Thomas Hemsley Thomas Anny Schlemm Anny Benno Kusche Benno Harshaw Margaret 16 NI 7964 NI 7964 1 Don Giovanni Ossia Il dissoluto Punito Opera in due Atti Poesia di Lorenzo Da Ponte Musica di W. A. Mozart Leporello Servant to Don Giovanni Benno Kusche Donna Anna, Daughter of the Commendatore and betrothed to Don Ottavio Margaret Harshaw ames Pease ames Hervey Alan Hervey Don Giovanni a Young and Licentious Nobleman James Pease J The Commendatore Hervey Alan Don Ottavio Léopold Simoneau Donna Elvira a Lady from Burgos, abandoned by Don Giovanni Sena Jurinac Zerlina a Peasant Girl Anny Schlemm Masetto a Peasant, betrothed to Zerlina Thomas Hemsley Conductor Georg Solti The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Continuo played by the Conductor The Glyndebourne Festival Chorus éopold Simoneau éopold L Jurinac Sena 2 NI 7964 NI 7964 15 Aldeburgh, Hemsley created the role of Demetrius in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. His Solti conducted Don Giovanni in nine performances during the 1954 Covent Garden debut in 1970 was as Mangus in Tippett's The Knot Garden. Glyndebourne season : on July 7, 9, 11, 14, 17, 21, 23, 25, 27. The BBC In the latter part of his career, Hemsley taught at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, televised it, compressing the opera into 90 minutes and cutting three London and also ran the opera programme at the Dartington International Summer School. He of the most popular arias - ‘Batti, batti’, ‘Deh vieni alla fenestra’ and was awarded the CBE in the 2000 Queen's Millennium Honors List for his services to Music. ‘Dalla sua pace’. These performances of Don Giovanni were Georg Solti’s only Glyndebourne appearances. Italo Tajo (bass) (April 25, 1915 - March 28, 1993). Italo Tajo was born in Pinerolo, Piedmont, and studied violin and voice at the Music Conservatory of Turin. His stage debut was in 1935, as Fafner Das Rheingold, under Fritz Busch. At Busch's invitation, he went to Glyndebourne where This complete performance was broadcast live from the opera house he became a member of the chorus understudying Mozart roles under the conductor as well as on 17 July 1954. The source recording is part of the ‘Itter Broadcast also appearing in supporting roles. During World War two he sang regularly as a member of La Collection’ held by Lyrita Recorded Edition Trust. Scala in Milan as well as at the Rome and Naples theatres. During this period his sonority of voice and committed acting enabled him to build an extensive repertoire of roles in standard th Italian Romantic opera in particular. He did not eschew contemporary works singing in Alban Setting A Spanish town (traditionally Seville) in the 16 Century Berg's Wozzeck in its La Scala premiere in 1942, and later he also created roles in works by Luigi DISC 1 62.23 Nono and Luciano Berio as well as in Walton’s Troilus and Cressida in 1956 and Shostakovich's Nose in 1964. 1 OVERTURE 5.47 In the immediate post war period, Tajo’s career quickly took an international turn, with debuts in ACT 1 Paris, London, Edinburgh and Buenos Aires. He made his American debut in 1946 with the Chicago Opera Company, as Ramfis in Verdi's Aida, adding also Puccini's La Boheme and 2 Scene 1 Leporello: Notte e giorno faticar 5.10 Saint-Saens' Samson et Dalila. In 1948 he made his Met debut as Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di 3 Scene 2 Giovanni: Leporello, ove sei? 0.26 Siviglia. His other roles there included Figaro, Leporello, Don Basilio, Dulcamara, Don Pasquale, 4 Scene 3 Anna: Ah!del padre in periglio 6.56 and Gianni Schicchi. In the UK he sang at the Glyndebourne and Edinburgh Festivals where he 5 Scene 4 Giovanni: Orsù, spicciati presto 1.19 revealed his stature as a lively buffo bass, adding Dulcamara with the visiting La Scala company 6 Scene 5 Elvira: Ah! chi mi dice mai 6.06 to Covent Garden in 1950. Meanwhile he did not neglect the great basso roles such as Verdi’s Attila and Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov. His versatility included taking over from from Ezio 7 Leporello: Madamina, il catalogo è questo 5.30 Pinza in the role of Emile de Becque (South Pacific) on Broadway. 8 Scene 7 Zerlina: Giovinette, che fate all'amore 1.19 9 Scene 8 Giovanni: Manco male, è partita 1.43 From 1966 Italo Tajo taught at the University of Cincinnati helping to establish the opera department there. Among his students were Kathleen Battle and Barbara Daniels He continued 10 Masetto: Ho capito, signor sì! 1.25 singing until well into his seventies, mostly at the Metropolitan Opera in character roles. His last 11 Scene 9 Giovanni: Alfin siam liberati 1.36 stage appearance was in April 1991 as the Sacristan in Tosca. 12 Giovanni: Là ci darem la mano 3.13 Biographies © Robert J Farr, 2017 13 Scene 10 Elvira: Fermati, scellerato! 0.41 14 NI 7964 NI 7964 3 14 Elvira: Ah, fuggi il traditor 1.06 Schlemm had a full soprano tone, as heard in this performance as Zerlina, and as her voice 15 Scene 11 Giovanni: Mi par ch'oggi il demonio si diverta 0.55 darkened she moved into the mezzo-soprano roles becoming a famous exponent of Clytemnestra in Elektra, Herodias in Salome, Kabanicha in Káťa Kabanová, and Kostelnicka in Jenůfa, later 16 Scene 12 Elvira: Ah, ti ritrovo ancor 4.19 adding Mistress Quickly in Verdi’s Falstaff and Mama Lucia in Mascagni’s Cavaleria Rusticana 17 Scene 13 Anna: Don Ottavio... son morta! 3.43 to her repertoire. 18 Anna: Or sai chi l'onore 2.53 An highly versatile singing-actress Anny Schlemm was equally at home in comic and dramatic 19 Scene 14 Ottavio: Come mai creder deggio 5.30 roles and in nearly sixty years in opera and operetta she sang no fewer than 135 roles. She made 20 Scene 15 Leporello: Io deggio ad ogni patto 1.16 many records of operetta and opera, usually singing in her native German. An exception was her 21 Giovanni: Fin ch'han dal vino 1.24 Witch in Solti’s recording of Humperdink’s Hansel and Gretel. For a period of time she was married to conductor Wolfgang Rennert (1922-2012). DISC 2 67.06 Thomas Jeffrey Hemsley, CBE. (Baritone) (12 April 1927 - 11 April 2013). Thomas Hemsley 1 Scene 16 Zerlina: Masetto... senti un po'... 1.16 was born in Hugglescoate near Coalville, Leicestershire. He attended Ashby-de-la-Zouch 2 Zerlina: Batti, batti, o bel Masetto 4.25 Grammar School (where he was head Boy) and then Brasenose College, Oxford, where he took 3 Masetto: Presto, presto... pria ch'ei venga 1.45 a degree in Natural Sciences. His singing had been noted in Oxford, and after graduation he went to London where he became a pupil of Lucie Manén1, and also served as a Vicar Choral at St 4 Scene 18 Zerlina: Tra quest’alberi celata 2.17 Paul's Cathedral. Hemsley made his debut in 1951 as Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas at the 5 Scene 19 Elvira: Bisogna aver corragio 4.49 Mermaid Theatre, London, alongside Kirsten Flagstad as Dido. The pair recorded the opera for 6 Scene 20 Giovanni: Riposate, vezzose ragazze 8.59 EMI the same year. Hemsley was principal baritone at Aachen Opera (1953-1956), at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein ACT 2 (1956-1963), and the Zürich Opera (1962-1967) during which time he encompassed a repertoire 7 Scene 1 Giovanni: Eh via, buffone, non mi seccar 2.38 of some 100 major roles and became a noted interpreter of German opera. His Beckmesser in 8 Scene 2 Elvira: Ah! taci, ingiusto core 5.07 Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg impressed Otto Klemperer and he specifically 9 Scene 3 Elvira: Eccomi a voi! 1.42 recommended him to the Bayreuth Festival for the role in its centenary production there in 1968. He sang the role there from 1968 to 1970 and recorded it under the baton of Rafael Kubelík. 10 Giovanni: Deh! vieni alla finestra 2.03 11 Scene 4 Giovanni: V'è gente alla finestra 1.04 Hemsley was never away from Britain for so long that he was forgotten. He sang in 16 Promenade 12 Giovanni: Metà di voi qua vadano 2.49 Concerts, including three of Britten’s War Requiem. He first appeared at Glyndebourne in 1953 as Hercules in Gluck’s Alceste, and as well as his Masetto in this 1954 performance, his roles 13 Scene 5 Giovanni: Zitto... Lascia ch'io senta 0.39 included the Music Master in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos in 1957, and Dr Reichsmann in the 14 Scene 6 Masetto: Ahi! Ahi! La testa mia! 1.34 premiere of Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers in 1961. In 1970, with the English Opera Group at 15 Zerlina: Vedrai, carino 3.34 1 Lucie Manén (1900-1991) author of 16 Scene 7 Leporello: Di molte faci il lume 3.09 (1987) 4 NI 7964 NI 7964 13 voice subsequently requiring total vocal rest. She was associated with the company in Vienna for 17 Scene 8 Zerlina & Masetto: Ferma, perfido; ferma 4.35 almost four decades, receiving an honorary membership of the company with the title of 18 Scene 9 Zerlina: Dunque quello sei tu che 0.18 Kammersängerin. 19 Leporello: Ah, pieta, signori miei 1.49 In 1947 Jurinac sang at Covent Garden in the season given by the Vienna State Opera, made her 20 Scene 10 Elvira: Ferma, perfido, ferma! 0.42 début at the Salzburg Festival, and shortly afterwards at La Scala.