01 AIDA

Elizabeth Taylor sings via Aprile Millo in the movie "The Young Toscanini". The music is an excerpt from "O patria mia" from Verdi's Aida.

02 AIDA

A great stentorian way to begin volume 18 of "Shall I Go On?" - In this performance of Aida, Margherita Ruffino's Amneris goes mad at the end of the Judgment Scene. The Ramfis' name is unknown.

03 ATTILA

Soprano Candida Ribeiro da Silva throws caution (and her voice, not to mention technique) to the wind and launches into a fierce "Santo di Patria". Note how she drops about a fifth's worth of notes in the downward scale early on. The performance dates from September 30, 1993.

04 BACIO

As so often happens in beauty contest talent rounds, the contestants find they, uh, have no talent. And then they remember they learned how to sing something years ago. So Miss Wisconsin of 2012 sings "Il bacio".

05 BOHEME

I have no idea who sings this "Si, mi chiamano Mimi" from Boheme and I don't think she has any idea of what she's singing about nor any idea of style or Italian diction.

06 BOHEME

Luciano Pavarotti Jr. sings Parpignol in this September 29, 1986 Berlin along with his father and Madelyn Renee as Mimi. One big happy family for a while at least.

07 CAMPTOWN RACES

During a radio show, Frank Sinatra and Lawrence Tibbett sing "Camptown Races" and "Beautiful Dreamer".

08 CARMEN

The vocal stylings of Nana Moskouri shine as she intones the "Habanera" from Carmen.

09 CARMEN

Soprano Marina Koshetz interpolates a high Bb (somewhat de riguer in this days) at the end of Micaela's aria in Carmen during this English language performance conducted by Leopold Stokowski at the Hollywood Bowl on July 11, 1946.

10 DON CARLO

James Morris sings both King Phillip and Grand Inquisitor in this pastiche of two different performance of Verdi's Don Carlo".

11 FAUST

Darn, those pesky low notes. At the reprise of the melody, Ettore Bastianini raises some notes up an octave to accommodate his Italian-language version of Valentin's aria from Faust.

12 FAUST

Rene Pape revives a lost measure of recitative from the score of Gounod's Faust with a short line in English. The performance took place on December 28, 2011. The first voice is that of Michele Losier.

13 GERMAN SONG

The ever-young Johannes Heesters celebrates his 107th birthday.

14 I LOVE LUCY

Vivian Vance, as Ethel Mertz, attempts to give Lucille Ball, as Lucy Riccardo, a voice lesson. Ms. Vance could actually sing pretty well.

15 LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

Margaret Hamilton sings "Liaisons" from "A Little Night Music" during this 1974 performance.

16 LUCIA

Here are the final pages of the love duet from Act I of Donizetti's Lucia with June Anderson and Rockwell Blake. They sing it come scritto which mean Edgardo begins a downward scale from a high Eb which Lucia begins hers from a high C. The performance took place in Ottawa on January 17, 1982.

17 LUCIA

When Natalie Dessay returned to Manhattan to repeat her characterization of Lucia, she claimed there wasn't enough time to rehearse with the glass harmonica. So she did without it in this February 24, 2011 performance.

18 LUCIA

Gail Gilmore Gives Great aGiliy during this performance of the mad scene from Donizetti's Lucia. At 1:39, she completes the melodic line unlike most sopraanos. Then scales up to a high F, the another scale up to a high F#.

19 LUCREZIA BORGIA

Can someone tell me what Montserrat Caballe is laughing at during the bridge music of this excerpt from Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia? Maybe the Barcelona audience wondered the same thing on December 19, 1970.

20 MACBETH

Nadja Michael ends her matinee performance as Lady Macbeth with a real yelp on March 24, 2012.

21 MEATBALLS

Bing Crosby and Lauritz Melchior appear on a 1945 episode of "The Mail Room".

22 MOZART MEETS RODGERS & HART

A spoof by Alec Templeton.

CD 2:

01 NORMA

A fierce, determined and forceful soprano attempts to get through the recitative of "Casta diva" from Bellini's Norma. The audience gradually begins to riot and that's where the recording ended.

02 NORMA

Roberta Peters sings "Casta diva" from Bellini's Norma during this 1994 performance with orchestra.

03 OPERA IN 10 MINUTES

A simple summary of opera, telling the briefest version of the synopses of the standard operas - La traviata, Carmen, Don Giovanni, Aida, Tosca, Tristan und Isolde, Madama Butterfly and the Ring.

04 PAGLIACCI

The infamous audience of La Scala did not like the Nedda of Oksana Dykala during this 2011 performance.

05 PURITANI

Rockwell Blake sings the second verse of "A te o cara" from Bellini's I Puritani. His Elvira is Denia Mazzoli in this Barcelona performance which took place on March 11, 1990.

06 PURITANI

Rockwell Blake sings the aria "Credeasi" from Bellini's I Puritani. His Elvira is Denia Mazzoli in this Barcelona performance which took place on March 11, 1990.

07 PURITANI

Rockwell Blake sings the duet "Vieni fra queste braccia" from Bellini's I Puritani. His Elvira is Denia Mazzoli in this Barcelona performance which took place on March 11, 1990.

08 PURITANI

Enrico di Giuseppe sings the second verse of "A te o cara" from Bellini's I Puritani. His Elvira is Beverly Sills during this NYCO performance which took place on February 27, 1974.

09 PURITANI

Enrico di Giuseppe sings the aria "Credeasi" from Bellini's I Puritani. His Elvira is Beverly Sills during this NYCO performance which took place on February 27, 1974. He chose not to take the F in this performance, just Db's.

10 PURITANI

Enrico di Giuseppe sings the duet "Vieni far queste braccia" from Bellini's I Puritani. His Elvira is Beverly Sills during this NYCO performance which took place on February 27, 1974.

11 RIGOLETTO

Sue Hassel shows her wide range as she sings "Caro nome" from Verdi's Rigoletto.

12 ROSENKAVALIER

Good ol' Kurt Baum interpolates a high Db at the end of the Italian Singer's aria from Rosenkavalier in this studio recording. Why not?

13 SCHICC HI

During an April 11, 2011 episode of "Dancing With The Stars", Katherine Jenkins, during what is hoped to be her final appearance in things operatic, sings "O mio babbino caro" transposed down a major third to F major and still has to omit the aria's final phrase. I guess her larynx would become disengaged from her throat. Or maybe those are baroque trills...

14 SCHICCHI

Once again, "O mio babbino caro" is butchered during the talent show "America's Got Talent" by 42-year-old giggly Cindy Chang. She starts in the middle of the aria, thank God but ends it on a high Ab. She passed on to the next round...

15 SONNAMBULA

At the end of "Ah non giunge" from Bellini's La Sonnambula", Natalie Dessay interpolates a handful of Ebs and a high F (is she singing a 2nd at the end?) during this Lausanne performance of 1999.

16 SONNAMBULA

Macedonian soprano Ana Durlovski interpolates a high F at the end of "Ah non giunge" during this January 22, 2012 Stuttgart performance of Bellini's La sonnambula

17 TOSCA

John Sandor, with cogliones of 10,000 elephants, took a tape recorder on stage while he sang Cavaradossi. Here he sings the explosive "Vittoria! scene from Act II of Puccini's Tosca.

18 TOSCA

Violetta Urmana gives out before her high C in Act II of Puccini's Tosca on March 31, 2011. The Scarpia was sung by James Morris.

19 TOSCA

When Grace Moore sang Tosca on April 8, 1944, listeners got a double treat: she gave her audience Puccini AND Sardou mixed together. Here is the finale of Act III.

20 TRAVIATA

This sounds like the same soprano from the Norma excerpt above. The audience riots again. Poor thing...

21 TRAVIATA

Richard Tucker doesn't interpolate a high C during the Act I offstage serenade of Verdi's La traviata during his 25th anniversary gala of April 11, 1970. His Violetta is Joan Sutherland who shows off her agility with great ease, incorporating the Tetrazini ornamentation.

22 TRAVIATA

Alfredo Kraus interpolates a high C during the Act I offstage serenade of Verdi's La traviata during this Hamburg performance of March 30, 1979. His Violetta is Katia Ricciarelli.

23 TRAVIATA

Francisco Araiza interpolates a high C during the Act I offstage serenade of Verdi's La traviata during this Madrid performance of February 22, 1990. His Violetta is Diana Soviero.

24 TRAVIATA

Piotr Beczala interpolates a high C during the Act I offstage serenade of Verdi's La traviata during this Covent Garden performance of December, 2011. His Violetta is Alyn Perez.

25 TRAVIATA

Leonard Warren buys the key change behind Door #2 during Act II of Verdi's Traviata and interpolates a high Ab. I guess the announcer didn't know how to pronounce the first name of the Alfredo, Charles kuhlmann.

26 TROVATORE

Angelo Loforese, age 90, sings an unaccompanied excerpt from "Di quell pira" from Verdi's Il trovatore.

27 TROVATORE

Marcelo Alvarez turns a few measures into Parsifal during this April 27, 2011 performance of Il trovatore with Sondra Radvanowsky as Leonora (who emits a Gencer-like yelp).

28 TURANDOT

Angelo Loforese, age 90, sings the final page from "Nessun dorma" from Puccini's Turandot.

29 TURANDOT

Angelo Loforese, age 90, repeats the final page from "Nessun dorma" from Puccini's Turandot.

30 VESPRI

That legendary Verdi soprano name Miliza Korjus chirps her tinsel void through the Bolero from Verdi's I vespri siciliani, complete with extended cadenza at the end, plucking 3 high F#s.

31 VILLI

Giuseppe di Stefano portrays the short speaking role of Narratore in Puccini's Le villi. during this August 13, 1989 performance in Peralada.

32 ZAUBERFLÖTE

Listen to how not to sing the coloratura pyrotechnics from the Queen of the Night's rage aria from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.

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