STEFANIA TOCZYSKA - A BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE

Описание: February 19th 1943 - the day a star was born.

This year marks exactly 80 years since the birth of Stefania Toczyska - to quote Herbert von Karajan - one of the absolute greatest singers of all time. Where does one start when trying to wish a happy birthday to a musical genius as accomplished, revered and grand as She is? All we can possibly say in such an instant is: thank you. We truly give heartfelt thanks for the thrill of every recorded performance (although we regret not being born in the right times as to hear any of those performance in person daily), for the incomparable emotions She delivers each time She sings, quite simply for the whole art She shared with the world.

It is not in vain that conductors like Carlos Kleiber, Riccardo Muti, James Levine, Colin Davis, or singers like Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Montserrat Caballé, Alfredo Kraus, Joan Sutherland and so many more, always spoke so highly and with such respect and admiration for Toczyska. It would be impossible for any sensible soul not to recognize the profound message of beauty, feeling and passion this woman bestows upon us with every phrase She creates. Indeed, „create” would be the perfect word to describe the act of singing in Her case - it is not merely a production of achingly beautiful sounds with an exceptionally rare and uniquely stunning vocal instrument, but an entire experience which, in many moments, makes one question if indeed somewhere there isn’t a greater, mightier force guiding artists like Her on the mission of showing us all what true beauty and art actually is and how deeply it can affect us in the most pleasant and deep way.

What you see in this video is only but a portion of Toczyska’s glorious and now-legendary career. She is hailed by conductors and critics alike as the greatest Amneris in history, a ravishing and passionate Carmen, a seductive and cunning Dalila, to name a few, but, could one really pick a favorite or a best one when the legacy is as vast and meaningful as Hers, ranging from Rossini’s Isabella and Rosina up to Donizetti’s Queen Elizabeth I or Verdi’s Azucena? As the great Beverly Sills put it - simply all mezzo-soprano works belong to Her.

For the past fifty years, Stefania Toczyska has been making Her native Poland proud and thrilling audiences on all the most prestigious stages of the world: La Scala, Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, Arena di Verona, Teatro Colon, Opera de Paris, Wiener Staatsoper (Her home-theater), San Francisco Opera, Staatsoper Berlin, the list goes on and on… the moment She enters the stage, it is hard to pay attention to anything or anyone else, let alone when She starts to sing. A woman of extraordinary beauty, majestic conduct and scenic talent and intuition like extremely few, we use this occasion to wish Her all the very best on this joyful day and to thank Her once again, as sincerely as possible, for making the world a better place.

Wszystkiego, co najlepsze, Maestra. ❤️🇵🇱





Music used in the video in chronological order:
G. Bizet - „Carmen” (Carmen)
G. Verdi - „Aida” (Amneris)
G. Donizetti - „Anna Bolena” (Giovanna Seymour)
G. Donizetti - „La Favorita” (Leonora)
A. Ponchielli - „La Gioconda” (Laura Adorno)
C. Saint-Saëns - „Samson et Dalila” (Dalila)
G. Donizetti - „La Favorita” (Leonora)
U. Giordano - „Andrea Chenier” (La Contessa di Coigny)
P. Mascagni - „Cavalleria Rusticana” (Mamma Lucia)
G. Verdi - „Aida” (Amneris)
G. Donizetti - „La Favorita” (Leonora)
G. Bizet - „Carmen” (Carmen)
G. Verdi - „Il Trovatore” (Azucena)
G. Verdi - „Un Ballo in Maschera” (Ulrica)
C. Saint-Saëns - „Samson et Dalila” (Dalila)
G. Verdi - „Il Trovatore” (Azucena)
A. Dvorak - „Rusalka” (Ježibaba)
F. Chopin - „Leci liście z drzewa”
S. Moniuszko - „Złota rybka”
M. Karłowicz - „Z nową wiosną”
S. Moniuszko - „Kurdesz”
F. Chopin - „Leci liście z drzewa”
P. I. Tchaikovsky - „Pique Dame” (Polina)
A. Dvorak - „Rusalka” (Ježibaba)
M. Mussorgski - „Boris Godunov” (Marina Mniszech)
G. Verdi - „Don Carlos” French version (Eboli)
G. Verdi - „Il Trovatore” (Azucena)
G. Donizetti - „Maria Stuarda” (Elisabetta I)
A. Scriabin - Symphony nr 1
V. Bellini - „Norma” (Adalgisa)
P. Mascagni - „Cavalleria Rusticana” (Santuzza)
G. Verdi - „Rigoletto” (Maddalena)
G. Verdi - „La Forza del Destino” (Preziosilla)
G. Verdi - „Don Carlo” Italian version (Eboli)
F. Cilea - „Adriana Lecouvreur” (Principessa di Bouillon)



Singers appearing with Toczyska in the videos and photos (non-chronological order): Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras, Katia Ricciarelli, Mirella Freni, Aprile Millo, Giuseppe Giacomini, Marcelo Alvarez, Roberto Alagna, Jonas Kaufmann, Evgeny Nesterenko, Ghena Dimitrova, Alfredo Kraus, Giorgio Zancanaro, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Cesare Siepi, Paul Plishka, Renata Scotto.

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