Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Celebrating Friedrich von Flotow's 199th Birthday

Friedrich von Flotow and Titta Ruffo
Today is the 199th birthday of German Composer Friedrich von Flotow. Other than his famous "Ach! so fromm, ach! so traut" ("M'appari),"from Martha he is rarely heard in English speaking countries. Perhaps with his 200th birthday celebration we'll hear more of his music next season. Flotow wrote 30 operas and four ballets, many of which have echoes of Rossini, Auber and Offenbach.

Perhaps his best known aria for baritone is "Lasst mich euch Fragen" ("Chi mi dira") from his most famous opera Martha. Here is a classic version from the great Italian baritone Titta Ruffo.


Folke Jonsson

Just for fun, here is the famous "Spinning Quartet" sung in Swedish by Elisabeth Söderström, Siw Ericsdotter, Nicolai Gedda and Folke Jonsson, which is also from Martha.



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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 28, 2011 at 6:28 AM

    28April2011

    Kudos to Andreas Aroditis for his characterization of Ramiro in the current run of "L'heure Espanole" at Juillard's Peter Jay Sharpe Theater. It is a stylish, vivacious and unobtrusively accurate vocal excursion coupled with his compelling stage deportment. Needless to say his hunky physical attraction spilled off the stage and enveloped us. Where does he buy his undershirts?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 11, 2011 at 10:10 AM

    HE BUYS THEM IN CYPRUS. YOU KNOW......THE ISLAND OF LOVE! :) :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousOctober 26, 2011 at 12:22 PM

    Do you happen to know if Martha is being performed anywhere (in the world) this year or next? It is my dad's favorite opera and I would love to take him to see it.

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