Christian Franz - the stocky Bavarian in his mid-30s, whose Tristan at the
Berlin Staatsoper was one the true pleasures of a November trip - is up
for the title role of "Siegfried" in Bayreuth this summer (yes, East Coast
friends, writing from San Francisco's 65 degrees today, summer will come
sooner or later everywhere.)

I am certain of a Franz breakthrough with the Festspiele appearance not
only because of his great musicianship and fabulously clear diction, but
also in view of the "opposition." Incredibly, the "Goetterdaemmerung"
Siegfried is still Wolfgang Schmidt - an old, tired "lion" if there was
ever one. (Robert Dean Smith is the Siegmund.) Franz will sing Tristan
again in Berlin next October-November.

You can hear "Siegfried" in the summer of 2002. in Cleveland. Christoph von
Dohnanyi's last appearance there as the orchestra's music director (Franz
Welser-Moest is taking over) will be on the podium of Severance Hall in a
concert presentation of the opera. Stig Andersen sings the title role, Jane
Eaglen is Bruennhilde, Robert Hale is the Wanderer. The rest of the cast:
Heidi Grant Murphy, Anna Larsson, Peter Bronder, Alfred Reiter.

Speaking of tenors, NAXOS' upcoming release of a 1931 La Scala "Andrea
Chenier" provides a fine opportunity to hear Luigi Marini (1884-1942),
as "interesting" a tenor as you're likely to hear. Even if the voice
turns pinched at times, and he consistently attacks the high notes with
more abandon than his voice can support, it is a heroic and impressive
performance. Here's a great Maddalena - the 23-year-old Lina Bruna-Rasa,
singing with both youthful passion and the security of a veteran. Carlo
Galeffi's Gerard and Salvatore Baccaloni in a couple of small roles are
well worth the price of the album.

The mystery conductor (adequate and consistent, not much more) is Lorenzo
Molajoli who, according to Paul Campion's notes, was known only for his
recordings - apparently he conducted no live performances, and there is no
biographical data available. Campion questions if Molajoli was his real
name and wonders what the man might have been trying to conceal. It is
possible, of course, that at a time before our worship of the Fifteen
Minutes Syndrome, some folks might have been uninterested in publicity.
At any rate, Grove II has only a single reference to Molajoli, but that's
Emma, known only for being Rosetta Pampanini's teacher. One wonders if
Emma conducted as Lorenzo at a time when the Vienna Rule against women in
the orchestra (and especially on the podium) held sway everywhere. Full
disclosure: you may not see this theory anywhere else, mostly because I
just made it up.

Janos Gereben/SF, CA
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