This is a 78-RPM vinyl recording of my Mom, Annette Walley (Nee: Strang), singing, and my Dad, Keith Warren Walley, on piano. The bird is Mom’s, brought from home and placed in the recording studio. Mom is 16 and Dad is 17. The recording was made in Long Beach, CA in 1955. Thanks to Tom Gordon… Continue reading Annette Strang Walley and Keith Warren French – 1955
Category: Opera
Singing Along With Cavalleria Rusticana
Videotaped by Reid Walley
Where Opera Began for Me
My first-born, Reid, asked me if I knew how I’d heard Opera for the first time: radio broadcast, 78-RPM record played by my Mother at home, or a live performance? After much thinking, I’m pretty sure it was in 1949, when I was 10, while watching a film with my Mother, Dr. Pearl Marie Sampson.… Continue reading Where Opera Began for Me
My Mother Sang The Role of Micaela in Carmen
My mother, Dr. Pearl M. Sampson, sang the role of Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen with the Chicago Lyric Opera in the mid-1920s. This was during the time she was attending medical school in Chicago. My son, Reid, found this on the Internet: Dame Joan Sutherland “Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante” Micaëla’s aria in Bizet’s… Continue reading My Mother Sang The Role of Micaela in Carmen
My Mother’s Favorite Opera Aria: Depuis le Jour
My mother Dr. Pearl Marie Sampson’s all-time favorite opera aria: Depuis le Jour, from the opera Louise by Gustave Charpentier. This 1976 recording is by Romanian soprano Ileana Cotrubaș.
Music that impacted me the most!
Year: 1954 Age: 14 Location: Bayreuth, Germany While visiting Europe for 6 months with my mother, Dr. Pearl Marie Sampson. Grand operas by Wagner: – Tannhäuser – Tristan & Isolde – Lohengrin I watched all three operas over a 5-day period and was speechless for 3 days afterward. I instantly fell in love with grand… Continue reading Music that impacted me the most!