Coup de Grace
A tribute to Kennedy Center honoree Grace Bumbry from fellow laureate Aretha Franklin.
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By the way, Grace’s behaviour during the tribute and the applause demonstrates one of her great virtues as a performer: she knows when (and how) to keep still. The woman has class!
One thing, for sure, was settled last night at the Kennedy awards: Angela G. is ready to tackle Tosca in a new production at he Met, if Bundy’s and Zafirelli’s are going to be scrapped!
call me a hater. but i hate her and all that she stands for.
rommie, I think you just need a hung and a bowl of green pea soup.
hug*
stop it with your freudian slips javier! lol.
whom do you hate? angie? grace? aretha? michelle?
Mr. rommie — WHY?
I would be sincerely interested to know why you hate “all that she stands for”, if you would care to elaborate what she stands for. She is a case that I find rather interesting. thx, cami
“Vissi d’arte” was on all accounts an appropriate selection for the occasion, particularly when one takes into consideration the opening text. A selection from Carmen would not have been appropriate in my esteem. Bumbry is not the Mel Brooks of opera and so, despite it’s ability to be recognized by anyone present or viewing, the spirit of the Habanera would be trite and insincere in this given setting.
As for the selection of singer, I make no qualms at expressing my disappointment. Oddly enough, she looked nervous and shaky (or perhaps that was merely evidence of her body tensing up to push her voice as she normally does which offers us that bleat in her sound that many have grown accustomed to), stylistically the piece was lacking any slancio and the phrasing was not quite to par, however the High Bb was rather good and sturdy. As a previous commenter mentioned, her diction is always surprisingly poor, an odd feat for a Romanian considering that her native language is closest in relation to Italian.
To put it bluntly, almost anyone else would have been a better choice to sing in honor of Grace, and irregardless of the opinions oft expressed on this site, someone of Fleming’s stature, experience, and professional legacy would have been a wiser and more respectful choice: Bumbry did not make a career with publicity stunts, cancellations and generally poor vocalisms. Furthermore, it was evident that the segment devoted to La Bumbry was shorter than all the others, in all probability due to the fact that she is the least well-known in today’s culture and was severely lacking in individuals of clout and media exposure to speak on her behalf, save for Ms. Franklin. That said, I’m happy that an artist such as Simon Estes had been there to speak for her; we all know who he is and what he has accomplished, but let’s face it, if you were an unoperatically aware viewer of this program, and you saw him walk out on stage, what would your reaction have been? Exactly: Who is this guy? Therefore I would have proposed someone like Domingo as a more profitable candidate as announcer, also taking into consideration that his opera company performs in that very space.
Fortunately, the montage was nicely done and I think gave the American public an inkling of what this great artist managed to accomplish in her life and career.
N.B. I don’t know that I saw Kathy Battle in the audience, but Harolyn Blackwell was certainly given a closeup.
I would question whether slancio belongs in “Vissi d’arte.” But anyway, I felt like whatever Gheorghiu may have lacked in slancio she more than made up for with morbidezza.
Here she is singing the “Habanera” a few months ago.
I’ll leave the French out. Who ever knew that Bjork’s swan dress without the head and in blue would make a comeback.
Now, let’s talk about those register breaks. Will the met be using the same amplification system for her Carmen? make that double amplification, given the one that is hiding in her hair (as betrayed by the pack clipped on the back of her dress)
Oh yea, there is a 2nd verse to this.
Oh no, she doesn’t lack for slancio, but that’s all been poised in the bustier of that blue mariachi dress.
As for morbidezza, she makes up for that lack with Chutzpah.
Slap me, I don’t care.
Aha, it was Harolyn Blackwell, of course! She looks rather like Vivica Genaux, as it happens.
“…irregardless of the opinions….”
Forgive me, dupin, but check your dictionary.
There is no such word as ‘irregardless.’ I’ve
made the mistake myself, which is why I know
to point it out. “Regardless” serves very
nicely!
Domingo should have given the commendation
for Bumbry; the attentions of a white male would
made a great deal more to her than those of a
broken-down old bag of a black woman who was
never, in the classical music world, taken to be in
Bumbry’s class.
The Kennedy Ctr Awards need a better committee
and better production, in my view.
Is this just too crazy, or would Jimmy Levine
have been the man to give the appreciation of
Grace Bumbry, even at Kennedy Ctr. ? They
ARE meant to be national recognition. She
likely sang more for the Met than any other
house.
well, a few years ago, mrs. claggart wrote a piece for opera news mag on her good friend, grace ann. in it, she goes on to tell that she and jimmeee did not see eye to eye after a forza in 1983, and she was hardly invited to sing at the met after that (i think she only did bess and some amnerises after that at the house). she did however get invited back to his 25th anniv. gala in 1996 (she was after all his tosca when he made his debut). i don’t think she had sung there for 10 yrs by then.
domingo? they probably hadn’t worked together in decades although that wouldn’t have been an impediment.
i wonder if there was a singer today that could have been chosen to honor bumbry, that could have been said to have been influenced by her and followed in her footsteps. maybe urmana? somewhat a different singer, but she’s pretty much taken up the same fach. don’t know if voigt or renee could have been a more appropriate choice.
overall, i think angie was a pretty good choice.
From the very beginning, Aretha’s partricipation seemed to me like the result of a dialogue like this:
Person 1: We need someone important to make the presentation for grace Bumbry. Any Ideas?
Person 2: Who is Grace Bumbry?
Person 1: Some black opera singer; who knows, we just need someone to make that presentation
Bystander: How about Aretha Franklin? She’s black and she sang that opera piece in the MTV’s that year, remember? Pavarotti was supposed to sing but they canned him in favor of Aretha because everyone was like Who’s Pavarotti?
Person 1: That’s brilliant! We cover the black thing and the opera thing both in one shot. Aretha it is! Who’s gonna call her agent?
Now, I thought that Aretha did beautifully. I also have to think that Aretha likely has no personal memories of Grace, while Martina would have a million of them and she is just as witty and good with a microphone.
Right on.
That’s how it’s done.
Lindoro you hit the nail right on the head. That is exactly the reason why Aretha was chosen. Ratings and p.r. – is there any other black woman in America besides Oprah and Michelle Obama who have a higher Q rating than Aretha? As a member of the African American community trust me having Aretha honor you is a very big deal no matter what the category of music is. She doesn’t bow to many people and she brought a little “flava” to the proceedings. That little “you go girl” moment between her and Grace when she talked about the nudity in Salome was priceless. Someone mentioned that Domingo should have done it. Can you imagine how lascivious that bit would have sounded coming from him?
You’re wasted as a tenor, Lindoro. You should be writing comedy sketches and making bazillions!
You guys are way too generous. Thank you.
I started writing some this year again. So thank you very much for the positive feedback.
…..and where was Mother Leontyne?
La Cieca is going to say this only once, and in a capacity as a commenter, not as moderator, and she will include the caveat that she believes most people are doing quite innocently. But: ticking off the names of who’s who of matching race to the honoree strikes me as racist. Can’t an African-American artist be saluted as an artist without everyone carping, “but where were all the other colored people?”
Well, it just shows that everyone is racist because we can’t stop thinking about race.
merce, diletta amica.
You know Cieca carissima, I agree 100%. That being said, it is also known that somehow it had to come into play given the fact that right now race is one of those subjects that are like the elephant in the room.
it has also been my experience that people in the black community do notice these things and do make note of them. Maybe not everyone in the community, but let’s not make the mistake of thinking that the “other side” (I hate that expression, but it seems to somewhat fit) is color blind, because it is not.
Let’s face it, Grace has spent years living in Switzerland and Austria, hardly the most multicultural countries in the world. She has got used to doing things on her own terms.
I’m not sure who the “other side” is, but it strikes me as a good thing that everyone remaining mindful of potentially racist statements.
I’m not sure who the “other side” is, but it strikes me as a good thing that everyone remains mindful of potentially racist statements.
THANK YOU La Cieca. This thread has really gotten me riled up as well. Which why I think that I have posted more tonight than I have all year. Art is colorless. They chose the best available (remember people let’s not go down that rabbit hole) singer to sing the damned song. Plus Ms. G looked stunning. Enough has been said already about her singing.
Someone mentioned earlier that she should be singing Tosca at the Met. Gelb should totally get on that. She would certainly be able to sell out any production they chose to present her in. Come on you know that you girls will be flying in from all points to hear it.
I very much agree with you La Cieca!!
If they had asked Martina Arroyo to speak for Grace, they would have picked someone who really IS a good friend AND would have probably stolen the show with her insights and quick wit.
Isn’t Grace herself meant to be a woman of wit too, though probably not such a wisecracker as Martina? Maybe they should have just put the two of them on to do a double act.
again, who’s more famous? aretha or martina?
Aretha was a bit shaky on some details (“singing the Dance of the Seven Veils” … “Bravura, Grace!”), but she is a legend and she can deliver the lines with aplomb. And, in her own way, she is also an embodiment of divadom.
Hell yeah! Did you see the way Aretha walked out onto stage? She definitely had her own diva moment before turning her attention to the diva of the hour.
And I couldn’t agree more with La Cieca regarding the race comments (which, I agree, are probalby innocently meant). There seems to be this expectation that every black singer should have been in attendance and had a close-up during the Bumbry tribute.
Very good suggestion. An hysterically funny woman and appropriate choice – as Marilyn Horne was to Sutherland. You’re right, she’s so funny she would have sent up the whole schtick.
But Tatiana dear, no one in America knows who Martina Arroyo is but us. Yes, they are great friends, but at one point they were thinking of no longer televising the KC Honors due to low ratings. Like all things showBUSINESS the bottom line dictates all. The KC Honors have always been a bit populist in their presenters. They take care to honor 5 diverse people each year. What you are saying is the equivilent of them honoring some brilliant Nobel Prize winning scientist and trotting out his best bud from MIT (who is just as brilliant) and none of us knowing who the fuck he is. Yes, we all live and breathe opera, but I would say that 85% of the audience would not have had a clue as to who Mme. Arroyo is. Granted if I had my druthers they should have trotted out every black opera singer alive to sing a group tribute. Lord knows black opera singers are few and far between on the opera stages today), but that’s just me.
Why does she have to be honored by somebody black at all? It really burns me up whenever you mention one black singer and a person automatically compares them to another black singer. I am surprised that nobody has brought up Shirley Verrett yet. But hey I am so annoyed by most of these postings that I haven’t gotten to the bottom of this thread yet.
Er, who’s to say that Angie and Grace *aren’t* friends or acquaintances? I’m not really quite sure where people get the idea that because Grace is African American she spends her days watching Oprah with fellow opera sistas Leontyne and Shirley with the occasional visit from Kathy. Verrett and Bumbry famously feuded for many years, and it’s quite possible La G and La Bumbry know each other.
Who didn’t Grace feud with when she was singing? She is not nicknamed dis-Grace Bumbry for nothing.
Not that I blame her. She always seemed to me like a woman assured of her talent and her worth, despite the many people who tried to put her down because of her race and her controversial voice.
She wasn’t very controversial when she stuck to mezzo and ‘falcon’ repertoire.
Hear, hear Monty – she was just fabulous. The Ebolis at Covent Garden in – I think – 1976 were better than any other I’ve heard before or since. I never saw Shirley in the role, however. The Selikas in L’Africaine were pretty hot, too. Most of her soprano appearances at CG were disappointing by comparison.Damn that I never saw Grace as Amneris or Carmen!
Where or how is Leontyne Price doing these days?
Price and Bumbry sang lots of Aidas and Trovatores together. They were the two hottest Verdi female singers in the 60′s and 70′s. Somehow when I think of Bumbry, I tend to think of her in the company of Price, Corelli, Milnes, Domingo. Except for Corelli, the others could have shared some reminiscences from their working together. Also Zubin Mehta who conducted her quite a bit at the Met in Carmen, Trovatore and Aida.
It can be easy to forget how young Bumbry was in the 60s — she was established as a leading (the leading?) Amneris, Eboli and Carmen by the time she was 30.
I always wondered whether it bothered Price that her Amneris had her eyes on the title role …
I don’t know how true this is. This is one of those, a friend told a friend, but I’d like to think it rings true:
GB: The opera should be called Amneris. She is much more interesting.
Before GB goes on to the stage in Act 1:
LP: Now I’ll show your black ass why this opera is called Aida.
Now that is a hilarious story.
I vividly remember that Aida rebroadcast from the 60s with Price, Bergonzi, Bumbry, Merrill and Hines (luxury casting as Ramfis). Price was wonderful (especially in the 3rd and 4th acts) but Bumbry practically stole the show.
There is a story (how true I am not sure) of Bumbry going on and on about how the opera should’ve been titled Ameris since that was what Verdi thought originally.
Leontyne got a little tired of the going ons and turned to Grace and told her: I’m about to show your black ass why they call this opera Aida and proceeded to bring the house down.
Bumbry, Like Cossotto, seemed to have a chip on her shoulder. But my God that Amneris was just fabulous!
Snap!
that is a very old story/rumor. there are also tales of her run-ins with resnik, millo, mitchell. wasn’t she known in her early years as La Rivale????
Se non e vero e mal trovato.
la cieca, that’s why i (being a classy lady like yourself) did not repeat those tales (unlike some little people)…
But it is so easy for a really good Amneris to steal the show. I know that I will be corrected if I am wrong, but didn’t Verdi actually think of calling the opera Amneris at one point. To be honest I always go to see Aida for the Amneris. I unfortunately haven’t had the experience of a truly great Aida in my more than 20 years of live opera going. Please remember that I was stuck in the hinterlands for a large portion of my formative years
I saw Gheorghiu’s Tosca at Covent Garden (second run of the new production – she replaced Voigt!!), and she was pretty sensational – I think her Vissi d’Arte in this clip is superb. Grace seemed to approve.
Who else would you want to see portraying a capricious diva?
“Who else would you want to see portraying a capricious diva?”
Maybe someone with a little more voice?
Ah yes – as recommended by Lindoro Almaviva above (at 7.1.4.3.) we should have Mariana Svetkova as Tosca. People would queue round the block for that.
And yes – the cogniscenti know best and the poor saps who buy the tickets are ignoramuses.
Not sure if that is sarcasm or not, but until you have heard Mariana, don’t judge her. She might have not made a huge impact when she was singing in the US, but the reviewer on Opera News thought her Ariadne at IU a “huge discovery” and apparently the management at La Scala agreed.
the ignorant ticket buyers but the tickets because they are told that the singer is good, or that they will be going to see a star. Not too long ago people lined around the met to see Pavarotti in Der Rosenkavalier. Most of those people had no idea what they were seeing or that Pavarotti would go on for 3 minutes and they would be stuck with 3 woman walking around for the next 3 hours.
Opera houses count on the ignorance or gullible people just as much as they count on the cognoscenti (if not more)because they will fill the house, applaud on queue and then will give the managers (both of the house and the singer) the “proof” they need to continue singing the praises of said singer.
Let’s not forget the “artistic success” of the Netrebko Lucia, Puritani, Juliette and Gilda.
Lindoro – I have had a look at Mariana Zvetkova’s website:
http://www.marianazvetkova.com/index-2.html
She has been heard since 1996, and has yet to achieve international prominence. There is no clip of her singing on YouTube. I have no way of forming an opinion one way or another, but I defer both to you and the reviewer of Opera News.
There are undoubtedly people who go to the opera to ses *stars* – but how did the stars become stellar?
Without the poor saps putting bums on seats you might not be able to hear much opera anywhere – even in Plovdiv Opera
Without the poor saps putting bums on seats you might not be able to hear much opera anywhere
i absolutely agree, but that is hardly the indication of an artist, a great singer or an artistic success.
No, but it is an indication of commercial success yikes – do not faint), which is also very difficult to obtain if the *merchandise* does not deliver at least some of the goods some of the time.
Sorry – there should be an open parenthesis ( before yikes.
We agree. I shouldn’t have to remind you of the countless of time ticket sales have been used as an example of how truly great a singer is and how his/her take on a role is an unqualified success.
Maybe someone with a LOT more voice and a grip on the correct pronunciation of Italian e sounds.
Good B flat, though, surprisingly good!
Now that you mention it, there are a lot of American Sopranos who could sing the aria just as well and could also talk (if needed) about the influence Bumbry had/have in their careers: Radvanovsky, Fleming and Racette come immediately to mind since they have the fame to back it up, but Indra Thomas, Angela Brown, Elisabeth Holleque and Amy Johnson while not household names are singers good enough to showcase in the broadcast.
If the whole American thing is not important, Urmana and Mattila for starters (scary Mattila, but she is famous and glamorous)…
Angie looked beautiful, but her rendition of the aria was passable, no more no less. Her diction was horrible.
*I don’t know why but I’m reminded of that horribly awkward interview between Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps in Beijing when Michael Phelps was pressed repeatedly to cite Spitz as some kind of influence and role model and the rather inarticulate Phelps just mumbled some gibberish while Spitz yammered on about how “epic” the whole situation was …*
Again I say, 85% of the people watching the broadcast have no clue who those singers are. While we are blessed to be among the opera cognescenti and discuss singers like Zvetkova; the KC Honors broadcast is on the verge of being cancelled. Georghiu is a “household” name amongst people that dont even attend the opera.
I am also along the lines of thinking that there may be some sort of personal connection with Angie and Grace. Lord knows that media-whore Renee wouldn’t have passed up an opportunity to be seen by her adoring public at such a high-brow event if her schedule allowed. Wasn’t Trebs in the audience. BTW it certainly was a star-studded affair. Everytime the camera panned the audience I was playing the “Oh my, that’s blah blah” game.
my bad – cognoscenti
…sorry – cognOscenti
I’d rather see Amanda Echalaz, who replaced her in a performance at Covent Garden last summer.
Well I saw Echalaz as Tosca in Holland Park, and she was indeed very promising. As soon as her career takes off and she becomes “popular”, I shall wait for the invective and abuse