Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, in Geneva and Turin, and at the festivals at Glyndebourne and Pesaro. She concertized with major orchestras, working with such conductors as Erich Leinsdorf, Leonard Bernstein, Bernard Haitink, James Levine, and Sir Andrew Davies, to whom she was married.

    Listen to Gianna Rolandi as Olympia here, and as Lucia here.

    And listen to her in a role I wasn’t aware she had performed – Oscar in BALLO IN MASCHERA – here.

  • Murray Perahia: Schumann ~ Piano Concerto

    Murray-perahia

    Murray Perahia plays Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A-minor Op.54.

    Watch and listen here.

  • BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST

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    A 2002 performance of Sir William Walton’s BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST from the BBC Proms, with soloist Sir Willard White, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Choral Arts Society of Washington, and the BBC Symphony Chorus, conducted by Leonard Slatkin

    Watch and listen here.