Ponselle

Gary Karr, long regarded as a leading double bass player and playing the instrument of the legendary Serge Koussevitzky, performs Sunday, Sept. 29, here in the first concert of a free new classical music series by winners and advisers of the annual Rosa Ponselle International Competition.Pianist Harmon Lewis will accompany Karr in the 7:30 p.m. concert at Kraushaar Auditorium, Goucher College. Admission is free but you are advised to call the foundation at 486-4616 to reserve tickets.Also performing will be coloratura soprano Cheryl Parrish, recipient of the foundation's Hazel Ann Fox Award, and tenor John Weber, winner of a joint foundation-Richard Tucker Music Foundation Award.

It's easy to find opera lovers who dismiss the present state of the art in favor of some distant "golden age. " Actually, it has always been that way. Folks who now wax nostalgic about, say, the heyday of Leontyne Price and Franco Corelli would have run into people back then saying, "You think this is great? You should have heard Ponselle and Martinelli. " And, of course, in the indisputably grand era of Caruso, you just know someone in the audience would have been going on and on about how much better it was back when Jean de Reszke was in his prime.

"Rosa Ponselle: A Centenary Biography," by James A. Drake. Amadeus Press. Illustrated. 500 pages. $39.95.Mention Baltimore to your favorite opera lover and you can bet that his look of absolute awe is less likely to be inspired by crabcakes or Cal Ripken than by thoughts of Rosa Ponselle, the dramatic soprano considered by many to have had the most beautiful voice of the century. But tell this same fan that you've read a new biography of her, and watch him shudder.Not a misguided impulse: Most biographies of opera singers are oozing with heady adoration with enough minutiae about vocal technique to put anyone to sleep.

Opera lover left with memories Regarding "Death of Baltimore Opera leaves void" (Commentary, March 22): I was 11 years old when my music teacher at P.S. 203, Alvina Macdonald, took us on a field trip. She had schooled us well in Verdian lore, explaining every scene and aria that we were about to hear. I remember getting off the bus and climbing many steps. I remember the conductor and the audience recognizing the great soprano Rosa Ponselle. And then I was transfixed. There were no subtitles then, so you had to know your libretto or you were lost.

The opera "Carmen," like the drama "Macbeth," has a well-earned reputation as an unlucky vehicle for the actors and singers who dare perform it.Superstitious actors often refer to the Shakespearean drama as simply "the Scottish play," afraid that mentioning its name could somehow summon the demons of misfortune.Writer Judith Green in an article in The Sun last week provided voluminous examples of how "Carmen" may be the musical counterpart of "Macbeth."On opening night of the Baltimore Opera Company's production of "Carmen" at the Lyric Theater several weeks ago, mezzo Irina Mishura fell as her spike heels slid out from under her on the raked stage.

Luciano Pavarotti praised her as "the Queen of Queens in all of singing." Maria Callas called her "simply the greatest singer of us all." Montserrat Caballe said: "My favorite singer? Rosa Ponselle!"A now legendary superstar, Ponselle, the first truly great American dramatic soprano, would have been 100 years old this year. She'll be remembered and honored in two extraordinary memorial events this weekend -- near her mausoleum in Druid Ridge Cemetery, Pikesville, at 4 p.m. tomorrow, and in a memorial concert at 4 p.m. Sunday in Murphy Auditorium at Morgan State University.

The Baltimore Opera Company's season opener, Ponchielli's "La Gioconda," will be a tribute to one of its founders, Metropolitan Opera soprano Rosa Ponselle (1897-1981), a longtime resident of Greenspring Valley.The company's 1996-1997 season commemorates the centennial of Ponselle's birth, Jan. 22, 1897."La Gioconda," which was one of Ponselle's greatest roles, will be performed Oct. 10, Oct. 12, Oct. 16, Oct. 18 and Oct. 20 at the Lyric Opera House.The featured cast for the production includes Bulgarian soprano Ghena Dimitrova, Russian mezzo-soprano Nina Terentieva, leading tenor Ermanno Mauro, baritone Sigmund Cowan and bass Louis Lebherz.

Judith Telep-Ehrlich, the versatile American soprano appearing in the Baltimore Opera Company's Richard Wagner concert opening Friday, feels like someone gave her "a wonderful birthday present" in the three masterpieces she's singing here."

Henriette Duke, whose love of music led her to leadership roles with several of Baltimore's most prominent musical organizations, died April 12 of pancreatic cancer at her estate in Green Spring Valley. She was 89.Mrs. Duke had been involved for nearly 60 years in many capacities with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She she had been a director, fund-raiser and had been president of the Women's Association of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.She also was a past president of the Baltimore Music Club and the Maryland Federation of Music Clubs.

It's easy to find opera lovers who dismiss the present state of the art in favor of some distant "golden age. " Actually, it has always been that way. Folks who now wax nostalgic about, say, the heyday of Leontyne Price and Franco Corelli would have run into people back then saying, "You think this is great? You should have heard Ponselle and Martinelli. " And, of course, in the indisputably grand era of Caruso, you just know someone in the audience would have been going on and on about how much better it was back when Jean de Reszke was in his prime.

Clifford Cole Bruck Sr., a retired Western Maryland Railway executive and longtime opera buff, died Wednesday of complications from Parkinson's disease at the Presbyterian Home of Maryland in Towson. The longtime Guilford resident was 93. Mr. Bruck was born in Baltimore and raised in Forest Park. After graduating from Forest Park High School in 1932, he earned a bachelor's degree from the Johns Hopkins University in 1936. Mr. Bruck also attended the University of Maryland School of Law at night, earning a degree in the 1960s.

Twenty years ago this week -- May 25, 1981--- Rosa Ponselle died in her beloved home, Villa Pace, in Greenspring Valley. The soprano had outlived just about all her fellow stars of the "Golden Age" at the Metropolitan Opera in the 1920s and '30s, and also some legendary singers, like Maria Callas, who came along much later. It was Callas who called Ponselle "the greatest singer of us all," a judgment that stands up strongly even more than 60 years after Ponselle retired from the opera stage.

Rosa Ponselle, the famed diva who guided the Baltimore Opera Company for several decades, died 20 years ago this month. The Rosa Ponselle Foundation began commemorating that anniversary last weekend with a concert in Washington and a High Mass at the soprano's old parish church in Pikesville; the remembrances continue this week in Baltimore: Stefania Dovhan, who won the gold medal at the 2000 Rosa Ponselle Competition, will give a free recital at 2:30...

For a real oxymoron, consider that the first film of a complete opera was made during the silent era: "Der Rosenkavalier" in 1924. It was screened at a benefit in London, with composer Richard Strauss conducting its huge orchestra and all the singers in the pit of the Tivoli Theater.Nowadays, opera for the camera is fairly common -- not in theaters, maybe, but certainly on television. And, in fact, the "Opera on Film" series of the Maryland Arts Festival at Towson University is actually opera on video, projected on a theater-size screen.

Dorothy Kendall, a mezzo-soprano who for more than 40 years sang professionally with Baltimore musical organizations, died of congestive heart failure April 6 at Good Samaritan Hospital. She was 76.Mrs. Kendall, who began her singing career in high school productions, was coached by the late opera diva Rosa Ponselle and performed in leading roles with the former Baltimore Civic Opera, as a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and at music clubs and houses of worship."Hers was one of the top 10 voices in Baltimore without a doubt," said soprano Judy Tormey, who sang with Mrs. Kendall at Har Sinai Congregation.

The opera "Carmen," like the drama "Macbeth," has a well-earned reputation as an unlucky vehicle for the actors and singers who dare perform it.Superstitious actors often refer to the Shakespearean drama as simply "the Scottish play," afraid that mentioning its name could somehow summon the demons of misfortune.Writer Judith Green in an article in The Sun last week provided voluminous examples of how "Carmen" may be the musical counterpart of "Macbeth."On opening night of the Baltimore Opera Company's production of "Carmen" at the Lyric Theater several weeks ago, mezzo Irina Mishura fell as her spike heels slid out from under her on the raked stage.

The Rosa Ponselle Foundation will present a free concert tonight in Kraushaar Auditorium at Goucher College. It will showcase the winners of its fourth annual "All-Marylanders" Competition, in which 100 young Maryland singers between the ages of 13 and 21 competed last spring.Veteran Metropolitan Opera bass-baritone, Jerome Hines, will introduce the singers and do some vocalizing himself.Nine of last year's winners will sing selections from Mozart's "Die Zauberflote," Charpentier's "Louise," Johann Strauss' "Die Fleder maus" and other operatic works.

SPORTS LEGENDS CAME TO Baltimore from all over the country and scored thousands of dollars for the city's recreation and parks youth programs. The Legends weekend began with a golf tournament at Pine Ridge, where area business people paid each to play golf with athletes like former Dallas Cowboy Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett and his former teammates Pete Johnson and Ron Springs; former Baltimore Colts Lenny Moore, John Mackey, Tom Matte, Bruce Laird, Bert...

Luciano Pavarotti praised her as "the Queen of Queens in all of singing." Maria Callas called her "simply the greatest singer of us all." Montserrat Caballe said: "My favorite singer? Rosa Ponselle!"A now legendary superstar, Ponselle, the first truly great American dramatic soprano, would have been 100 years old this year. She'll be remembered and honored in two extraordinary memorial events this weekend -- near her mausoleum in Druid Ridge Cemetery, Pikesville, at 4 p.m. tomorrow, and in a memorial concert at 4 p.m. Sunday in Murphy Auditorium at Morgan State University.