Shirley Dearest
A belated happy birthday to Shirley Verrett, who so far as La Cieca knows never appeared in such operatic rarities as Gianni Chitarra, La femmina sulla spiaggia or even Che fine ha fatto Baby Jane?
Had it not been for the allergies, though…
Re the casting of the Mommy Dearest opera; who would be a good Christina? Someone who could also do Elektra–the wetblanket who goes crazy wanting revenge? or would that be too close to the actual story?
is that a photo of La Shirlina Verrettina’s Tosca???? i never saw her live but everybody tells me what a heartbreaking Cassandre and Didon, not to mention Norma, she was… ah, to have been alive at the time of her history-making opening night Troyens at the met in 1973…
I’m so glad to see la Shirl getting the kind of accolades she deserves. She really has been a magnificent artist- I think her Delilah’s and Lady Macbeths have been unequalled in the last 20- 30 years.
She is also very nice human being- and a signed photo from her is one of my treasured possessions.
When that picture appeared on the OPERA NEWS cover, I wondered why they were featuring Nancy Kwan. ( A friend whom I was only to meet 15 years later had the same response.) Very bizarre.
Shirley looked much better in the Verona TOSCA a few year later, available on video and maybe DVD.
I guess I’m only an opera-queen-in-training, since I don’t get the “allergies” reference. A little help? Thanks.
i think it’s a reference to the fact that verrett suffered from allergies and many roles she did not perform because of this (was this in her autobiography or in interviews that i read?).
I saw her in Paris in the 80′s, she is a regal woman, and was a fabulous artist, really creative and fascinating presence and voice. It was really one of the greatest shock to discover her talent, magnetism.
http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=3&u=11325917
http://i16.servimg.com/u/f16/11/32/59/17/verret10.jpg