Mit Schlag
Comeback queen Montserrat Caballe shared a birthday celebration in Vienna yesterday with legendary confection the "Original Sacher-Torte." The diva was born 74 years ago, the cake first devised just over a century earlier in 1832.The soprano sang a brief serenade to the dessert before sampling the chocolately goodness, quipping, "Calories don't exist!"
Scene of the meeting between the diva and the cake (described as 1 meter in diameter) was the Hotel Sacher, which claims the honor of producing the only authentic version of the Sachertorte, consisting of two layers of dense chocolate dough with a thin layer of apricot jam in the middle and dark chocolate icing with shreds of chocolate on the top and sides.
Labels: caballe, historic desserts, vienna
POSTED at
10:49 AM
20 Comments:
Decadent desserts are kind of a metaphor of La Superba's voice:
it is to die for! Delicious and extravagant.
Decadent desserts are kind of a metaphor of La Superba's voice:
it is to die for! Delicious and extravagant.
Have a slice of Sachertorte while you listen to Caballe's star turn as the Duchess de Crackentorp in "La fille du régiment" from Vienna in January, broadcast on Deutschlandradio Kultur on Saturday at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT). Also in the cast are Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Florez. Full information and links are at Opera on the Internet (www.operacast.com).
I'm sorry, I'm a little confused by this sentence: Which was "described as 1 meter in diameter," the diva or the cake?
Oh, it's too easy. We should all look so good at 74.
Never mind the diameter of the diva or the cake; a helping of the cake and the voice both sound yummy to me! Happy Birthday, Montserrat Caballé from us all!
TWO layers of chocolate dough? SEVEN when I was at the Sacher. What has the euro done to yet another tradition?
I remember making Sacher torte in culinary school. It continues to be one of my freinds and family's most requested of my desserts.
I think I'll make one today in celebration of the diva and the dessert.
Happy Birthday, Montsy!
not to sully the montsy thread ...
but ...
i am the last person to bash gelb, because i think great, relevant things are happening at the house, but how on earth can gruber be given a new production and hong be ushered out? today's broadcast ... oh my ... andrea is a disaster and hei-kyung is giving golden-age vocalism. to have a gala where nearly every note netrebko sings is a controversy while a truly accomplished, moving (i know some find her cold, but i have the exact opposite experience) singer like hong is passed over. i know we all get excited for the thrilled, blood-boiling moments, but there's a lot to be said for a lyric soprano who inhabits the character rather than playing at it and who makes her points in fine brush strokes rather than sobs and grunts. i'll really miss my darling hei-kyung, and today is a great way for her to go out, if this is really her last met broadcast.
whoever said verdi is getting the ugly voice he wanted for lady macbeth is absolutely right. gruber sounds worse than i remembered.
I was actually impressed by Gruber today. the last time I heard her, I was worried. If today wasn't perfect today, she at least provided some gleaming high notes, and the wobble I remembered was not so bad. and after all, perfect is not human. All in all, I think she is a fine Turandot, and I have a hard time imagining who I would rather hear nowadays in the role...
I thought Gruber sounded GREAT! She's been really sick, so it was good to hear her in good voice.
I'll admit she's inconsistent, but when she brings it - SHE BRINGS IT!
p.s. Hei-Kyung is amazing, I LOVE her voice. So pure, SO beautiful.
you guys are being so kind ... it's ridiculous to think that she is singing this role on the MET STAGE. i'll take audrey stottler ... even sharon sweet ... any day of the week. does brewer do this role? it would be thrilling. a friend in the house told me sunnegardh was better than gruber, and i believe it.
sharon sweet is effectively retired although i'm told she just sung a concert (as turandot) in NJ, where she teaches.
i missed the b'cast, but from all indications gruber hasn't recovered from whatever is ailing her. she's sick, you say? she's been sick for 3 yrs now!
i can't imagine brewer singing turandot. she doesn't seem to have the temperament for it, it's not the voice.
i'm looking at the NYCO next season brochure. does anyone know anything about anna maria chiuri (santuzza) and anna shafajinskaia (tosca)?
Andrea Guber sounded better today than I have heard her in the past, but she sounds like she is killing herself - the singing is so... pressed, harsh, out of the body, and it just doesn't sound healthy. It sounds like she is injuring herself - what a shame.
Hong is a miracle, and I am so sad that she is being passed over like this. BUT, there are many many people who don't respond to her, and to survive, people need to respond. I personally think it's a shame. I never liked her recordings, but live, she is amazing.
I listened to the broadcast again after reading some of the comments. What seems to really be a problem for Gruber is scales leading to high notes. When she has a chance to breathe, regroup and relax her larynx before an onset on a high note, that high note comes out unforced, full and beautiful. It seems she ony has a problem accessing that register over long spun lines. It's a technical thing, and although it is late in her career to do anything about it, maybe she is aware of it and will attempt to correct that difficulty
"Hong is a miracle, and I am so sad that she is being passed over like this. BUT, there are many many people who don't respond to her, and to survive, people need to respond."
Hasn't Hei Kyung been paying attention?
She has to let her niplets show through a silk teddy, lie on her back with her head in a tuba and do a LOT more furniture hopping!
Sheesh.
I don't know how it sounded on the broadcast, but live, guber was AWFUL. She has barely half of a voice left. Hong sounded radiant, but not exceptional. She provided a sweet, sympathetic, and moving Liu, and it is a shame that Gelb can't keep her around for these parts, though her voice does sound aged. As for Gruber....live she projected less than hong. Probably the only time a Liu has done this. I had a very hard time hearing Gruber and one can see that physically she is killing her voice. She strains very hard to produce that...noise. We may not have to worry about her new macbeth production. But who knows, you'd think she would have even stopped singing by now....
I am still just wondering why she hasn't been fired....I can't even imagine what Gelb is thinking.
pacenoia - HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAAAAAHAHA!!!
Good one.
I feel sad for AG -it must be incredibly diffiicult to get out there and sing knowing it is going to be so had, and painful. Even if you don't think other people know the difference, a singer knows when a show is effortful and, well, rough. I hope she isn't ruining her voice for good. Sometimes singers go through vocal crises, and come out of them ok, but they can be career ending - I hope for her sake, that's not what's happening.
tsuhyang: not sure about chiari; never heard of her. However, Shafjinskaia sand Turandot in Dallas...about 4 years ago. I was in the Chorus. It's not an incredibly beautiful voice (although it's not ugly either). It is, however, quite big and steely. She had no trouble at all with the role and didn't seem to have to push her instrument at all (Franco Farina was the Calaf; I was not impressed, although he was loud). She Sang Abigaille in Dallas in November 2006; I wasn't there, but my friends tell me it was quite good.
singing Turandot and having no problem with the role is one thing, but can she sing Tosca????? that's the question.
the NYCO Cav/Pag features both Jovanovich and Tanner as the tenor leads...
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