another thrilling twist
… in the “Tenor-Go-Round” saga at the Metropolitan Opera. (La Cieca was going to say “Musical Tenors,” on the model of “Musical Chairs, but decides not to on the ground it’s an oxymoron. Anyway.)
So now, according to a photo from metopera.org, it appears that Edgardo will be sung tomorrow by…
… Neil Shicoff.
Â
Caballe was not in good voice for that Lucia recording. She was capable of better.
Kash, I adore Caballe–but her Philips recordings were done in a period where she was getting very lazy about articulating the fiorature. I Masnadieri suffers from that as well. Much of what was written about her at the time, and just after that, made mention of her being an “apparently lazy musician,” also noting her sightreading at recitals and concerts. I’ve heard comparably few real trills from her on record, either–unless one counts the quivering sounds she’d make on one note. (Perhaps she was taught to do that. I’m not a bel canto expert.)
I don’t think the Lucia is her best effort, and she certainly gave the impression during those very busy studio recording years that she could ‘turn it on’ or ‘off’ relative to how careful she wanted to be with her singing.
Though the coloratura isn’t sparkling and she sound a bit matronly, I still like that Lucia recording very much. My point is that people are much less likely to call Caballe nasty names than they are poor Nebs, even in cases where she could be accused of similar shortcomings.
She was called those and many worse names than that during the 80s.
She got her fare share. Sometimes she brought it all to herself, (as lazies go, Montsy could be a lot lazier than Anna, IMO), but generally it was all very unfair, just like in the case of AN.
La Cieca,
Bravo for your candor and honesty. You’re a class act, besides knowing opera and voices like nobody else. It’s been a sport on this blog to kick Netrebko dowm. This ad nauseam assault with unsupported generalities is intellectually dishonest. Is Neterebko a perfect singer? No! Can she do better? Yes, if she tries harder.
On the other hand, she brings a stage presence that gets into your heart and mind, like no other. Opera singers, like all humans, cannot be perfect all the time and under all circumstances. That would be inhuman!
You know, Constantine, I was thinking along those lines earlier today. I was watching Gundula Janowitz singing Come Scoglio on youtube, and she doesn’t articulate any of the triplets in the final part of the aria, and it’s *still* a gorgeous piece of singing. There are sopranos who sing it with more accuracy, which is great, but far less passion, beauty of tone, and elegance. Also, I listened to Eleanor STeber sing the Lucia Sextet (and Come Scoglio), and Janet Perry sing an aria from Fra Diavolo. Georgeous singing from both.
It’s interesting, though, to think how few people seem to remember Ms. Perry.
I love the Caballe recording for one reason: Jose Carreras. That’s the recording he should be remembered by, followed by the Simon Boccanegra of the same era.
Caballe does give us gorgeous moments as Lucia, as long as no cabalettas are involved. Her first part of the mad scene is sublime.
I agree. Carreras is gold in that recording. Caballe still has many exquisite moments. The two of them are splendid in the act 1 duet. They both rise to the challenge of the slow tempo and pour out glorious sounds.
There is a place between absolute hatred of Netrebko and the blind praise of some of her followers. This was a great Lucia to experience in the theater, I am sure, but it does not come up to the standard set by a lot of singers (living and dead). She deserves her fame and the love of her fans, God knows the talent is substantial, but this was not an entirely successful assumption. Like La Cieca has said, she probably needs a couple of strong mentors to work on the finer points. Callas, Sills, Sutherland, they all had that kind of guidance. I don’t know if finding that collaboration will be possible for Netrebko. Who makes those kind of sacrifices today?
Speaking of “Come Scoglio,” I can recall only one recording I’ve ever heard where the triplets are very cleanly articulated: Berganza recorded a Mozart recital, fairly early on, I think with Pritchard. She sang both of Fiodiligi’s arias with acute precision. The recordings were not always easy to find in the USA, so I had to import a CD from the UK at the time.
For all of Berganza’s beautiful technique (and she was technically very accomplished, to my ears), one could listen to that Mozart recital and decide that it didn’t add up to much emotionally, as she seemed somewhat reticent in the studio at times.
I’m sorry that Caballe didn’t work just a bit harder on some of her recordings that required technical care and polish–because she was always worth listening to otherwise. If she didn’t offer the stratosphere as easily as Sutherland, her legato seemed purer to me. I’m also pissed she didn’t get to record more Mozart…