GREAT PERFORMANCES: LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER {DAME JOAN SUTHERLAND, MARILYN HORNE, AND LUCIANO PAVAROTTI IN CONCERT} {TAPE 1 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
Tape one of two. One in this series on the performing arts. In this installment -- one in a series of live broadcasts from the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City -- three operatic luminaries collaborate on the concert stage. Soprano Dame Joan Sutherland, mezzo soprano Marilyn Horne, and tenor Luciano Pavarotti sing separately and together, accompanied by the New York City Opera Orchestra under the director of Australian concert master Richard Bonynge, Sutherland's husband. The program begins with the Act IV trio from Verdi's Ernani, in which Horne has an opportunity to show off her lower register by singing the bass part of Silva. Next, Pavarotti pleases the audience with "Che Gelida Manina" from the first act of Puccini's "La Bohme"; announcer Martin Bookspan explains that the part of Rodolfo in this opera proved the tenor's "calling card" when he was first introduced to American audiences. The first portion of the program concludes with two scenes from Bellini's "Norma." Sutherland and Horne collaborate on the duet in which Norma and Adalgisa both reveal their love for Pollione, after which Pavarotti in the role of Pollione joins them for the emotional trio that concludes the first act. During the intermission that follows, viewers watch an informal discussion taped a few days earlier in which the four principals discuss the long-standing but perhaps endangered singing style known as bel canto. Bonynge begins with a brief history of the tradition, which he argues reached its height in the early nineteenth century. With the help of the three singers, the conductor illustrates a couple of bel canto's hallmarks -- a seamless transition through the break in a singer's voice and the art of legato performance. After a brief digression in which the singers touch on their earliest training in music, the three provide examples of the colorful tricks characteristic of bel canto. When the concert resumes, the singers perform the trio from Act IV of Ponchielli's "La Gioconda," "La Barca S'Avvicina," after which Horne and Pavarotti sing the love duet from Act II of the same opera; the audience applauds enthusiastically when the pair kiss at its finish. This tape concludes in the middle of the aria "Tu del Mio Carlo" from Verdi's "I Masnadieri," sung by Sutherland. Continues with T:68691.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by The Edward John Noble Foundation.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: March 23, 1981 Monday 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:32:22
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:68690
- GENRE: Music
- SUBJECT HEADING: Operas - Excerpts
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1976-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- John Goberman … Producer
- Richard Baker … Associate Producer
- Albert Irizarry … Production (Misc.), Production Manager
- Peter Rosen Productions, Inc. … Production (Misc.), Pre-Recorded Intermission Feature by
- Kirk Browning … Director
- Alan Skog … Direction (Misc.), Associate Director
- Rizz Augugliaro … Direction (Misc.), Technical Director
- Tony Clark … Writer
- Vincenzo Bellini … Composer
- Amilcare Ponchielli … Composer
- Giacomo Puccini … Composer
- Giuseppe Verdi … Composer
- Richard Bonynge … Conductor, Music Director
- New York City Opera Orchestra, The … Symphony Orchestra
- Marilyn Horne … Singer
- Luciano Pavarotti … Singer
- Joan Sutherland … Singer
- Martin Bookspan … Announcer