Julie Calvé News
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2024-04-25
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2022-11-08 13:00:59
On this day in 1901 the Metropolitan Opera, on tour in Los Angeles, presented the inimitable Emma Calvé as Carmen.
2020-05-11 06:37:04
'I have my habits, my fixations if you like ... without them I can't get any of my effects right': the first Carmen, exploring the performance of Célestine Galli-Marié
Célestine Galli-Marié as Bizet's Carmen (Photo Nadar) What should Carmen sound like? This is a question that has long fascinated me; as Bizet's opera was taken over by grand opera mezzo-sopranos (and sopranos) during the early 20th century was something lost in terms of its original performance tradition? What, in fact, do we know about the performance of the first Carmen, Célestine Galli-Marié, who sang the role from 1875 to 1890? There is no recording of Galli-Marié in the role, if you want an early French mezzo-soprano singing it then you have to jump to Emma Calvé, 20 years Galli-Marié's junior and a rather grander singer (Calvé work at the Paris Opera, Galli-Marié at the Opéra-Comique). You can catch her interpretation of the Seguidille on YouTube (recorded in 1902, with piano accompaniment). Bizet's Carmen was written for the Opéra-Comique, a company which had a tradition […]
2020-02-29 15:00:00
Massenet - Sapho - Opera d'Oro Grand Tier
Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912) Ludmilla Andrew, Alexander Oliver, George MacPherson Nelson Taylor, Jenny Hill, Laura Sarti BBC Orchestra & Chorus dir: Bernard Keefe Opera d'Oro - Grand Tier (2004) OPD 7015 2 CDs Live rec. London, September 1973 ( Good sound) [flac & cue, inlays, booket & disc scans] Review "Sapho comes from the middle period of Massenet’s long, productive career. Premiered in 1897, it followed Manon by 13 years, Werther by five years, and preceded Cendrillon by two years. Composed as a vehicle for Calvé, Sapho had limited appeal and remains one of his least performed and recorded operas. The music is very lyrical, expressive, and sentimental, quite reminiscent of Manon and the tender moments in Werther and Thaïs. The problem with the opera is the libretto. Not much happens. It lacks action, and although there is much […]
2017-03-30 18:48:11
Blood and Gorr
This week rather than the usual full-length work “Trove Thursday” offers instead a short yet potent opera: Massenet’s La Navarraise in a live performance featuring Rita Gorr as Anita and George Shirley as Araquil. The composer’s veristic épisode lyrique in two short acts premiered at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1894, the same year as the first performance of Thaïs and just two years after Werther. London assembled a starry cast which included Emma Calvé and Pol Plançon both of whom were also featured in the Met premiere the following year where it was initially paired with Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice! During that first season, the Met also variously presented the Massenet with two acts of Les Pêcheurs de Perles, the first three acts of Aïda or an entire Trovatore. It then disappeared for twenty-five years until it was revived in 1921 for Geraldine Farrar and was presented […]
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