Sunday Classics

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Jon Vickers (t), Otello; Rome Opera Orchestra, Tullio Serafin, cond. RCA-BMG, recorded July-Aug. 1960by KenLeonard Bernstein had such a strong feeling for the scene of the death of Otello as depicted by Arrigo Boito and Giuseppe Verdi that, as I recall the story (maybe somebody can help me out here?

A chunk near the end of the Otello Act I duet lip-synched by Jon Vickers (Otello) and Mirella Freni (Desdemona), from the Unitel film, with Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic, including our excerpt (at 1:21)

Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti at the Met in 1987

No, this isn't the fountain of "The Siren" referred to in the stage direction, but it's a reasonable guess that the Ravenswood fountain might have been based on the Fontana della Sirena in the Piazza Sannazaro in Naples. Just imagine it on a lonely Scottish estate fallen nearly to ruins, like so --

The first page of Bellini's Norma autograph scoreBELLINI: Norma (1831): OvertureOrchestra of the Teatro alla Scala (Milan), Antonino Votto, cond. Live performance, Dec. 7, 1955Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala (Milan), Tullio Serafin, cond. EMI, recorded Nov. 5-12, 1960London Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlo Felice Cillario, cond. RCA, recorded September 1972National Philharmonic Orchestra, James Levine, cond. CBS-Sony, recorded 1979

Joan Sutherland as Violetta in Act I of La TraviataAct I of La Traviata ends with Violetta's great solo scene[in English] Valerie Masterson (s), Violetta Valéry; John Brecknock (t), Alfredo Germont; English National Opera Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, cond. EMI, recorded Aug.-Oct.

"The Piazzetta in Venice, Looking East with the Doge's Palace, the Columns of Saint Mark and Saint Theodore, the Riva degli Schiavoni and the Bacino di San Marco," oil painting by Bernardo Bellotto (1722-1780)GILBERT and SULLIVAN: The Gondoliers: Act I, Francesco, Good morrow, pretty maids . . . Antonio, For the merriest fellows are we

Monteux conducted Saint-Saëns (!) in the Schumann Concerto[from the 80th-birthday interview with Edward Kellyincluded in the set]How Monteux came to conduct the premiere of Stravinsky'sPetrushka (and later, of course, The Rite of Spring)Monteux conducts the opening of PetrushkaAs we know, he conducted the ballet's premiere with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1911. This excerpt is from the recording he made with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for RCA, Jan.