belcantopera's video: The Golden Age of Opera

There is a real sense of ecstasy in this performance. European society of the Belle Époque was a society founded on a continuous melodrama. This beautiful opera scene with Pina Menichelli ("Tigre Reale", 1916) reminds me Fellini's "E la nave va".......... The Golden Age of Opera.......... With Patti and Plancon, Battistini represented the twilight of the art of bel canto singing, whose nightfall was illuminated by the ascending stars of Caruso and Tetrazzini, amongst others.......... The final ecstatic passages of "Isoldens Liebestod" with Giuseppina Cobelli's warm, full, sensuous, vibrant voice amidst the engulfing orchestral tides of La Scala propelled by Victor De Sabata on 11 Dec 1930 in a live performance. Trance-like singing: Sei tu l'onda de le brezze? Sei tu nube fatta d'incensi? Che m'inonda, che mi avvolge. Ch'io ti aspiri! Che in te spiri! In te immersa e sommersa Sento l'esser mio svanire! Ne l'immenso ondeggiar, Nel crescente clangor. Nel fulgor d'una luce immortal Attratta, rapita, me smarrir! Sommo ben! -------------------------------------