Blog
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Cheryl Studer & Luciana D’Intino ~ AIDA Duet
Cheryl Studer and Luciana D’Intino sing the confrontation duet from Act II of Verdi’s AIDA from a 1994 performance at London’s Covent Garden.
Watch and listen here.
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Cheryl Studer & Luciana D’Intino ~ AIDA Duet
Cheryl Studer and Luciana D’Intino sing the confrontation duet from Act II of Verdi’s AIDA from a 1994 performance at London’s Covent Garden.
Watch and listen here.
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Verdi REQUIEM ~ Warsaw National Philharmonic
The Verdi REQUIEM, as recorded by the Warsaw National Philharmonic.
Kazimierz Kord conducts an all-Polish quartet of soloists: Teresa Żylis-Gara, Krystyna Szostek-Radkowa, Wiesław Ochman,and Leonard Andrzej Mróz.
Listen here.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I found this performance of the Verdi masterwork by happy chance while looking for recordings by basso Leonard Andrzej Mróz (above). It instantly became one of my favorite recordings of the REQUIEM.
Mr. Mróz, as it turns out, passed away recently – in December 2020 at the age of 73. He was a native of Warsaw who began his career by winning voice competitions at Wroclaw, Munich, Geneva, and Amsterdam. He joined the Grand Theatre, Warsaw, in 1972 and sang there for many seasons.
The basso’s international career took him to Glyndebourne, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Moscow, Paris, Parma, Mexico, Sofia, Philadelphia, London, Lisbon, Cleveland, Leipzing, Dresden, Paris, Berlin, and Moscow, as well as opera centers in Great Britain, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, and Italy.
After retiring from the stage, Mr. Mróz taught at the State Music School Fryderyk Chopin in Warsaw and at the Academy of Music in Poznan.
Leonard Andrzej Mróz sings Rachmaninov’s Zdes’ khorosho here, the Death Scene from BORIS GODUNOV here, and Banquo’s aria (and murder) from Verdi’s MACBETH here.
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Tebaldi/Poggi/Guelfi ~ TOSCA
Renata Tebaldi (above), Gianni Poggi, and Giangiacomo Guelfi star in a televised performance of TOSCA from Tokyo 1961. Arturo Basile conducts.
Watch and listen here.
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Handel ~ Sarabande in D-minor
Handel’s Sarabande in D-minor performed by Rodion Zamuruev (violin) and the Mobilis Ensemble; recorded at the Rachmaninov Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in May 2015.
Watch and listen here.
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Waltz of the Snowflakes
Post:ballet presents a ‘Waltz of the Snowflakes‘ from Tchaikovsky’s THE NUTCRACKER for the time of the pandemic.
Watch and listen here.
This performance really gave me a lift during this unusual holiday season. I was especially happy to see Landes Dixon dancing; I met him a few years ago when he danced with Steps Repertory Company, and again when he danced with Michele Wiles/Ballet Next.
Credits:
Choreography by Robert Dekkers
Cinematography/editing by Ben Tarquin
Performed by Post:ballet dance artists Cora Cliburn, Landes Dixon, Emily Hansel, Caitlin Hicks, Jenna Marie
With Berkeley Ballet Theater dance artists Mai Corkins, Cameron Heanue, Elizabeth Inami, Monique Jonath, Nina Owen, Frances Pine-Rinella
Produced by Lance Hepler
Costumes courtesy Berkeley Ballet Theater and Post:ballet
Special thanks to Marge Funabiki
Filmed in Alameda, CA following corresponding state and municipal COVID-19 Safety Guidelines for Media Production
Presented by Post:ballet and Berkeley Ballet TheaterMerry Christmas to all!
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Christopher Lowrey ~ Ombra Mai Fu
Counter-tenor Christopher Lowrey and Voices of Music perform “Ombra mai fu” from Handel’s SERSE.
Watch and listen here.
Oberon's Glade 