Mercoledi Musicale

Along the Tevere looking towards Ponte di Sant' Angelo and San Pietro.  The river seems very high but the foliage is glorious and I am homesick.

I was planning to get over to Roma this month but the best planned lays of mice and men oft go astray. A few things have got in the way and I may have to forgo the joy of seeing my friends there for a few more months. For some reason this song from On the Town seemed an appropriate way to express my disappointment.

Eileen Farrell was one of those singers who could truly manage cross-over.  Though she did appear on the stages of several American opera house - including several seasons at the Met - she was better known for her concert appearances.  Her opera repertoire roles from Gluck's Alceste to Berg's Wozzeck and in concerts she was known for her wide ranging repertoire - she could spin a fine thread of sound - her breath control was incredible - in Debussy and get down and gutsy with the blues.

The accompanist is, of course, Leonard Bernstein the composer of On the Town.  I only saw him conduct once - the 1964 Falstaff at the old Met and I can't say I am as enamoured of Bernstein as many of my generation are/were.  Unusually for him, in this video, he allows the spotlight to shine almost exclusively on Farrell.

To Walter, Robert, Linda, Gayle, Diana, Marco, Larry, Vincenzo, Anna, Peter, Joe, Mark, Carol Ann, Craig, Jolka and all my dear friends in Roma:

But let's be glad for what we've had
And what's to come.
There's so much more embracing
Still to be done, but time is racing.
Oh, well, we'll catch up
Some other time.

lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green

music by Leonard Bernstein

24 October - 1901: Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.