You saw it TWICE! You must have really liked it! Once was enough for me. Now, Kiri Te Kanawa, Tatiana Troyanos, Judith Blegen and Hauge Haugland in 'Der Rosenkavalier', I could have seen that every time it played and borrowed the money to do it. Unfortunately I didn't see it until the last night. I think it was my favourite thing I've ever seen in a live performance. Sheer utter absolute magic.
Yes, Gramercy Park is good for walking to Time's Square. Just have to watch out for King Kong tramping through. :) I could actually walk to Time's Square, and I did so in the evening or daytime, but I didn't like the walk late at night. Kind of creepy. I generally went to all these shows and concerts by myself, or it wouldn't have been intimidating. But to walk back from Time's Square late, even take the subway, seemed less than appealing. :)
No, I haven't seen My Boy, Jack. I should look and see if a library system that associates with ours has got it; it's been out for a while now and he's a famous actor. As for Lady in Black, I hope it's good. Because some people on my f-list thought the BBC version made in the 80's was so great, "the scariest thing I've ever seen!", I actually bought a copy of that Lady in Black on DVD for a decent price. I still haven't watched it. Waiting for a good time. I wanted to watch it while my husband was out of town for some training. But my f-listers have said NOT to watch it in the house alone. I am afraid they have made it sound so frightening I'll be disappointed, lol!
Now, Kiri Te Kanawa, Tatiana Troyanos, Judith Blegen and Hauge Haugland in 'Der Rosenkavalier', I could have seen that every time it played and borrowed the money to do it.
I think I saw that. I know that sounds crazy, but I had a subscription to the Met for 20 years and saw virtually every opera they mounted during that time so it's a little hazy now that I've been away from NYC for 21 years. However, I do know I've seen all those singers in Met productions.
I saw lots of brilliant performances, but I have to admit the ones that are forever burned into my memory are those with Maria Callas. I wasn't a huge fan of her voice, but on stage, she had no equal. She was absolutely mesmerizing.
I recorded My Boy, Jack when it aired on PBS and later bought the DVD. I'm sure a large library would be able to get it for you. It was a BBC production, as I recall.
I didn't know there was an earlier version of The Lady in Black. As soon as I post this comment, I'm heading to Netflix to see if they have it. Thanks for mentioning it.
Another perc of living in NYC was having a friend whose husband worked for Paramount Pictures. She and I used to go to screenings (not just Paramount Pictures) very often. Talk about being spoiled! The screening room was in a skyscaper on Columbus Circle (The Gulf & Western building, I think) and it had plush, reclining seats and they fed us.
I reciprocated with theater tickets. I worked for RCA Records and since we recorded so many original cast albums, it was easy to get great seats to musicals. I worked for RCA for 20 years and could have any record albums I wanted during that time. Needless to say, we have a monstrous record collection in our house...not to mention all records and CDs I got for free because from RCA, I went to the Recorded Music Division of Reader's Digest. I got a copy of everything they released during my years there and could still get RCA product because RCA manufactured the records and CDs for RD.
Sometimes I think my husband married me for my recorded music collection. LOL
I am wowed by the thought of your collections! And I know about that screening room at Columbus Circle. I never went there but a roommate went there as a guest of someone with the privilege and she said it was awesome. No distracting lighting, no thing, just the film, as if one's brain were able to appreciate it in perfect isolation from any extraneous distraction.
You saw Maria Callas?????? I am so IMPRESSED and JEALOUS! I only have heard her on recordings. I just adore the way she sings her roles. Yes, her voice is edgey, not always a delight to hear -- but always riveting and thrilling. I have a recording of her singing La Gioconda that I never get sick of, the 'Suicidio'. It's not the same when she sings it in recital. I think I've even heard an old recording of it from Italian radio sung live. I think it's the essence of opera. As an opera maniac friend said, who introduced me to her singing this aria, "listen to the bottom, belting it out like that, and even doing 'tenor sobs'". He'd sigh, then, in absolute ecstacy. Eventually I came to see what he meant. She sang, I don't know, "full out". No marking. No hesitation. Like a warrior leaping over a wall. Yet with subtlety. What an artist. I would have LOVED to have got to see her in person. I didn't become an opera fan till it was too late. I saw Pavarotti and Sutherland and Scotto and Domingo and that generation, who overlapped with her, but not Callas herself.
But I didn't pay anything like those prices for it ("used, very good"), and it was only in the spring! It was certainly less than 20 dollars or I wouldn't have bought it.
We really need to start thinking about what to do with them. I need to find a collector of LPs who'd like to have 3,000+ records of all types of music. That isn't going to be easy.
Yes, the screening room was exactly as you described it.
I saw Callas in Tosca twice at the Met right after I went to NYC, once with Franco Corelli and again with Richard Tucker. I remember there was a huge line of people hoping to get standing room tickets (thankfully, I wasn't one of them) and Corelli and his wife were passing out coffee and donuts to the people in appreciation for their devotion. That made me laugh because did he honestly think they were there to see him??? LOL
I would have dearly loved to see her in Medea and Norma but she only performed them at the Chicago Lyric Opera.
I have several opera recordings she's on and La Gioconda is one of them, along with Tosca, Norma, Medea, Turandot, a mind-blowing recording of Carmen and probably some others I can't think of at the moment. The record collection is on another floor and the other side of the house. She recorded almost entirely for EMI/Angel, so I had to actually buy those LPS. I know...poor me. LOL
I have an album of her doing all coloratura arias very early in her career. They didn't sound easy for her--she was much more of a dramatic soprano--but she managed.
I never saw Joan Sutherland and I'd have loved to. I didn't care for Renata Scotto. She had a vibrato like a tommy gun and I found it unpleasant. My husband does a hilarious imitation of her.
Thanks for the info on The Lady in Black. I'll check it out.
Yes, Gramercy Park is good for walking to Time's Square. Just have to watch out for King Kong tramping through. :) I could actually walk to Time's Square, and I did so in the evening or daytime, but I didn't like the walk late at night. Kind of creepy. I generally went to all these shows and concerts by myself, or it wouldn't have been intimidating. But to walk back from Time's Square late, even take the subway, seemed less than appealing. :)
No, I haven't seen My Boy, Jack. I should look and see if a library system that associates with ours has got it; it's been out for a while now and he's a famous actor. As for Lady in Black, I hope it's good. Because some people on my f-list thought the BBC version made in the 80's was so great, "the scariest thing I've ever seen!", I actually bought a copy of that Lady in Black on DVD for a decent price. I still haven't watched it. Waiting for a good time. I wanted to watch it while my husband was out of town for some training. But my f-listers have said NOT to watch it in the house alone. I am afraid they have made it sound so frightening I'll be disappointed, lol!
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I did!
Now, Kiri Te Kanawa, Tatiana Troyanos, Judith Blegen and Hauge Haugland in 'Der Rosenkavalier', I could have seen that every time it played and borrowed the money to do it.
I think I saw that. I know that sounds crazy, but I had a subscription to the Met for 20 years and saw virtually every opera they mounted during that time so it's a little hazy now that I've been away from NYC for 21 years. However, I do know I've seen all those singers in Met productions.
I saw lots of brilliant performances, but I have to admit the ones that are forever burned into my memory are those with Maria Callas. I wasn't a huge fan of her voice, but on stage, she had no equal. She was absolutely mesmerizing.
I recorded My Boy, Jack when it aired on PBS and later bought the DVD. I'm sure a large library would be able to get it for you. It was a BBC production, as I recall.
I didn't know there was an earlier version of The Lady in Black. As soon as I post this comment, I'm heading to Netflix to see if they have it. Thanks for mentioning it.
Another perc of living in NYC was having a friend whose husband worked for Paramount Pictures. She and I used to go to screenings (not just Paramount Pictures) very often. Talk about being spoiled! The screening room was in a skyscaper on Columbus Circle (The Gulf & Western building, I think) and it had plush, reclining seats and they fed us.
I reciprocated with theater tickets. I worked for RCA Records and since we recorded so many original cast albums, it was easy to get great seats to musicals. I worked for RCA for 20 years and could have any record albums I wanted during that time. Needless to say, we have a monstrous record collection in our house...not to mention all records and CDs I got for free because from RCA, I went to the Recorded Music Division of Reader's Digest. I got a copy of everything they released during my years there and could still get RCA product because RCA manufactured the records and CDs for RD.
Sometimes I think my husband married me for my recorded music collection. LOL
Reply
You saw Maria Callas?????? I am so IMPRESSED and JEALOUS! I only have heard her on recordings. I just adore the way she sings her roles. Yes, her voice is edgey, not always a delight to hear -- but always riveting and thrilling. I have a recording of her singing La Gioconda that I never get sick of, the 'Suicidio'. It's not the same when she sings it in recital. I think I've even heard an old recording of it from Italian radio sung live. I think it's the essence of opera. As an opera maniac friend said, who introduced me to her singing this aria, "listen to the bottom, belting it out like that, and even doing 'tenor sobs'". He'd sigh, then, in absolute ecstacy. Eventually I came to see what he meant. She sang, I don't know, "full out". No marking. No hesitation. Like a warrior leaping over a wall. Yet with subtlety. What an artist. I would have LOVED to have got to see her in person. I didn't become an opera fan till it was too late. I saw Pavarotti and Sutherland and Scotto and Domingo and that generation, who overlapped with her, but not Callas herself.
The Woman in Black; I bought a copy of this:
http://www.amazon.com/Woman-Black-Adrian-Rawlins/dp/B00004UEEU
But I didn't pay anything like those prices for it ("used, very good"), and it was only in the spring! It was certainly less than 20 dollars or I wouldn't have bought it.
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We really need to start thinking about what to do with them. I need to find a collector of LPs who'd like to have 3,000+ records of all types of music. That isn't going to be easy.
Yes, the screening room was exactly as you described it.
I saw Callas in Tosca twice at the Met right after I went to NYC, once with Franco Corelli and again with Richard Tucker. I remember there was a huge line of people hoping to get standing room tickets (thankfully, I wasn't one of them) and Corelli and his wife were passing out coffee and donuts to the people in appreciation for their devotion. That made me laugh because did he honestly think they were there to see him??? LOL
I would have dearly loved to see her in Medea and Norma but she only performed them at the Chicago Lyric Opera.
I have several opera recordings she's on and La Gioconda is one of them, along with Tosca, Norma, Medea, Turandot, a mind-blowing recording of Carmen and probably some others I can't think of at the moment. The record collection is on another floor and the other side of the house. She recorded almost entirely for EMI/Angel, so I had to actually buy those LPS. I know...poor me. LOL
I have an album of her doing all coloratura arias very early in her career. They didn't sound easy for her--she was much more of a dramatic soprano--but she managed.
I never saw Joan Sutherland and I'd have loved to. I didn't care for Renata Scotto. She had a vibrato like a tommy gun and I found it unpleasant. My husband does a hilarious imitation of her.
Thanks for the info on The Lady in Black. I'll check it out.
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