Piccaver was considered by the Metropolitan, but Jeritza, his prima donna rival in Vienna, helpfully put in a bad word about him with Gatti-Casaza and he ultimately was not engaged; it probably would have helped if he had been Italian, although Piccaver reportedly had not accepted a contract G-C had offered him a decade earlier, in 1914, and so was out of favor. Thereafter, collegiality between Jeritza and Piccaver was notably absent. (What Piccaver said about her was summarized by one of his pupils as "Jeritza was insufferable.") (fr. The Record Collector, vol. XXII nos. 5-7, pp. 110, 157.) And the Met had to continue to limp along with only Gigli, Martinelli, Lauri-Volpi, Tokatyan, Chamlee, et al. Piccaver did sing with the Chicago Opera ("Chicago Civic Opera") in two seasons, 1923-1924 and 1924-1925, and was a great success with the public and critics. (The Record Collector article, pp. 113-114.) Admirers will have their own favorite Piccaver records; for my part, his Lohengrin records -- the two duets with Margarete Angerer and the final narrative and farewell -- are the supreme versions of that music.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Donald Levine" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2017 12:04 PM Subject: Re: Alfred Piccaver (was Re: What makes a satisfying singer)
> Yes, So right. Unfortunately, like everyone else, Chamlee had to work > under the shadow of the legend of Caruso. Today, he'd be a major > superstar > - the equal of anyone, including JK. The other one was Piccaver. I > believe he should have had a major career at the Met, he was an > Anglo-American after all, raised here, but ;made his career in Vienna away > from the immediate memories of Caruso whose house the Met remained for > decades. Everyone worked under the collective memories of his greatness. > > Donald > > On Mon, Nov 20, 2017 at 8:05 PM, Michael Delos <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> For a blatant imitation of Caruso's tone, you >> need look no further than Mario Chamlee. It's >> a great voice - don't get me wrong, but he clearly >> worshiped at the shrine...... Give "L'Alba Separa >> dalla Luce L'Ombra" a spin and you'll hear what I >> mean. >> >> ********************************************** >> OPERA-L on Facebook: >> http://www.facebook.com/groups/25703098721/ >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message to [log in to unmask] >> containing only the words: SIGNOFF OPERA-L >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> To stay subscribed but TURN OFF mail, send a message to >> [log in to unmask] containing only the words: SET OPERA-L >> NOMAIL >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> Modify your settings: http://listserv.bccls.org/archives/opera-l.html >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> > > ********************************************** > OPERA-L on Facebook: > http://www.facebook.com/groups/25703098721/ > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message to [log in to unmask] > containing only the words: SIGNOFF OPERA-L > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > To stay subscribed but TURN OFF mail, send a message to > [log in to unmask] containing only the words: SET OPERA-L NOMAIL > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Modify your settings: http://listserv.bccls.org/archives/opera-l.html > --------------------------------------------------------------------------
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