anyone can whistle
Glimpses of last night’s Don Carlo prima at La Scala:
Stuart Neill in the title role (from parsifalito‘s YouTube channel):
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A snippet of Dolora Zajick in full cry:
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And the reaction of the public at the end of the opera:
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ANDY: “the woman who screamed “VERGOGNA!†is NOT a woman!â€
Oh. I’m sorry. It was hard to tell in the dark.
Principessa revolting – I am one of those people you are talking about. Yes, hormones as part of cancer treatment combined with chronic asthma has taken a devastating toll on my body and will lead to further surgery next year. Before you judge other people by the outter “visual” you might do yourself a big favour and put a bridle on your mouth because you don’t always know the real story and will be like the man the bank queue last week who gave me some free advice that I should walk more. He didn’t know I can’t walk further than 20 yards at a time. Thanks!
All this complaining about talking, about fat opera singers: some of them are just plain guttons, others may be suffering metabolic problems. While others may be over-eating as a symptom to hide the fact that they are nervous, insecure, lonely, depressed or stressed. It does not get away from the fact that singing is a strenuous athletic activity. It calls for discipline to stay fit and preserve the voice. Having a correct lifestyle and the correct nutrition. How many, do even light gym work or physical exercise to support their body’s muscles? Valid questions without knocking the overweight amongst them. Would the detactors of those mentioning such problems, say it is alright for a singer’s breath control: to regularly get drunk or smoke like a constant chimmey stack? If they want a long career? Food is no different but somehow socially has become the greater ‘taboo’ of the two, when discussed opera singers.
Yet we are seeing numerous gross singers shortening their lives and careers before our eyes. We can all think of examples that quickly come to mind,from the past and present. Politeness and especially silence about the subject is a slow evolving killer. To see a Sherman tank strut out on stage destroys all illusion of grace, authority, command or movement. Some pint sized 20 stone + Calaf , a big tubby Manon Lescaut or hilariously over large ‘frail’ Margarite that could bash a Mesfistofele into the orchestra pit with one blow? First impression is ‘how many bolts’ of material did they have to use to costume them? Second thought: all that physical strain on that person’s heart, how can they survive? Times when one has watched a performance on TV (and after rechecking color balances against skin tone), noticed some over weight singer’s tongue ( in close -up) is showing signs of ‘blueness’ or oxygen deprivation besides all the overly profuse sweating. Imagine casting some of them in a ‘high concept’ Broadway musical….the comedy would be inbuilt and cruel, just by their very appearance. What makes opera so sacrosanct? It is not exactly a funny subject but one we should not be blind to, or not discuss.
People are ever so ready to say ‘this or that singer did’nt hit a particular note’ or that their career is on the skids. Is it too impolite to look for deeper reasons why that ‘the voice has deteriorated’?