parterre box

77 comments

• messa di voce says:

  In honor of her unique singing style, Jones’s birthday celebration will be spread out from the usual clearly limited 24 hours to encompass a vaguely defined 72 hours.

  on November 7, 2009 at 6:26 PM
  • CruzSF says:

    Excellent. I knew there was a reason I liked her! More party time!

    on November 7, 2009 at 6:38 PM
  • MontyNostry says:

    harsh, messa di voce. But she probably couldn’t have pulled you off, it must be said.

    on November 7, 2009 at 6:38 PM
    • messa di voce says:

      Monty, many are those who have pulled me off (some of them being singers). But I’m a big fan of La Gwyneth.

      on November 7, 2009 at 6:57 PM
      • MontyNostry says:

        Me too, with the realistic reservations, of course. Someone once described her to me as an extraordinarily generous singer — always ready to give three notes rather than just the one written pitch.

        on November 7, 2009 at 7:14 PM
• Lily Bart says:

  Donning my sailor’s cap and grass skirt, I sing:

  “There is nothin’ like a dame,
  Nothin’ in the world,
  There is nothin’ you can name
  That is anythin’ like a dame!”

  Happy happy Gwyneth & Joan!

  on November 7, 2009 at 6:45 PM
• richard says:

  I loved lots of these clips of both ladies. Both were wonderful at their best.

  Happy birthday , girls!

  on November 7, 2009 at 6:52 PM
• GayGiovanni says:

  Darling Dame Gwyneth, a star ammong stars, and a lovely lady.

  Many happy returns of the day.

  on November 7, 2009 at 8:54 PM
• Sanford says:

  Messa, that is hysterical.

  on November 7, 2009 at 9:32 PM
• Yugiri says:

  Happy Birthday, Dame Gwyneth!

  Her Turandot is simply magnificent. That Covent Garden performance in the late 1980s appears to be rather well-captured on film, as judged from those Youtube videos. Why doesn’t the ROH or Opus Arte bring it out on DVD?

  Btw, anyone knows if Dame Gwyneth has any stage performance plans? As far as I can gather, the last time she appeared in staged opera was as Herodias in Malmo last year.

  on November 7, 2009 at 10:10 PM
  • Cocky Kurwenal says:

    It doesn’t look like she has any plans, although never say never. There is a Wagner Society President’s Day in London on 5th December at which she’ll be doing masterclasses and the like. She has been known to sing at these events too…

    on November 8, 2009 at 5:17 AM
    • MontyNostry says:

      You’d better get prepared for bleeding ears, then. Gwyneth always gives her all, bless her.

      on November 8, 2009 at 7:31 AM
    • Yugiri says:

      Thanks. Well, I hope she’ll still be gracing the stages once in a while. After all, she appears to be in robust health, and that her most recent assumptions, including Klytemnestra (Hong Kong), La Voix Humaine (Verona), The Queen of Hearts (Munich) and Herodias (Malmo) have all received much acclaim from critics and audiences alike..

      on November 8, 2009 at 9:14 PM
• CruzSF says:

  Has anyone here listened to the “Dame Gwyneth Jones Sings Wagner” disc featured in the ferris wheel widget on this page? I’m entranced by the album cover, but of course won’t purchase it based on the jacket. Is it good Jones or bad Jones?

  on November 7, 2009 at 10:56 PM
  • Cocky Kurwenal says:

    It’s quite late. It’s good Jones if you’re a devotee, but every single mannerism is magnified 100 times and the vibrato is wide. I love it, apart from the Liebestod which I don’t think is worth hearing, but I have higher than average tollerance for Gwyneth’s foibles.

    on November 8, 2009 at 5:15 AM
    • CruzSF says:

      Thanks, CK. I’ll see if I can get hear the disc before buying.

      Dame Gwyneth’s Brunnhilde was the first I’d ever heard, on a DVD of the Boulez/Chereau “Walkure.” I was very impressed and now — for good or ill — hers is the Brunnhilde I imagine first when I think of this role. Maybe Stemme will replace her in my mind when I see her next June. I’d like to get the Solti Ring but damn, it’s so expensive.

      on November 8, 2009 at 11:55 AM
• La marquise de Merteuil says:

  OT.

  Tried to send this to LC via send tips but my mail programme opened without an address.

  The anti-E flat?:

  http://www.tubechop.com/watch/33657

  on November 8, 2009 at 12:53 AM
• dorion says:

  G. Jones whoever she is will always be a footnote compared to Joan Sutherland, who La Cieca hates for upstaging and completely obliterating another footnote during the 60s 70s and even 80s, Renata Scotto.

  on November 8, 2009 at 6:55 AM
  • Cocky Kurwenal says:

    Doesn’t it depend what you’re considering? Sutherland’s Overseer in Elektra looks like a footnote next to Jones’s work in Strauss, just as Jones’s Norma is a footnote compared to Sutherland’s mark on that role. And while I’m aware of certain biases for or against certain singers on the part of La Cieca, I don’t think she’s ever been less than fair to Dame Joan.

    on November 9, 2009 at 12:23 PM
• richard says:

  Don’t you just LOVE the way Dorion offers her OPINIONS?

  How creative that she makes them look like FACTS.

  on November 8, 2009 at 8:32 AM