Two guys whose love for music, opera and people were above their career ambitions

I first met Enrico Di Giuseppe at the Julliard School of Music back around 1986 after I had finished my Masters Degree at Eastman. We had one lesson and it was great to meet him and I would have liked to study privately with him, but I didn’t live in New York at the time.  

Around the mid 1990s, I met Vincent La Selva through my wife who had accompanied the New York Grand Opera in the summers and always was so excited to see him. Truly, Maestro was so kind and obviously loved music so much, because the New York Grand Opera was his baby, and he actually did the entire Verdi Operatic Repertoire, probably the one of the few people in history to conduct all of Verdi’s operas.

His company performed in Central Park and it was always sort of thrown together, free lance musicains, volunteer chorus and rented costumes with sets and lighting. 

Vincent recorded a Verdi Opera Overtures and I can tell you that is among the best recordings of those pieces. La Selva knew what made Verdi work, and he worked it very well. Even with a thrown together orchestra and a couple of rehearsals, he was able to interpret Verdi like few other conductors can. He is a top shelf conductor.

Why then, didn’t he have a huge career?  

Well, because he has integrity. He rejected modern productions because he said they were getting away from the story line and distorting what the operas were about. Therefore, he butted heads with the powers that be who weren’t willing to stand up against the directors who have a huge tendency to use operas to make their own mark, not to serve the opera.

I took voice lessons from Enrico when he was in his 70s, and his musical and vocal ability was second only to his friendliness and willingness to help. 

Working with La Selva and Enrico was such an awesome experience and I wished I had studied with them longer. 

Listening to this recording illustrates Enrico’s vocal abilities and Maestro’s ability to stir up the storm in an orchestra. It is an exciting performance that rivals any I have ever heard. 

Two artists that I was fortunate enough to get to know and to have a portion of their pure love for the art form.