She got through all of last year and she's here
More proof (as if any were needed) that 70 is the new 50: "Viva la Diva: Gala zum 70. Geburtstag von Grace Bumbry." The concert (performed at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival on July 17 of this year) featured the septuagenarian siren in a demanding program of arias and scenes from Aida, Ernani, Les Troyens and the complete third act of Tosca! La Cieca offers her cher public a pair of Querschnitten from this historic concert:
Labels: bumbry, cher public, gala, mp3
POSTED at
4:20 PM
45 Comments:
She is fabulous. I grew up on her recordings of Amneris and I always loved her fire and passion. She certainly sings Ritorna Vincitor at 70 better than I ever could manage it even at the height my power.
interesting choice of repertoire.....i wonder how she fared in the tosca! The wobble is almost unbearable, but i'm sure live it's still thrilling (same with silja).
Having had the chance to hear La Bumbry in recital a couple of times, I think she is a wonderful musician. They were very special occasions.
Having said that, the first time I saw her was doing Turandot. It was excrutiating. Truly one of the worst performances I have ever witnessed.
Angela Gheorghiu, who was appearing in the alternate cast, stepped in for the other ill Liu. It seems that there was no chance to rehearse and I was told that Bumbry turned to Angela at the stage door to say that she had rather a lovely voice and inquired where was she from.
I continue to regret her choice of repertoire. I can only dream of her Ortrud, Kundry, Brangane, Fricka, and.... Isolde.
Speaking of Isolde....if I were still singing the role, I would gladly marry Rene Pape's King Marke and would not show up for acts II & III, especially if Ben Heppner was pursuing me.
I love her to bits, but this is, while impressive, let us say, a tad sharp. and flat. and all over the place. Still love her though; it aint a crime to get old.
true words...it ain't a crime to get old...and besides, 70 is not that old....when I think of old I think of my dear friend Zinka M. I don't want to reveal her last name for fear of insulting her nel publico...
Extraordinaire!!!!!
Yet let us not forget she had a bronchitis that evening.
I saw the Paris recital at le Châtelet this year and she was in better form. The 2007 parisian recital was a MIRACLE.
And I wans't the last crazy vocal nuts to scream my guts out " Bravas" and "Bravissimas". What was amazing was the HUGE size of the voice, the almost flawless legato, the still gorgeous pianissimis and diminuendi.
I cried like a boy during Le Spectre de la Rose, and I was not the only one...
Her Wesendonck in particular were breathtaking, you had the feeling to her 60s voice. She still is almost unreachable. And so divesque, pro, generous, NOBLE!!!!!
The " Adieu fière cité" takes such a special significance...
Viva la Regina Grace Bumbry!!!(who actually BRINGS PICTURES to her fans, standing endlessly to sign autographs, with so much patience and kindness)
These girls today could really take a lesson in grandezza from La Bumbry. If I may ask where and when was the TURANDOT??
thanks
I simply can't imagine Turandot emanating from her glorious throat, but she did sing Abigaille and, Lady M, so it's not such a stretch. Glad I missed it though...
This is impressive, but as has been stated, she does sound 70...why is she back in the soprano rep? She fared quite well in the mezzo rep; at this age, why push it? Always liked her...wish I could have seen/heard the famous "Black Venus" at Bayreuth (she was the first African-American artist at Bayreuth, I believe, which created somewhat of a sensation, not to mention a perfect voice for the role).
Yes you are right, she was the first black Venus at Bayreuth...there was a recording of her Venus (it could have been a studio recording) that I heard on the radio many years ago....an I right about that?....if so, where can I get that recording? and who were the other singers?....I love Grace Bumbry because beyond her vocal and theatrical accomplishments, she was one of the last divas in the old sense of the word...where are those grand divas of the past?....well, as the Marschallin says: "look for the snows of yesteryear."
the tannhaeuser was/is a live bayreuth recording under sawallisch with windgassen as tannhaeuser, silja as elisabeth, waechter as wolfram and (i think) greindl as landgraf. it is an exciting recording, very much caught in the moment - and even though windgassen is quite rough he is very vivid!
it used to be on phillips in their bayreuth series, but i think it has been deleted. might be possible to find used copies though on amazon...
When I googled the year of the Turandot, it brought up 1993. I think that is wrong, but I can;t find the programme.
I remember the first night Gheorghiu sang, it came to the end of 'Signore Ascolta' and there was an audible sigh. A great performance.
I was curious why Bumbry got involved. If memory serves me right, she was only listed for two performances and as second cast at that.
There seems to be a pirate recording going round, if you can find it.
hab mir's gelobt,
(nice name btw :) the 1961 bayreuth recording is with Victoria de Los Angeles (Elisabeth), Grace Bumbry (Venus), Wolfgang Windgassen (Tannhäuser), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Wolfram), Josef Greindl (Hermann). I don't know if this is the recording you were talking about, but it sure kicks ass. Bumbry in the last scene is amazing.
Bumbry also sang Venus at the Met for their new production in the late 70's (1978?). Rysanek was the Elizabeth and McCracken the Tannhauser. I believe there was a broadcast, although not with Rysanek.
The guys over at Premiere Opera have the Bumbry/Gheorghiu Turandot in their catalog (Covent Garden 1993).
Is that photo recent? God she rocks that wig-- smart lady to stick with that big diva hair all these years.
Brava, Grace-- don't surrender to the turban!
Totally off-topic, but...
I was in Ameoba Music in San Francisco yesterday and I met an older opera fan who recomend that I check out a music catalouge out of Massachusettes with great discounts and some serious bootleg action. Unfortunetly, I cannot remember the name of the damn thing! It was like, Bracht, or Breckt or Bracket or something like that. Anyone know what I'm looking for?
baritenor:
Berkshire Record Outlet
La Bumbry is one of my favorite Amnerises. She looks not a day older than 50. Divas like her don't age. I'd like to know her secret.
Bumbry sang Venus in Bayreuth twice (1961 and 1962), there are recordings of both years.
1961 Sawallisch: de los Angeles, Bumbry, Windgassen, Fischer Dieskau and Greindl.
1962 Sawallisch: Silja, Bumbry, Windgassen, Wächter and Greindl.
In 1962 de los Angeles alternated wih Silja as Elisabeth.
While I was checking this up, I got to see all the roles Silja played in Bayreuth, these include Venus (in the same Wieland W. production as mentioned before) and Stimme des Waldvogels (but she sang this in 1967! After having sung all her major roles there and Brunnhilde with the Festival on Tour in Osaka).
I beg to differ with reedroom: I'm not exactly sure what 70 sounds like, but it ain't this.
I've heard younger singers with voices in tatters. And wobble? My beloved Gwyneth Jones had a wobble, circa 1981. This is nothing like that. Not even close.
La Bumbarina still rocks the house!
This post has been removed by the author.
La Cieca-
THANK YOU!
You can hear part of her Turandot (from a 1981 concert) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CId_xQNRv_0
I didn't post it, but all the talk of Turandot jogged my memory. It's not the BEST Turandot I've heard, not by a long shot. I am, however, a RABID fan of La Bumbry, and it was a ballsy choice, even it fell short. The voice is big enough, but she does sound like a mezzo trying to sing soprano. There's some other interesting stuff on that link too...her Salome actually isn't bad at all.
Hey Charles, of course you're right--many younger singers sound wobbly-er than this. I love Ms. Bumbry, but this excerpt isn't her best. Chackowhacko said it best: "ain't a crime to get old". I also don't know what "70" sounds like, but this just isn't the Bumbry I want to remember. I think she's great, and I meant no offense.
Just listened to the Turandot that aaron so kindly offered, and it's not so bad--but a much younger voice, after all. Many comments comparing it to Nilsson, which is not fair! Bumbry sounds great, if not ideal for this role, with its high tessitura, but the Salome (same youTube #) is brilliant--but I think it lies lower, no? Someone in the know please affirm/refute this; I know Rise Stevens had much correspondence with R. Strauss about making an edition for her(sadly never happened), so if SHE thought she could do it, it makes sense that Bumbry DID IT!
I would curious about the tessitura of the two roles (Turandot and Salome)....My gut feeling is that Salome lies higher and it demands sustaining a high tessitura for a much longer time than Turandot....and I also think that Turandot is more exposed than Salome...the orchestration in Salome is much thicker than Turandot...am I wrong?
I thought Turandot had absurdly high tessitura (without much chance to rest the voice) while Salome though longer alternates higher passages with more reasonable ones and an orchestra that's a little more supportive than Turandot (which is very exposed).
Salome was IINM the first unambiguously soprano role essayed by Bumbry and reviews at the time (again IIRC) that she managed the higher passages and brought out the lower passages that most sopranos don't (can't) do much with.
La Grace did Turandot with the Australian Opera sometime around 1995. I didn't make it- but the reviews were ok.
The recent recital she gave at the Wigmore was wonderful.
There are several tapings knocking around.
Michael Farris: I agree with your assessment of the tessitura of Turandot vs Salome.
The old girl sounds pretty good for her age. It's listenable.
Hi reedroom: No offense taken. I'm not even the world's hugest Bumbry fan, but wanted to give her a little more of her due. I applaud her and Verrett for trying what they did. As singing actresses, much of their venture into soprano-dom worked.
In a sense, for both of them though, I often thought, "Why be a so-so soprano, when you can be a peerless mezzo" (especially Verrett in her bel canto rep). But I understand the lure for both. If you have temperament, handmaidens, sisters, guys and harridans just won't do. There is no opera called "Eboli."
When I become a Diva I'm going to have big hair too!
Thanks for this, Blind One.
One of my most memorable experiences at the opera was her doing a Gioconda at the Liceu in the late '80s. I wasn't expecting anything like the overwhelming grandessa that she lent to the whole event. I yelled so loud at the end that she curtsied to me.
hi everybody,
bumbry sang Turandot in sydney in 1991. there's a live recording making the rounds, and photos of it on the net (i believe from the australian national archives). she sounded better than in london in 1993 -- in the one performance that's available, she has trouble with the high note in the duet with the tenor (at the end of In Questa Reggia). i heard (from the youtube site that she had no trouble in the other london perf.). i wonder who the "first cast" Turandot was?
you wrote: "Salome was IINM the first unambiguously soprano role essayed by Bumbry "
actually bumbry sang lady macbeth as early as 1964. she also recorded excerpts of Forza in german (as Leonora), this is commercially available, in 1965. she then recorded quite a few soprano arias in the studio (incl. Casta Diva) before she become "officially" a soprano. her first Tosca was also earlier than the Salome (1971 at the met).
anonymous, thanks for the info.
I'd say that enough mezzos have done Lady Macbeth that while it's still firmly a soprano role it can be regarded at least as marginally in the mezzo area (not as much as Santuzza, maybe more than Fedora?).
And studio recordings don't count since lots of singers (esp. women) can sing lots of stuff in the studio that they couldn't or shouldn't try in full stage performances.
I never realized she sang Tosca so early (at the met at that). I'd say that's an unambiguously soprano role, so that pushes back the date of her vocal transition.
How did this work timing wise with recorded Amneris (on the Leinsdorff Price Aida)?
I appreciate a lot about that performance but the timbre by that time is already too soprano like for my taste in that role (which keeps her from reaching full dementia in the judgement scene).
What were the reviews for the first Toscas like?
michael farris,
bumbry's 1971 Tosca at the met was also levine's house debut. i believe that was the main reason she was invited back to sing at his 25th anniversary gala in 1996 (she had not sung there for many years by then -- they had a falling out after the 1983 Forzas she sang). if you go to the met's website database, there's a link to a review of that early Tosca. of course, she got better in that role as the years went by.
as for her early soprano aria recordings, i just mention them because i think her soprano history is a bit more complex than simply stating what her "first soprano" foray was...
also, i saw her 2 yrs ago, when she was in NY and she does not look older than 40-something... she still looks great. she's eternal.
"her soprano history is a bit more complex than simply stating what her "first soprano" foray was... "
When I wrote "first unambiguously soprano role" I thought I was implying that she'd done some soprano roles (that some mezzos do, heck, even Venus is technically a soprano role) before beginning to sing roles like Salome and Tosca that mezzos just don't ever sing (on stage in public).
Grace Bumblebee (as we used to call her in her heyday) should have stayed a fabulous mezzo instead of ruining her voice to become a Traumatic Soprano--very sad.
ms. heink-schummann, you need to let it go... it happened 30-35 years ago. she became a soprano. it's the past. let it go... why dig up such old matters??????
thanks Todd...Ernestine should concentrate on her own career rather than judging other people's choices...oh wait...she is dead...rest at peace Ernestine
Hello,
My name is Samuel and I'm desperately trying to find a list of songs the Grace Bumbry performed on May 23 in Paris. If anyone could email that to me at saa2118@columbia.edu, I would be eternally grateful. I am a graduate student in New York City working on a writing project regarding Bumbry's life....thanks.
Grace is still more interesting and exciting than anyone on the current vocal scene including Renee and Deborah. Happy 70th Grace. We will never forget you and your devotion to the art.
Post a Comment
<< Home