Tenor Salvatore Licitra Sings "Nessun Dorma"

Last Saturday in Ragusa, Sicily, Italian tenor Salvatore Licitra had a serious motorcycle accident when he lost control of his Vespa scooter and slammed into a wall. He suffered life-threatening head and chest injuries, was air lifted to a hospital to Catania where he is said to be in a coma. He was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. His 29 year old girlfriend from Shanghai, riding in the back seat, was wearing a helmet and escaped injuries. The 43 year old Licitra, Swiss-born and of Sicilian parentage burst onto the scene in 1998 and achieved international fame when he replaced Pavarotti at a Met Tosca in 2002. At the time he was called "the fourth tenor", an allusion to his succeeding the Three Tenors. The media hype has largely subsided and he has continued on to a respectable career. I attended his Montreal concert debut at Place des Arts seven years ago, as well as the Vocal Series at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto about five years ago. I had the pleasure of interviewing him ahead of his Montreal concert. His most recent appearance in Toronto was as soloist at the Bel Canto Foundation Gala last fall. A singer with a beautiful voice (if imperfect technique) and a generous stage presence, Licitra remains an estimable artist and one wishes him a speedy recovery.  Here is Licitra singing Nessun dorma in a Moscow concert last December. 

- Joseph K. So

Lord Harewood Interviews Maria Callas

Watch video here

George Lascelles, the seventh Earl of Harewood, died recently at the age of 88. He had been prominent as an arts administrator and opera authority for more than 50 years. In the early 1950s he was the editor of Opera, and shortly after that he became the director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He edited Kobbe's Complete Opera Book and wrote an insightful memoir called The Tongs and the Bones. In this book he tells a wonderful story about trying to get Karajan for the Edinburgh Festival. The story confirms the Great Man's legendary arrogance in painstaking detail. Of course, it all depends on which side of the fence one is standing. Lord Harewood too had a strong sense of his own importance.

Lord Harewood was a close friend of Maria Callas and in 1968 he undertook a series of interviews with her for EMI. Here is an excerpt.

Paul E. Robinson

Paavo Jarvi Conducts Britten

For years Britten's Violin Concerto was virtually unknown and unplayed. But in the past few years more and more leading soloists are taking up the piece. I am convinced it is a masterpiece and good enough to stand with the classics of the genre. Here is an excellent performance featuring Janine Jansen with Paavo Jarvi and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. I have lost track of how many orchestras Jarvi now heads but there are many of them. And his conducting continues to grow in stature.

Paul E. Robinson

June Anderson sings "Glitter and be Gay" from Bernstein's Candide

Watch Video

This Thursday August 25 marks the birthday of the great American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, who was born on this day in 1918. He died on October 14, 1990.  One of the most prolific of composers, Bernstein's legacy includes symphonies, oratorios, operas, ballets, chamber music, songs, and instrumental works.  His operas, musicals and ballets (West Side Story, On The Town, Wonderful Town, Candide, Trouble In Tahiti, A Quiet Place, etc.) truly tap into the American culture and the American psyche arguably better than any other composer.  He was also a terrific lecturer and many of his talks were recorded for posterity.  To remember his birthday, here is American soprano June Anderson singing Cunegonde's "Glitter and be Gay" from Candide, with the composer on the podium. This performance took place in 1989, a year before the death of Bernstein.  At the end of the clip, you can see Bernstein speaking to the audience and expressing his thanks to the cast that also included Jerry Hadley and Christa Ludwig.

- Joseph K. So

Rattle Conducts Sibelius

Simon Rattle has long been an ardent Sibelius advocate. During his long tenure with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra he recorded all seven symphonies, and more recently he has been doing them all again with his present orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic.

The least played and recorded of the seven Sibelius symphonies is the Third. It lacks the sheer cumulative power of the first two symphonies, and the tightly wound complexity of the others. And the last movement seems to end before it really gets going. Nonetheless, it contains some beautiful music. As always, the Berlin Philharmonic players get into the music as if it was the greatest piece ever written and Rattle obviously treasures every bar. As I have often said, these BPO videos are absolutely state of the art and this one is no exception.

Paul E. Robinson

Solti and Te Kanawa Rehearse Strauss

What an historic video this is! Solti was a major representative of that school of European conductors with direct connections to the "great" composers. For him Bartok, Kodaly and Strauss were not only living composers but men he knew personally.

Solti was a fine pianist in his youth and continued to play the piano well into his later years. In preparing for concertos and songs with orchestra Solti invariably accompanied the soloist at the piano prior to the orchestra rehearsals. Here he is with Kiri Te Kanawa in some Strauss songs. Thanks in no small part to Solti's mentoring, Te Kanawa herself became a leading Strauss interpreter.

Paul E. Robinson

Heinrich Marschner's Der Vampyr

Watch video here

 

German composer Heinrich Marschner was born on this day (August 16) in 1795, in Zittau, near the German-Polish border. His compositions are very much rooted in the Romantic tradition along the lines of Carl Maria von Weber.  A noted composer of opera and song, it's a shame that his best works, Der Vampyr and Hans Heiling aren't better known outside German speaking countries. Canadian opera lovers (particularly those in Quebec) got a rare chance to hear Der Vampyr in a concert performance two weeks ago at the Lanaudiere Festival, with a stellar cast that included baritone Phillip Addis, sopranos Marianne Fiset and Nathalie Paulin, tenor Frederic Antoun and bass Robert Pomakov, under the direction of Jean Marie Zeitouni.  Marschner's music is lovely and a bit reminiscent of Weber.  Youtube has an interview of stage director Alain Gauthier talking about his ideas on this piece for Lanaudiere, but unfortunately there are no music or video clips of the performance itself.  Here is a selection of highlights from a 2002 recording on the German Capriccio label, starring tenor Jonas Kaufmann and baritone Franz Hawlata.  Have a listen - the music is gorgeous!

 

- Joseph K. So

Words and Music: Oscar Peterson

Without a doubt, Oscar Peterson (1925-2007) was one of the greatest musicians ever produced in Canada. His facility at the keyboard was internationally recognized and his recordings will be played and admired as long as jazz is understood and appreciated.

This excerpt from a BBC programme captures Peterson in his prime and as such is an historic document.

Peterson was born in Montreal but as a young musician growing up in Toronto I heard him often at places like The Colonial Tavern on Yonge St. just around the corner from Massey Hall.

For more on Peterson visit his website at www.oscarpeterson.com.

Paul E. Robinson

George Szell and Friedrich Gulda Play Beethoven

In my formative years growing up in Toronto the conductor who towered over all others in the region was George Szell (1897-1970). It was an easy drive to Cleveland to watch him in action, and he brought his orchestra to Massey Hall on several occasions too. A bonus was the series Szell and the Clevelanders presented for some years at the University of Western Ontario. At one London concert I remember with fondness a performance of Beethoven's Emperor concerto with Leon Fleisher. In this video Szell is on the podium at the Musikverein with the Vienna Philharmonic with soloist Friedrich Gulda in an excerpt from this same concerto.

A new biography of Szell has just been published - George Szell: A Life of Music - and the author is a man who was in a unique position to see and understand what Szell was doing in his prime. Michael Charry studied with Szell and became one of his staff conductors with the Cleveland Orchestra. This book is a valuable contribution to our understanding of one of the great conductors of the Twentieth Century.

- Paul E. Robinson

Mezzo Susan Graham Sings "L'heure exquise"

Today marks the birthday of Venezuelan born French composer Reynaldo Hahn (Aug. 9 1874 - Jan. 28 1947).  Hahn is best known for his many songs. Last year for his birthday, I featured one of his earliest and best, "Si me vers avaient des ailes" set to a poem by Victor Hugo, sung by American mezzo Susan Graham. My comments last year, on the sensual, perfumed quality of that song, fully apply to the song this year - "L'heure exquise." Once again I've picked the voice of  Susan Graham, recorded in the 1990's. Early in her career, Graham lived in France and became a famous interpreter of French songs by Faure, Duparc, Hahn and Debussy. She sings with a certain lightness of tone and exquisite mezza voce so essential in Hahn. The pianist is Roger Vignoles, who was in town all last week for a recital, public masterclass and teaching in the Art of the Song program of the Toronto Summer Music. Toronto opera fans will also have the great good fortune of hearing Graham in opera, as she is coming to open the COC season in the title role of Iphigenie en Tauride in September.

- Joseph K. So

Tan Dun's Water Concerto

On Friday, Aug. 5 the OSM under Kent Nagano is performing Tan Dun's Water Concerto in Sherbrooke. Here is a close-up look at the water percussion instruments used in the piece, during a rehearsal for a performance by the St. Louis Symphony. The percussionist is Colin Currie. Tan Dun wrote the score for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and has composed numerous imaginative pieces for the concert hall.

- Paul E. Robinson

Harnoncourt and the VPO Play Schubert

Nikolaus Harnoncourt is famous for his pioneering work on period instruments and performance practice. Quite often these days he applies what he has learned in performances with conventional orchestras. Here is a performance of the second movement of Schubert's Symphony No. 9 in C major "Great" with the Vienna Philharmonic. Notice Harnoncourt's heavy emphasis on the first beat in every bar. To my taste it is overdone but Harnoncourt's research obviously tells him that is the way it should be done. Notice also the vehemence of the bow strokes in the strings, and the prominence according the three trombones. Harnoncourt's performances are rarely dull or predictable, and invariably give other musicians a lot to think about.

- Paul E. Robinson

Roger Vignoles' Novel Version of Victor Herbert's "I Want to be a Prima Donna"

Roger Vignoles, a collaborative pianist/pedagogue of the first order, is in Toronto this week.  He is giving a masterclass on Wednesday at 10 am in Walter Hall, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.  On Thursday at 7:30 pm, he accompanies two young American singers, soprano Kiera Duffy and tenor Nicholas Phan, in recital. Vignoles is a highly-sought after pianist and has worked with some of the greatest singers over the years. His masterclass is not to be missed. Here is his hilarious take on Victor Herbert's "I Want to be a Prima Donna," a frequent encore choice by sopranos and mezzos alike. Here we have Vignoles singing (!)—not half badly—and accompanying himself in his own lyrics. You will hear snippets of piano introductions to famous songs like Schubert's An die Musik and Strauss' Cacilie. I find it screamingly funny—well, I guess you have to be a lieder fan to appreciate the humour!

- Joseph K. So