A gala concert celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Lyric Opera of Chicago was given on October 14th, 1979.
The participating conductors were George Prêtre, Nicola Rescigno, Riccardo Chailly, Bruno Bartoletti, Sir John Pritchard, and Krzysztof Penderecki, and the line-up of singers was impressive indeed.
Listen here.
The Italian baritone Aldo Protti (1920-1995) was a native of Cremona. He studied at Parma, and made his operatic debut in 1948, at the Teatro Pergolesi in Jesi, as Rossini’s Figaro. Within two years, he was at La Scala, singing Amonasro in AIDA. From that point forward, Protti sang in Italy’s leading theaters as well as making guest appearances in Vienna; he participated in several broadcasts for the RAI, and in 1957 sang at Lyric Opera of Chicago as Barnaba (GIOCONDA) and Marcello (BOHEME).
Protti made important recordings for Decca, including a 1954 OTELLO with del Monaco and Tebaldi, Alberto Erede conducting. When Herbert von Karajan planned his stereo-remake of that Verdi opera for Decca in 1961, Ettore Bastianini was chosen to sing Iago. But Bastianini had failed to learn the part, so Karajan called upon Protti to repeat the role; the baritone surpassed his earlier recorded portrayal both vocally and in terms of characterization.
In 1985, at the age of 65, Protti sang a single performance as Rigoletto at The Met. He then joined the Company on tour, singing the role in six cities (including in Boston, where his Gilda was Roberta Peters in her final performance with The Met). He sang Rigoletto twice more, in concert form, with The Met in the Parks.
Rigoletto was Protti’s most frequent role, which he performed 425 times in all; Scarpia, Count di Luna, and and Iago each figured prominently in his repertoire, with 100 performances of each role in his résumé.
Also Protti passed away at Cremona in 1995.
Aldo Protti – Prologo ~ PAGLIACCI
Aldo Protti – OTELLO ~ Credo – Karajan cond
~ Oberon
The Italian baritone Aldo Protti (1920-1995) was a native of Cremona. He studied at Parma, and made his operatic debut in 1948, at the Teatro Pergolesi in Jesi, as Rossini’s Figaro. Within two years, he was at La Scala, singing Amonasro in AIDA. From that point forward, Protti sang in Italy’s leading theaters as well as making guest appearances in Vienna; he participated in several broadcasts for the RAI, and in 1957 sang at Lyric Opera of Chicago as Barnaba (GIOCONDA) and Marcello (BOHEME).
Protti made important recordings for Decca, including a 1954 OTELLO with del Monaco and Tebaldi, Alberto Erede conducting. When Herbert von Karajan planned his stereo-remake of that Verdi opera for Decca in 1961, Ettore Bastianini was chosen to sing Iago. But Bastianini had failed to learn the part, so Karajan called upon Protti to repeat the role; the baritone surpassed his earlier recorded portrayal both vocally and in terms of characterization.
In 1985, at the age of 65, Protti sang a single performance as Rigoletto at The Met. He then joined the Company on tour, singing the role in six cities (including in Boston, where his Gilda was Roberta Peters in her final performance with The Met). He sang Rigoletto twice more, in concert form, with The Met in the Parks.
Rigoletto was Protti’s most frequent role, which he performed 425 times in all; Scarpia, Count di Luna, and and Iago each figured prominently in his repertoire, with 100 performances of each role in his résumé.
Also Protti passed away at Cremona in 1995.
Aldo Protti – Prologo ~ PAGLIACCI
Aldo Protti – OTELLO ~ Credo – Karajan cond
~ Oberon
Above: Roberta Knie as Isolde & Jon Vickers as Tristan; photo by Tony Romano
A performance of Wagner’s TRISTAN UND ISOLDE given by Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1979. Franz-Paul Decker conducts, with the following cast:
Tristan – Jon Vickers
Isolde – Roberta Knie
Brangaene – Mignon Dunn
Marke – Hans Sotin
Kurwenal – Siegmund Nimsgern
Melot – Richard Versalle
Shepherd – Gregory Kunde
Steersman – Daniel McConnell
Voice of a Young Sailor – William Mitchell
Listen here.
Erin Wall, a native of Calgary, Canada, was a finalist at the 2003 Cardiff Singer of the World competition. She had made her international debut the previous year singing Britten’s War Requiem in London. She spent three seasons building repertoire at Lyric Opera of Chicago, and made her Met debut in 2009 as Donna Anna. In 2014, I had the pleasure of hearing her as Strauss’s Arabella at The Met.
Erin Wall’s repertoire includes Freia, the 3rd Norn, Strauss’s Daphne, Marguerite in Faust, Ellen Orford, Chrysothemis, Helena in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Thais, and Mozart’s Contessa Almaviva. She does a lot of concert work, most notably the Mahler symphonies 2, 4, and 8, and Strauss’s Vier Letze Lieder.
Erin Wall – Vier letzte Lieder ~ Frühling
Counter-tenor Matthias Rexroth was born in Nuremberg and made his debut in Purcell’s King Arthur at Stuttgart in 1999. Having won major voice competitions at Barcelona and Vienna, Mr. Rexroth was soon performing Bach and Baroque works all over Europe, and he represented Germany at the 2003 Cardiff Competition. He sang often with conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and also with Riccardo Muti and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. His operatic repertory covers numerous Handel roles and ranges from Monteverdi to Britten.
Watch Mr. Rexroth singing at the the 37th Concurso Francisco Viñas in Barcelona here.
Since 2014, Mr. Rexroth has been professor of voice at the Opera Academy of Warsaw; he also gives masterclasses internationally.
Parts of Ms. Wall’s and Mr. Rexroth’s 2003 Cardiff performances are heard here:
Cardiff 2003 – Matthias Rexroth – Erin Wall
Bucharest-born Ruxandra Donose came to prominence following an impressive showing at a voice competition at Munich in 1990. She soon joined the opera company at Basel, and – thereafter – the Vienna State Opera. Her international career has since continued apace, and lately she has taken on roles like Kundry and Sieglinde.
Above: Ruxandra Donose as Nicklausse in Contes d’Hoffmann; a Marty Sohl/Met Opera photo
I met Ruxandra in 2004 while I was working at Tower Records; she was singing Nicklausse at The Met and she stopped by at the opera room. We had a lovely chat.
Here’s Ruxandra at the 1993 Cardiff competition:
Ruxandra Donose – Allerseelen – Cardiff 1993
And Roger Vignoles is the pianist for Ruxandra’s lovely singing of Dalila’s seduction aria from a 2014 London recital here.
~ Oberon
Oberon's Glade 