Out there, in the dark
All of you who said, “Oh, Kiri te Kanawa could never do Norma” are feeling pretty silly right now, aren’t you? Of course, La Cieca doesn’t mean the Bellini druidess, a role the Kiwi songbird never could have mastered even at the peak of her career, whenever that might have been.
No, this Norma is the creepy aging diva who refuses to go away: “I promise you I’ll never desert you again, because after Der Rosenkavalier we’ll make another opera, and another and another. You see, this is my life. It always will be. There’s nothing else – just me and the prompters and those wonderful people out there in the dark…” [NYT]
*”I had no one.” Pardon me, gentle commentators.
re: Kiri being “curt and icy” with the press
I think she can be extremely sensitive and defensive depending on who she’s talking to.. in an interview on a sirius intermission last season with the non threatening M. Juntwait she was relaxed and warm and even opened up a bit about her divorce, without being asked (perhaps that was the key).
Alexythymia, thank you for bringing so much balance to the argument and of course you are spot on- the statement concerned was probably taken completely out of context….still it was enough for some of the Raptors led by Queen Vinegar Tits herself, Dowager Duchess Harry to spring into action.
It is incredible that out of a singer’s whole career- one single role that didn’t suit her well, keeps being cited on here as though it was highly significant- it wasn’t. I saw one of her Traviata’s and while it clearly wasn’t one of her best – it was no where near as bad as some have painted. It was certainly way past Miss Millo’s Tosca- and almost anything done by Miss Giulgehna (sp). This whole thread is a load of piffle.
“How great it would have been if the Met had videotaped Kiri’s 80s Arabella with Battle!!”
One of my most disappointing evenings ever at the Met She had zero chemistry with Weikl, with Battle ( who made her cry in rehearsal) and with Leinsdorf. Battle was good on her own isolated terms; otherwise the evening belonged to Dunn, Gramm and Gwendolyn Bradley.
@62 Thank You. Sensitive and defensive sounds right. That was sort of the point I was trying to make earlier. Sometimes with women in particular, early charges of stupidity can stick in one’s psyche right through adulthood. She seems very nervous in that interview with Flicka, as though she is trying to control an image about which she was previously too careless. I think she must care about the foundation business, and I hope that she finds a new lease in it.
And @63, thank you. Perhaps I was over-invested in this thread (maybe I even projected a little), but part of me is still the little girl who heard her “Dove Sono” coming out of the radio and was transfixed. I had never heard singing like it.
RE: Dove sono i bei momenti?
JJ on KTK, 1997/98:
http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind9702B&L=OPERA-L&P=R10929
http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind9807C&L=OPERA-L&P=R12048
Also, the reactions to the David Fingleton book made her much more cautious. All the allegations that she is a lazy singer, prefers to shop etc. are taken from that book, which, by the way, is a great read. Much better than that Unsung Story book that came out later.
I did like the 1994 Thielemann Arabella a lot – my only time at the Met. She made Arabella sympathetic – no small feat. Dagmar Schellenberger could do that too, but all the other Arabella’s I like a lot still leave me a little bit cold in the end.
Ach, mein lieber Buster, you should have seen Lucia Popp in the role. She wouldn’t have left you cold. Even the little clips of her Arabella on YouTube are enough to bring a lump to the throat.
Yes, MOnty, that is my big loss in the Arabella department. And Eva Lind.
Kashania, I’ve seen the Kiri/Battle duet from that Arabella on YouTube, and seem to recall it being in rather good quality, so a video was made by somebody legit for some reason and it exists somewhere. I couldn’t quite believe it when I found it, just imagining the potential for fireworks between those two (although Kiri’s sense of decency is, I suspect, greater than Battle’s).
She is incredibly sensitive with the press, and that is what I meant when I said curt and icy – she reacts rather badly if she doesn’t like the line of questioning. A close friend of mine interviewed her in connection with the launch of her Foundation, and apparently Kiri was extremely unpleasant. However, another friend of mine studies singing with her, and says she has never been anything but completely lovely during their lessons.
I have an almost total devotion to and adoration of Dame Kiri. I’m applying to take part in the Solti Bel Canto Accademia at which she teaches, so perhaps I’ll get to study with her for a few classes too if I get through.