Great Historical Singers (Mirella Freni)

Mirella Freni is a retired Italian Operatic Soprano who sang professionally for 50 years.   Like Luciano Pavarotti, Freni was born into a working class family.  Freni's mother worked with Pavarotti's mother.  Freni's talent was immediately apparent at the early age of 10, when she sang the aria "Un bel di vedremo" from "Madama Butterfly" in a radio competition.  Historical tenor Beniamino Gigli heard her performance, and advised her to not sing until she was an appropriate age.     Freni made her operatic debut at the age of 19.  Her debut role was Micaela in Bizet's "Carmen."  Her international debut outside of Italy was at Glynbourne as Adina in "L'elisir d'amore." This is especially significant because the stage director was Franco Zefferelli.  Freni would go on to star in several of Zefferelli's films.  In the early 1960s Freni made her La Scala debut under the baton of Herbert Von Karajan.  Karajan loved Freni's singing, and they had a long working relationship until Freni refused the title role of "Turandot." Freni was nicknamed "the careful one."  Turning down the role of Turandot" was a wise decision, since it could have ruined her voice.  She belonged in the lighter role or Liu, which she performed to great acclaim.  There are many great recordings which demonstrate Freni and Karajan collaborating magnificently artistically.  Especially notable are her portrayals of Butterfly in "Madama Butterfly", and Desdemona in "Otello" which are both spectacular.     The voice Freni had was in one word gorgeous.  She sang from her heart through and through.  Also, based on my long distance encounter of her as a boy, she seemed to have a good heart as well.  I encountered her twenty one years a go when I was in the American Boychoir, and we were recording "Pique Dame" by Tchaikovsky.  She waved to us with a smile and in a friendly fashion.  I remember being blown away by her voice in person.  If only I had gotten to hear it a second time.     Freni has been married twice in her life.  Her second husband was the great bass Nicolai Ghiaurov.  She was married to him from 1978 until his death in 2004.  They sang together multiple times, up until when he died.  They recorded "Simon Boccanegra" under Claudio Abbado. That recording is one of the greatest of any opera recordings.  Freni recorded well into the 1990s with all of the three tenors Carreras, Pavarotti and Domingo.  Currently, Freni continues to teach and give master classes in Italy.

Great Historical Singers (Tancredi Pasero)

Tancredi Pasero was a bass who was a contemporary of the better known Ezio Pinza.  Pasero had one of the greatest bass voices of all time.  His bass was a true basso-cantante, which means singing bass in English.  A singing bass is a higher bass voice than a basso-profondo, which is a deep bass.  Pasero had a very solid top voice for a bass.  He even recorded Count Almaviva's aria "Vedro mentrio sospiro" from "Le Nozze di Figaro" complete with a solid f sharp at the end.  Any low male voice who haw studied that aria knows that the high f sharp at the end is an especially tough one.  This is especially true for a bass.  None the less, Pasero's timbre was clearly that of a bass.  Pasero's timbre was darker than Ezio Pinza's.  However they sang very similar repertoire, and both had fast vibratos in their younger years.  A successor to Pasero was Cesare Siepi, who had a similarly dark timbre, and an excellent upper range for a bass.  Pasero spent a good portion of his career singing at La Scala in Milan.  He did, however sing T the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.  As a matter of fact, he sang in a broadcast of "Don Giovanni" as Leporello with Ezio Pinza as Don Giovanni.  It is quite unfortunate that no recording survives of that broadcast.  Be that as it may, Pasero left a strong legacy of recordings.  One of his greatest is in the famous 1941 recording of "La Forza del Destino" in the role of Padre Guardano.  Pasero's singing in that recording is hard to top.  He also recorded many arias, and other operas such as "Aida", Un Ballo in Maschera",  and "Norma".  He even left some video footage.  He is featured in the video "Six Great Basses" singing the aria "La Calunia" from "Il Barbiere di Sivglia." Despite the poor sound quality one can hear the tremendous cut his voice had.  If I had to recommend one recording of Pasero, I would go with the recording of "La Forza del Destino" which I mentioned above.  This recording also features the great tenor Masini, and Verdi baritone de force Carlo Tagliabue.  Pasero's singing in this recording demonstrates his art at its finest.    Pasero's singing career lasted from 1917-1950.  He sang in many of the world's most famous opera houses.  After he ended his singing career, he devoted the rest of his life to teaching.  He died in 1983 at the age of 90.

I am teaching voice

Teaching Philosophy: In addition to being a perfomer, I am also a vocal teacher offering voice lessons for Opera & Broadway songs. Will teach in-homes NYC Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Soho, and in New Jersey. As a teacher my philosophy of teaching is to instruct in a positive manner which makes my students feel at ease during their lessons. I focus on what the student’s strengths are, and work on things that need to be addressed in a positive way. I teach students of all levels and abilities, because I sincerely believe that the purpose of taking lessons is for the enjoyment of it. Every student has a different set of goals when studying, and I am here to help them achieve those goals. What makes a good teacher is a teacher who is positive, uplifting, does not put students down, and who will make students want to keep coming back and learning more. I have learned to incoorporate those qualities into my teaching. Any time that I have gone to various teachers who teach in a positive way, I feel inspired by that teacher. It is my job to inspire students, because I want students to be turned on to music versus turned off to it. Technique: My philosophy on vocal technique is to help singers sing with there true voice. Singing needs to be genuine versus manufactured. We all must sing with our true instrument, because everyone of us is given our own unique instrument. Also, I am big on freeing voices, by helping singers breath properly, so they can use their breath versus their throats to produce sound, which results in healthy singing. Music is a wonderful gift that the world needs, so I am here to help people enjoy it. To set up lessons please contact me at nickhay32@gmail.com, or call 609-577-6773.

Great Historical Singers (Christa Ludwig)

    Christa Ludwig is a mezzo-soprano who graced the operatic and concert stages for nearly fifty years.  She was born in 1928 to two famous opera singers in Berlin.  Christa Ludwig studied with her mother for years and made her operatic debut as Prince Orlovsky in "Die Fledermaus." Ludwig's first husband was the late Austrian bass-baritone Walter Berry.  This powerful duo was featured on several great recordings. Afew of them were the recording of "Cosi fan Tutte", with Karl Bohme conducting, various Mahler songs with Leonard Bernstein at the piano, "Die Frau Ohne Schatten" with Bohme conducting, and "Blue Beard's Castle" with Kertesz conducting.  These are great recordings which show Ludwig's great range, musicality and versatility.  Christa Ludwig was a highly intelligent singer who was able to sing lieder, opera, oratorio, and even musical theatre.  She sang until she was in her mid sixties, with her final performance as Klytemnestra in "Elektra", by Richard Strauss.      My first time hearing Christa Ludwig was on Herbert Von Karajan's recording of "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss. I was blown away.  Soon after that, I received videos of "Die Walkure" and Götterdämmerung from Wagner's Ring Cycle.  These videos were made around 1990, so Ludwig was over 60 in them.  She sounds very youthful in them, because she always sang with her true instrument.  As Ludwig got older, she sang heavier roles such as Ulrica, Carmen, Mistress Quickly, and Lady Macbeth, and she did so with her true voice which had matured very naturally.  Ludwig's longevity can be attributed to the fact that she sang in a natural and lyrical manner.  I highly recommend listening to the live recording of Ludwig as Lady Macbeth in Verdi's opera "Macbeth." Her portrayal of Lady Macbeth is chilling, and sung brilliantly.  Sherill Milnes sings the title role of Macbeth in this recording, and he and Ludwig are a great combination.     I decided to write about Christa Ludwig, and introduce her to people because she was so versatile.  Above all she was a true artist.  I cannot name one recording I have heard with Ludwig in which she does not sing with conviction.  She sang convincingly in several genres, and that is impressive.  She even recorded Leonard Berstein's "Candide" with Bernstein himself conducting.  She was a great Bach soloist and lieder performer in French, German and Russian.  She was a performer to be reckoned with, when she was performing.

Great Historical Singers (Fernando Corena)

Fernando Corena was perhaps the greatest basso-buffo to ever grace this earth, because of his comic flare, great coloratura technique, and ability to sing many different types of roles. His main strength was in the real character buffo roles such as Don Bartolo in "Il Barbiere di Siviglia", Don Magnifico in "La Cenerentola",and Dr. Dulcamara in "L'elisir d'amore" to name a few. He also excelled in more noble buffo roles such as Mustafa in "L'Italiana in Algeri", and more serious roles such as Rodolfo in "La Sonambula." He was good in serious roles, but the comic roles were his real bread and butter. Stefan Zucker describes two types of buffo basses in his article "Fernando Corena" from the Belcanto Society. The "buffo nobile" (noble buffo), and "buffo caricato" (exagerrated comic or character buffo). Basso-Cantante singers often cross into "buffo nobile" parts because those parts require more lyrical and noble singing than "buffo caricato" parts. The quality of the voice in "buffo caricato" roles is not as important as it is in "buffo nobile" parts. Both types of buffo parts have pattering, but "buffo caricato" parts has more pattering and faster pattering. A great example of some quick pattering is in "Un dottor della mia sorte" from "Il Barbiere di Siviglia." Corena was an absolute master at singing that particular aria. The character who sings this aria is Don Bartolo, who is a prime example of a character buffo. Whereas, the role of Don Basilio is a "buffo nobile", because the singer has to sing with a noble sound. A lot of bassi profondi, and bassi cantanti sing Don Basilio. Fernando Corena was the quintessential character buffo. In addition, he also had a really beautiful voice which I listen to frequently. I first heard his voice when I was a senior in High School. I picked up this cd called "Ten Top Baritones and Basses 2", and heard him sing Dulcamara's monster entrance aria from "L'elisir d'amore." It is magnificent. The aria is very high, and he makes it sound easy. Buffo roles whether they are character or noble, sit very high for bass singers. Many of them actually go higher than the typical bass range of approximately low E2 to high F4. Corena was able to sing up to high G4, which is the g above middle c with good ease. Also, he was able to sing below a low E2 down to a D2. There are many recordings which represent this great artist in a great light. His cd of various arias by Mozart, Paisello, Saint-Seans, Cimarosa, Lully and Donizetti, which is available on Amazon is the best introduction to Corena that I can think of. It shows his versatlity, and also his ability to sing into old age. He is 64 years old in some of the recordings. He was a magnificent singer. There have been many fine buffo basses who followed him, but I cannot think of a true successor.

Great Historical Singers (Nicolai Ghiaurov)

Nicolai Ghiaurov had one of the most beautiful bass voices of all time.  The male voice parts are counter-tenor, tenor, baritone, bass-baritone and bass.  There are subcategories for each voice part, but those are the basic voice parts for men.  Nicolai Ghiaurov was a true bass which is rare, with a wide range and an awesome sense of line in his singing.  He was at home in Russian, French and Italian repertoire.  His portrayals of so many characters are immortal, and will remain that way.  He was also first rate in Russian song repertoire.  Ghiaurov is one of the most recorded bass singers in history, and he left many great recordings.  He sang for over forty years in the worlds major opera houses such as La Scala, Vienna State Opera, The Metropolitan Opera and many more. He was married to star soprano Mirella Freni from 1978 until his death.  He kept singing as late as 2001,  just so he could be with her according to Wayne Connor.  For a really good introduction to Ghiaurov, check out "The Singers" series released by Decca.  The cd with Ghiaurov in that series is a winner.  It features him singing repertoire in French, Italian and Russian, all with him singing at a young age. Ghiaurov was always great, but at a young age he had power, easiness at the top, and a rock steady vibrato. Among my favorites on the cd are the last two tracks, which are Gremin's Aria from "Eugene Onegin", and Aleko's Cavatina from "Aleko." Aleko is an opera that Rachmoninoff composed in his teens.  Ghiaurov was all about the musical line and phrase, and therefore a great artist. Another recording which represents the art of Nicolai Ghiaurov at his best is the double cd of Russian songs on Decca. The recordings were made in 1971 and 1974, so he is in his prime.     

Birthday Tribute To An Awesome Kiitty

 So today is my cat Leonora's birthday.  Even though she is two in human years, I have only owned her since January.  I have no knowledge of what her history was before then, but things happen for a reason.  I was about to choose a male tabby cat that I had found in Philly.  I was all set to name a male cat Wagner.  However, I had remembered searching pet finder and finding another cat of interest which was at the Petsmart in Hamilton, NJ.  Then I found this beautiful looking tuxedo Mainecoon mix. Not the other cat I was searching for.  I asked if I could meet Leonora, who was then named Hussy. The name came from my love of Leonora,s aria "Pace mio dio" from Verdi's "La Forza del destino.". Also, the name Hussy sucks. Anyway, back to my story. So, here was how our first meeting played out because it was awesome. I asked the volunteer at Res q pets if I could check out the black and white Mainecoon mix. They said sure, and then when I stuck my hand out with my wrist pointing down, she picked me.  It was fate. So, I applied, and the application was approved.  She was scared when I first took her home of course. She was very good natured in the car ride home. She literally did not let out a peep, which shocked me.  I didn't know what to expect because she is my first cat.  I thought I was going to be hissed at, which she has not done to date by the way.  She loosened up pretty quickly, and became interested in playing with her treats and the squeaky mouse toy. I put food, water and liter out, and she immediately identified me as the owner. As proof of this, she came up to my bed and chirped in the middle of the night. I am sure she was disoriented by her new surroundings.  We have had an awesome relationship.  Of course, being a diva, she has her likes and dislikes.  But, despite all that, her greetings when I come home are priceless.  Plus, she has gratitude.  I bought her a scratching post, and she came in my bed to thank me by siting right in front of me.  When Leonora meows, she has a soft voice, which is like music to my ears.  That is of course except when I try to put her in the carrier.  She is smart, and sometimes blocks the door when I try to leave.  All that being said, I write about her, and post a lot of pictures because she is simply adorable.  That, and the fact that she has really helped me.  She always gives me something joyful to come home to.  This cat had just arrived at petsmart on Hamilton when I went there, she was not on pet finder, and I was not consciously looking for her.  I think that's a cool story.  But think about how much the unexpected happens in a lot of different situations.  Life is pretty cool in that way.