La Bohéme - Wie Eiskalt ist dies' Händchen, Slezak on Edison

[Valecnik]

I finally got up the courage play this Grand Opera Slezak wax amberol. Now that it's recorded, probably won't be played again anytime soon if ever.

[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dByv37jI4A8[/youtubehd]

[Nat]

I generally don't like Slezak, but this is very good. I'll need to re-think & listen more. Many thanks.

Wonderfully clear diction, though the voice is at least two sizes bigger than one normally hears in a Rudolfo. Interesting, too, to reflect that when this was made, Boheme was pretty new music, and Slezak has it well in hand. (I find that some of the older singers hadn't yet learned the ins and outs of Puccini - Caruso's E lucevan le stelle is always a disappointment, missing so many of the bits that a di Stephano, for example, could milk out of it.)

[Henry]

Strange to hear this auf Deutsch. But what a powerful voice! Thanks for posting.

[Lenoirstreetguy]

This is great. I wasn't initially taken by Slezak when I first heard him but he certainly has grown on me. Some of his lieder recordings from the 20's are utterly superb. Have you ever looked at the clips on Youtube from some of his German comedies from the mid thirties? He was a very charming actor. His son, the actor Walter Slezak wrote his one book of memoirs but it is as much about his father as it is himself. Leo comes across as a delight...a strong willed delight, but charming in the nth degree. And one possessed of a irrepressible sense of humour. He has reached operatic immortality for his ad lib when at the conclusion of his Farewell in Lohengrin he realized the stage hands had pulled the Swan boat away before he could get aboard. His aside to the audience " What time's the next Swan? " became legendary. This is sort of a " Ya had to be there.." kind of thing. A far better story involves a production of Strauss' Salome. I'll quote Leo Slezak himself as quoted by his son.
One of the baritones at the Vienna Opera always wore large cotton plugs in his ears to ward off colds. He walked around with them on the street everywhere he went ; at rehearsals he took them off laid them on the piano, sang: and when he left replaced them. One night this man was singing Jopkanaan in Salome . Just before the performance I managed to sneak into the prop room. And when the on a silver platter the papier-mache head of Jokanaan emerged from the well it wore in each ear two inch long gleaming white earplugs. Poor Salome and the orchestra laughed so hard they all but had to ring down the curtain.
And I was never found out." he added proudly.

Now THAT is funny.
Jim

[Wolfe]

Thanks very much for that. Slezak has some moments in that piece. And it's well recorded too.

[Valecnik]

This is great. I wasn't initially taken by Slezak when I first heard him but he certainly has grown on me. Some of his lieder recordings from the 20's are utterly superb. Have you ever looked at the clips on Youtube from some of his German comedies from the mid thirties? He was a very charming actor. His son, the actor Walter Slezak wrote his one book of memoirs but it is as much about his father as it is himself. Leo comes across as a delight...a strong willed delight, but charming in the nth degree. And one possessed of a irrepressible sense of humour. He has reached operatic immortality for his ad lib when at the conclusion of his Farewell in Lohengrin he realized the stage hands had pulled the Swan boat away before he could get aboard. His aside to the audience " What time's the next Swan? " became legendary. This is sort of a " Ya had to be there.." kind of thing. A far better story involves a production of Strauss' Salome. I'll quote Leo Slezak himself as quoted by his son.
One of the baritones at the Vienna Opera always wore large cotton plugs in his ears to ward off colds. He walked around with them on the street everywhere he went ; at rehearsals he took them off laid them on the piano, sang: and when he left replaced them. One night this man was singing Jopkanaan in Salome . Just before the performance I managed to sneak into the prop room. And when the on a silver platter the papier-mache head of Jokanaan emerged from the well it wore in each ear two inch long gleaming white earplugs. Poor Salome and the orchestra laughed so hard they all but had to ring down the curtain.
And I was never found out." he added proudly.


Now THAT is funny.
Jim

Those are good stories. I never imagined him with such a sense of humor. These operatic recordings tend to make one think the vocalist is solo sophisticated and serious!

[Henry]

Leo's son Walter played many varied roles on stage and screen in the '30s-'70s. I remember him also as a member of the panel on the old Metropolitan Opera Quiz, which was a regular intermission feature of the Saturday matinee radio broadcasts for many years. His humor (and knowledge of opera) was highly appreciated by all. Here's a bio: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0805790/bio