parterre box

28 comments

• The Vicar of John Wakefield says:

  At the ROH her Azucena was simply no match for that of Bainbridge, who surely drew lesser fees.

  on February 11, 2010 at 9:00 AM
  • willym says:

    and might I be so bold as to suggest lesser crowds!

    on February 11, 2010 at 9:22 AM
  • BETSY_ANN_BOBOLINK says:

    Damn it, Vicar, can’t you drop it even long enough to doff your figurative hat in respect? Or are you going to insist that Brits even die deader than anyone else? “Now if you want to see somebody REALLY dead, The Duke of Windsor’s your man.”

    on February 11, 2010 at 9:54 AM
  • Lindoro Almaviva says:

    But at Orange her Azucena had no peers…

    on February 11, 2010 at 2:24 PM
  • Orlando Furioso says:

    Vicar, you’re slipping. Surely the names to mention were Patricia Payne, Maureen Guy, and Jo Veasey.

    on February 11, 2010 at 10:53 PM
    • Regina delle fate says:

      None of these sang Azucena at the ROH either.

      on February 12, 2010 at 8:37 AM
      • Orlando Furioso says:

        Well, of course.

        It’s a shame to have to say this openly here, but it looks as if some (understandably) don’t understand the Vicar’s intended tone. He’s deliberately spoofing the all-too-predictable xenophobic response in, oh, Gramophone or the Guardian that any role performed by an “imported” singer could have done better (certainly more tastefully and musically!) by a UK one, the more dutifully oratorio-style the better. I always enjoy predicting what improbable name he’s going to come up with this time, and I’m sure he enjoys it too.

        on February 12, 2010 at 9:53 AM
  • Regina delle fate says:

    Bainbridge never sang Azucena. She did ONE Amneris when they couldn’t find anyone else when Christa Ludwig cancelled. That was the year of Leontyne’s last appearances as Covent Garden – 1973, I think – and her Amnerises were Mirna Pecile (!), Veasey and Bainbridge. Sometimes the “cover” has to go on, but Bainbridge knew what she could do and she was happy singing Inez with the occasional Auntie and Mistress Quickly. She was a fine house artist of the kind EVERY great company needs, and an absolute stalwart to be relied on in an emergency. I’m sure she realised she wasn’t cut out for Amneris, but she had a full-time job and a contract.
    As for Arkhipova’s Azucena – I was there and she stole the show from Caballé and Cossutta and nearly did from Milnes. She came back much later as Ulrica. But what I will never forget is her Wigmore Hall recital – she had an astonishing voice well into her sixties. One of the greats, as La Cieca implies. In an interview with Opera magazine, Larissa Diadkova said of Arkhipova “I bow before that woman”. I’m only sorry I never saw her in a Russian opera.

    on February 12, 2010 at 8:31 AM
• iltenoredigrazia says:

  She had a gorgeous plump mezzo sound. Loved her Marina.

  on February 11, 2010 at 9:39 AM
• MontyNostry says:

  Ah, Irina. Now that was a beautiful voice. I saw her once, in recital, when she was already near 60. I had missed her previous recital at which, apparently, she had amazed the audience with her rendition of ‘Voi che sapete’ — Yes, ‘Voi che sapete’, not ‘Voi lo sapete’.

  on February 11, 2010 at 9:41 AM
  • Mrs Rance says:

    Simionato did both Voi che and Voi lo at the Chicago Lyric Opera Gala in 1956.

    on February 12, 2010 at 8:15 AM
• Will says:

  I have lots of her Melodiyas, some of which I carried home from Russia in my luggage as they were things I had never seen here. It was a thrill to see her, even as the nanny in Onegin in ’97, when the MET brought her over in her 70s to debut in the Robert Carsen production.

  I remember some years ago seeing a picture of Arkhipova and Simionato together as judges at an Italian singing competition, and thinking “two of a very great kind.”

  on February 11, 2010 at 10:33 AM
  • Mrs Rance says:

    Yes there was definitely something great about her. As a friend used to say about Russian artists (singers) of Arkhipova’s era – discipline!

    I heard her in her prime in recital in Boston, before I really knew what I was hearing, but was very impressed.

    While she was at the Met for the ’97 ONEGIN, I had the pleasure of noticing her strolling slowly up Broadway one afternoon on the arm of a handsome younger man, just quietly taking in the sights. She was quite tall, and so was he.

    on February 12, 2010 at 8:23 AM
• Verdilover says:

  I have to say that she is what I consider the last remnant of pre-war singing. Her Amneris (specially the one in Russian, Bolshoi 1961) is hard to surpass and she was the last Azucena to really convience me.

  She was also married to the tenor Piavko (who we see on the clip La Cieca gave to us) and who often sang with her (he was great as Dimitri in Boris and she is unsurpassable as Marina) and so my sentiments go to him at this time.

  My tribute to her will be a Verdi’s Lover one:

  
  

  on February 11, 2010 at 11:07 AM
• Verdilover says:

  Though I just couldn’t help sharing this with you all too:

  on February 11, 2010 at 11:27 AM
  • pernille says:

    Thank you for your postings.
    They are a lovely reminder that Arkipova brought beauty and artistry to more than “just” her Russian roles.

    on February 11, 2010 at 2:22 PM
    • CruzSF says:

      I agree: these recordings are great. This is the kind of education I like.

      on February 11, 2010 at 2:39 PM
      • Lucky Pierre says:

        thank you for the polina. that was beautiful.

        on February 11, 2010 at 2:58 PM
  • kashania says:

    Thank you for the Amneris and Polina clips. Wonderful stuff.

    on February 11, 2010 at 5:03 PM
• LogeLizard says:

  I tresure her Seguidille (in Russian) which was on a “Stars of the Bolshoi” Angel/Melodia album that I acquired as a kid. It took a long time before the original French sounded normal to me.

  on February 11, 2010 at 12:42 PM
• La Marchesa Attavanti says:

  I saw her as Amneris in San Francisco in 1972. It wasn’t what I expected. From recordings I though it would be this enormous “blow everything else off the stage” sound and musical approach. In fact, her singing was very fine-grained and detailed, very beautiful and very musical but, frankly, a little underpowered.

  While she was in town for those performances, she sang a recital of Russian songs in one of the smaller halls in town and that was marvelous.

  on February 11, 2010 at 3:54 PM
• Verdilover says:

  She never game me the impression of being a powerful voice, neither did the other great Russian of the time (Lisitsian). However what she did have was an absolutely EVEN scale from top to botton with no show of any register problems, while actually using different registers (some people have a somewhat even voice by completely avoiding the lower register).

  on February 11, 2010 at 7:24 PM
  • pernille says:

    I’ve been thinking about your observation about her “even scale”. Perhaps that is the quality in a voice ( or training?) that makes a voice like hers so compelling. No matter where the voice takes you, the singer is in control . The listener doesn’t have to “tense up” in anticipation of “how is this going to go?” Thanks for the observation.

    on February 12, 2010 at 8:21 AM
• Vox says:

  Tchaikovsky’s Orleanskaja deva has not been released on CD to my knowledge. Required listening for Arkhipova lovers. High on my wish list for re-release.

  on February 11, 2010 at 7:58 PM
  • queen amahelli says:

    Quite agree – she sizzles in that recording. There is a live performance in Paris available of the Maid, but it’s not as magisterial and the recording quality is dodgy. The evenness of her voice is extraordinary – also notable is that her voice is instantly recognizable – a very svelte and glamorous sound that could range from urgently dramatic to purely sensuous. Her recording of Marfa in Khovanshchina is quite simply the best at conveying siren turned religious nut, and she doubles as Lel and Spring in a 1971 Snow Maiden, which is delicious, even if she doesn’t make a very convincing boy……

    on February 11, 2010 at 8:52 PM