MAGDA OLIVERO - Ave Maria, Gounod

“Ave Maria“ by Gounod is the last aria in a series of thirteen of the most famous arias sung during a single concert given by soprano Magda Olivero in the church of San Jacopino in Florence, March 28th 1969. It’s with great joy and with a profound admiration for Magda Olivero that I have the pleasure of offering these arias from the outstanding San Jacopino concert. This rare “live“ concert is exceptional for the fact that Magda Olivero sang, with solo piano accompaniment, thirteen of the most celebrated and most difficult arias of the verismo repertoire in a single concert. Sopranos today would only sing 5 or 6 of those taxing arias in a recital. In Florence on March 28 1969, Magda Olivero had asked not to record the concert, the reason was probably because it was in a chiesa, but we can all be grateful to a disobedient music enthusiast that left it’s small Philips cassette recorder running during the entire concert. That evening, Magda could not have been in