Latvian tenor Michail Aleksandrovich (above) sings “Cielo e mar” from Ponchielli’s LA GIOCONDA.
Listen here.
Tag: LA GIOCONDA
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Kseniia Nikolaieva ~ Voce di donna
Ukrainian contralto Kseniia Nikolaieva sings “Voce di donna” from Ponchielli’s LA GIOCONDA (above) from a performance given at Naples in 2024. Also in the cast are Anna Netrebko as Gioconda, Eve-Maud Hubeaux as Laura Adorno, Jonas Kaufmann as Enzo Grimaldo, Ludovic Tézier as Barnaba, and Alexander Köpeczi as Alvise Badoero. Pinchas Steinberg conducts.
Watch and listen here.
I love how the choristers immediately sink to their knees when the rosary’s blessing is given.
(Read about Mr. Köpeczi’s Met debut (in May 2025) as Colline in LA BOHEME here.)
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LA GIOCONDA ~ Barcelona 1978
Above: Ángeles Gulín as Gioconda and Montserrat Aparici as Cieca
A slam-bang performance of one of my favorite Italian operas, LA GIOCONDA, from the Liceu, Barcelona, in 1978. The singers simply go at it.
Watch and listen here.
Gioconda: Ángeles Gulín; Laura: Bruna Baglioni; Cieca: Montserrat Aparici; Enzo: Nunzio Todesco; Barnaba: Sabin Markov; Alvise: Ivo Vinco.
I only heard Ángeles Gulín live once: she sang Valentine in HUGUENOTS at Carnegie Hall in 1969; Beverly Sills was Marguerite de Valois and Tony Poncet was Raoul. Ms. Gulín had an enormous voice and she used it unsparingly.
This GIOCONDA has the right knives-out, heart-on-sleeve passion. It’s that kind of all-or-nothing opera. As Gioconda sings of her love for Enzo in Act I: “My destiny is this: to love him, or to die!”
~ Oberon
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LA GIOCONDA ~ Madrid 1970
Above: soprano Ángeles Gulín
Audio-only…Ponchielli’s LA GIOCONDA from Madrid 1970.
So fun to find this unusual assembly of singers all in one place: recalling Gulin’s NY debut in HUGUEOTS at Carnegie Hall: biggest soprano sound I ever heard…I was at Glossop’s Met debut…Casoni was my first-ever Cherubino…a young Domingo…Ruggero Raimondi, always a favorite…and Pecile’s beautifully-sung ‘Voce di donna‘…some radio static, and singers and orchestra sometimes part company…but I’ve had a blast listening to it.I have to confess: GIOCONDA has always been my favorite Italian opera. It all boils down to this: love or death! Isn’t that the essence of opera?Listen here.
CAST:
La Gioconda – Angeles Gulín; Enzo – Plácido Domingo (debut in Madrid); Barnaba – Peter Glossop; Laura – Biancamaria Casoni; Alvise – Ruggero Raimondi; La Cieca – Mirna Pecile.
Conductor – Anton Guadagno
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LA GIOCONDA ~ Madrid 1970
Above: soprano Ángeles Gulín
Audio-only…Ponchielli’s LA GIOCONDA from Madrid 1970.
So fun to find this unusual assembly of singers all in one place: recalling Gulin’s NY debut in HUGUEOTS at Carnegie Hall: biggest soprano sound I ever heard…I was at Glossop’s Met debut…Casoni was my first-ever Cherubino…a young Domingo…Ruggero Raimondi, always a favorite…and Pecile’s beautifully-sung ‘Voce di donna‘…some radio static, and singers and orchestra sometimes part company…but I’ve had a blast listening to it.I have to confess: GIOCONDA has always been my favorite Italian opera. It all boils down to this: love or death! Isn’t that the essence of opera?Listen here.
CAST:
La Gioconda – Angeles Gulín; Enzo – Plácido Domingo (debut in Madrid); Barnaba – Peter Glossop; Laura – Biancamaria Casoni; Alvise – Ruggero Raimondi; La Cieca – Mirna Pecile.
Conductor – Anton Guadagno
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Tebaldi/Simionato ~ GIOCONDA Duet
Renata Tebaldi and Giulietta Simionato (above) sing the great duet “L’amo come il fulgor del creato” from Ponchielli’s LA GIOCONDA at a Chicago Lyric Opera gala in 1956. Sir Georg Solti conducts.
Listen here
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Beth Taylor ~ Voce di Donna
Scottish mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor sings La Cieca’s aria “Voce di Donna” from Ponchielli’s LA GIOCONDA from a concert performance given by the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2020, during the pandemic.
Watch and listen here.
In 2023, Beth was a finalist at the Cardiff Singer of the World competition; many people, myself included, felt she was the rightful winner.
In May 2025, Beth will be at Carnegie Hall with the English Concert under Harry Bicket’s baton, singing Cornelia in Handel’s GIULIO CESARE. Details here.
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Vaganova Ballet Academy ~ Dance of the Hours
Dancers from the Vaganova Ballet Academy perform the Dance of the Hours from Amilcare Ponchielli’s opera LA GIOCONDA.
Watch and listen here.
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GIOCONDA @ Teatro Communale Picenza – 2018
Above: Saioa Hernández as Gioconda and Agostina Smimmero as Cieca in LA GIOCONDA
A performance of Ponchielli’s LA GIOCONDA from the Teatro Communale, Piacenza, 2018.
Watch and listen here.
Gioconda – Saioa Hernández; Enzo Grimaldo – Francesco Meli; Barnaba – Sebastian Catana; Laura – Anna Maria Chiuri; Alvise – Giacomo Prestia; La Cieca – Agostina Smimmero
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Ángeles Gulín as Gioconda
Above: Ángeles Gulín as Gioconda and Montserrat Aparici as Cieca
A slam-bang performance of one of my favorite Italian operas, LA GIOCONDA, from the Liceu, Barcelona, in 1978. The singers simply go at it.
Watch and listen here.
Gioconda: Ángeles Gulín; Laura: Bruna Baglioni; Cieca: Montserrat Aparici; Enzo: Nunzio Todesco; Barnaba: Sabin Markov; Alvise: Ivo Vinco.
I only heard Ángeles Gulín live once: she sang Valentine in HUGUENOTS at Carnegie Hall in 1969; Beverly Sills was Marguerite de Valois and Tony Poncet was Raoul. Ms. Gulín had an enormous voice and she
used it unsparingly.This GIOCONDA has the right knives-out, heart-on-sleeve passion. It’s that kind of all-or-nothing opera. As Gioconda sings of her love for Enzo in Act I: “My destiny is this: to love him, or to die!”
~ Oberon
Oberon's Glade 