In this episode, George Jellinek remembers the African-American tenor Roland Hayes. Jellinek is joined by Betty Allen, mezzo-soprano, teacher and president of the Harlem School of the Arts, for an interview to talk about Hayes and his unique artistry. He was a renowned singer of spirituals as well as classical ...

The first recording of Verdi's Aida in 1928 was the standard by which subsequent performances were measured. Its faded sound has since been cast aside for newer recordings until now. A re-issue of the opera engineered by Ward Marston has given it new life. George Jellinek talks about and plays ...

George Jellinek devotes this episode to Vincenzo Bellini and the bel canto style of singing. Though the term "bel canto" was not in use until the late nineteenth century, it was a based on the old tradition of singing and Bellini was a master of that kind of writing. Works ...

In this episode, George Jellinek commemorates the end of World War II on September 2, 1945. This program is based on an article he was commissioned to write by Opera News about the American singers who were well-known during and after the war. We hear recordings of performances by Rise ...

George Jellinek brings us memorable performances of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Un ballo in Maschera. 

George Jellinek devotes this program to the Romanian tenor Joseph Schmidt whose life and career were all-too-brief. He was a highly popular celebrity and had a successful career in the recording of opera arias, operetta excerpts, and popular songs. We hear the first recording of Schmidt in the 1929 German ...

The tribute to tenor Richard Tucker from 1975-01-23 is rebroadcast as part of the Vocal Gold set.

WNYC archives id: 253590

Beverly Sills joins George Jellinek in the studio for an interview. They talk about her landmark career as a soprano, her favorite roles and personal triumphs, and her tenure at the New York City Opera. She also talks about her current career out of the public eye, serving on various ...

George Jellinek celebrates the centennial of American composer and songwriter Cole Porter. We hear some of his most memorable songs like "I've Got You Under My Skin," sung by opera singer Cesare Siepe, "I Get A Kick Out of You" by Ethel Merman, "Just One of Those Things" by Ella ...

The moon has inspired many poets and composers and that is the focus of this episode. George Jellinek brings us the moon in opera and song through works such as Bellini's Norma, Massenet's Werther, Dvorak's Rusalka, Verdi's Aida, Puccini's Turandot, Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor, Gilbert and Sullivan's The ...

In this episode, George Jellinek honors the Swedish tenor Jussi Bjorling. We hear highlights from his career with other great artists who performed with him. Some of the recordings of him we hear are Johann Strauss' The Gypsy Baron with Hjordis Schymberg, Bizet's Pearl Fishers with Robert Merrill, Gounod's Romeo ...

Host George Jellinek pays tribute to Maria Callas. We hear archival clips of Callas talking about her vocal style, a controversial topic in the world of opera. Jellinek plays Callas singing Tosca, La gioconda, Isolde, I puritani, and others.

WNYC archives id: 253632

George Jellinek talks about the history of the French art song from the simple "Romance" to the more sophisticated "Melodie." We hear the music of Antoine Boesset, Jean Baptiste Lully, an arrangement by Weckerlin (of an unknown author), Francois Couperin, Andre Campra, Andre Gretry, Etienne Mehul, an arrangement by Crist ...

George Jellinek talks about the life and art of Claudia Muzio. Recordings heard here include: "Mi chiamano Mimi" from Puccini's La Boheme, which was her first recording, "In quelle trine morbide" from Puccini's Manon Lescaut, "D'amor sull'ali Rosee" from Verdi's Il Trovatore, Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, "Sorgi, o padre" from Bellini's ...

In this episode, George Jellinek explores brevity in musical pieces saying "beautiful things can be accomplished in words and music briefly and memorably." We hear excerpts from Heine's Du bist wie eine Blume which was set to music by Robert Schumann as well as a version by Hugo Wolf and ...

This episode of The Vocal Scene focuses on Russian opera and the composer Glinka. At the end of the 18th century, the popularity of opera in Russia was mainly of Italian opera and even Russian composers followed the model of Italian composers. Glinka began a slow movement away from Italian ...

In this episode, George Jellinek takes us on a journey to Vienna, a city which, despite signs of modernization, has not changed much over the years and its people are “masters in the art of living.” A song about a nut-tree in Nussdorf sung by Erich Kunz, a song about ...

George Jellinek discusses the use of the trumpet in vocal music with its "gleaming and penetrating sound, expressive of the martial themes, grand sentiments, and raging passions." Some examples of this instrument's use in vocal music are Handel's Ode for Saint Cecilia's Day; the second act of Bellini's I Puritani; ...

For this hour of The Vocal Scene, George Jellinek talks about the basso profundo, a really deep bass, and the works composed for them. He plays some examples of singers with a booming low range but who still had agility and expressiveness. The singers featured in this episode include Alexander ...

Sometimes an opera becomes famous in a language other than the one it was originally heard in. George Jellinek posits, "This makes the "right language" out of the "wrong language." In this episode he explores opera in the language it is less known for. We hear "Ozean du Ungeheuer" from ...