Word: destinn
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...that I know it thoroughly." Puccini, of course, knew no more about the American West than he knew about Japan when he wrote Madama Butterfly. But operagoers in 1910, when Fanciulla had its premiere at the Met, were no fussier than televiewers are today: with Caruso and Emmy Destinn in the leads, the premiere tied up traffic for hours near the opera house. The delighted Puccini celebrated by buying a $3,000 speedboat and naming it the Minnie. Neither the Minnie nor the opera enjoyed clear sailing: the speedboat had a collision on an Italian lake and almost sank...
...method of recording tended to blur the percussive piano sound. But Rachmaninoff's glittering technique is there, and so is a remarkable and ornate cadenza that is preserved in no other performance. The album's most fascinating track is a 1911 recording of the magnificent Soprano Emmy Destinn in a soaring performance of the Suicidio from La Gioconda...