#was O Mio Babbino Caro (I think that’s the spelling)

[callasdaily]

May 1 *WORLD EXCLUSIVE!*

On May 1, 1974, Maria was in Vancouver, having arrived the previous day. Some of the info in this posting is from Robert Sutherland’s book and some is from a friend of mine who knew the local impresario, and some is eye-witness as I attended the performance.

Here is a larger version of yesterday’s photo, showing a man just behind Maria. That is Hugh Pickett, the Vancouver impresario who presented this “show”. His firm, Famous Artists, presented a wide array of attractions from the 1940s to… (he died in 2006): the Bolshoi Ballet, Elvis Presley, Marlene Dietrich (a special friend who he managed for 12 years), Renata Tebaldi (shhh!), Stravinsky, Arthur Rubenstein, Phyllis Diller, Renata Scotto (a box office flop), Leontyne Price, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson…

Pickett greeted Maria (along with Sutherland, Elena, and Mario de Maria) and took them to the Georgia Hotel.

Giuseppe di Stefano eventually showed up on his own and decided the hotel was stuffy. (He had a habit of changing hotels on a whim.) Without telling anyone he asked a taxi driver to take him to a hotel near the beach so the driver took him to The Sands, a motor inn not far from English Bay beach. In the morning he called to say he was ill and needed to get to a hospital so Mario got him to nearby St. Paul’s Hospital. He seemed to have taken some pills. When he regained consciousness at the hospital and saw a doctor leaning over him he assumed they had operated on his skull and he had a major melt-down; Mario managed to bring him back to the Georgia where Maria mothered him through his weeping episode. By this time it was assumed that Pippo was in no condition to perform so a call had gone out for a pianist to spell Maria off during the recital and Daniel Pollack was on his way from Los Angeles. (Perhaps every pianist in North America was wondering if he or she would get the call.)

While claiming he could not perform, Pippa went to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre where we in the audience were informed that he was unavailable and the Mr Pollack would play works by Chopin between Maria’s arias (he turned out to be very good although this was not a piano audience; he has his own Wikipedia entry if you are interested).  Maria opened with Charlotte’s “Letter Scene” from “Werther”. I was close to the front and off to the left and got a glimpse of the sheet she was following – it contained the words in letters an inch or so high. She always  knew the music but liked having the words, and her eyesight required extra-large letters. (By the way, my ticket was $20, the top price, which was higher than what was charged by either the Vancouver Symphony or Opera. I think the place was decently full; I recall no empty seats.)

I don’t recall when “The Big Surprise” happened, but I think after Maria’s second aria as she was leaving the stage a strange man suddenly appeared from the wings and she literally jumped a foot in the air in surprise. “Who could this be?” I asked my friend and he said “It’s di Stefano!” Robert Sutherland surmised that the sound of applause reinvigorated Pippo who declared he wanted to sing the final scene from “Carmen”. Anyway, what eventually got performed were five arias by Maria (Letter Scene, “Suicidio”, “Voi lo sapete” from Cavalleria, the Habanera, and at the end “O mio babbino caro” dedicated to “my audience caro”), and two duets (from “Carmen” and “Cav”), plus Pippo sang four songs (two Sicilian and two by Tosti) overdoing a high crooning style each time (to ever-diminishing applause and no applause from me). Daniel Pollack soldiered on with eventually five pieces by Chopin. The absolute worst thing (worse than his tiresome songs) was the way di Stefano hauled and yanked Maria around when they took bows together. This was noted – and harshly criticized – early in the tour, but still it went on.

Maria gave all her numbers full drama. (Yep, the voice could sure be squally.) The dramatic high point was the duet from “Cavalleria rusticana”; Pippo’s hollering was more eloquent than his singing.

I had to give a full report of all this next day to my dear Auntie Kay. She was disappointed to learn that Maria wore just one gown (a red one) despite that now-famous (in Vancouver) heap of luggage. Di Stefano was not in proper formal wear (dark pants, jacket, and turtleneck) but he looked decently presentable.

After the concert Sutherland, Daniel Pollack, Mario de Maria and Hugh Pickett dined together, leaving Maria and Pippo to a private dinner that they hoped would lead to a lovers’ reconciliation (things went more happily when this was the case). Maria had to get up early (for her) the next day for the noon flight to Los Angeles. That morning she’s sleepily sat up in bed and exclaimed to Robert “Well, I’m a virgin!”

Tomorrow’s Daily: the flight to LA.

#maria callas #opera #classical music