photo finish
Is it just La Cieca, or does someone at the New York Times have it in for Stephanie Blythe? Not the story by Anthony Tommasini, which is standard worshippy stuff — but the photos!
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TT perpetuates the meme whenever he writes about so-and-so’s strapping appearance and singers who look like their parts. Then he complains that people focus on weight.
The true elephant in the room (ahem) is that it is hard to find singers who can sing magnificently, and when they find some who do (e.g. Stephanie Blythe), opera companies should celebrate them and cast them.
Give me “sounds gorgeous” over “looks gorgeous” everytime. Then cast a bunch of models as extras for eye candy. Pretty and silent. Then we can all have our cake and eat it too (except for the models, of course).
She was playing a man–she’s not supposed to look beautiful. I see nothing wrong with how she’s dressed.
The discussion about photographic angles reminds me of the scene in “Tootsie” when the cameraman filming Dustin Hoffmann/Dorothy Michaels is asked to “Make her look a little more attractive. How far can you pull back?”
and he answers
“-How do you feel about Cleveland?”
#43…or, my favorite, “Gauze, Vaseline…no way. Photograph me through linoleum!”
Norman was lucky in that she had great bone structure in her face and so, except for her early days when she was at her heaviest, she didn’t really carry much fat in her face. Beyond those early years, she didn’t have the double-chin problem. And she was very photogenic. Norman also had great poise on stage and carried herself very well for a woman her size. Blythe does have the double-chin problem and is un-photogenic. Still, she can take decent photos. The Times could have been much kinder.
I’ve said it before but I was genuinely surprised and pleased that Gelb included Blythe’s Orfeo in the HD broadcast series. Goes to show that, while he is always on the lookout for marketable sexy singers, he’s not going to ignore a truly great voice like Blythe because of her physique.