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Orpheus with her Lute – March 6, 1994 | Walter Hall, Toronto
The life story of the singer Pauline Viardot (1821-1910)

date: March 6, 1994

This programme tells the story of Pauline Viardot, one of the greatest opera singers of the 19th century.  Her life history reads impossibly like a Hollywood biopic.  Her father, Manuel Garcia, was the first Almaviva in Rossini’s Barbiere di Siviglia in 1816.  She herself knew both Lorenzo da Ponte and Richard Strauss; Schumann, Wagner, Brahms and Massenet composed for her.  At the end of her life, she was interviewed by Reynaldo Hahn, from whose description we quoted in our narration.  A highlight of her career was the title role in Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice, revived in a new version by Hector Berlioz in 1859.  Marilyn Lightstone read the reminiscences of Viardot.

Song Artist Composer Poet
Overture: Il barbiere di Siviglia Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Rossini, Gioachino n/a
Sérénade à Rosine (Louis Pomey) Boutet, Benoît, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano Viardot, Pauline Pomey, Louis
Mit Myrthen und Rosen, Op.24/9 (Heine-Liederkreis) Landry, Rosemarie, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Schumann, Robert Heine, Heinrich
Liebeslied (Widmung) Ralls, Stephen, piano Schumann, Robert, arr. Liszt, Franz n/a
L’Attente Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano Wagner, Richard Hugo, Victor
Chanson mélancolique Boutet, Benoît, tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Viardot, Pauline Silvestre, Armand
Les Filles de Cadix Landry, Rosemarie, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Viardot, Pauline Musset, Alfred de
Plainte d’amour Landry, Rosemarie, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Chopin, Frédéric, arr. Viardot, Pauline Pomey, Louis
La Captive – Rêverie, Op.12 Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano Berlioz, Hector Hugo, Victor
Barcarola Landry, Rosemarie, soprano; Boutet, Benoît, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano Gounod, Charles Zaffira, Giuseppe
Chère épouse! Eurydice! (Orphée et Eurydice) Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano Gluck, Christoph Willibald von Moline, Pierre-Louis
La Marquise Landry, Rosemarie, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Viardot, Pauline Vaucaire, Maurice
Suzon Suzette Boutet, Benoît, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano Viardot, Pauline Hugo, Victor
Rhapsodie, Op.53 Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; male voice ensemble; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Brahms, Johannes Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
INTERMISSION
Tes yeux Landry, Rosemarie, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano Schubert, Franz, arr. Viardot, Pauline Pomey, Louis
None but the lonely heart, Op.6/6 Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich Mey, Lev, after Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
Belle Yoli Boutet, Benoît, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano Viardot, Pauline Beauvoir, Roger de
Ici-bas tous les lilas meurent Boutet, Benoît, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano Viardot, Pauline Sully Prudhomme, René-François-Armand
Marche militaire française (Suite Algérienne, Op. 60) Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Saint-Saëns, Camille n/a
Hai luli! Landry, Rosemarie, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Viardot, Pauline Maistre, Xavier de
Puisqu’ici-bas toute âme, Op.10/1 Landry, Rosemarie, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Fauré, Gabriel Hugo, Victor
Chanson du pêcheur (Lamento), Op.4/1 Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Fauré, Gabriel Gautier, Théophile
Cimetière de campagne Boutet, Benoît, tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Hahn, Reynaldo Vicaire, Gabriel
J’ai perdu mon Eurydice (Orphée et Eurydice) Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Gluck, Christoph Willibald von Moline, Pierre-Louis
Tes yeux –   ENCORE Landry, Rosemarie, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Boutet, Benoît, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano Schubert, Franz, arr. Viardot, Pauline Pomey, Louis