Hello! Finally I succeeded in getting through to the board. For many hours there was no access, and the same happened (and perhaps might still be happening) to some others. So, donīt lose patience, it will work again!

Thank you, Eugene, for posting these funny quotes. Yes, the good old RW is always a subject of interest!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have two birthday boys today: Richard Tauber and Jan Kiepura. As you all know they were contemporaries, and once met to play in a (Polish?) film together, unfortunately it was never released. Here comes a picture:

Thanks for that clip, I had never seen it before. Lauri-Volpi at age 80 sounded better than most tenors at half that age. What a great technique! What would Lanza have sounded like at 80? For a number of reasons I do not think it would have been at the level Lauri-Volpi achieved at that age. Then again, if Mario had maintained his rather limited singing schedule throughout his life, he would end up using his voice about 20% as much as Lauri-Volpi did in the same time frame. That kind of limited use would preserve a voice much better into old age. Of course, we'll never know.

I do not know if this has been posted before but it bears re-watching.

Here’s Giacomo Lauri Volpi at 80 singing Nessun Dorma. Some did not believe what they saw and heard. Would Mario have sounded just as forceful had he reached 80?

Sound quality is not that great in the first clip. The audience went wild and drowned the dying note. Their reaction caused him to stumble sideway somewhat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WjURfDzeys&feature=related

Here’s the same clip with superior sound but it’s un-sync’d.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsW_2AYQ9z4

Wonders will never cease.

Best wishes to all.

The birth of the twin-CD is so laborious/taxing that one could envy an expectant mother's 9-month "indisposition". Pray that we see some light at the end of the month/tunnel.

Dear Gabi: Eduard Hanslick, the noted 19th century music critic who hated RW like poison while worshipping at the feet of Beethoven/Brahms had this to say about his nemesis, who used him as a model for "Die Miestersinger":

“The Prelude to ‘Tristan and Isolde’ reminds me of the old Italian painting of a martyr whose intestines are slowly unwound from his body on a reel.”

On a lighter note, Rossini was discovered in his study looking over the score of T&I and remarked to his visitor that he marveled at RW’s expression and power of invention. On seeing the guest’s astonishment to find that he was holding the score upside-down, GR inverted it and said after a glance: ‘Alas, now I cannot make head or tail of it!’

The last word on the matter remains with GR, who asked another whether he knew what RW’s music sounded like and proceeded to open the piano and sit heavily on the keys, exclaiming ‘There! that’s the music of the future.”

("The Book of Musical Anecdotes" by Norman Lebrecht.)

Back to Mario Lanza.

Dear Gary: I was very happy to see a clip of Nelson Eddy singing “Love Serenade” (Drigo’s Serenade, in Italian) from the film “Let Freedom Ring”. Some kind soul posted the lyrics to this English rendition on the Forum many years ago. I was surprised to note that while ML tended to agitate his brows while singing, NE could not keep his shoulders still. Now if only ML had sung this piece in English (or didn’t he?), the way he would caress the words would put many a lady in a deadly swoon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JanqcJLaUDI

Best regards to all on-board and looking in.

If the reports of Wagner's mammoth conceit and high opinion of himself were accurate, then maybe his comment could be construed instead to mean that Wagner regarded himself as an authority on chess.

Here is a link to a performance by a remarkable young singer. The face of her accompanist is vaguely familiar; he made a few films with Bob Hope.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjCGnj6bY1g&NR=1

Itīs almost incredible, but Wagner had a sense of humour. There is an authentic episode about the first world chess champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, a contemporary and ardent adorer of Richard Wagner.

Once he played in the Vienna chess club some free games with an unknown who finally left the place with the remark he would go to Bayreuth the next day, because as a cellist he had to perform in the festival orchestra. Steinitz was enthralled. "Oh, you will meet the Maestro", he called, "please tell him that I, the world chess champion, consider him to be the greatest of all, greater than Mozart and Beethoven, I adore his music, it is the absolute summit of art!" Some weeks later the cellist showed up again in the chess club. "Did you see the maestro?" asked Steinitz. The cellist nodded his head. "And did you tell him my words?" "Yes", said the cellist, "and Wagner said, your Steinitz most likely has an understanding of music like I have of chess."

How terrible to deprive the Forumites of knowing how the matter ends, if it ever does. That would be almost as sad a lack as for a Wagner follower having to witness the eventual ending of one of the master's musical marathons.

Because, as you can easily see, we all have fun with this.

What I can't understand about the entire Fred D. CD saga is why Matt Minzer insists on asking the tardy Mr. "Day" for these discs in what is essentially a public arena. Surely this is a private matter? If he thinks that by shaming the man, he'll get his discs faster, then obviously that strategy hasn't worked. Why doesn't Mr. Minzer just email the man instead and spare this forum from the inevitable string of broken promises?

As a supplier of recorded material, Fred certainly has a lot of promise.

Edited by author 05-14-2008 10:41 PM

Hang in there Matt..just pick a season..and the cd's will arrive!!

Edited by author 05-14-2008 09:10 PM
That seems to be a very optimistic forecast, Dennis. The matter of the CDs in preparation has been a long running, recurring and favourite thread here, approaching saga status. There is surely enough material for a latter day Wagner to set the correspondence to appropriate music.

To Dennis:
 If you E-mail me your full name and address at my personal E-mail address:
MMINZER@aol.com
I will send you some new operatic professional C.D.'s as a gift. Where in the world is your retirement villa?
Sincerely,
Matt Minzer in SE Florida.

Thank you Fred!
Upon receipt, I will mail you some operatic prizes. I just returned from NYC but didn't see any opera but rather a Broadway play called "The Country Girl" with Morgan Freeman and two other greats. (Including the female lead from "Fargo") We sat near the stage and the experience was memorable.
I will E-mail you when the Corelli C.D.'s arrive.
Your opera friend
Matt Minzer back in SE Florida.

Thank you Fred!
Upon receipt, I will mail you some operatic prizes. I just returned from NYC but didn't see any opera but rather a Broadway play called "The Country Girl" with Morgan Freeman and two other greats. (Including the female lead from "Fargo") We sat near the stage and the experience was memorable.
I will E-mail you when the Corelli C.D.'s arrive.
Your opera friend
Matt Minzer abck in SE Florida.

Edited by author 05-14-2008 08:35 PM
Imagined conversation of the future:

Matt Minzer: Fred, I’m having the nurse at my retirement villa make this communication. As the 20th anniversary of Corelli’s death approaches, do you suppose I might receive that long-awaited recording?

Fred Day: With all the format changes from CD to DVD to ViD to EDD to SAD over the years, I am trying to keep up with the transferring. Enjoyed talking to you at Mario Lanza’s 100th birthday party. The recordings should be finished and on their way to you by the end of the month.