Republicrat74's channel

To my ear Castonovo compares favorably to the version recorded by the great Fritz Wunderlich.....particularly when you consider this is a live concert perfomance.

A most beautiful song (aria) which is a big hit in any concert she performs. I love it!

I've been a fan of Gheorghiu since the early '90s and it is great to see her still singing gloriously and looking well as she approaches 50. I had the pleasure of seeing Angela with her husband singing Romeo and Juliet at the Lyric in Chicago......magnificent!

IMO this is the very best Carmina Burana available on You Tube....and you can hear all of it here! Most remarkable is that the chorus has committed the entire score to memory....and the soloists are wonderful too!

This was one of my favorite Crooks recordings! At one time in 1950-51 I had over 40 of his RCA 78's, culled from the "Used" section which large record shops featured in Chicago after LP's became the rage. Only Bjorling sings it better IMO!

Magnificent sound, and captures the spirit of the slovanic Liturgical tradition so well!!

My mother's stepfather had been a cadet in the Czar's cavalry around 1908, was severely injured in an accident and later discharged...came to the U.S. before WWI. When he died in the late 1960's my brother and I sang the traditional Old Slovanic hymns for the dead at his wake.

It's great to hear them again....Louis was a real clown on stage but also a great musician, and Keely's deadpan while performing was endearing. I loved their television show.

@Glenmed What amazes me most is the delicacy with which she attacks the top notes, instead of just belting them out.....and what she does at 3:25 iwith that emotional crescendo is truly magical!

This recording was Number One on the Pop Charts in Chicago, where I first heard it on the radio. It was one of the first records I bought when my parents invested in a Philco Console with record player in 1947.

What movie was this from? I've always loved the voice of Jan Peerce and Ms. Peters too!

I had the good fortune to see Nilsson as Turandot, with de Stefano as Calaf at the Lyric in Chicago in either 1960 or 61....don't recall who performed Liu. There are several roles which suited di Stefano's voice well but from my experience Calaf was not one of them. I was sitting in the 7th row...

@Republicrat74 Ooops.....NOT Claudio Abbado but rather Seijii Osawa. Check it out....it's fantastic!

She is still so radiantly beautiful at age 35 in this excellent film of the Opera, and has aged far more elegantly than most throughout her great career.

I'd not seen these videos before....how fresh and lovely she was in her early 20's, and the voice is already there! I had the opportunity to see her and Alagna live at the Lyric in Chicago doing Romeo and Juliet. It was magnificent, and I can't imagine anyone doing it better. Some folks don't ...

@giancarloguerrero I saw De Stefano in Turandot at the Lyric Opera in Chicago in 1961, opposite Birgit Nillson, with seats up front on the right aisle so I could see him clearly....red in the face and obviously straining to keep up with Nillson and the Orchestra in their final duet.....felt sorr...

Crooks, Excellent...Chorus Unfortunate!! For another great version check out Jussi Bjorling's version of O Holy Night in Swedish.

The early Caruso was indeed a Lyric Tenor, and displays at the end of this recording his magnificent "half-voice". The old mechanical recordings of Caruso's time cannot do justice to the nuances of voice production he was capable of.

A truly magnificent Lyric Tenor voice!

In 1950 I was working part time near a large Chicago Record Shop which had listening booths and lots of used classical 78 rpm records. This is where I discovered Richard Crooks and ended up with a sizable collection. He sang several lead roles at the Metropolitan Opera in the 1930's and perform...

@SHICOFF1 I heard him in Chicago also, circa 1952, in concert at Orchestra Hall, and enjoyed his performance immensely. He was panned unmercifully by the Tribune Music Critic (can't recall her name) who noted "....although his countrymen in the balcony shouted applauded enthusiastically". He ha...

I enjoyed the music. Does anyone know what that was from??

@joewm1972 Gould's ecentrcity was/is legendary and in spite of it all, including how he preferred to sit at the piano, what is truly important is his unique interpretation of the music....the emotional reaction it evokes from the listener.

@taddyd1 I agree, and have loved this version the first time I heard it in the early 1960's. No one does it better!