Peter Gelb's motto for the week: "Those Swarovski crystals are going on with or without you." Maria Guleghina sings the first Tosca of the season tomorrow night, jumping in for Andrea Gruber who is under the weather. A report from the dress rehearsal notes that "Gruber had nothing above about an A, Cura was rushing the conductor the entire time, and they both ended the opera by marking the 3rd act down an octave." Gruber was wheezing and sneezing all over Margaret Juntwait last night during the broadcast intermission, too. She's supposed to go on for the next performances November 1 and 4. Aprile Millo dons the tiara beginning on the 25th.
Oh, and if you're wondering what the proper term is for the matched set of tiara, necklace, earrings and whatever other sparkly baubles the well-dressed Floria flaunts, it's called a "garniture."
106 comments:
It's true Callasorphan. I hope you got her eyes.
I'm surpirsed that anything that had been worn by Callas hasn't been pinched. Things like this must be kept in guarded reliquaries in secret vaults along with those that hold Steber's Donna Anna wig and Nilsson's Turandot nails.
Since La Divina Maria is the sweeping transitive verb of discussion, is there a chance for a discussion of the other MC, Caniglia. I know of her, but have heard little of her singing beyond the Sophia Loren Aida. Tell me about the talents of Caniglia.
Pardon my probable misspelling of Caniglia's name.
For a seventeen year old gal, Miss Tosca sure does have some nice baubles - I wonder what she had to do to get those?? I'd be willing to try it!! :)
ljc: Maria Caniglia was, as far as I'm concerned, a singer who had so much vocal potential (I can't speak about her acting because I've never seen videos and certainly wasn't alive when she was singing) but was really lacking when it came to singing in tune and in the upper register. She recorded very frequently with B. Gigli. Some of her more famous recordings include a Tosca and a Ballo which I personally vote as two of the most disappointing recordings of both operas. They've got great conductors and a would-be fantastic cast and all the singers fall short (by short, I mean FLAT) and overly lacking in musical integrity. Caniglia has a voice that when you listen to it, you just WANT it to be so fantastic as to blow your mind...and then when the most dramatic moments arrive, and the moments with the high notes, she just does NOT deliver. It's a damn shame.
YES, the forza is probably my favorite recording of it, along with the 1958 tebaldi, corelli. Caniglia may not have the most technically solid voice. In fact, most of her recordings are quite disappointing, but NOT the forza, which is really excellent.
I did not know that Floria is supposed to be 17. Even Bernhardt was not that young. How is Floria the kid supposed to get from her outdoor concert to police hq wearing all those googaws without getting mugged in the streets of Rome? I don't remember a Harry Winston bodyguard being in the libretto.
OK, maybe the thought of getting Callas into a rage would scare off any mugger coming at her. She does look formidible in the online photo.
going with rysanekfreak and JAT - garniture would be if you were setting the Act II supper table with candelabra, vases and perhaps even an epergne (my dear!)
Oh God I've probably given some Eurotrash director an idea - Scarpia wishes to feed off Tosca so she becomes the adornment for the enormous supper table the whole damned opera will be set on. The finger bowl will be the font in the church, Cavaladorsi will be painting a Madona on a china plate, the Castel angel will be the centrepiece... oh God I can just see it all now. I'm sorry.
Holy Shit Guleghina sounds GREAT!
Hasn't she sung Tosca before at the met?
"Parure" is correct, but I have also heard "garniture" used especially when discussing estate jewelry. I will admit that "parure" does sound awfully classy, so I will use it in future.
I am not liking this. Not at all. I looked up at about 10:45 and realized "shit! I'm missing Tosca", but If I had known that the third act love duet would have murdered my ears, I would have continued watching Monty Python and be done with it.
Among other opera sacred reliques to be guarded to the death;Melchior and Sutherland's corsets, Blanche Thebom's hair, and Emmy Distin's cobra tattoo(see A. Rubenstein's memoirs).
Distin=Destin
I agree it was a fine night for Guleghina...but whassup with Cura? That was not just a baritenor, that was a baritone with a short top!
I'll wait for the Millo broadcasts, thank you very much.
I've seen Luisotti twice: A seriously dragging Carmen and A Pag sans Cav that was so slow they took an intermission.
I looked in allmovie.com and found that Tebaldi Did do the singing for Loren in Aida--not Caniglia, so whup me, but the writeup says that Gina Lolobrigida supposed to do the Aida. Now, there was a movie version of Pagliacci in '48 in which Gina and Gobbi starred, but allmovie had no mention of who sang for her. And the artsvideo channel had a clip of the sextet scene from Lucia, with-Gina acting Lucia--and no mention of who sang for her, and allmovie does not list Lucia in Gina's filmography. Sorry about the mistake on Caniglia and Aida.
Was that Caniglia herself in the Tosca film - or an actress?
The best Caniglia story comes from Gobbi's autobiography. There's a story about a Tosca which was scheduled in Rome while Italy was fascist. Tito and Maria were informed that they had to do the show for the Wehrmacht. Gobbi came in through stage door and was accosted by a wizened, gibbering old lady on her way out the other way. Only later did he realise that this was la Caniglia making her escape via stage door.
After last summer's great discussion on the Frau blackhead Nazi matter, we have come to opera singers in Benito's Italy. Which ones may have done things verging on criminal collaberation, and which ones may be forgiven for their doings during the era?
Tenore di grazia,
I couldn't agree more! I have listened to this live CAV 3 times now, and Farina just gets worse!! Racette is singing a splendid Nedda again, thankfully.
Farina gets worse, but Lictra is ON FIRE tonight! I am so glad I didn't have rehersal tonight or I would have missed this.
Cagnilia supplied the singing in the 1956 Tosca movie to an actress named Franca Duval. The main men in the movie were Franco Corelli, and a guy named Afro Poli as Louie Scarpia.
Ah right thanks ljc. I was so young when I saw it I can only remember she was a striking redhead- he was Corelli wonderful and when she stabbed Scarpia she pinned a red scarf to his chest with the knife that was extremely effective.
Am I the only one who thinks Afro Poli is really underrated?
Going back to a previous comment, did Gobbi do a Tosca performance for the Wehrmacht because They Made Me Do It. It probably did not make much dent in the course of the war going on, but did the Germans in the audience get the political undertones of the plot?
Well, we're in mid-Act 2 and I think Gruber sounds steadier and more secure than she's sounded since the unfortunate recent Aidas. I think she is singing & acting the hell out of Tosca. Cura also sounds better tonight. The chemistry is palpable. Not a Tosca for the ages, but surely a night of redemption for Gruber.
It is great that the Met is putting its performances on the air, and now the screen--but who is paying for all this? Not so long ago the Met was having begathons to get Satmatt listeners to help pay for a sponsor after Texaco jumped the ship. Just curious about angles of Met money matters.
(It is Laura Bush's 60th birthday). Thank you Mrs. John for finding that Caniglia once sang at the Met. I should try to find my way thru the Metdatabase to find out when. Did anyone ever get Afro Poli confused with Aldo Protti, a 50s baritone who sang Iago to Del Monico's Otello?
OK, Caniglia was at the Met from opening night 1938 to January '39, and did a matinee of Otello with Marinelli, and sang Aida, Falstaff, and Tosca, and was in Warren's first Simone (her last performance).
Afro Poli must have had a very long career as I have a live recording of him as Alfio in Cav. from the Hague in 38 conducted by Mascagni, and I would also recommend the live Il Piccolo Marat with him from 62 with the neglected and very beautiful Virginia Zeani.
Like mrsjohnglaggart I have long treasured the Caniglia recordings of Fedora and Francesca, although Prandelli is a lightweight partner. Those Cetra recordings from the 40s and 50s are a real treasure house of good Italian singers, not always with star names. Corelli made his early appearances on that label.
mrsjohnclaggart- I'm intrigued by the thought of dear Mara ever being young- was it pre- horse or post horse? :)
Maybe this blog could inspire someone to compose an opera of Blazing Saddles. In the Metadatabase is a listing of a dream performance I hope the M. has some photos of in its archives. April 12 49 there was a Benefits special show of Traviata, with Albinese, but the big thing were the guest supers who showed up in the party scenes, and included Joe De Luca, Martinelli, Queena Mario, Frieda Hempel, and Fritzi Scheff (careers going back to 1900.) What a bunch of people standing there to look for.
People say dreadful things Mrs John Claggart. I asked someone what Mara did before she became a Diva and they said she was employed by the Coastguard as a Foghorn. Poor Mara. Do you think there is any truth in it?
(Election Day) In a blogroom above this one the 80th birthday of Joan Sutherland is being commemerated. I looked into a website last night that listed all of Stupenda's roles and recordings, and there is a famous photo of her on a horse in Les Hugenots. I hope Mara Alexkarras Zampieri was not in the cast of that opera.
This blogroom should be saved forever as an example of all the topics that can be talked about in a chatroom. We have come down to divas and animals(aint got yet to tenors and animals). Mara and her assault on a horse, Joan on a horse. Marjorie Lawrence rode Grane onstage, and there is a photo of Geri Farrar as a peasant girl driving a herd of geese across the stage in an opera she was in many decades ago;(The Goose Girl?) I dont't know if Caruso and Destinn rode away on a horse singing Addio California in the first Fanciulla.
Callasorphan - I am sorry to hear you have had a bad day - really am-and while I remain mystified as to what gave you the idea we were being anything less than deadly serious about Diva Mara- if our discourse saved you from taking poison, jumping off something high- or expiring in a coughing fit- I'm sure I speak for Mrs John Claggart when I say we are nothing less than relieved and delighted- because we want the pleasure of your company for a long long time.
It is certainly fascinating when a topic is really opened up one learns so much more about it. At this time, I cannot restrain myself (ah what restrains me??) from asking Mrs John Claggart, what actual performance of Mara's it was, (apart from the equine one) that she actually enjoyed?
I'm dying to know. Was it in a theatre- in a stadium- on ice- or below ice? I'm dying to know.
With Mara the possibilities are endless- all I know is I had a brand new video recorder some time ago and played Mara's and Senor Bruson's "Macbeth" - I only played it through twice- once in anticipation and the second time to make sure I hadn't imagined the whole thing. The video has never worked since!
"Load moans" might actually be heard on this blog. :)
What is needed in opera is a soprano(like Foghorn Mara).who loses her high notes and keeps going as a Russian bass, or switches to doing Ochs or Basilio or Sarastro. What are some Really low voice roles for gals in opera?
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