Ghost of Sunday Classics preview: " 'Tis a dark hydra, malignant, blind"

by Ken

We tried something a few weeks back, listening just to a tiny bit of music, which turned out to be the brief orchestral prelude to Act IV of Verdi's Otello, with the (hopefully) suggestive question of what mood or moods it suggested ("How would you describe the atmosphere? Austere? Melancholy? Solitary? Foreboding?").

I have no idea whether that served any purpose, except maybe to me, but is that any reason not to try it again? Tonight we have two brief orchestral excerpts, and we start with a very brief one, which I don't think one has to be a wizard to intuit is the end -- of something. Just in case there's any doubt, three of our performances, being live, come with their own applause. And oh yes, in a moment we're going to hear what it ends.

SELECTION X


For my money, while (2) has a wonderfully snarling sense of finality, it's (5) that walks away with this -- and the conductor has a score marking ("pesante") to back up his bold choice.


IN THE ORIGINAL, THE NEXT MUSIC WE HEAR IS --

Okay, there could be, you know, an intermission in between. (Do you think I would try to trick you?)

SELECTION Y



IF YOU'RE WONDERING, I CAN TELL YOU
THAT OUR FIVE CONDUCTORS ARE --

Well, here they are in alphabetical order, which isn't necessarily our order of performance:

Sir John Barbirolli
Herbert von Karajan
Carlos Kleiber
James Levine
Sir Georg Solti


So, for example, here's SELECTION Y again


(1) National Philharmonic Orchestra, James Levine, cond. RCA-BMG, recorded August 1978
(2) Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded live in concert, April 1991
(3) New Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli, cond. EMI, recorded Aug., Oct., and Nov. 1968
(4) Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Carlos Kleiber, cond. Live performance, Dec. 7, 1976
(5) Vienna Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. Live performance from the Salzburg Festival, July 30, 1971


BEFORE WE GO ON, OR RATHER BACK, TO SELECTION X --

We need to back up even farther, to music that should now be totally recognizable, since it forms the basis of SELECTION Y. We could call it SELECTION W, except that we've previously heard a selection that comes between in and SELECTION X, so let's call it --

SELECTION V

"Temete, signor, la gelosia!"

Beware, my lord, of jealousy!
'Tis a dark hydra, malignant, blind.
It poisons itself with its own venom.
Its breast is rent by a vivid wound.

(1) Leonard Warren, baritone; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, George Szell, cond. Live performance, Nov. 16, 1946
(2) Tito Gobbi, baritone; NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo), Alberto Erede, cond. Telecast performance, recorded Feb. 4, 1959
(3) Sherrill Milnes, baritone; National Philharmonic Orchestra, James Levine, cond. RCA-BMG, recorded August 1978
(4) Leo Nucci, baritone; Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded live in concert, April 1991
(5) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone; New Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli, cond. EMI, recorded Aug, Oct., and Nov, 1968


SO NOW HERE'S SELECTION X AGAIN


(1) National Philharmonic Orchestra, James Levine, cond. RCA-BMG, recorded August 1978
(2) Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded live in concert, April 1991
(3) New Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli, cond. EMI, recorded Aug., Oct., and Nov. 1968
(4) Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Carlos Kleiber, cond. Live performance, Dec. 7, 1976
(5) Vienna Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. Live performance from the Salzburg Festival, July 30, 1971


AND HERE'S A FULLER VERSION, SECTION "X-PLUS"

You'll note that these are all live performances. (Caution: Performance (1) is kind of a shouty scramble, the sort of thing that all too easily happens in the opera house when the primary goal is to draw blood from the audience.)

Yes, by marbled heaven I swear,
by the jagged lightning flash!
By death, and by the dark
death-dealing ocean flood!
In fury and dire compulsion
shall thundebolts soon rain
from this hand that I raise outstretched.
God the avenger!

Mario del Monaco, tenor; Leonard Warren, baritone; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Fausto Cleva, cond. Live performance, Mar. 8, 1958

Luciano Pavarotti, tenor; Leo Nucci, baritone; Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded live in concert, April 1991

Plácido Domingo, tenor; Kostas Paskalis, baritone; Orchestra of the Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris, Nello Santi, cond. Live performance, July 13, 1978

[in Russian] Vladimir Atlantov, tenor; Oleg Klyonov, baritone; USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Svetlanov, cond. Recorded live in concer at the Moscow Conservatory, 1969

Jon Vickers, tenor; Peter Glossop, baritone; Vienna Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. Live performance from the Salzburg Festival, July 30, 1971


IN SUNDAY'S "GHOST OF SUNDAY CLASSICS" POST

We'll do the necessary identifying, and some connecting.

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