Cesare Siepi – Ella giammi m’amo-Don Carlo -1970
January 25, 2010I like the line that starts at 1:10. And at 2:26, punctuated by those oboe grace notes. The music in 3:22 starts to build more momentum. It’s really nice because it culminates in an ascending line that starts around 3:39. The music drops out from under him at 3;46, then it begins again from nothing. Then there is this awesome little spiraling triplet cello figure that comes in at 3:55. A cello solo at 4:20 leads back into the music from 2:26. There’s a tiny little bit of violin tremelo at 5:33 that gives that line a momentary celestial quality. That effect creates a nice lightness. It’s a little transparent, like light coming through a tree-branch that is moving in the wind. This creates a steep contrast to the lavishness of Siepi’s fully opaque sound.
For me and for so many others that joined standing room at the old Met in the mid-fifties Seipi set the mold for Bass performances. Seeing the man in live performance was an absolute joy!
One of those performances was a Don Carlo in March 1957. It was the night of Irene Dalis’s debut as Eboli. In the cast was Jussi Bjorling, Delia Rigal,and Ettore Bastianini. Not too tacky! A wonderful performance and not a pirate in the house!
Ed, you have some explaining to do.