JEROME HINES SINGS - MEPHISTOFELE ARIA 1963

[piasecznik]

Nothing against Mr. Hines, but listening to this I really start to realize how much more genuinely diabolic Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele opera is. This is children's play compared to Boito, no matter who the singer is.

[arpeggio1358]

@piasecznik I agree. I've always preferred the Boito too...much more diabolical and satisfying dramatically.

[stevevandien]

Good heavens, was there really a time in which great opera singers could be heard regularly on commercial TV and be taken seriously? That's a rhetorical question:). I remember the "Bell Telephone Hour," although I was very young (born in 1959). AND my parents received the "Firestone Christmas Albums" each year. Between these and the "Bell Hour," I developed a love for operatic singing that remains powerful some 40-plus years later:) --