Oberon's Glade

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  • Teresa Zylis-Gara Has Passed Away

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    Teresa Zylis-Gara, the Polish soprano who possessed one of the most beautiful voices of my experience, has passed away at the age of 91. From 1968 to 1984, she sang nearly 250 performances with the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center and on tour; I had the good fortune to see her in several roles, and to hear her on a number of live radio broadcasts.

    Ms. Zylis-Gara studied at Łódź, and in 1954 won first prize in the Polish Young Vocalists Contest at Warsaw. This led to her operatic debut in 1956. From 1960-1970, the soprano was based in Germany where she sang at Oberhauser, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, and Berlin. She also appeared at Vienna, Glyndebourne, Paris, London, Salzburg, and San Francisco.

    ln 1968, Ms. Zylis-Gara made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Donna Elvira; she sang there frequently over the next several seasons. I first saw her as Violetta in TRAVIATA where she made a lovely impression, though hindered by inferior cast-mates and lacklustre conducting. Thereafter, I saw her as Donna Elvira, Elisabeth in TANNHAUSER, Amelia in BALLO IN MASCHERA, Manon Lescaut, Leonora in TROVATORE, Cio-Cio-San, and as Adriana Lecouvreur. In each of these roles, her creamy voice and ultra-feminine persona made  a memorable impression.

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    Above: Teresa Zylis-Gara as Desdemona; photo by Louis Mélançon

    Among the roles in which I missed seeing her onstage but greatly enjoyed her singing of on broadcasts included Desdemona (in a new production with James McCracken in the title-role, conducted by Karl Böhm), Mozart’s Pamina and Contessa Almaviva, Marguerite in FAUST, Puccini’s Suor Angelca, Mimi, and Liu, Elsa in LOHENGRIN and – most movingly – as Tatyana in ONEGIN and as the Marschallin.

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    While I was living in Hartford, Ms. Zylis-Gara came up from New York City to the Bushnell to sing Tosca. Inferior conducting almost ruined the performance, but her singing was luminous.

    Leaving The Met in 1984, the soprano settled in Monte Carlo and continued to sing on the Continent, where she took on roles like Maddalena in CHENIER, Ariadne, Sieglinde, and Chrysothemis which had not been offered to her at The Met.

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    Above: getting ready…I love this photo!

    I remember listening to Zylis-Gara’s Four Last Songs for the first time, and thinking: this is perfection. And when the music ended, there was applause; this was recorded live. For me, no other version of these beloved songs compares.

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    I’ve reached that inevitable point in my life when the great singers who fanned the flames of my passion for opera are passing away, one by one. Thinking of Teresa Zylis Gara, I recall with special affection seeing her in the title-role of Cilea’s ADRIANA LECOUVREUR at a matinee performance given on the Met’s 1983 tour in Boston. It was to be the last time I saw her onstage. And it was a marvelous afternoon, with the soprano and her colleagues all singing divinely: Neil Shicoff as Maurizio, Bianca Berini as the Princesse de Bouillon, and Sesto Bruscantini as Michonnet. For all the glorious sounds that filled the hall that day, nothing sent such a thrill thru me as Zylis-Gara’s gossamer pianissimo on the phrase: “La promessa terrò …”  when Adriana vows to save her rival from humiliation in the opera’s second act. It’s of such moments that the fabric of dreams are woven.

    ~ Oberon

  • Angela Gheorghiu – Pleurez, pleurez mes yeux

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    Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu sings Chimène’s great aria ‘Pleurez, pleurez mes yeux’ from Massenet’s LE CID at a concert given in Amsterdam, 2005.

    Watch and listen here.

  • Angela Gheorghiu – Pleurez, pleurez mes yeux

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    Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu sings Chimène’s great aria ‘Pleurez, pleurez mes yeux’ from Massenet’s LE CID at a concert given in Amsterdam, 2005.

    Watch and listen here.

  • Bonaldo Giaiotti ~ Il lacerato spirito

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    The great Italian basso Bonaldo Giaiotti sings Fiesco’s lament “Il lacerato spirito” from Verdi’s SIMON BOCCANEGRA.

    Watch and listen here.  

  • Onelia Fineschi ~ Ebben? Ne andrò lontana

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    Onelia Fineschi sings the aria “Ebben? Ne andrò lontana” from Alfredo Catalani’s LA WALLY[ the recording dates from 1947.

    Listen here.

  • Bruna Baglioni ~ Judgement Scene

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    Mezzo-soprano Bruna Baglioni (above) is Amneris in this concert performance of the Judgement Scene from Verdi’s AIDA given at Brescia, date unknown. Nicola Martinucci is Radames, and Bonaldo Giaiotti sings Ramfis.

    Watch and listen here.

    Ms. Baglioni, a native of Frascati, Italy, made her operatic debut at Bologna in 1974 as Leonora in LA FAVORITA. She sang at opera houses throughout Italy, and at Vienna, London, Barcelona, and The Bolshoi. Her roles were many: Verdi’s Fenena, Ulrica, Azucena, Eboli, Amneris; Olga in EUGEN ONEGIN, Adalgisa, both Laura and La Cieca in LA GIOCONDA, Charlotte in WERTHER, Carmen, the Princesse de Bouillon in ADRIANA LECOUVREUR, Dalila, the title-role in Giordano’s FEDORA, and the Gran Vestale in the Spontini opera.

    In 1978, I saw Bruna Baglioni in the role of Azucena at The Bushnell in Hartford, Connecticut. The production, sets and costumes, conducting, and the other principal singers were all at a rather provincial level, but Ms. Baglioni was superb: “…she rose above the many flaws of the performance to create a truly potent Azucena…the role is a gift really, and the singer seized upon it with power and subtlety in both her singing and acting. She won the evening’s biggest applause for her Act II monologue in which her strong tops and impressive chest voice were put forth to fine dramatic effect. Her duets with Manrico, and her scene with di Luna, were the highlights of the evening, and she successfully captured both the terror and repose of the old gypsy in the opera’s final scene, ending the evening strongly with fine high B-flat. Had her colleagues attained a similar level, this would have been an exciting performance indeed.”

    In that same year, Ms. Baglioni made her debut at The Met as Laura in LA GIOCONDA. Her other Met roles were Santuzza, Eboli, Dalila, and Leonora in LA FAVORITA. In 1982, she sang Laura again in a GIOCONDA series; I saw her in the role twice. At the first, she more than held her own in a powerhouse cast led by Eva Marton and Placido Domingo. A couple weeks later, she sang Laura opposite Galina Savova and Domingo, and it was again a very exhilarating performance.

  • Celibidache Conducts Debussy

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    Sergiu Celibidache (above) conducts the Munich Philharmonic in a performance of Claude Debussy’s Prélude a l’après-midi d’un faune given in May 1994.

    Watch and listen here.

  • Ermonela Jaho ~ Io son l’umile ancella

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    Ermonela Jaho sings “Io son l’umile ancella” from Cilea’s ADRIANA LECOUVREUR at a concert given in Paris in 2016.

    Watch and listen here.

  • Boris Christoff as Philip II

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    The peerless Bulgarian basso Boris Christoff in a film of King Philip’s great monolog “Ella giammai m’amò” from Verdi’s DON CARLO.

    Watch and listen here.

  • Deborah Polaski ~ Die stille Lotosblume

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    Deborah Polaski sings Clara Schumann’s Die stille Lotosblume from a recital with pianist Charles Spencer.

    Watch and listen here.