Edward Johnson writes… “Do you suppose your Column viewers might like some Operatic Parodies? … Many years ago, Michael Aspinall moved to Rome to study and teach singing as well as researching great singers of the past. He has written numerous articles on the subject but alongside that he became a stage performer, sending up the great prima donnas of the past and present. In a New York Town Hall recital in 1987 he had the audience in fits as La Gioconda, Violetta and Tosca. Here they are with introductions to two of them by Karen Christenfeld, one of his singing pupils.”
“Suicidio” from La Gioconda …
As Violetta, the consumptive heroine of La traviata …
As Tosca, finding her way out of the particular difficulty posed by Baron Scarpia …
A non-operatic performance, this being of German lieder – “the most serious form of all vocal music” …
Finally, “There are Fairies at the bottom of our Garden” … As Michael says at the end: “It’s not fashionable to sing songs like that in concerts today because I’m afraid that music critics do not take them seriously” …
“Anyway, I hope they amuse!”