by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Tonight: Thomas Ospital plays both of Trinity Cathedral’s organs
•Take a tour of the largest organ in France (its case pictured here) — at Paris’s Church of Saint-Eustache, where Ospital is based
•Maria Callas makes her American debut with Norma
HAPPENING TODAY:
At 7:30 pm, Thomas Ospital — who holds the position of titular organist at the Church of Saint-Eustache in Paris — will give a free recital that includes performances on both of the organs at Trinity Cathedral. On the program: music by Dieterich Buxtehude, J.S. Bach, Ravel, Maurice Duruflé, and César Franck, as well as Ospital’s own improvisations. The recital is jointly sponsored by the Cleveland Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and Music & Art at Trinity Cathedral. A freewill offering will be collected.
INTERESTING READS (AND SIGHTS):
Sticking with Thomas Ospital, read Daniel Hathaway’s recent interview with him here, where they discuss the modern history of the organ that Ospital plays in Paris, a history that is full of starts and stops — many (organ) stops.
Moving into the visual category, head to YouTube to take a tour of the organ at Saint-Eustache (the largest in France) — a tour that contains one overwhelming sight after another.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
Among today’s anniversaries, the great soprano Maria Callas made her American debut on this date in 1954 with Bellini’s Norma. This was during the inaugural, three-week season of the Lyric Theatre of Chicago — what would later become Lyric Opera of Chicago. (Looking back on the history of the company, John von Rhein wrote for Opera News in 2004 that “with the Callas Norma, Lyric Opera of Chicago was born.”)
The title role of Norma was something of a signature for Callas over the course of her career. With that opera, she made other important debuts including in London (1952, Royal Opera House) and with the Metropolitan Opera (1956).
A performance of Norma at the Rome Opera House in 1958 was also the setting of a famous controversy in the soprano’s career, when she was hounded by the media for canceling after the first act due to illness, with the president of Italy in attendance. It’s worth noting that she was confirmed to have bronchitis and tracheitis — and that the day beforehand, she advised the opera house’s management that they should have a standby ready since she was feeling unwell. Their response? “No one can double Callas.”
In choosing recordings of Callas singing Norma, you can’t go wrong. But perhaps it is relevant to note that some critics believe Callas’s richest sound came before the mid-1950s, when she underwent a rapid loss of tens of kilograms of weight after director Luchino Visconti told her he wouldn’t work with her otherwise. A disgusting request, and a very sad situation for her mental and physical health — one that the media has all too often described glibly.
Click here (cued up to 34:22) to listen to Callas sing the aria “Casta Diva” in a live performance in 1952 with Vittorio Gui and the Royal Opera House — perhaps marking her London premiere.