I was browsing through r/Opera (which should be your new favourite place), and noticed on the sidebar a welcome message, in italiano. The message was clearly the text of an aria, and I was more than a little miffed that I couldn’t immediately identify it. So Google and I did some hunting and we figured out that it was Orsini’s Brindisi from Lucrezia Borgia. And then Google taunted me with a video thumbnail that showed Marilyn Horne on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and before I knew it, I was watching this:

There it is, the reason she’s as famous as she is. A technique lesson in an aria. Also, did everyone notice the man himself, collaborative genius Martin Katz, at the keys? What a gig!

And then it went from there. Marilyn singing “Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix” with Martin on the podium. Martin talking about his work with Marilyn. And my personal favourite, their rendition of Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer” from their 1981 recital in Milan:

What a pair.

I know at least a few of my readers have worked with Ms. Horne or Mr. Katz, or at least seen them working with other young singers and pianists. It’s inspiring to say the absolute least. Use the comments to share your favourite MaHo moment or Katz-ism!