Comments on: Infectious diseuse

Nerva Nelli commented

Nerva Nelli — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:44:44 +0000

Not since…

Carmen………………Brenda Lewis
Don Jose…………….Giulio Gari
Micaela……………..Laura Castellano
Escamillo……………Frank Guarrera

Conductor……………Kurt Adler

karajan commented

karajan — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:31:17 +0000

so? Borodina or Garanca? Alagna or Jovanovich? Black or Frittoli? ALtinoglu or Nezet Seguin? Which one did you prefer?

calaf47 commented

calaf47 — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:25:40 +0000

You’re right…NOT the title role..but the role of Elisabeth.

Lucky Pierre commented

Lucky Pierre — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:25:15 +0000

thanks, but i’m sure you don’t mean the title role…

there are some clips of her on youtube doing deverreux, tosca, lady…

Malapasqua commented

Malapasqua — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:43:55 +0000

Brenda Harris took over for Hasmik Papian at the last moment a couple years ago singing Norma in Portland OR… I had gone clear out there just to hear Hasmik and was most annoyed that I wouldn’t get to… but I could not have possibly been more satisfied with her replacement. Brenda was excellent, very impressive, and should certainly be better known.

calaf47 commented

calaf47 — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:23:14 +0000

Brenda Harris is singing the title role in Roberto Devereux at this moment at Minnesota Opera. She garnered excellent reviews for her portrayal.

BETSY_ANN_BOBOLINK commented

BETSY_ANN_BOBOLINK — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:47:36 +0000

She and Louis Otey did the Lord and Lady of Scotland, broadcast from Utah Opera last October. As I recall, not half bad, and preferable to other higher profile performances.

Lucky Pierre commented

Lucky Pierre — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:32:08 +0000

btw, years ago, someone named brenda harris was singing armida and norma. whatever happened to her? does anyone know whom i’m talking about ?

BETSY_ANN_BOBOLINK commented

BETSY_ANN_BOBOLINK — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:07:55 +0000

Two considerations color my comment: 1) i’m judging strictly by what I hear on Sirius, and 2) I very much want to have Jovanovich succeed — “Montana boy, y’know.” Yes, he was underpowered in Acts 3 and 4 – McCracken he ain’t, thank God – but even Borodina seemed to sense at “Tu ne m’aimex donc plus” that an underpowered tenor with a knife still ain’t nobody to fuck with.

calaf47 commented

calaf47 — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:23:58 +0000

Yes..I was in the house and I agree. It’s only in the final two acts that Jovanovich can’t pull up the power to compete with Borodina. His voice won’t allow that kind of thrust to make his Jose truly frightening.

Clita del Toro commented

Clita del Toro — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:08:27 +0000

I thought Borodina and Black were excellent. On the radio, I preferred Borodina’s Carmen to Garanca’s—btw, tomorrow I will see the “encore” HD of Carmen. Black sounds more like a Micaela than her mother, Frittoli!
Jovanovich was very good–not the most beautiful voice, but he sang very well.

Nerva Nelli commented

Nerva Nelli — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:58:14 +0000

And won’t Dancin’ Danielle be fabulous as she Funky Chickens her way through “O Sachs, mein Freund” and tosses batons during the Quintet?

Maury D commented

Maury D — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:18:23 +0000

As one of Madame Podles’ most devoted fans, I think I can say that her best days in florid music are pretty well past. I don’t know Rodelinda at all (is it the source of “con rauco marmorio”? I would give my left something to hear Podles sing that) but I assume it has plenty of noodling around. Podles can still do it but it can be effortful at times.

Buster commented

Buster — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:10:06 +0000

Jadwiga Rappé is the same age as Podles, and she was very different on stage: slightly mournful, and very romantic. I have a hunch she was not exactly a party animal either. Lovely singer, though.

Liana commented

Liana — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:53:40 +0000

I have to object again, I’m afraid. People were not brought up wary of strangers in Poland during Cold War; of authorities (of any kind), yes, and this attitude is still very strong here – a general distrust towards any form of government. Podles is simply not the “bubbly fanzine type”, because not every performer is, irrespective of their origin. She behaves exactly the same in Poland, and even during the interviews she doesn’t seem to be happy to answer questions. She appears to be a person enjoying singing, but not the whole bussiness of being a famous singer. So please, give up the stereotype of some “Eastern European out of Cold War character”; there is no such thing, exactly as there is no “Western European out of Cold War” character.

mrmyster commented

mrmyster — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:24:47 +0000

The auto accident was in New Mexico, on her way from Santa Fe
to the airport in Albuquerque. All others in her car were uninjured;
they were wearing seatbelts. Ewa was not wearing hers, despite
advice to do so. Her fracture was serious, and after a few days
in hospital at Abq. she returned to Poland for treatment. In her
Santa Fe recital she showed her usual stentorian contralto
sound, her by-the-tricks coloratura (same school as Bartoli -
clickety-clickety), and a very short top. She was stolid in her
platform appearance, and unfashionable. The voice is a Force
of Nature, the rest of it is as Kruno says, provincial Eastern
Europen out of the Cold War era. I am, however, glad to have
heard her in person, tho’ I don’t need any more.

Regina delle fate commented

Regina delle fate — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:36:35 +0000

His Don José was exceptional at Glyndebourne, as was his Prince in Rusalka there. Either next year or the year after he’s doing his first Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Lewes, East Sussex.

Regina delle fate commented

Regina delle fate — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:30:42 +0000

I think I heard that Houston is now co-producing La donna del Lago with the Opéra, La Scala and Covent Garden, and I’m pretty sure it’s for La DiDone

BETSY_ANN_BOBOLINK commented

BETSY_ANN_BOBOLINK — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:04:33 +0000

May I put in a note of praise for Brandon Jovanovich? At least from what I could hear on Sirius, he was going for, and sometimes achieving, effects other tenors can only dream about. For once, the “Parle-moi de ma mere” sounded like two young people in a conversation. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Act One, as character and drama, was about as good as I’ve ever heard.

suzyQ commented

suzyQ — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:58:15 +0000

Camille, I agree that Olga sounds good! Jennifer Black also sounds good here as Micaela.