# Basso Cantante Ezio Pinza and Mezzo Blanche Thebom-Bell Telephone Hour 1947



## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

I stumbled across this wonderful 17-minute clip first thing this morning. Conductor Donald Voorhees first directs the orchestra in a bit of the overture to Smetana's _The Bartered Bride,_ and then Ezio Pinza shows up, the orchestra takes a break and Voorhees and Pinza run through bits of Tosti's "L'ultima canzone" at the piano.

Then Blanche Thebom, a wonderful mezzo with whom I share a personal connection (she recommended me through my voice teacher to perform in _Cosí Fan Tutte_ for an ailing Guglielmo; amazing how fast he recovered!), sings some bits of "Amour viens aider ma faiblesse" from _Samson et Dalila,_ displaying a wonderful chest voice. Then Pinza joins her and they sing, effortlessly and in total agreement on phrasing and dynamics and acting, through "La ci darem la mano" from _Don Giovanni._

Finally, Pinza sings a French aria, "Le Cor," (The Horn) by Ange Flégier, an aria I was unfamiliar with, but centering around low A to high D before Pinza sinks to a wonderful low D at the end.

I was struck by how matter-of-factly these great musicians make wonderful, effortless music and how there is a live captive audience eager to hear them on TV. The voices are fantastic, there is no air of prima donna around, and they just get on with being professional musicians. Both their Italian and French sound impeccable to my ears. I miss this. It seems like so many of today's artists are so preplanned, canned, half as talented and twice as precious as these old-time artists. Anyway. I hope you enjoy this, and greetings this morning from snowy Virginia.






Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

What a treasure. Thank you George.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

A delight. Both singers were first-class, and Pinza more than that. He was _the_ Don Giovanni of his generation - sexy, charismatic, and vocally stupendous - and Met audiences were blessed with his presence for 22 seasons. My grandfather introduced me to him through a record of Mozart and Verdi arias, and I still find him unmatched in that repertoire.

It was lovely to hear Blanche Thebom in something besides _Tristan und Isolde_, where she's the fine Brangaene opposite Flagstad in the 1952 Furtwangler recording. I'm not aware that she made any other commercial recordings.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Thebom recorded an Aida as Amneris opposite Antonietta Stella, Kurt Baum (the tenor that Callas shut down in the same role in the famous Mexico City cage match), and George London. I haven't heard the CD but it's on Amazon (Myto label).

She also sings Dido in Les Troyens opposite Jon Vickers on the Testament label, Rafael Kubelik and Covent Garden.

Kind regards,

George


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

*Blanche Thebom Sings "Voce di Donna" from La Gioconda*

I couldn't resist posting this one after hearing it. The high note is a bit sour for my taste, but there is nonetheless some ravishing singing in this 1951 recording.






Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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