Volume I
Volume II
Volume III
Volume IV
Volume V
Volume VI
Volume VII
Volume IX
Volume X
Volume XI
Volume XII
Volume XIII
Volume XIV
Volume XV
Volume XVI

01 ADRIANA

Renata Tebaldi and Franco Corelli deliver the goods in these two Act IV excerpt from a 1969 performance of Adriana Lecouvreur. The sobs from both artists attest to this.

02 AIDA

The fatal phrase in "Celeste Aida" gives any tenor angst, especially if he doesn't have a reliable high Bb, like this nameless Rhadames.

03 AIDA

The finale of the Triumphal Scene sung in a concert version by, uh... whoever showed up.

First, it was Callas. Then Galvany and Millo. Ladies and gentlemen, we now have another diva to add to the list: Sue Hassel. Charles Handelman is the king (the role, that is).

04 AIDA

A voice that is somewhat forgotten but deserves appreciation is Daniza Ilitsch. Unfortunately, a certain day in 1948 was not her best day, but the beauty of her voice is still there. In these three excerpts from Act III, Kurt Baum sings Rhadames. Notice how he gets off of the high Bb at the end of his duet with Aida (What? Kurt Baum doesn't hold onto a high note?). This is probably in deference to the obviously ailing Ilitsch . Milton Cross waits for the artists to come out. Ilitsch never does and Florence Kirk replaced her in Act IV. Apologies forr the less-than-perfect digitization.

05 AIDA

The high C at the end of "O patria mia" is treacherous if you're not Zinka, Leontyne, Jones or Caballe. Violetta Urmana had it rough in 2009.

06 AN DIE MUSIK

On February 1, 1951, Mme. Lotte Lehmann gave a recital at New York's Town Hall. She announced at its end that this would be her last for her faithful New York audience in a heartfelt speech

For an encore, she attempted to sing Scchubert's An die Musik. Overcome with emotion, she was unable to sing its final line: "ich danke dir".

07 ARMIDA

Adelaide Negri makes an amazingly dull attempt at "D'amor al dolce impero from Rossini's Armida.

08 BALLO

Hartford Opera produced Verdi's Un ball in maschera on November 26, 1969. Did they know that Fedora Barbieri, its Ulrica would sing almost all of the role in full chest voice? The Riccardo was Giuseppe Campora and Amerlia was sung by Elinor Ross.

09 BARBIERE

Maria Remola not only transposes "Una voce poco fa" up to F but interpolates not a high F at the end but a high A above high C. If you've got it, flaunt it.

10 BARBIERE

Blond bimbo Katherine Jenkins justifies her last name in this rendition of "Una voce poco fa" from Il barbiere di Siviglia.

11 BEETHOVEN NINTH

This selection begins with the final page of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, conducted by Arturo Toscanini to demonstrate an accepted normal tempo. It is then immediately followed by a performance of the Stockholm Philharmonic conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler. Quite a difference...

12 BOHEME

An attempt at the infamous high C during Rodolfo's "Che gelida manina". The tenor's name is unknown.

13 BUTTERFLY

The Opera Babes preserve their take on "Un bel di" from Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

14 CARMEN

The Catalan baritone Vicente Sardinero sang Escamillo in a Newark performance of Carmen in 1979. This also served as the first staged performance of Carmen by Victoria de los Angeles. The beauty of his voice paralleled his shortness of stature.

15 CARMEN

From the same performance above, we hear Vicdtoria de los Angeles in the finale of Act III. Did someone sing the high c for her?

16 CAT DUET

Soprano Anneliese Rothenberger sings the Rossini Cat Duet not with another singer, but her accompanist, Norman Shetler.

17 COLORATURA VARIATIONS

Maria Remola ends her recording of the coloratura variations on "Ah vous dirai-memamn" with a high B above high C. If you've got it, flaunt it.

18 CYGNE

An unusual arragngement, transposition and transcription of Saint Saens' Le Cygne for chorus, soprano and orchestra.

19 GIOVANNI

A hideous worn out nameless bass sings the Don's Serenade "Deh vieni alla finestra".

20 ELISIR

The final page of "Una furrtiva lagrima" sung by an unknown tenor who goes horribly flat at the conclusion.

21 FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS

The group called Everyday Visuals" sing a tribute to the Diva of Din.

22 FRANCESCA

99-year-old Magda Olivero still had what it took on April 147, 2009 when she sang this breif excerpt from Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini.

23 GEDDA COACHING

Rodger Wagsjo is coached by Nicolai Gedda.

24 GOD BLESS AMERICA

Down and going Erika David (as opposed to "up and coming") has a monumental memory lapse 30 seconds into the wonderful song, "God Bless America" before a baseball game on August 18, 2009.

25 HOFFMANN

What would a volume of "Shall I Go On?" be without a Hoffmann Doll Song? Elise Curran makes her case for this inclusion with her interpolated high F, G, Bb and Ab above high C.

CD 2:

01 L'ITALIANA

Maxim Mironov show off his upper extension in the October 20, 2003 performance of the tenor aria from Rossini's L'Italian in Algieri.

02 LAKME

Maria Remola decids the ending for the Bell Song is not high enough; so she itnerpolates a high G# and holds onto it. If you've got it, flaunt it.

03 LAUDAMUS TE

PTL! Whoever this soprano is thinks she's giving praise...

04 LUCIA

Beverly Sills didn't bring all of her high Eb onstage during this performance of Lucia di Lamermoor on January 15, 1977.

05 MANON LESCAUT

The Metropolitan Opera debut was a sort of drive-by performance. He was on his way back to Italia from his debut in San Francisco. He dropped by New York for a quickie on November 27, 1950 in Puccini's Manon Lescaut with Dorothy Kirsten. Her returned to the Met almost a year later as Rhadames in Verdi's Aida with zinka Milanov, and, making their debuts, Elena Nikolaidi and George London.

The excerpt here is a 1951 perforrmance (whereabouts unknown) "No!... No!... Pazzo son" from the fourth act. He really gets carried away, even with a sob that happened to hit on a high B.

06 ONEGIN

Mark Reizen sings, at the age of 90 in 1985, Prince Gremin's aria from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.

07 RIGOLETTO

Introduced as Juan Diego Florez, this JDF-wanna-be destroys "La donna e mobile" from Verdi's Rigoletto.

08 ROSENKAVALIER

An excerpt from the final Act 3 duet between Sophie and Octavian, sung by Lucia Popp and Yvonne Minton. The oprano comes just a wee bit short for tthe final high B.

09 SONNAMBULA

On March 2, 2009, a new production of Bellini's La sonnambula appeared and the audience thought it was a nightmare.

10 SU LE LABBRO

Miss Piggy sings her ditty "I Want To Sing In Opera".

11 THAIS

When RCA issued a studio recording with DELUXE vanity packaging of Massenet's Thais, it became such an embarassment that the heroine's Husband, Mr. David Sarnoff Moffo went around and bought up as many copies as possible to save face. Athanael is sung by Gabriel Bacquier.

12 TILL THE END OF TIME

You have to wait till the end to hear Adam Lopez demonstrate his Guiness book of World Record upper extension.

13 TOSCA

A new production of Puccini's Tosca appeared in New York on Septeber 21, 2009 and the audience wished it hadn't. During Act I, director Bondy had the Tosca, Karita Mattila, vandalize Cavaradossi's painting. The destruction becomes a distraction.

Then follows the final page of the Act 2 aria "Vissi d'arte". Note the release of high G.

The Sonnambula audience repeats their disdain for this insulting-to-Tosca-fans production. Billyburger tries to explain the booing away in vain.

14 TOSCA

This Scarpia and Tosca have a lot of spicy puttanesca in their spaghetti sauce as they portray the murder of Scarpia.

15 TOSCA

Gina Lollogridgida sings(!) the final moments of Tosca.

16 TRAVIATA

Maria Remola ends "Sempre libera" with a high Ab above high C. When you've got it, flaunt it.

17 TRAVIATA

This nameless baritone has a hard time with the end of "Di provenza" in Verdi's La traviata.

18 TROVATORE

On October 4, 2009, Dennis Neill barely delivers the denaro note at the end of "Di quella pira".

19 TROVATORE

Deanna Durbin and Jan Peerce sing the "Miserere" from Verdi's Il trovatore.

20 TURANDOT

Sue Hassel demonstrates her inability as Turandot.

21 TURANDOT

Rolando Nicolo introduces Grace Bumbry who offers "In questa reggia" from Puccini's Turandot in this 1976 telecast. She really clears the air after track 19

22 TURANDOT

This sweet nameless little tenorino delicately gets through "Nessun dorma".

23 UNIDENTIFIED

Someone tries to sing some aria from some opera.

24 VIVALDI

Cecilia Bartoli, winner of the Nadia Commanic of the Larynx Price, agitates her throat in this hair-raising excerpt from "Agitata da due venti".

25 ZAUBERFLÖTE

A soprano tried her best to end the Queen of the Night's first aria and fails.

26 ZAUBERFLÖTE

Yma Sumac transposes the Queen of the Night's 2nd aria down a third but makes up for it with tropical amazonian glottal effects.

27 XMAS SPECIAL

The word "special" doesn't begin to describe Giorgio Longdo's ardor for singing. This deluded divo even sells a handful of DVDs to share his vocal prowess with the world.