Golden girl
Ageless Reri Grist sings "Somewhere" in a rehearsal for the 19th Annual Gypsy of the Year Competition, celebrated earlier this month. La Grist introduced this song 50 seasons ago when West Side Story premiered on Broadway. She is joined in this clip by Chita Rivera, Carol Lawrence and other members of the original company.
POSTED at
10:30 AM
34 Comments:
She was, in my inarguably narrow view, perhaps the finest Zerbinetta in stereo. What a great singer.
arguably the new gay anthem is somewhere's a place for us... in outer space for us...
actually, carol lawrence introduced the song. la grist played consuelo one of anita's sidekicks. i love grist on price's recording of ballo with berzoni and merrill.
oops, that's "bergonzi" folks...
amneris! shame on you! in the stage version, somewhere is sung by "a girl" which on broadway was reri. they changed (i'd say go it all wrong) it for the film, and carol lawrence didn't sing it then either :)
carol lawrence, however, IS part of ravinia's fabulous martinis series this summer: barbara cook, betty buckley, and carol lawrence. wow!
as far as la grist, she is a top ten singer for me. the susanna, the zerbinetta, the oscar, the blonde, the despina, the adina, the ROSSIGNOL!!! (natalie who?)... even when she branched into manon and gilda... i have always loved the purity of voice and clarity of intention. glad to know she's still got so much voice!
sorry doug, guess i'll change my name to "amnesia" -- yeah i was thinking of the movie.
Gettin' tears here!!!
Apart from the video of her Zerbinetta, she was rather underrecorded, wasn't she?
candid,
is my geriatric memory betraying me or do i recall a scene from her oscar on tv (i think from that doc that was on PBS, 'aida's brothers and sisters')?
yes, she didn't record much but there's the oscar with bergonzi/price/verrett and also re pastore, i think.
Her performance in the Mahler 4th with Bernstein conducting is perfection: crystaline, limpid, with an exquisite childlike expressiveness. I add my bravi to all the performances listed above.
If you look her up in IBDB, she actually appeared in 5 shows on Broadway, going back to 1946. And she played "Consuelo", who is credited as singing "Somewhere". I adore her voice and her voice type. I don't Dessay even comes close. Annick Massis does. Kathleen Battle did. Reri did a fabulous recording of Abduction From The Seraglio (I was too lazy to look up the Italian), with Arleen Auger, conducted by Karl Bohm.
Sanford, I think you mean German, not Italian, for Die Entfuerhing aus dem Serail...
La Grist recorded Oscar for Leinsdorf, with Price and Verrett--my favorite recording of that gorgeous opera, but I believe she appeared later on one more recording--perhaps Arroyo's Muti outing (which was supposed to be Caballe's recording, which didn't come until later, on which she didn't sound quite fresh and powerful enough on top as recorded). Reri also sang a lovely Mahler 4th for Lenny in New York on record. Her DG recording of Ariadne is otherwise very poorly sung, but I chased down an import version just for her.
she is also recorded Rigoletto with Gedda and MacNeil (I think). It is no longer available. Does anyone remember it?
Thank you for posting this, La Cieca. Made my day.
Yeah, German... brainfart.
Thanks so much for posting this la Cieca - I LOVE Reri Grist and consider her one of the most underrated singers of all time. My introduction to her was the Rigoletto recording reri kiss my grits mentions. It was tops and I played it to death until a thief with good taste removed it from my care.
She recorded Zerlina for Deutsche Grammophon under Karl Boehm - I wore out her recording of 'Batti batti.' The rest of the cast on that was - shall we say, over the top preposterous (Birgit Nilsson as Donna Anna? Peter Schreier Ottavio, Martina Arroyo Elvira) - but I remember she was definitely a highlight.
Why was this garbage posted? Why all the ravings? I mean, this elderly woman can't sustain a song, let alone a pitch, to save her pension.
Speaking of Birgit as Donna Anna- a friend gave me her Christmas album which I can only describe as a hoot! Of course I love it because its her regardless, but her efforts to keep the voice "contained" is actually quite funny. It's like a racehorse when the gate won't open. Every now and then (Oh Holy Night- The Holy City) it breaks out on a top E flat and goes through you like a laser. What a voice- you just don't hear them like that today. RIP Goddess Birgit.
Scarlatti, please. Reri Grist was a great singer of yesteryear. If you can sing at all when you get to her age you will be doing well- we are just delighted to see her at all.
My greatest memory of her was in a concert involving parts of Rosenkavalier in Carnegie Hall, with Henry Lewis and the New Jersey Symphony. The Marshallin was Marilyn Horne and the Oktavian was (in her Carnegie Hall début) Frederica von Stade. It still haunts me.
DirkVA - the audio of that Rosenkavalier trio is on YouTube:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_Iv6rS0eAsQ
"a great singer of yesteryear"
I can hardly wait for the Gianna d'Angelo legend thread.
I'm afraid, although a bit heavy handed, Scarlatti's basic message is correct- wouldn't it have been better to have shown up and accepted the adoration and not have opened one's mouth?
Miss Grist was a very fine actress, but never known as a world-ranking vocalist, despite the enthusiasm for her dry, brittle sounding performances.
I agree with Obaysch
it is better to keep one's mouth shut. Miss Grits was a tremendous artist. She easily transcended her small, limited voice and her ordinary looks to dominate the stage. And we should respect her for that. I mean anyone with a big gorgeous voice and stunning looks can make it, but to be limited and to transcend limitaions, there is the great art.
well, say what you will but she was a total bitch to me when I made my debut at Covent Garden as the Countess.
Grist sounds old here because, I don't know, SHE IS OLD! Furthermore, this seems to be a rehearsal in which case she is likely marking. As for her being a limited vocalist, well, I hope you are joking. Her singing of Zerbinetta is perfection. I have never heard the high E in the slow section of the aria sung more beautifully. It is a note that could melt steel. And as for her looks, just take a look at her singing Zerbinetta on youtube: She is beautiful. I never really liked her Despina, and found her Gilda monochrome, but her Zerbinetta and Sophie were top notch.
I must second Ms. Te Kanawa. Grist was a total bitch to ME as well in my Vienna Statsoper debut as Desdemona opposite her ill advised stab at Otello. Just 'cause yer black don't mean you can play Otello, k?
you'll all be happy to know that the grist/gedda/macneil rigoletto has been re-released ... and cheap!
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/7498146/a/Verdi:+Rigoletto+%2F+Molinari-Pradelli,+Macneil,+Ferrin,+Et+Al.htm
ps: anyone else watch the kennedy center?
Woa! Looks like its going to be a very interesting year ahead if the last week is anything to go by. Parterre's got a new turbo on the bitch meter! -and boy is it working!
Underecorded?
Reri Grist can be seen on videos of ARIADNE, BALLO and ENTFUEHRUNG, and she recorded BALLO twice, RIGOLETTO, FIGARO, DON GIOVANNI, COSI, IL RE PASTORE, ENTFUEHRUNG, SCHAUSPIELSDIREKTOR, JEPHTHA, LE ROSSIGNOL, ARIADNE and WEST SIDE STORY, plus the Mahler 4th and Scarlatti's cantata ENDIMIONE E CINTIA (w/ Troyanos).
That's not bad for a soubrette/coloratura of her era, given the competition.
Also, think how little there is of Mattiwilda Dobbs on commercial recordings: PECHEURS, ABDUCTION (in English), RIGOLETTO excerpts w/Panerai and some arias.
Well...I happen to love her...partly because I could sing her boney ass right off the stage. So, there was no competition.
Ms. Grist also did a lovely Manon in San Francisco in the 80s.
By the way, check out Cieca's "original company" link above for the opening number of the tribute performance. Nifty! thanks, Cieca.
miss grits is a joke
Leontyne P. said...
"Well...I happen to love her...partly because I could sing her boney ass right off the stage. So, there was no competition."
Honey, as your Mozart recordings make abundantly clear, when it came to singing triplets and trills, there certainly *was* no competition between your well-cushioned derriere and Sister Reri.
MEOOOOW LADIES - what one is forgetting is that she was of that generation of black american singers that had to prove to the world that they belonged on the opera stage. Also she was 75 when this recording was made people. I bought the Ballo because of Leontyne and became a fan of Ms. Grist. I must get the Rossignol. I didn't know that there was a recording of her singing it.
I just checked Amazon and they have a pretty good selection of Reri Grist recordings, including a Le Nozze Di Figaro dvd with Claire Watson, Edith Mathis, and Ingvar Wixell. They have the Rigoletto, but I don't think the recording does her voice justice. Another rare recording of Rigoletto is a pirate I once owned (on vinyl!), with Barbara Hendricks and Alfredo Krauss from Paris. It's gorgeous, but the filler on the last side is what really makes the set worth finding. Barbara, who's coloratura is servicable at best, sings Ah, Non Giunge. I adore her in more lyrical things, but she's no Sutherland.
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