Marguerite D’alvarez: Ah, mon fils! (Prophete). Mon coeur ( Sanson). Printemps ( Sanson)
www.megaupload.com/?d=D4PPVTGT

Born in Liverpool, England, to Peruvian parents, Marguerite d’Alvarez began her stage career when she was still a teenager. She made her first public performance, at a diplomatic affair in London, when she was just sixteen. Two years later, in 1904, d’Alverez made her operatic debut at the Rouen Opera House as Dalila in Samson et Dalila. Before the end of the decade, she was performing with Oscar Hammerstein’s Manhattan Opera Company.
For her debut performance with the company, d’Alvarez sang the part of the mother in The Prophet. While rehearsing for the show, she met a young critic for the Times as she was leaving the opera house. “I found him very intelligent, with a wisdom beyond his years,” d’Alvarez wrote of the meeting, “and when we parted I said I would like to see him again and asked him his name. It was Carl Van Vechten.”

A life-long opera lover and a leading opera critic of the 1910s, Carl Van Vechten admired Marguerite d’Alvarez’s rich voice and powerful performance style. In an April 22, 1920 advertisement for an d’Alvarez performance, he wrote: Marguerite d’Alvarez may be regarded as one of the most unique singers before the public. God, the good fairies, and the Fates have united to endow her with ten or a dozen qualities, any one of which would be sufficient to give her a notable position. . . . She is gifted with a most extraordinary contralto voice of great range and flexibility, and of a mellow and luscious quality.

D’Alvarez was quite fond of Carl Van Vechten, too, and of his wife Fania Marinoff. Of meeting d’Alvarez, Anna May Wong wrote to Marinoff, “one person I simply adore and have only met this trip is Marguerite d’Alvarez. She is so fond of you and talks of you and Carl incessantly. Even if I had not had an instantaneous affection for her, I would have loved her for her devotion to you both.”

During the early years of her career, d’Alvarez performed in operas at the London Opera House, Covent Garden, and with companies all over the world. Later, she primarily sang in concerts. She also made a number of recordings, the best known being Samson et Dalila. In 1939, she retired from performing after an impressive career, singing her last concert in London.

Souvenis of rare rench Opera.
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Aportes de Clemens:

Berlioz. La damnation de faust. 2011. Amsterdam.Gregory Kunde. Willard White. Ruxandra Donose. Henk van Heijnsbergen. Dir.: Charles Dutoit
http://rapidshare.com/files/446694084/Berlioz_LA_DAMNATION_DE_FAUST__Amsterdam_5.2.2011_.rar

Willard White

Gounod. Faust.  2011. Hamburg.Giuseppe Filianoti. Tigran Martirossian. Alexia Voulgaridou. George Petean.Dir.: Cornelius Meister
http://rapidshare.com/files/446679275/Gounod_FAUST__Hamburg_30.1.2011_.rar

Lortzing. Regina. 2011. München.Johanna Stojkovic. Theresa Holzhauser. Daniel Kirch. Detlef Roth.Dir.: Ulf Schirmer
http://rapidshare.com/files/446667196/Lortzing_REGINA__M__nchen_30.1.2011_.rar

Johanna Stojkovic

Geboren in Passau, hat Johanna Stojkovic schon sehr früh an der Berufsfachschule für Musik in Plattling Gesangsunterricht genommen, die sie dann später an der Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg bei Judith Beckmann fortsetzte.

Schon bevor Johanna Stojkovic ihr Hochschulstudium begann, machte sie erste Bühnenerfahrungen am Stadttheater Passau, wo sie Rollen wie Pepi (Wiener Blut), Mi (Land des Lächelns), die Italienerin (Der Konsul), Wanda (Die Großherzogin von Gerolstein), und vor allem Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro) und Papagena (Die Zauberflöte) gesungen hat. Mit den letzten beiden Rollen hat sie in den folgenden Jahren immer wieder an namhaften Bühnen gastiert, so wie Hamburg, Bremen, an der Deutschen Staatsoper Unter den Linden und der Komischen Oper Berlin.

Allmählich entwickelte sich die Stimme in Richtung dramatischere Partien. Und so sang sie im Sommer 2005 ihre erste Violetta (La Traviata) in Merzig. Im September 2006 gab sie ihr Rollendebüt als Agathe (Der Freischütz) am Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck. Im Herbst 2007 sang sie Sifare (Mitridate) am Theater Aachen. Diese Rolle coverte sie auch im Oktober 2007 am Théatre de la Monnaie in Brüssel. Im Mai 2008 gastierte sie als Giulietta (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) am Theater Aachen. Im Mai 2009 folgte dort Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni).

Durch ihre rege Konzerttätigkeit hat Johanna Stoijkovic an vielen Festspielen teilgenommen, wie z.B. den Händelfestspielen (Halle und Karlsruhe), Musikfestspiele Potsdam, den Brühler Schlosskonzerten und dem Kirchenmusikfestival Schwäbisch Gmünd, und sie hat mit verschiedenen Orchestern zusammengearbeitet, wie mit dem NDR und WDR Rundfunk Orchester, Rias-Kammerchor (Konzerthaus Berlin), der Israel Camerata (Tel Aviv), dem Deutschlandfunk Köln, mit den Hamburger Symphonikern (u.a. Musikhalle Hamburg) und dem Orchester Oriol in der Philharmonie Berlin, und sie hat eine Konzerttournee mit Helmut Rilling gemacht. Auch für Liederabende ist sie eine gefragte Solistin, so unternahm sie z.B. eine Asien-Tournee sowie einen Liederabend in Japan.

Johanna Stojkovic hat bereits eine umfangreiche Diskographie vorzuweisen. Sie spielte z.a. folgende Werke ein: Erwin und Elmire, Croesus, Abu Hassan, Der Freischütz, Siroe, Idomeneo von Händel und Ziegeunerliebe.

Albert Lortzing wrote 12 operas, 10 comic operas (the German form of the FrenchOpera Comique and the Italian Opera Buffa) and 2 serious grand operas. He invented the German “Play Opera (Spiel Oper). He was the first composer writing his own libretti, usually from plays in that he had performed as an actor and singer.
He changed the form and content of these plays often to achieve a more dramatic theatrical effect. He was an accomplished man of the Theatre. The melodies of his operas became folksongs. His operas contain the most famous German roles for the
Buffo Bass. During his life time there was no protection of artistic property and in spite of his immense popularity he was shamelessly used and exploited by the publishers and the directors of Theatres, so that he was not able to reap the
financial gains from his operas and died impoverished at an early age. His operas became subsequently in the last 150 years the most produced operas after Mozart and Verdi in Germany. With the increased productions of “Regie driven Opera “ in
Germany Lortzing’s most popular operas have been produced with less frequency since the 1980ties. His operas are listed here chronologically with the year when they were composed. The operas that are still in the repertoire or are of special
significance are in larger print. Ali Pasha von Janina 1821, a parody of a “ Rescue Opera”. First operatic work.
This early trial was followed by reworking the 60 year old first German Singspiel “Die Jagd (The Hunt) by Johann Adam Hiller 1821 and between 1830 and 1836 by several “Liederspiele”(one act plays with songs).
Operas
1. Die beiden Schuetzen ( The two sharpshooters) 1837, libretto fashioned after A French play “Die beiden Grenadiere” by Joseph Patrat.
2. Zar und Zimmermann (The Tsar and the Carpenter) 1838, libretto Fashioned after the French play “The Mayor of Saardam or the two Peter) by Boire.
3. Caramo oder Das Fisherstechen 1839
4. Hans Sachs 1840, this is the fore runner of Wagner’s “Meistersinger”. Wagner did not give Lortzing credit for the ideas that he used from this opera for his own masterpiece.
5. Casanova 1841, libretto fashioned after the French play “Casanova au Fort de St. Andre) by Varin and Desverges.
6. Der Wildschuetz (the Poacher) 1842, libretto fashioned after the play “Der Rehbock (The Deer)” by August von Kotzebue. This is considered by many Lortzing’s masterwork, showing superb musical ensemble scenes.
7. Die Uebergabe des Zopfes Karls des Grossen 1843
8. Undine 1845 , libretto fashioned after the fairy tale by La Motte Fouque. Lortzing’s first grand serious opera. One of the many Romantic operas of the tales of the mermaid during the 19th Century which started with E.T.A Hoffmann’s Undine 1817 and finally culminated in Dvorak’s Rusalka.
9. Der Waffenschmied (The weapon’s smith)1846 composed for the Theater an der Wien. Libretto fashioned after Friedrich Ziegler’s play “DerLiebhaber und Nebenbuhler in einer Person (The lover and rival in one person).
10. Zum Grossadmiral 1847, libretto fashioned after the French play (translated by Iffland) “Koenig Heinrich’s Jugendjahre”.
11. Regina 1848, Lortzing’s Freiheits Oper (freedom opera), composed in the 8 months censor free period after the 1848 March revolution. A serious grand opera composed in the spirit of freedom of the Pauls Kirche (Paul’s Church) parliamentary resolutions and his revolutionary friend, the publisher Robert Blum, a representative of the Pauls Kirche Parliament. Robert Blum was executed on November 9th, 1848 in Vienna in violation of his immunity as a parliamentary representative. The revolution was put down by the Military. This opera was never performed during Lortzing’s lifetime. The first production was in Gelsenkirchen, Germany in 1998 under the direction of Peter Konwitschny.
12. Rolands Knappen oder Das ersehnte Glueck (Roland’s knaves or the hoped forluck) 1849. This is comic fairy tale opera based on the old saga Rolandofurioso and the last full scale opera Lortzing wrote.
13. Die Opernprobe (The opera rehearsal) 1850, a one act comic opera, that tragically was premiered on the day he died January 21rst,1851. It is one of the most often produced works in German Music Schools by voice students.

Mozart. La Finta Giardinera. 2010. Freiburg.Jeffrey Francis. Sophie Karthäuser. Topi Lehtipuu. Michael Nagy.
Freiburger Barockorchester. Dir.: René Jacobs
http://rapidshare.com/files/446659374/Mozart_LA_FINTA_GIARDINIERA__Freiburg_30.11.2010_.rar

La finta giardiniera may be the most underappreciated of Mozart’s operas. It was only his second comic opera, and the libretto itself is a curious amalgam of buffa and seria. Despite an enthusiastic reception, in its original form it disappeared from the repertoire after only three performances. Translated into German, it apparently remained popular with audiences even as it was panned by critics. Today it remains largely unknown. This is unfortunate, because in many respects this beautiful work is as significant a milestone in Mozart’s musical development as Idomeneo (K. 366).

The libretto, long attributed to Raniero de Calzabigi and Marco Coltellini, is now thought to have been written by Giuseppe Petrosellini of Rome. It was first performed there as a three-act dramma giocoso, with music by Pasquale Anfossi, in December 1773. The text proved popular enough to warrant further treatment. The following summer it was handed to Mozart so he could turn it into an opera buffa for the Munich carnival season. To read more go here (including the plot and videos)

Lucrezia Bori. Recital. 1935. Mignon – Connais-tu le pays.Mozart: Alleluja.Glazunov: La Primavera.Yradier: La Paloma

Lucrezia Bori

El apellido real de Lucrezia Bori era era Borja González de Riancho (hay quien asegura que ‘de Riancebo’) y nació en Valencia el 24 de diciembre de 1887. Tenía fácil italianizar su nombre artístico, ‘Lucrecia Borgia’, pero desde sus inicios se quedó con el improvisado ‘Bori’.

Borja si legge Boria in italiano, e attribuire boria a una donna equivale a definirla vanitosa, stupidamente superba. Borgia, che è la traduzione letterale del nome spagnolo Borja, non è proponibile –come nome di cartellone– chiamandosi Lucrezia; sarebbe inoltre apparso, benché non lo fosse, un equivoco pseudonimo.

Su musicalidad, una línea de canto elegante y aristocrática, un lenguaje refinado y coqueto, más su compenetración escénica, hicieron de Lucrezia Bori la gran soprano lírica de su tiempo. No era una voz muy extensa en la zona alta, ni grande de volumen, aunque sí cristalina y especialmente apta para la expresión de sentimientos tiernos y delicados. El sistema de grabación no la favoreció y sus registros no reflejan, muy probablemente, toda la grandeza de su arte. Fue Manon, Norina, Zerlina, Fiora, Louise, Mimì, Violetta… De este último personaje, dicen las crónicas, hacía una verdadera creación.

La valenciana Bori usaba camelias frescas en cada función de La traviata. En la escena final, cuando Alfredo Germont corre al lecho de Violetta (a buenas horas, mangas verdes), el Doctor Grenville le traía un ramillete. No figura en el libreto, pero lo cierto es que Annina las colocaba en un florero, y en el delirio final la Bori las arrojaba a su alrededor, mientras exhalaba el último suspiro.

Realizó sus primeros estudios en su ciudad natal y en Roma completó su formación musical, con el maestro Melchor Vidal, también español. Debutó en 1908 en el Teatro Adriano, con Carmen, en el rol de la dulce y cándida Micaela. En 1910, cantó en el San Carlo de Nápoles junto a Enrico Caruso y Pasquale Amato en Manon Lescaut y Madama Butterfly. Fue el espaldarazo definitivo a su carrera: en la temporada siguiente firmó contrato con La Scala, protagonizando, entre otras óperas, el estreno italiano de El caballero de la rosa.

Ricordi mi avvertì che tre signori sarebbero venuti a Parigi per sentirmi cantare e mi chiese di essere tanto gentile da imparare qualche aria della Manon Lescaut, cosa che io feci. I tre signori arrivarono: erano Toscanini, Puccini e Gatti-Casazza. Mi guardarono dalla testa ai piedi e poi dai piedi alla testa. Mi esaminarono bene. Probabilmente soddisfatti, mi invitarono a cantare la Manon Lescaut con Caruso, quale artista ospite al Metropolitan….. Mi ero fatta fare i costumi nuovi a Parigi: mi costarono una fortuna. Dopo la prova generale tutti vennero a congratularsi con me. Poi venne Puccini, con una tazza di caffè. ‘Bori , andava tutto alla perfezione. Solo che all’ultimo atto, quando la Manon ha fame ed è senza un soldo, il suo costume è troppo pulito’. E mi versò addosso la tazza di caffè.

Al Metropolitan de Nueva York llegó por primera vez el 9 de junio de 1910, con Manon Lescaut. En esta sala interpretó más de seiscientas representaciones de veintiocho óperas diferentes. Se la escuchó también con frecuencia en el Colón de Buenos Aires, pero, hasta donde sabemos, nunca llegó a cantar en España.

Su carrera artística terminó oficialmente el 29 de marzo de 1936, en el Metropolitan, con una gala en su honor. Ya retirada de la escena, brindó su apoyo y experiencia a varias instituciones musicales, especialmente a la Sociedad de Amigos del Metropolitan, y a cantantes que por entonces empezaban, como la soprano italiana Licia Albanese.

Falleció en Nueva York, el 14 de mayo de 1960, víctima de un derrame cerebral. Sus restos descansan en el Cementerio Municipal de Valencia, en el mausoleo familiar. No lo cuentan las crónicas, pero seguramente tampoco faltaron camelias frescas en su definitivo adiós.

Beethoven. Fidelio. 2010. Amsterdam.Nadja Michael (Leonora). Christophe Ventris (Florestan). Bernarda Bobro (Marzelline). Geert Smits (Fernando). Aldn Held (Pizarro). Ain Anger (Rocco). Marcel Reijans (Joaquino). Orq. cámara Netherlands. Dir. Marc Albrecht.
http://rapidshare.com/files/439253696/Fidelio_DNO_Act1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/439252789/Fidelio_DNO_Act2.rar