Libiamo nè lieti calici (Brindisi)

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This is a very rare video from conductor Wilfrid Pelletier's 1969 birthday party in Montreal done by a Canadian news crew. Richard Tucker and Licia Albanese fool around and sing the brindisi from Verdi's "La traviata" with a chorus including Bidu Sayao (doesn't want to join Tucker at 1:40 and 1:52), Thelma Votipka (joins Tucker at 2:44), Helen Jepson, Rose Bampton, Karin Maria Branzell, Patrice Munsel, Herta Glaz, Theodor Uppman, and even Sarah Tucker (with several others I can't even name in the background)! Pelletier is of course playing the piano. Later in the video there are interviews with many of the people who were at the party (mostly in French) and at the end they all sing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" for Pelletier (will be posted in the near future).

Wilfrid Pelletier was known as "the grandfather of music in Quebec" having founded the Societe des Concerts Symphoniques de Montreal, Les Festivals de Montreal, and the Montreal Conservatory. At the Met he first appeared as a concert pianist in 1917 and finally made his way up to conducting in 1926, even having performed a few minor roles! There he was also the director of French repertoire for nearly 20 years starting in the early 30s and then in 1951 he became artistic director of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra. He was married to sopranos Queena Mario and Rose Bampton. The Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier in Quebec, Canada's largest multi-purpose concert hall, was named in 1966 in Pelletier's honor. He died in New York in 1982.

Thanks very much to Richard Tucker's son who gave a copy of this video to my friend and also to my friend for sending me a copy!

Ratings allowed as of September 14, 2011.