by Peter Cates Verdi Rigoletto Walter Goehr conducting the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Chorus and soloists; The Opera Society, Inc.; M111-OP9; 2 ten-inch lps, recorded early-to-mid ‘50s. Verdi’s Rigoletto, along with Aida, and La Traviata, are arguably his three most popular operas. It is also the only opera I have seen in any Met productions, once […]
by Peter Cates Grenville Mellen Biddeford poet Grenville Mellen (June 19, 1799- September 5, 1841) was the son of Prentiss Mellen (1764-1840), Maine’s first Chief Justice of its Supreme Court from 1820 to 1834. The son was admitted to the bar after reading law with his father, got married and settled in North Yarmouth, setting […]
by Peter Cates Felix Weingartner Felix Weingartner (1863-1942) was the first conductor to record all nine Beethoven Symphonies, and the four Brahms. He was friends with Liszt, Wagner and Brahms; was music director of the Vienna Philharmonic for over 20 years; composed large amounts of his own music; and taught and wrote about conducting and […]
by Peter Cates Soprano: Licia Albanese Parnassus recordings, PAR 1001, lp reissue of 78s and live arias recorded from 1936-46. Licia Albanese (1909-2014) had one of the most magnificently beautiful soprano voices ever to be heard on record and I say this as a big fan of Maria Callas, Angela Gheorghiu, Mirella Freni, Victoria de […]
by Peter Cates American Country Classics A Columbia Musical Treasury 6P 7157, six LPs, released 1980. Columbia Musical Treasury was an offshoot of the Columbia Record Club, later known as Columbia House, and it released numerous, moderately-priced record sets of best-selling artists, such as Percy Faith, Dionne Warwick, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, or musical […]
by Peter Cates Beethoven Symphony # 7 Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra; Columbia, M-557, five 12- inch 78s, Recorded 1944. Back during the 78 rpm days, lasting the first half of the 20th century, the record sides were three to five minutes in duration; when longer classical works were recorded, the scores were marked […]
by Peter Cates Edwin Arlington Robinson Towards the end of Edwin Arlington Robinson’s two years at Harvard (ones during which he took several literature courses, enjoyed them thoroughly and was happy to get Bs with no ambition for higher grades at all), the poet wrote a slightly tongue-in-cheek June 21, 1893, letter to his friend, […]
by Peter Cates Sculptor Camille Claudel (1864-1943) Camille Claudel did a bust of her younger brother, the poet, essayist and diplomat Paul Claudel (1868-1955), when he was only 16 in 1884. One is captivated by the exceptionally vivid expressive lines in her brother’s face, the emotional vulnerability she brought out in bronze and the labor […]
by Peter Cates Stanley and Macdonough O Morning Land recorded June 8, 1908; side 2, the Haydn Quartet – God Be With You Till We Meet Again, recorded June 12, 1905. Victor Record, 16399, ten-inch shellac, acoustically recorded 78. Baritone Frank Stanley (1868-1910), who died of pleurisy at the age of 41, duetted with tenor […]
by Peter Cates Philharmonic EMI, CDC 7474772, cd, recorded 1985-86. Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921) was displaying perfect pitch before he was three years old and would be a child prodigy on the piano by age five; however, his mother sensibly decided he was too young for any exposure to the rigors of public acclaim through an […]