Verdi,Puccini,Gounod - Great Stars of Opera,Vol 3 - Moffo,Nilson,Tucker

Verdi,Puccini,Gounod - Great Stars of Opera,Vol 3 - Moffo,Nilson,Tucker

  • $34.99

The DVD is featured by original recording of the opera and NOT digitally re-mastered

For nearly a decade, the bell telephone hour, guided by producer Henry Jaffe, set the standard for the presentation of classical culture on mainstream television. The series, which ran from January of 1959 through April of 1968, featured performers from many areas of the arts, mixed together in true variety fashion. Unlike other contemporary variety shows, however, the Bell Telephone Hour did not treat the operatic segments as merely a "civic duty" — rather, they were given lavish attention. Operatic arias and scenes were permitted to run their full length, without the usual cutting and trimming; staging, costumes, and sets were on the level of a first-class opera company; and the photography and lighting effects often displayed a creativity rivaling film production. In addition to rewarding the viewers, these factors also had an effect on the singers, who generally appear more comfortable than in their other television performances of the period.
The unifying musical force behind the series was conductor Donald Voorhees (1903-1989). Voorhees had been music director of the Bell Telephone Hour from the time of its debut as a radio program in 1940 and continued in that capacity until the last telecast in 1968. The show's theme music, aptly titled "The Bell Waltz," was composed by Voorhees; it is retained in this collection for the opening and closing credits.
Aside from its artistic achievements, the Bell Telephone Hour holds a distinction in the technical realm. It is one of earliest series telecast in color and preserved in color. The programs from its first season (the series premiered on January 12, 1959) are among the very earliest extant color telecasts. Special thanks go to Bill Di Cicco and the team at Research Video in North Hollywood for their painstaking efforts to obtain the best quality from the original tape and film sources.
Here, then, is a collection of performances by the most celebrated opera stars of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Thanks to the Bell Telephone Hour's high production values, these performances retain an immediacy and vitality that vividly recall the glory of an operatic Golden Age.

GREAT STARS OF OPERA, VOL.3
Chapter Selections ~
1. Opening Credits

VICTORIA DE LOS ANGELES
& BRIAN SULLIVAN telecast 2,12/60
2. La Boheme (Puccini) O soave fanciulla

JAMES McCRACKEN

& ROBERT MERRILL telecast 4/7 64
3.-6. Otello (Verdi) Introduction;
Vanne!... Credo in un Dio crudel;
Desdemona rea!... Ora e per sempre, addio;
Sangue! Sangue!... Si, pel ciel!

BIRGIT NILSSON / telecast 1/1/67
7. La Forza del Destino (Verdi) Pace, pace,
mio Dio!
8. Tosca (Puccini) Vissi d'arte

PHYLLIS CURTIN, NICOLAI GEDDA, & JEROME HINES / telecast 1968
9. Faust (Gounod) Final Scene: Va-t'en! - Le jour va luire... Mon coeur est penetre d'epouvante!... Alerte. alerte!... Anges purs!

ROBERTA PETERS / telecast 9/24/62
10. II Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) Una
voce poco fa

GABRIELLA TUCCI & RICHARD TUCKER / telecast 4/10/66
11. Madama Butterfly (Puccini) Love Duet ANNA MOFFO & SANDOR KONYA / telecast 9/22/67
12. Romeo et Juliette (Gounod) Balcony
Scene: Helas' Moi, le hair

PHYLLIS CURTIN, NICOLAI GEDDA, MILDRED MILLER, CHARLES ANTHONY, & JEROME HINES
telecast 1968
13. Die Meistersinger (Wagner) Quintet:
Selig wie die Sonne

RICHARD TUCKER & LUCINE AMARA telecast 1 5'65
14. Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) Finale:
Pagliacio! Pagliaccio! - No, Pagliaccio non son

BIRGIT NILSSON / telecast 4/11/63
15. Im Prater bluh'n wieder die Baume! (Stolz)
16. Wien, du Stadt meiner Traume (Sieczynski)
ANNA MOFFO & RICHARD TUCKER telecast 9/29/61
17-19. La Boheme (Puccini) Act I Finale: Che gehda manina; Si, mi chiamano Mimi; O soave fanciulla

REGINE CRESPIN & SANDOR KONYA 20.-21. Tosca (Puccini) E lucevan le stelle, Amaro sol per te /telecast 2/16/65

PATRICE MUNSEL & BRIAN SULLIVAN with WALTER CASSEL (Rance) and EDMOND KARLSRUD (Sonora) 22. La Fanciulla del West (Puccini) Final Scene (Sung in English) telecast 10/23/59

JAN PEERCE & GIANNA D'ANGELO
telecast 10/13/61
23-24. Rigoletto (Verdi) Sognando o vigile... E il sol dell 'anima... Addio, addio; Gualtier Malde!... Caro nome

BIRGIT NILSSON telecast 3/31/61
25. Messiah (Handel) Come unto Him
26. Stabat Mater (Rossini) Inflammatus
Bonus Selection:

NICOLAI GEDDA & LISA DELLA CASA telecast 10/22/63
Faust (Gounod) Prison Scene Duet*
Bell Telephone Hour Orchestra & Chorus DONALD VOORHEES, conductor

* Note The Faust bonus selection is taken from a longer version of the Finale to the opera It is excerpted because the performer singing the role of Mephistopheles declined to grant permission for his portions of the scene to be issued

Bonus: Lisa Della Casa & Nicolai Gedda in the Prison Scene Duet from "Faust" (1963)

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