The Worst of William Powers
William Powers, bass-baritone with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
The Worst of
William Powers
Now Available on CD & iTunes from Centaur Recordshttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QI14IY/sr=8-3/qid=1302622825/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1302622825&sr=8-3&seller=http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewCollaboration?ids=4355745-2684445-169509406&s=143441shapeimage_7_link_0shapeimage_7_link_1
When speaking in 2005 to Victor Sachse, the Executive Director of Centaur Records, about making another collection of Bass-baritone arias, there seemed to be no objections. “I’ve no problem with releasing another aria disc for you Bill,” Victor said. “Based on the good response to your Rogues and Villains effort ( CRC 2388 ), another effort should be well worth while. However, I’d like to suggest that it NOT be yet another gathering of ‘old familiar favorites’ —the market is flooded with them .” It was with this directive in mind that I set out to assemble this latest effort. I’ve a fairly extensive record collection of my own—begun back when I was a kid in High School…completely blown away by the voices of such legends as Robert Merrill, Ezio Pinza, Norman Treigle, Cesare Siepi, George London and John Charles Thomas. This was a different era, to be sure, and some of the operas regularly heard on the opera stages and concert halls of those times have since utterly slid out of popularity. I should note that it was with great difficulty that I was able to locate the orchestra scores to some of the selections included here—the piece of d’Albert’s TIEFLAND being most notable in it’s obscurity. After a long search, I eventually found the parts in a music library in Prague. This is amazing in that early in the 20th Century, the work was a staple in every major opera house in the world—including the Met. Today, most opera goers have never heard it. Along with the “obscurity” requirement set down by Mr. Sachse, I looked for a central guiding “theme” to run as a thread throughout the project, and this became the inspiration for the title of the collection as “the worst” – virtually every character represented here is an evil doer, a miscreant, a sadist, a murderer, or is flawed by avarice, hubris or some form of deficiency in decent social values. Even “Prospero” – while not usually thought of as a “bad-guy”—is driven solely by the need for revenge…hardly an admirable trait. But hey! Who finds “good guys” all that interesting anyway? It is my hope that you will find these rarely heard and rarely excerpted selections both interesting and entertaining; at the very least, THE WORST of WILLIAM POWERS should prove to be a most unusual addition to your collection! WILLIAM POWERS



1  Tosca e un buon falco

    TOSCA                                                         4:13


2  Son lo Spirito che nega

    MEFISTOFELE                                            3:25


3  Mentre gonfiarsi l’anima/

    Oltre quell limite

    ATTILA                                                         4:09


4  Nonnes qui reposez

    ROBERT LE DIABLE                                  3:24


5   A un dottor della mia sorte

    IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA                          6:19


6  Hallucination Scene

    BORIS GOUDINOV                                      3:51


7   Voyons: ‘Pour Hoffmann’/

     Dans les roles d’amoureux langoureux

    TALES OF HOFFMANN                               3:54


8  Seigneur rempart et seul soutien

    LES HUGUENOTS                                       2:20


9  Qunnd’ ero paggio

    FALSTAFF                                                    0:43


10   Vous qui faites l’endormie

       FAUST                                                       2:34

11  Tanz! Sag ich dir

      TIEFLAND                                                  1:33      


12  Intendente? Reggitor?

LA CENERENTOLA                                         5:30

                      

13  O tu Palermo

      I VESPRI SICILIANI                                   6:44


14  Be Cheerful, sir

      THE TEMPEST                                          4:26