Operavision

Needless to say, I adore Youtube.

Where else could you get this treasure chest of opera glories new and old. When I first started viewing they had precious little of Claudia Muzio, a particular favorite of mine. I MADE several videos in her honor and here they are. Also some I made in tribute to my father, who is amazing, and also to the opera “Zaza” which I fell particularly in love with and brought back to New York in the winter of 2005 to great success, I am boldly unashamed to say. So my attempt at being a movie maker! Cecilia B. De Mill-o! All of these are copyrighted, personally owned, all descriptions and tributes in word are mine. Enjoy.

This divine interpreter lends this voice of tears and sighs to the songs of Donaudy, “O del mio amato ben” and B. Crist’s charming French “C’est mon ami” Muzio can become an addiction.

La Muzio revels in this glorious final act of Verdi’s great masterpiece, “La Traviata”.

This role has been sung well by many great stars, but here for me is one of the greatest and most haunting readings of this recitative and aria you will ever hear.

In a total concentration of talent and pure magic, Muzio so identifies with the doomed courtesan that she becomes her in the kind of performance that transcends the medium.

Not just notes, but pieces of herself that are breaking off as melodious fragments of a life and soul coming to an end. A sick and breathless quality to the famous reading of the letter hauntingly confirms from the very beginning the nearness of death and hopelessness and as we are taken deeper into her world coming to a end, the heartbreak is almost unbearable.

Exactly what Verdi begged for in his genius melodies and text, a living emotion in sound and words. Muzio is a vivid example of a type of expression that used to be demanded of singers….
the orchestra becomes an extension of her and not just music, she uses the entire piece to weave a spell transporting us all to this final moment in a life ultimately trasnfigured by the power of love.

This one could scar you for life!

This is a tribute to one of the greatest voices of all time.
Claudia Muzio 1889-1936

An expressive and magnificent artist, who has it all.

Famed Italian tenor Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, in his incredible books about music and philosophy , specifically in his book about the singers of his day,
“Le voci parallele” spoke about Muzio and describes Muzio’s sound as a voice full of “tears and sighs”- she has long been an example of what opera can be about when it is not just someone singing notes of music, but using them to convey the deepest emotions of not just the singer, but all of us., My mother introduced me to her, yet another thing to thank her for….. I love this voice so much, I grew up listening to and being moved by this great artist, her life and her music.

This selection is a melody written by her great friend and admirer, Lincinio Refice (1885-1954), a priest that wrote many pieces for Muzio, one most famously being his sacred opera “Cecilia”, and this little beauty.

He wanted someone with God in their throat……..
He found it!
Enjoy!!
Frankly, anyone hearing her is never going to be the same.

No copyright infringement intended. Private video of mine made by me in tribute.

This excerpt is a beautiful Brahms song, the fifth of five songs for piano and voice, Op.71/5, “Minnelied” “Holder klingt der Vogelsang”.

Replete with beautiful legato and a “singing” quality through the phrases.

Bravo, Papa.

An excerpt from a recording made in New York in the early 1950’s.

Millo sang for several successful seasons at the NYCO under his father’s name, Hamill. DeSabata heard him shortly after this disc, and made him his protege’e. A voice of great power and beauty, it filled my childhood with golden tenorial splendor.
Bravo, Papa!

I include this emotional excerpt from this splendid opera to allow more people to become familiar with it and in loving tribute to the memory of the wonderful and wise Maestro Silipigni with whom I shared the honor of bringing this piece to New York once again in November of 2005.

Teatro Grattacielo, a meticulous and very informed group led by the marvelous Duane Printz gathered a great cast, with the tenor, Gerard Powers featured here.

This is the last act and the final section of the duet between Milios and Zaza’, where Zaza’ has told him she knows of his betrayal and that he is a married man with a child that she met when she visited his wife!!

He unravels of course at the news and she suffers his insults which bring her closer than she wanted to the awful truth that she was only a “distraction” for him nothing more.

She ultimately tells him that she didn’t reveal anything of his treachery, and summoning some shread of dignity she says he must leave and never return.

Having sent him away she realizes that her dream of a family of her own with a man she loved so desperately would never be.

She panics. “What have I done?” and runs to the window to call him back. With her face against the window pane she sees that he is on the street where she always waved to him as he came, and that he. is. not. looking. back. He turns the corner…It is over.

The scene ends in the heartbreaking sounds of a woman whose dreams and hopes are shattered and lying in pieces at her feet.

Enjoy the unabashed emotion of the world of verismo and revel in this little hint of a great opera too long neglected.

I have used for images some magnificent works of the sculptor Auguste Rodin, pieces I adore. No copyright infringement is intended. With every respect due to all. The description of the opera is copyrighted and is written by me. {c} 2005