D'Elisio in sen m'attendi

SOPRANO DUET SONGBIRDS:
Sylvia Geszty (1934 - 2018) was one of the leading coloratura practitioners of the 1960s-1980s. She made many studio recordings and was a regular on European television. Geszty was born in Budapest, but lived most of her life in Germany, with Berlin and Stuttgart as her bases. She made her debut in 1959 in Budapest, and then started her long association with Berlin in 1961 as Gluck's Amor. Her international appearances included Queen of the Night in London in 1966 and in Salzburg in 1967/68/70; and as Sophie in "Der Rosenkavalier" in Buenos Aires and in Los Angeles in 1969.

Julia Varady was born Julia Tőzser in Hungary in 1941. She studied violin as a child and began voice lessons as a teenager. Her debut was as a mezzo-soprano in 1962, singing in Gluck's "Orfeo ed Euridice." In 1970, she moved to Germany and focused on soprano repertoire, joining the opera companies in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin. She has appeared at the Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, The Met, La Scala, Teatro Colón, Opéra Bastille, and at the Salzburg and Edinburgh festivals.

THE MUSIC: Johann Christian Bach (1735 - 1782) was the 18th child of J.S. Bach and a prominent composer in the classical era and a slightly older contemporary to Mozart (1756 - 1791). Both men composed operas to the same libretto of "Lucio Silla" -- Mozart in 1772 and Bach in 1776. The duet "D'elisio in sen m'attendi" features the characters Giunia and Cecilio, both soprano roles.