The Impresario

Eleanor Steber (Madame Warblewell)
Jacquelynne Moody (Madame Heartmelt)
John Kuhn (The Impresario)
Orchestra conducted by Arnold Gamson
In English and German • 1961

[1] Introduction & Overture
[2] Dialogue: “I’m tossed about by my tempestuous fate” (Madame Heartmelt, Impresario)
[3] Aria: “Da schlägt die Abschiedsstunde” (Madame Heartmelt)
[4] Dialogue: “Apollo gave you that voice” (Impresario, Madame Heartmelt, Madame Warblewell)
[5] Aria: “Bester Jüngling! Mit Entzücken” (Madame Warblewell
[6] Dialogue: “I’m charmed! I’m ravished! I’m transported” (Impresario, Madame Heartmelt, Madame Warblewell)
[7] Trio: “No singer can compare with me” (Madame Warblewell, Madame Heartmelt, Impresario)
[8] Dialogue: “Now ladies…” (Impresario, Madame Heartmelt, Madame Warblewell)
[9] Trio: “All true artists” (Madame Warblewell, Madame Heartmelt, Impresario)

Così Fan Tutte (Scenes from Act I)

Phyllis Curtin (Fiordiligi)
Jane Hobson (Dorabella)
David Lloyd (Ferrando)
Mac Morgan (Guglielmo)
Kenneth Smith (Don Alfonso)
Orchestra conducted by Wolfgang Schauzer
Sung in English • 1956

[11] Introduction
[12] Trio: “To doubt Dorabella is simply absurd” (Ferrando, Guglielmo, Don Alfonso)
[13] Recitative: Choose your weapon (Guglielmo, Don Alfonso, Ferrando)
[14] Trio: “Woman’s fame as Faith and Constancy” (Don Alfonso, Ferrando, Guglielmo)
[15] Recitative: “Theoretical nonsense!” (Ferrando, Guglielmo, Don Alfonso)
[16] Trio: “I shall serenade my Goddess” (Ferrando, Guglielmo, Don Alfonso)
[17] Duet: “See here, Dorabella” (Fiordiligi, Dorabella)
[18] Recitative: “But, where in the world are our two sweethearts?” (Dorabella, Fiordiligi, Don Alfonso)
[19] Quintet: “All is over, the blow has fallen” (Guglielmo, Ferrando, Don Alfonso, Fiordiligi, Dorabella)
[20] Recitative: “My friends, it’s time you started” (Don Alfonso, Ferrando, Guglielmo, Fiordiligi, Dorabella)
[21] Quintet: “Be sure to write me daily” (Fiordiligi, Dorabella, Don Alfonso, Ferrando, Guglielmo)
[22] Recitative: “Are they really gone?” (Dorabella, Don Alfonso, Fiordiligi)
[23] Trio: “May breezes blow lightly” (Fiordiligi, Dorabella, Don Alfonso)
[24] Recitative: “I have a flair for comedy” (Don Alfonso)

These productions of Mozart’s The Impresario (1961) and scenes from Act I of the same composer’s Così fan tutte (1956) are precious mementos of an era when Opera in English opened a new frontier for American opera companies. In New York, the Metropolitan Opera increased their audience for classic operas, the New York City Opera took the lead in presenting American works, while the New York-based NBC Opera television series presented English-language productions of both old and new works from the international repertoire. Those three companies were the training-ground for the performers on this DVD, who uniformly exhibit a firm understanding of opera as theater.

The two best-known singers of the group are the esteemed American sopranos Eleanor Steber and Phyllis Curtin. Both sopranos favored a tightly focused vocal production which facilitated clear diction and dramatic thrust. Each was closely associated with and premiered works by important contemporary composers, most notably Samuel Barber (for Steber) and Carlisle Floyd (for Curtin). And they both sang Fiordiligi in the Metropolitan Opera’s landmark English-language production of Così fan tutte: Steber in the production’s premiere in 1951, and Curtin ten years later, making her company debut.