Desert Island Discs
by Lindsay Perigo
[Editor's note - during its first incarnation, SOLOHQ sported a page where contributors faced exile on a desert island & were allowed to take just 5 CDs with them: What would these five be? The following were mine. It will be noted that I cheated. Being SOLO's founder has its advantages occasionally.]
Mario Lanza, of course - of whom it has been said that if there were a God & He had a voice, this is what it would sound like. A custom CD, containing the 1949 Che Gelida Manina, the 1950 Recondita Armonia & E Lucevan le Stelle, the Rhino CD version of Vesti la Giubba, the 1950 Un Di All'azzuro Spazio, the Coca Cola recording of Lamento di Federico, a bunch of Neapolitan songs, Serenade, Drink! Drink! Drink!, Beloved & I'll Walk with God from The Student Prince ... & many many more from this Prince of Passion, this force of nature who "rumbled the stars themselves." See Derek McGovern's essay, "Mario!" on this site.
Anna Moffo. This soprano is one of the world's best-kept secrets. The most voluptuous-voiced prima donna ever! Again, a custom CD that contains, at minimum, her Rachmaninoff Vocalise, Songs of the Auvergne, her "Dream Duets" with Sergio Franchi, highlights from Die Fledermaus, her German recording of Vissi d'Arte, her German operetta recordings ... OK, maybe there are two or three custom CDs here!
Fritz Wunderlich. Here I cheat. I'm taking the 5-CD Deutsche set with me. There's everything here - his superb lieder, operatic arias, Italian ballads & his astounding, superhuman, sonic-boom delivery of Granada.
Maria Callas. Another force of nature, a voice with a heart-stopping, other-worldly quality, capable of the most terrifying violence & the most poignant tenderness, well captured on a CD called The Incomparable Callas - a compendium of arias recorded at different times during her explosive career. Gluck's J'ai Perdu mon Eurydice & Massenet's Pleurez, mes Yeux are particular stand-outs in an outstanding collection.
Rachmaninoff - A Window in Time. Transfers of his piano roll recordings, sounding as though they were made just yesterday. The master-composer was also a master-pianist. Hearing his spirited renderings of his own war-horses like the Prelude in C & the Prelude in G Minor is a joy. For good measure, there's a thunderous Star-Spangled Banner to conclude with!
Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto #3. Rapture set to music. Here I'll cheat again & take the 2-CD collection of all 4 Rach concertos & his Paganini Rhapsody, played by Howard Shelley. Mr Shelley's reading of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue can go in the bag as well. Oh, & Earl Wild's joyous Gershwin transcriptions while I'm about it.
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Indescribable in its grandeur, what a salute to the human race that I'll be leaving behind! Of course, we all quiver in anticipation of the earth-shattering finale, but to me the third movement, Adagio, is also one of the sublimest pieces of music ever written. Which version to take? I'll have to think long & hard about that, but probably one of the Furtwanglers.
Well, I've already well exceeded my limit, but, if no one's looking, I'm going to tuck away every bit of Chopin I can lay my hands on as well!
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