This week, The Metropolitan Opera presents a 1962 archive performance of Giuseppe Verdi's "Ernani." For Elvira, the heroine of Verdi’s rousing early opera, it’s a classic example of too much of a good thing—love, in this case. She’s passionately involved with the handsome bandit Ernani (actually an aristocrat), who returns her affections. But the king of Spain also wants her, as does her elderly guardian. When it comes to great singing, however, there is no such thing as too much. The legendary pairing of Leontyne Price and Carlo Bergonzi, at their thrilling, impassioned best, was an operatic match made in heaven. They star opposite Verdi baritone Cornell MacNeil and refulgent bass Giorgio Tozzi. The brilliant Thomas Schippers presides in the pit.
Here's our weekly preview from Joshua Borths, Resident Scholar at Virginia Opera. You can hear his segments on my "Afternoon Classical" show each Friday afternoon just before 5pm.
Tune in to hear "Ernani" Saturday afternoon, March 2nd at 1pm on VPM Music, 93.1 and 107.3 in central Virginia and streaming online here at vpm.org!
Yours in good music,
Mike Goldberg
Classical Host, VPM Music