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vocal concert & recital
selected opera acts,
opera preludes/overtures

compilations or telecasts
starring various artists:

Connecticut Yankee (Rodgers & Hart)
starring Eddie Albert

An Old Fashioned Christmas
Bell Telephone Hour, 1959-1966

New Year’s Concert, 2011
- From the Teatro La Fenice
with Daniel Harding

New Year Concert, 2010
-From the Teatro La Fenice
with Sir John Elliot Gardner

New Year's Concert 2009
-From the Teatro La Fenice
Georges Prêtre

New Year Concert 2008
- From the Teatro La Fenice
Roberto Abbado

Mireille (Abridged)
- & Pelléas et Mélisande (Act 2)
Alarie, Simoneau, Savoie,
Chiocchio, Dulude, Harbour,
Rouleau. Danco, Savoie, Jeanotte.

Harold Arlen:
- An All-Star Tribute

Cole Porter - All Star Tribute
Ethel Merman, John Raitt,
Martha Wright, Gretchen Wyler,
Peter Nero, and Jillana

Bell Telephone Hour!
Great Stars of Opera
- Vol 1, 2 & 3

Producers' Showcase:
Festival of Music, Vol 1 & 2

Great Singers of Russia Vol 1
"Chaliapin to Reizen"
Great Singers of Russia Vol 2
"Petrov to Kazarnovskaya"

Sherrill Milnes - All-Star Gala
Domingo, Freni, Miguenes,
Milnes, Schreier

by artist last name:

Anderson, Marian
A Portrait in Music

Bergonzi, Carlo
In Concert

Britten, Benjamin
Rehearsal & Performance
with Peter Pears

Bumbry, Grace
Art of Grace Bumbry
in Concert

Caballé, Montserrat
In Concert
In Recital, plus Norma Act 1
In Recital (1983)

Cook, Barbara
Bell Telephone Appearances

Curtin, Phyllis
Cosí fan Tutte, Act 1

Del Monaco, Mario
Scenes: Carmen and Pagliacci

De Los Angeles, Victoria
Glory of Spain
with McGill Chamber Orchestra

Di Stefano, Giuseppe
La Voce del Cuore

Drake, Alfred
Kiss Me, Kate

Farrell, Eileen
American Prima Donna

Freni, Mirrela
with Cesare Siepi in Concert

Gray, Dolores
Bell Telephone Hour

Henderson, Florence
First Ladies of Broadway
Bell Telephone Hour

Horne, Marilyn
Berlioz: Les Nuits d’Été
In Recital - Milan, 1981
in Concert

Hvorostovsky, Dimitri
Songs of the Russian War Years
In Concert

Jackson, Mahalia
TV from 1957 to 1962

Janowitz, Gundula
in Recital

Jones, Gwyneth
In Concert

Jones, Shirley
First Ladies of Broadway
Bell Telephone Hour

Kraus, Alfredo
Live in Salzburg
In Recital

Larmore, Jennifer
In Performance

Lawrence, Carol
Bell Telephone Hour

London, George
A Tribute

Lenya, Lotte
Theater Songs of Brecht & Weill

Lorengar, Pilar
In Recital

May, Gisela
Theater Songs of Brecht & Weill

Martin, Mary
& Merman, Ethel
Ford's 50th Anniversary

Milnes, Sherrill
An All Star Gala

Moffo, Anna
A Tribute

Morison, Patricia
Kiss Me, Kate

Nikolaidi, Elena
In Recital

Nilsson, Birgit
Bell Telephone Hour

Oberlin, Russell
America's Legendary
Countertenor

Olivero, Magda
Songs and Arias

Pavarotti, Luciano
The 1984 Bari Recital

Pears, Peter
Britten in Rehearsal
& Performance

Price, Leontyne
Art of
Christmas With

Quilico, Louis
Concerto Italiano
A Portrait (w/ Tebaldi)

Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth
A Viennese Evening

Scotto, Renata
In Budapest

Siepi, Cesare
with Mirrela Freni in Concert

Souzay, Gérard
The Art of Vols. 1 & 2

Steber, Eleanor
Cosí fan Tutte, Act 1

Sutherland, Joan
Complete Bell Telephone
The Art of Joan Sutherland

Tebaldi, Renata
Concerto Italiano
A Portrait

Te Kanawa, Kiri
An Evening with

Vickers, Jon
Four Operatic Portraits
Vickers & Böhm
Early TV Appearances

The Impresario

Eleanor Steber (Madame Warblewell)
Jacquelynne Moody (Madame Heartmelt)
John Kuhn (The Impresario)

Orchestra conducted by Arnold Gamson
In English and German • 1961
  
  [1] Introduction & Overture
  [2] Dialogue: “I’m tossed about by my tempestuous fate” (Madame Heartmelt, Impresario)
  [3] Aria: “Da schlägt die Abschiedsstunde” (Madame Heartmelt)
  [4] Dialogue: “Apollo gave you that voice” (Impresario, Madame Heartmelt, Madame        Warblewell)
  [5] Aria: “Bester Jüngling! Mit Entzücken” (Madame Warblewell
  [6] Dialogue: “I’m charmed! I’m ravished! I’m transported” (Impresario, Madame Heartmelt,        Madame Warblewell)
  [7] Trio: “No singer can compare with me” (Madame Warblewell, Madame Heartmelt,        Impresario)
  [8] Dialogue: “Now ladies…” (Impresario, Madame Heartmelt, Madame Warblewell)
  [9] Trio: “All true artists” (Madame Warblewell, Madame Heartmelt, Impresario)

Così Fan Tutte (Scenes from Act I)

Phyllis Curtin (Fiordiligi)
Jane Hobson (Dorabella)
David Lloyd (Ferrando)
Mac Morgan (Guglielmo)
Kenneth Smith (Don Alfonso)

Orchestra conducted by Wolfgang Schauzer
Sung in English • 1956

  [11] Introduction
  [12] Trio: “To doubt Dorabella is simply absurd” (Ferrando, Guglielmo, Don Alfonso)
  [13] Recitative: Choose your weapon (Guglielmo, Don Alfonso, Ferrando)
  [14] Trio: “Woman’s fame as Faith and Constancy” (Don Alfonso, Ferrando, Guglielmo)
  [15] Recitative: “Theoretical nonsense!” (Ferrando, Guglielmo, Don Alfonso)
  [16] Trio: “I shall serenade my Goddess” (Ferrando, Guglielmo, Don Alfonso)
  [17] Duet: “See here, Dorabella” (Fiordiligi, Dorabella)
  [18] Recitative: “But, where in the world are our two sweethearts?” (Dorabella, Fiordiligi,          Don Alfonso)
  [19] Quintet: “All is over, the blow has fallen” (Guglielmo, Ferrando, Don Alfonso, Fiordiligi,          Dorabella)
  [20] Recitative: “My friends, it’s time you started” (Don Alfonso, Ferrando, Guglielmo,          Fiordiligi, Dorabella)
  [21] Quintet: “Be sure to write me daily” (Fiordiligi, Dorabella, Don Alfonso, Ferrando,          Guglielmo)
  [22] Recitative: “Are they really gone?” (Dorabella, Don Alfonso, Fiordiligi)
  [23] Trio: “May breezes blow lightly” (Fiordiligi, Dorabella, Don Alfonso)
  [24] Recitative: “I have a flair for comedy” (Don Alfonso)

These productions of Mozart’s The Impresario (1961) and scenes from Act I of the same composer’s Così fan tutte (1956) are precious mementos of an era when Opera in English opened a new frontier for American opera companies. In New York, the Metropolitan Opera increased their audience for classic operas, the New York City Opera took the lead in presenting American works, while the New York-based NBC Opera television series presented English-language productions of both old and new works from the international repertoire. Those three companies were the training-ground for the performers on this DVD, who uniformly exhibit a firm understanding of opera as theater.

The two best-known singers of the group are the esteemed American sopranos Eleanor Steber and Phyllis Curtin. Both sopranos favored a tightly focused vocal production which facilitated clear diction and dramatic thrust. Each was closely associated with and premiered works by important contemporary composers, most notably Samuel Barber (for Steber) and Carlisle Floyd (for Curtin). And they both sang Fiordiligi in the Metropolitan Opera’s landmark English-language production of Così fan tutte: Steber in the production’s premiere in 1951, and Curtin ten years later, making her company debut.