Lily Pons --- a great opera singer at all times.
MICHAEL MASCHLER
quality of the sound is not as good as one can get nowadays.
One CD that I recommend is GEMM CD9415 1990 AAD by PEARL Compact Disk Digital
Audio, UK. It contains 16 songs done by Lily Pons who was a great opera singer
at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. (Born 1898, Died 1976.) Among the
songs are arias from Rigoletto, The Magic Flute, Lucia di Lammermoor, The Doll
Song from Les contes d'Hoffman and The Bell Song from Lakmes, by Delibes. I
think that nobody before her, or after her, could sing this song.
Michael
Bill_P...@cup.portal.com
of Lily Pons and opines that no one before or after her could really
sing the Bell Song from "Lakme" - I guess what you mean is that she
was the best. That is possible; she was certainly a great star, but
I wonder if one can really make such a sweeping statement. I don't
pretend to be an authority on great singers (maybe Jon Conrad or others
could comment), but it was a role that Galli-Curci did, and (I think)
Nellie Melba, so Pons would be in some pretty heady company for the
honor of being the best in Lakme.
Bill Pearce
the cult of Carrie
i do not know how many hollywood movies Lily Pons made during her
career, perhaps someone has this information - but i have seen a
couple of them; and although both were the usual camp one might
imagine from a studio of that era who 'gets their hands' on an
opera star and wants to make a comedy....i don't think people from
the world of opera can make too big a stink about plot lines, etc.
at any rate - i thought writing a few lines would give me time to
remember the name of the movie i seem not to be able to:
it was with Henry Fonda, who played an aspiring composer. Lily Pons
plays his wife who decides to get a job so that he can write his
opera; and, as it happens, starts singing in a club; where unbeknownst
to her her and her husband have an encounter with some producer of
opera who she later takes Fonda's opera to - she sings, he hates
the 'opera' - goes nuts over her voice - she becomes an opera star.
(for movie-buffs, Eric Blore appears several times in this film (with
a seal) and has a few mildly amusing scenes; of course - if you are
a fan - just your sight will make you smile...)
anyway, at length: Lily Pons sings The Bell Song from Lakme'(?)
as it's a scene of her (the character) performing, it's set in an
opera house, etc. complete with Lily Pons in appropriate costume.
i can't offer a critique of her performance, but the sound of the
movie recording was decent.(?) - regardless, it's worth seeing!
i am sure someone will recall the title. if not, i can find out,
if interested - and this is not old hat.
nevertheless - here is someone who appreciates your CD recommendation.
Happy Days!
- Lewis
--
Une femme intelligente est une femme avec laquelle
on peut e^tre aussi b^ete que l'on veut. - P. Vale'ry.
the cult of Carrie
config
>i do not know how many hollywood movies Lily Pons made during her
>career, perhaps someone has this information - but i have seen a
>couple of them; and although both were the usual camp one might
>imagine from a studio of that era who 'gets their hands' on an
>opera star and wants to make a comedy....i don't think people from
>the world of opera can make too big a stink about plot lines, etc.
>
>at any rate - i thought writing a few lines would give me time to
Here's a thread to play with.... Opera stars in Hollywood movies.
In the 40's it was a real box-office draw to include established
stars of the Met in movies. (Heck, not just Met stars.... consider
Stokowski in "100 Men and a Girl" and Heifetz in "And they shall
have music").
How's'bout a "list of lists" on opera singers and their movies.
I'll start it off...
Rise Stevens "Going My Way"
Luciano Pavarotti "..., Georgio" (I forget the title)
Anna Moffo "The Adventurers"
BOB
Dave Seaman
> How's'bout a "list of lists" on opera singers and their movies.
> I'll start it off...
>
> Rise Stevens "Going My Way"
> Luciano Pavarotti "..., Georgio" (I forget the title)
> Anna Moffo "The Adventurers"
The Pavarotti film was "Yes, Georgio", which I remember because the critical
response was "No, Luciano."
Also, there was Kirsten Flagstad in "The Big Broadcast of (year?)" -- not sure
of the year, but I think about 1938.
Then there was Wilhelmina Wiggins Fernandez in "Diva" -- not a major star,
perhaps, but a genuine opera singer.
--
Dave Seaman
a...@seaman.cc.purdue.edu
Alex Beascoechea
Jose Carreras in a film about the life of Jose Gallarre. I do not remember
the name of the film.
Alex.
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alex Beascoechea R.P.I
Alesey "Just call me Paco"
Internet: beas...@cs.rpi.edu ( F.F. Ordonez.=8-))
Raymond Sunessen Tuttle
For me, the best Lakme ever (on the basis of her recordings) was Mado Robin.
Her voice had a sensual quality that Pons' did not have, no matter how
brilliantly Pons sang.
--
Ray and his two "Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod,"
little white mice, but it's nothing to get depressed about.
named Ursula and
Gudrun. *******************************************************
Norman Bucknor PW/17
"Two Girls from Boston" (circa 1948). I think Kathryn Grayson plays a
fabulously talented unknown from (you guessed it) Boston who comes to NYC to
make it big. She ends up doing some emergency singing at a high-society
party where she's a maid or some such. The "famous tenor" played by Melchior
discovers her. One memorable scene has Melchior at a recording session (the
time is in the 1900's so he's singing into a horn)singing the complete
Prize Song from Die MeisterSinger.
I think Grace Moore (not sure of the name but she was a Met Wagnerian soprano
who was stricken either by paralysis or a stroke-corrections please) appeared
as herself in an autobiographical film. The facts are fuzzy in my mind but
I do recall her singing the Liebestod (sp?) from a couch at the end of the
film as she triumphs over her disability.
The infamous Pavarotti film is "Yes, Giorgio."
Lawrence Tibbett also appeared in many films in the 30's (though I have never
seen any of them). I believe Benaminio Gigli made a number of popular films
in Italy (not exactly Hollywood).
Norman Bucknor
Bill_P...@cup.portal.com
Moore as an operatic star in movies. She was, but I think you have
mixed her life up with Marjorie Lawrence's. Lawrence was the
Australian soprano who was one of the great Wagnerian sopranos at
the Met in the 1930's. She contracted polio in 1941, but recovered
enough to resume her career, singing the Tannhauser Venus from a
reclining position at the Met in 1943 and later doing Isolde in a
disguised wheel chair. Her autobiography "Interrupted Melody" was
made into a movie in 1955. Grace Moore was the glamorous American
soprano who made a great hit film entitled "ONe Night of Love" in
1934, which really launched her international career. She died in
an airplane crash sometime in 1947. She also wrote an autobiography
which was entitled "You're Only Human Once" and a movie about her
life was made, entitled "So This is Love."
Bill Pearce
Jon Conrad
>I think Grace Moore (not sure of the name but she was a Met Wagnerian soprano
>who was stricken either by paralysis or a stroke-corrections please) appeared
>as herself in an autobiographical film.
You are thinking of Marjorie Lawrence. The movie is "Interrupted
Melody." Lawrence was played by Eleanor Parker, and her voice was
supplied by Eileen Farrell (rumor has it that Madame Lawrence was
miffed she wasn't allowed to do the dubbing herself, though she was in
retirement at the time).
Grace Moore, a Met soprano of the 20s and 30s specializing in Puccini
and French operas, in fact became a major movie star for a while,
appearing in a number of films and even getting an Oscar nomination for
"One Night of Love." She is one of only two opera singers to achieve
genuine Star status in the movies (the other being Geraldine Farrar, in
silents). Lawrence Tibbett perhaps belongs in this category too.
Anna Moffo, mentioned for "The Adventurers," is a borderline case,
as in her (then) husband's native Italy she appeared in several films
and was something of a popular star. Few if any of these were ever
released in the US. Perhaps the same applies to Gigli.
Nelson Eddy had some genuine opera to his credit. He was in the first
American production of Berg's "Wozzeck"!
On the other hand, Jeannette McDonald did not do opera till AFTER her
movie career. She studied with Lotte Lehmann, and appeared onstage in
Faust (and I think one other opera). She was well received but didn't
pursue this possibility further.
Basso Giorgio Tozzi has done a bit of character-actor work; the only
specific title I know is the Burt Reynolds film "Shamus."
Salvatore Baccaloni (billed only by his last name) appeared in a major
role in the American "Fanny."
Roberta Peters played (I think) Nellie Melba in "The Great Hurok."
Jan Peerce did a walk-on in "Goodbye Columbus," directed by his son
Larry.
Robert Merrill tried his hand in the movies in the fifties (the only
title I can recall is "Aaron Slick from Pumpkin Crick"), and temporarily
lost his Met contract as a result.
Helen Traubel had the second starring role in the Sigmund Romberg bio
"Deep in My Heart." Many considered her the best thing in it.
Jon Alan Conrad
Tom Ascher
>> How's'bout a "list of lists" on opera singers and their movies.
>> I'll start it off...
>>
>> Rise Stevens "Going My Way"
>> Luciano Pavarotti "..., Georgio" (I forget the title)
>> Anna Moffo "The Adventurers"
>
>The Pavarotti film was "Yes, Georgio", which I remember because the critical
>response was "No, Luciano."
>
>Also, there was Kirsten Flagstad in "The Big Broadcast of (year?)" -- not sure
>of the year, but I think about 1938.
>
>Then there was Wilhelmina Wiggins Fernandez in "Diva" -- not a major star,
>perhaps, but a genuine opera singer.
>
>--
>Dave Seaman
Jose Carreras in a film about the life of Jose Gallarre. I do not remember
the name of the film.
Alex.
Lauritz Melchior. Not sure of the film title but it was something like
Norman Bucknor
If we're going beyond Hollywood, what about:
Maria Callas - Medea!
Tom Ascher - University of Illinois at Chicago
email: (U15...@UICVM.uic.edu) or (UICVM.uic.edu!U15310)
stephen smoliar
>
When I was teaching in Israel around 1972, I remember seeing a movie billboard
for an Italian soft-core pornography movie listing Anna Moffo as one of the
stars. Was this the movie? Did she turn to pornography after her opera career
started to slide? (Enquiring minds want to know.)
--
Stephen W. Smoliar; Institute of Systems Science
National University of Singapore; Heng Mui Keng Terrace
Kent Ridge, SINGAPORE 0511
Internet: smo...@iss.nus.sg
Neil E. Midkiff midkiff@btr.com
>In the 40's it was a real box-office draw to include established
>stars of the Met in movies. (Heck, not just Met stars.... consider
>Stokowski in "100 Men and a Girl" and Heifetz in "And they shall
>have music").
>
>How's'bout a "list of lists" on opera singers and their movies.
> I'll start it off...
>
>Rise Stevens "Going My Way"
>Luciano Pavarotti "..., Georgio" (I forget the title)
>Anna Moffo "The Adventurers"
The Lily Pons/Henry Fonda film that started this thread is I DREAM TOO MUCH
(1935). She also appeared in _That Girl from Paris_ and _Hitting a New High_
in 1937, and in the 1947 _Carnegie Hall_. RKO contracted her to counter the
popularity of Grace Moore at Columbia. Moore was paired with Lawrence Tibbett
in _New Moon_ (a Sigmund Romberg operetta) at MGM in 1930, then went to
Columbia for such films as _One Night of Love_ (1934) (Best Actress Oscar
nomination) and _Love Me Forever_ (1935). Tibbett's debut, also earning an
Oscar nomination, was in _The Rogue Song_ (MGM,1930) also featuring Laurel
and Hardy(!).
Richard Tauber made films in Germany (e.g. _Das Land des Laechelns_, 1930)
before moving to England to avoid Nazi persecution; there he made a number
of musical films beginning with _Blossom Time_ (1934). Halliwell's film
guide lists him in _The Big Broadcast of 1936_ (Paramount).
Lauritz Melchior started in films rather oddly, in an Esther Williams vehicle
called _Thrill of a Romance_ (1945, MGM). _Two Sisters from Boston_ (1946),
opposite June Allyson and Kathryn Grayson, and _The Stars are Singing_ (1952),
with Anna Maria Alberghetti and Rosemary Clooney, show how much understanding
MGM had of what to do with a heldentenor.
Ezio Pinza was denied the opportunity to star in the film of _South Pacific_
in the role he created on Broadway. He did appear in _Carnegie Hall_ (1947), a
musical mishmash also including Rise Stevens, Jan Peerce, Lily Pons as well as
Stokowski, Rubinstein, Heifetz, and Harry James. Pinza played the role of
Chaliapin in _Tonight We Sing_ (Fox, 1953), a "biopic" of Sol Hurok, along
with Roberta Peters; he also starred in the limp 1951 remake of _Strictly
Dishonorable_ (a Preston Sturges play).
Gladys Swarthout was contracted by Paramount in the late 30s for such gems
as _Champagne Waltz_ (1937) with Fred MacMurray (plot: "A press agent takes
a swing band to Vienna").
Mario Lanza made a number of films at MGM including the title role in _The
Great Caruso_, but I don't think he had an independent opera-house career,
so I guess he doesn't count.
The Pavarotti film is _Yes, Giorgio_ (MGM, 1982) ["A top international tenor
falls for the lady throat specialist who cures his ailment."]
Someone mentioned Kirsten Flagstad; she was in _The Big Broadcast of 1938_
(Paramount).
Halliwell's _Filmgoer's Companion_ mentions that "oddly enough, the singer
Mary Garden was a big hit in *silent* films."
And then of course, my favorite: MGM had planned to have Metropolitan Opera
stars dub the arias for this one, but at the last moment they went with the
real voices of Allan Jones and Kitty Carlisle, as the Marx Brothers "do to
_Il Trovatore_ what ought to have been done to _Il Trovatore_ a long time
ago" (Pauline Kael) in A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (MGM, 1935). Booga booga!
-Neil
config
>>
>When I was teaching in Israel around 1972, I remember seeing a movie billboard
>for an Italian soft-core pornography movie listing Anna Moffo as one of the
>stars. Was this the movie? Did she turn to pornography after her opera career
>started to slide? (Enquiring minds want to know.)
No. The Adventurers was an American-Italian movies based
on Harold Robbin's boring novel of the same name. I don't
recall seeing Moffo "au naturelle" in this film. However,
she did wear a rather revealing negligee.
I too have heard that Moffo did soft-core porno as her
career declined. She did have an attractive body
(unlike many other divas of immeasureable girth).
However, to my credit ( as a self proclaimed moralist)
or my discredit ( as a self proclaimed degenerate)
I've never seen them.
.....THE FILMS!!!....that is :-)
BOB
Carrie L Bullington
>make it big. She ends up doing some emergency singing at a high-society
>party where she's a maid or some such.
>
Didn't Kathryn Grayson also play Grace Moore? I think Merv Griffin
was also in the film. What I remember most is the segment of the film
devoted to Miss Moore finding out she had to be completely silent for
six months before she could start singing again (this after having
started her career but being continually frustrated at being told by
the Met that she was just an "operetta" voice and not suited for
"real" opera roles. At the end of the movie, she is at the Met
singing "Si, mi chiamano Mimi").
What was the name of this movie??
- Carrie
adolphson
> The Lily Pons/Henry Fonda film that started this thread is I DREAM TOO MUCH
> (1935).
Always referred to by my more catty playmates as "I Scream Too Much".
(And she does.)
Arne
Fred Goldrich
about the details -- not too promising, huh? --but I seem to recall,
along the same lines, a Broadway musical of the early 60's, called
"Bravo, Giovanni" (?), written for Cesare Siepi (?), about a singing
waiter (!) who is discovered to be a great operatic baritone...
-- Fred Goldrich
OK, so maybe I got it all wrong.
--
Fred Goldrich
fr...@marob.escc.com
Neil E. Midkiff midkiff@btr.com
(Carrie L Bullington) writes:
>[responding to a discussion on opera stars in movies, and their portrayal
>[by other actors]
>Didn't Kathryn Grayson also play Grace Moore? I think Merv Griffin
>was also in the film. What I remember most is the segment of the film
>devoted to Miss Moore finding out she had to be completely silent for
>six months before she could start singing again
>
This was SO THIS IS LOVE (1953, Warner Bros.), with Kathryn Grayson, Merv
Griffin, Joan Weldon, Walter Abel, Rosemary de Camp, Jeff Donnell, Douglas
Dick, Mabel Albertson, and Fortunio Bonanova. ( I quote to the end of the
list for Bonanova's sake: he portrays the singing teacher that Charles
Foster Kane hires for Susan Alexander in CITIZEN KANE. )
What Kathryn Grayson was doing away from MGM is a mystery; I thought she
was under exclusive contract there.
The screenplay is by John Monks Jr from Grace Moore's autobiography.
Gordon Douglas directed. Halliwell's Film Guide summarizes: "Events leading
up to Grace Moore's debut at the Met in 1928. Acceptable musical biopic
full of the usual Hollywood contrivances."
-Neil
Bob Kosovsky
>Here's a thread to play with.... Opera stars in Hollywood movies.
>In the 40's it was a real box-office draw to include established
>stars of the Met in movies. (Heck, not just Met stars.... consider
>Stokowski in "100 Men and a Girl" and Heifetz in "And they shall
>have music").
>
>How's'bout a "list of lists" on opera singers and their movies.
> I'll start it off...
>
>Rise Stevens "Going My Way"
>Luciano Pavarotti "..., Georgio" (I forget the title)
>Anna Moffo "The Adventurers"
In the book "Wonderful Inventions: Motion Pictures, Broadcasting, and
Recorded Sound at the Library of Congress" there is an article (which
originally appeared in LC's Quarterly journal), "Golden Voices, Silver Screen:
Opera Singers as Movie Stars." It goes from silent days to the present
(at least the present of that time - Pavarotti in YES, GIORGIO). It presents
nothing less than a mouth-watering narrative of opera singers who have
appeared in films over the last century.
I've seen Caruso's MY AMERICAN COUSIN and Farrar's CARMEN (both silent, of
course)-- and I recall he was a better actor than she (at least, more
histrionic). One of the best "opera on films" that I've seen is a short that
appeared on the first sound film presentation on Aug. 8, 1926 (a year before
the JAZZ SINGER). It was a short of Martinelli singing Vesti la giubba, and
it was spectacular. I have seen this shown twice on TNT (& taped it), so
it is possible to catch it (usually early in the morning). And one of my
favorite opera sequences in a film is Kirstin Flagstad singing Bruenhilde's
Ho-jo-to-ho from Die Walkure in THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1938 - with Bob Hope and
W.C. Fields - a very weird context for an opera singer.
And (sorry if i give modesty a back burner), as the library where I work has
much of the estate of Rosa Ponselle, I have also seen the MGM screen test
where she sings the Habanera and the Gypsy Song from Carmen (she said it was
her best rendition of the Habanera, though the piano accompanist is not up to
par - or even up to her).
There are really so many films with opera singers that there will be a long
list. However, has anybody seen EVENSONG (1934), Conchita Supervia's only
film? I have missed this twice (darn!) and would like to know how she
appears and what she sings.
Bob Kosovsky
Graduate Center -- Ph.D. Program in Music(student)/ City University of New York
New York Public Library -- Music Division
bitnet: k...@cunyvms1.bitnet internet: k...@cunyvms1.gc.cuny.edu
Disclaimer: My opinions do not necessarily represent those of my institutions.
Bob Kosovsky
>masc...@vms.huji.ac.il (MICHAEL MASCHLER) writes:
>
>at any rate - i thought writing a few lines would give me time to
>remember the name of the movie i seem not to be able to:
>
>it was with Henry Fonda, who played an aspiring composer. Lily Pons
It's I DREAM TOO MUCH (1935), which has been showing several times each month
for the past several months on the cable channel AMC. Another Pons film that
AMC has shown has been THAT GIRL FROM PARIS (1936). And speaking of other
films with Lily Pons:
I recall the Museum of Modern Art had a retrospective of the director Raoul
Walsh (famous for a lot of action, Western films, and Cagney's WHITE HEAT).
Earlier in his career he directed Pons and her husband of that time Andre
Kostelanetz in the film HITTING A NEW HIGH (1937). Walsh was so disappointed
with this film he had the Museum withdraw it after its screenings had been
announced and schedules printed.
I think Pons did one or two films after 1937; I'm pretty sure her last
film was just a cameo: CARNEGIE HALL (1947) in which she sings -- what else--
the Bell Song (slightly abbreviated).
I too agree with Jon Alan Conrad on Pons' limitations as an expressive singer.
One of the most difficult recordings for me to listen to is her recording of
Chacun le sait from La Fille du Regiment - it just gives me a severe headache!
It seems that coloraturas often must make such a sacrifice - clarity and
accurracy for expression. Sometime ago I posted on another list some
correspondence between Bruno Walter and Rudolf Bing concerning the 1956
production of the Magic Flute in which Walter was upset at Roberta Peters
who, despite her technique, did not have the necessary color to convey the
drama needed for the Queen of the Night's character.