Bess, is you our woman now?
POSTED at
6:39 PM
31 January 2008
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23 Comments:
This is out of tune. Proficient, bland, but out of tune.
Is this a joke?
La Cieca, please tell me you are not serious...
I can't even begin to guess who this is...reminds me of AG.
To be fair, the voice has some nice qualities in it, but the sagging pitch, inconsistent registers, lack of style, far too fast vibrato and lack of spin in the upper register do not appeal to my senses (all the things I don't like about AG). I have to give her credit for going for the Eb...but please, no!
The problem is, Gelb is searching for a supermodel to play the Queen in RD...she's already an old woman in that opera, there is no reason why the interpreter should have to be young and sexy in order to draw tickets - I think that holds true for the whole Trilogy: I mean, have we looked at the painting of those broads?? They wasn't cute!!
And please...NO Nelly Miriciuoiuoiuoiu: I could just choke on her warble!!
That's Sondra Radvanovsky, isn't it?
Personally I find it pretty exciting, especially as it's a big sound.I've got the feeling Gelb isn't wild about her, though.
il tenore - who's AG? (I am having a blonde moment).
Of course it's Sondra Radvanovsky - a unique timbre to the voice, though somewhat reminiscent of Callas' middle, don't you think?
There's a lot to be said for a singer having a unique timbre these days, operasouth. Yes, there's a bit of Callas there and also, to my ears, a bit of Tatiana Troyanos too. It's not the most rounded, fulsome sound, but Sondra definitely has something.
Take a look on YouTube at Sondra in the Verdi Requiem from Dresden last year. Extremely impressive.
the verdi requiem done out of pitch in a lovely cathedral.? Saw it and marveled why her husband would waste money showcasing her in such hideous out of tune ugly form. Percy, are you related? No one but family would approve of that awful clip. She gets work because she fits the thinner view of opera today held dear by the man with a fat fetish. No mercy, he actually cast Mattila, old and out of her element in Manon Letsgo. Horrid.
percy,
AG is the attorney general. oops, no, i meant, angelita georgianna.
is this sondra? i don't recall her voice being soooo dark...
I think Radavonvsky's voice is a fascinatingly flawed instrument. Listen to her singing the Verdi Requiem on youtube and parts of it are just stunning -- the slow section of the Libera me features some really exceptionally beautiful singing. The strangeness of the voice seems to reveal itself most when she sings at forte, where her very narrow vibrato gives the impression of pitch problems -- Barbara Hendricks has always had the same problem...her Sophie on the Haitink Rosenkavalier is a mess right where it SHOULDN'T be. A Sophie with an out of tune upper register can ruin anyone's party.
There is definitely something of Mara Zampieri about the sounds of Radvanovsky's voice, but I think she phrases really beautifully, whish is something MZ never did. In short, I like her singing even if it is a decidedly weird sound. The clips of her in Trovatore show some really impressive singing in music that almost nobody sings very well anymore.
Is it Sondra? Don't think it is only because of La C's caption, "Bess, is you our woman now?"
Whoever this is, the voice is not distinguished and the music making isn't very interesting. I would say this soprano would make a nice career, but not at the top level, at least based on this performance.
It is definitely Sondra R...I think it is from a production in DC. I think the Bess refers to Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux.
Didn't Radvanovsky also sing Lucrezia in the (appropriately named) Canary Islands?
anon implies she has a rich husband (which I think he/she has implied on here before). I thought he was something like an accountant, but that he travels with her. This is hardly a Citizen Kane-style scenario, though she might sing that Salammbo aria rather well ...
PS - tenore, one big difference between AG and SR is that SR has a b-i-g sound, especially at the top.
By contrast, AG is so far up her own fundament these days that the sound hardly projects convincingly.
i thought sondra's husband was a singer also (a canadian baritone)? am i mistaking her for someone else?
I don't know--I thought she sounded pretty damn good in some very difficult music--even throughout the range (that last high E flat excepted) but with strong chest-voice work--the voice doesn't shine up top, but it pierces well--and yes, it is the same distinctively dark and narrow timbre I remember from Radvanovsky's Vespri. I think she could do justice to the Devereux Elisabetta. But is Gelb really listening?
It's not a very attractive voice, is it? I just don't think it's a very interesting voice. Diva quality never have I discerned.
Stoyanova - that's a great actress, a great technique, an interesting, beautiful voice. (And a fine actress.) Gutierrez - that's a beautiful bel canto voice. Radvanovsky - that's an interesting voice and an often interesting performance quality. (And a fine actress.)
Gheorghiu - it's her press agent, stupid.
Well.
I had hoped to find the complete performance when I first heard that Radvan had sung Borgia in the Canary Islands. This is the only clip I have heard so far and it is terribly undistinguished: a huge disappointment.
This is emphatically NOT good quality bel canto singing, though I have to admit there are kernals of quality hidden in there that might give an idea of potential in this rep. Still, Radvan is an established singer (no youngster) and her technique should be much better honed by this point. There are not "impressions" of pitch problems; there ARE pitch problems - and major ones. I don't care HOW much you hate Fleming in this repertoire, her singing vastly outshines Radvan's unpolished, leaden, awkward attempt. She could possibly prove exciting as Elisabetta, I suppose, but more in the Zampieri, Aliberti, Pendatchanska mold (exciting voice, weird technical problems) rather than the Sills, Gencer, Gruberova style (true bel canto technique).
I doubt highly that Gelb will stake a big ticket new production on the low lustre Radvan, but stranger things have happened.
Just a reminder, folks, that the "new" parterre.com is up and running. Check out the "welcome" posting at the WordPress site.
Ahh...I knew it was Sondra, but because of the hour, just completely forgot. My friend sang in that production with her in the Canary Islands and said that for as much as she loves SR voice and talent and as a person, Donizetti was NOT the path for her: I agree.
I have heard Sondra (who is a stunningly beautiful woman upclose) do things like Elisabetta in Don Carlo and the Cyrano that the Met did a few years ago...I find that the voice has so much glorious potential - and I often argue about this with my agent - but I personally feel that her fast vibrato and tongue (ala Domingo) gets in the way of a truly huge and beautiful sound! There are moments in the performances I have attended where all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the voice emerged pure and full and the sound is amazing - but when that fluttery vibrato sneaks in and the upper register is thrown out instead of being connected fully to the rest of the voice, we hear an out-of-tune and pushed sound that doesn't incorporate the depth and full beauty of her instrument.
No, I don't think she should sing Roberto, even if it is not as Florid and high as Lucrezia, I think Donizetti is wrong for her.
Actually, even though Elisabetta has much declamatory material (and yes needs great presence of tone and character), her tessitura sits pretty damn high: many written high B-naturals.
She does not stint on coloratura either - whether elated, as in her opening cabaletta, or furious, as when she lambastes Roberto with "Un perfido, un vile, un mentitore tu sei!"
please ignore what i said above about sondra's husband. apparently he's not a singer.
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