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Berlin, Philarmonie, September 1975,
Anna Tomowa-Sintow and Agnes Baltsa meet Werner Krenn and José Van Dam and with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the direction of Herbert Von Karajan create one of the most emblematic recordings of Mozart's 626.
Salzburg 1989,
Anna Tomowa-Sintow and Agnes Baltsa meet Gösta Winbergh and Ferruccio Furlanetto and this time sing Mozart's Requiem in the Memory of Herbert Von Karajan under Riccardo Muti.
Athens, Megaron, 17 March 2010
35 years after the DG recording and 21 years after the Salzburg Requiem the two Grandi Dive meet again on stage, in order to sing Mozart's Requiem for their friend, Christos Lambrakis, who passed away in December 2009.
The In Memoriam Gala was organized for friends, partners, associates, employees of the late Lambrakis and was not open to the public - a shame, as there were many empty seats despite the big number of music-lovers that were calling the Athens Megaron desperate for a ticket.
Greek pride, star-violinist Leonidas Kavakos left us breathless with his out-of-this-world virtuosity in Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 and said his goodbye to Christos Lambrakis with the Andante from Bach's Sonata no.2 - offered to the audience as an encore -probably the most glorious minutes of the whole night.
   
Second part of the concert and the great Divas step on stage to meet tenor Mario Zeffiri and bass Christophoros Stamboglis. Anna Tomowa-Sintow, 69 years old, ("Toscanini never had access to a voice like hers - she can hit C sharp at nine o'clock in the morning" HV Karajan) sang with pathos but in obvious vocal decline while Agnes Baltsa was sensational in a piece she has not sung in 21 years.
  
Zeffiri and Stamboglis at the peak of their careers and with their vocal powers intact, contributed to the vocal pleasure. Unfortunately the Camerata Orchestra was miles away from Mozart's divine partitura and there were moments trully embarassing for both the orchestra and the conductor.
Photo album
(with Agnes Baltsa looking like a million $$$)
        
Stunning Agnes Baltsa:
  
Two short videos from the News
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