On Thursday, one of the great figures in the world of classical music passed away. Gian Carlo Menotti was 95.
Cedille Records is privileged to have in its catalog great performances of two of his finest works: The Medium and Missa "O Pulchritudo". Both pieces amply demonstrate the dramatic and melodic gifts that made Menotti one of the most beloved composers of our time.
I thought I should devote today’s post to describing how these recordings came about.
We had already begun planning a new project with the William Ferris Chorale featuring William Ferris’s Snowcarols for chorus and orchestra along with other Christmas-themed choral works by the Chorale’s founder when WFC Artistic and Executive Director John Vorrasi asked me to consider releasing on CD some of the vocal ensemble’s past performances. Vorrasi gave me a stack of concert recordings to listen to. The piece that immediately jumped out at me – both in terms of the strength and novelty of the composition and for the quality of the performance itself – was Gian Carlo Menotti’s Missa “O Pulchritudo” as recorded in a 1982 concert. While technically not a stage work, the Missa’s intensely dramatic vocal lines and melodic sweep recall the composer’s best operatic writing (not unlike Verdi’s Requiem). We were able to make some enhancements in the original sound of the concert recording and include on the same disc the Chorale’s equally fine performance of Louis Vierne’s under-recorded masterpiece, Messe Solinelle. For more about both pieces, you can read John Vorrasi’s post about the recording (which Cedille Records released last fall).
Although not of a live performance, our recording of Menotti’s great “ghost story” opera, The Medium, had its genesis with a staged production of the work. In 1992, Chicago Opera Theater launched a production of The Medium that included soprano Patrice Michaels (then known as Patrice Michaels Bedi) in the role of Monica, the title character’s daughter. It was a terrific production, and Ms. Michaels went on to become one of the most prolific and critically acclaimed recording artists for Cedille. So when a benefactor/investor approached me a few years later with interest in funding a Chicago Opera Theater recording of the opera, including Ms. Michaels reprising her role, I jumped at the chance. Another singer from the 1992 production who appears on the recording is Diane Ragains, in the role of Mrs. Gobineau. For various reasons, we were not able to reassemble the rest of the original cast, but we scored a major coup by getting Metropolitan and New York City Opera star Joyce Castle to sing the title role of Madame Flora. (Ms. Castle was in town to sing with Lyric Opera of Chicago when we recorded the Menotti in November 1996 for release in October 1997.) Also in the recording cast are Peter Van De Graaff, Barbara Landis, and Joanna Lind. The COT orchestra is conducted by Lawrence Rapchak.
One of the most gripping works ever written for the musical stage, The Medium is the story of a fake psychic whose surprise encounter with the unknown leads to dire consequences. The opera includes a séance with ghostly sounds and appearances staged by the Medium and her daughter. Later, when the Medium begins hearing some of the same sounds herself, all hell breaks loose. The opera is full of strange sounds and effects: a baby laughing, knocking and scratching on doors, things falling over unexpectedly, gunshots, whip cracks, the tearing down of a curtain, etc. To bring the drama to life, we mixed these sounds into the recording much the way sound effects would be included in an old-time radio drama (the opera actually originates from the “golden age” of radio). Also adding to the realism of the recording, we arrayed microphones across the stage on which we recorded (Ravinia’s Bennett-Gordon Hall) and blocked out movement with the help of COT’s then artistic director, Carl Ratner. I believe we succeeded in capturing as much as a recording can, all the eerie drama of Menotti’s masterpiece, which opened on Broadway sixty years ago and ran for 211 performances.
In commemoration of his passing, we are reducing the price on our web site for both of our Menotti CDs by 25% to $12 (The Medium) and $7.50 (Missa “O Pulchritudo”), respectively, for the next week. I hope this will give listeners a chance to discover Menotti's special talents, or at least these specific examples of his art.Posted in
