Erik Bruchez
Tue, 30 May 2006 12:32:18 -0700
Dear list, This edition of the Newsletter presents a summary of the Mascagni-related news over the last few months. You will also find this information online at http://www.mascagni.org/. 1. Interview of Late Conductor Gianandrea Gavazzeni on Local Tuscan TV "Gavazzeni remembers Mascagni". A TV station from Tuscany, Toscana TV, has shown on January 15 and will show again on January 23 an interview never broadcast before of conductor Gianandrea Gavazzeni, who passed away in 1995. More information, including a translation of the announcement is available online: http://www.mascagni.org/news/#id109 NOTE: Mascagni.org would be grateful to anybody able to provide a video recording of this broadcast. 2. Poetry and Music: Pietro Mascagni's Parisina Mascagni.org presents "Poetry and Music: Pietro Mascagni's Parisina", an article written by Alessandro Rizzacasa. An Italian version of this article, written in 2000 on the occasion of the release of a recording of this magnificent opera, was already available on Mascagni.org. It is now available for the first time in an English translation. The author begins with a review of the CD from the performance of Parisina that took place in Montpellier in July 1999. He follows with considerations about the opera, discussing in particular the criticisms that have historically been directed at the work. He concludes with comments about the unfortunate attitude some critics have today when writing about opera. http://www.mascagni.org/articles/rizzacasa-200009-parisina-en 3. Conductor Alfredo Silipigni has passed away Maestro Alfredo Silipigni has passed away on March 25 at age 72. Among operas by other composers, he had conducted Mascagni's Iris, Lodoletta, and Guglielmo Ratcliff in 2003. Maestro Silipigni was the founder of the New Jersey State Opera and specialized in lesser-known Italian operas. In particular, he conducted the yearly performances of Teatro Grattacielo in New York, headed by Duane Printz. Quoted by the Star-Ledger, she comments: "He was unique in all the world [...] There's no one left who understands the difficulty of verismo. He knew how to bring it to life." Maestro Silipigni will be missed by the lovers of rare Italian operas. http://www.mascagni.org/news/#id111 4. New audio files online Mascagni.org presents 20 new audio recordings converted from historical 78 rpm records. The excerpts range from the magnificent, including Beniamino Gigli's arias from Isabeau, to the rare, like some excerpts from Amica and Le maschere. The new selection includes: * Two excerpts from Isabeau sung by tenor Beniamino Gigli. * Four versions of Mascagni's most famous and maybe most beautiful song, Serenata, sung by Alessandro Ziliani, Alessandro Valente, Giovanni Martinelli and Giacomo Lauri-Volpi. * Several excerpts from L'amico Fritz: O Amore, o bella luce del cor sung by Dino Borgioli, Son pocchi fiori and Non mi resta che il pianto sung by Lucrezia Bori, and a wonderful Cherry Duet sung by Mafalda Favero and Tito Schipa. * A large selection from Cavalleria rusticana in German. * Two excerpts by Aureliano Pertile, O Lola ch'ai di latti la cammisa (Siciliana) from Cavalleria rusticana and Apri la tua finestra (Serenata) from Iris. * Tu qui Santuzza... No, no, Turiddu from Cavalleria rusticana, a duet sung by Beniamino Gigli and Dusolina Giannini. * Two versions of what is possibly the best soprano aria of Cavalleria rusticana (and one of the top opera arias in general), Voi lo sapete o mamma, sung by Eva Turner and Claudia Muzio. * Rare recordings of La Pavana from Le maschere, Più presso al ciel from Amica and Or dammi il braccio tuo from Iris. Some beautiful "B-sides" include: * Funiculi-Funicula sung by tenor Alessandro Ziliani. * Si, fui soldato sung by tenor Alessandro Valente. * Colombetta sung by soprano Claudia Muzio. For more audio excerpts, please visit the Audio Files section of the web site, which provides a categorized access to all the audio excerpts. http://www.mascagni.org/news/#id112 http://www.mascagni.org/works/sounds Enjoy, -Erik -- Mascagni.org - Your online resource about Pietro Mascagni http://www.mascagni.org/ _______________________________________________ mascagni-interest mailing list mascagni-interest@lists.alphanet.ch http://lists.alphanet.ch/mailman/listinfo/mascagni-interest