Quel grido e quella morte
Maria Guleghina‘s Turandot on PBS right now, and, holy hell, I didn’t realize just how incredibly awful it sounded. How could anyone let such a thing be released — no, escape — on HD?
Cher Public
- Camille: Gee, that is bizarre—R 11;I was thinking of you a while back and wanting to let you know I HAD... 4:02 PM
- kashania: I also checked out the second act finale and agree completely. It’s rare that a moment of hysteria... 3:59 PM
- Lucy: Like arepo, I’m seeing Andrea Chenier: 1. Courtroom scene, just before “Si, fui soldato.”... 3:51 PM
- grimoaldo: Hi Camille, you were interested in “Craig’ ;s Wife” with Rosalind Russell.I watched... 3:20 PM
- Camille: “Inno ad Imene”. Sorry. Just had to try it on for size. Thanks, operaguy. 3:11 PM
- lorenzo.venezia: hair-raising. that’s why the tee shirts were so surprising. it has been a while since the... 3:04 PM
- operaguy: Down in the Depths on the 90th Floor is a Cole Porter song from “Red, Hot and Blue” –... 2:56 PM
- Clita del Toro: Cammie, well, Swiffers do make this old lady’s life much easier. You can Swiffer around the... 2:54 PM
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It is always exciting to hear new singers in this repertoire. Marc has sung in Seattle with the Symphony (last time was about 10 years ago) and yes, she’s enormous (bigger than Eaglen) and can barely walk onto the concert stage. She was also not well prepared several years ago for the Mahler 4th (yeah, not a great choice, but that’s what it was); 4 Last Songs fared better. Verdi Req. was a little dicey. As I don’t live in NYC, I missed Lindstrom, but from the clip posted, I agree that at this point she’s much more secure than the Goul–not the most “bella voce” however. Argentieri has the better instrument, but I just wish she could sing a line without so many breaths. I mean, I know it’s hard at the end, but …”l’enigmi sono tre la morte e una”. She does all these same breaths in both clips, so it wasn’t just nerves or an off night. I’d still love to hear her live. Does she sing in the USA?
Nilsson still blows all of them away. While some have opined that her voice lacked warmth, I must disagree…compared to Lindstrom, she’s quite warm…and I have been told that heard live, there was much greater depth of colors in the voice.
“Nilsson still blows all of them away. While some have opined that her voice lacked warmth, I must disagree…compared to Lindstrom, she’s quite warm…and I have been told that heard live, there was much greater depth of colors in the voice.”
Well, sorry, I disagree. And I’m not going by second hand information, I heard Nilsson many times from about 1969 on. The top was spectacular, even though it sometimes flew sharp, but it always was a cold, cold voice. And the middle was vinegary and then later acidic, and the pitch there was imprecise indeed. Nilsson had many, many fans, for good reason, and many placed a greater value on those spectacular top notes and less importance on the bulk of her singing in the middle of the voice than I did. There’s no right or wrong here, different people value different attributes on a different scale.
I don’t know why Lindstrom has to be the beating girl here….I don’t think comparing singers is all that productive….why not assess Ghoul on her own “merits” without any comparisons and why compare Nilsson compare to any 21st century sopranos? Let her stand on her own merits (and here I’m not being sarcastic)
I agree that Nilsson can trend “cold,” but isn’t that what we want from the Principessa di Gelo?
LMM, yes the coldness is fine in Turandot. But other Italian roles, no.
The two YouTube video clips are of a young ITALIAN soprano named Alessandra Argentieri. A little rough in places, but my god, she has what Guleghina never had: a functioning voice.
I saw the Guleghina Turandot in the theater when it firat came out: I left after the 2nd act. Guleghina’s ingollata vocal approach has no place singing most roles.
A pupil of Antonietta Stella, from what the internet tells me. That’s a pedigree.
I love this from Ms Argentieri’s agent’s website:
L’incomparabile bellezza del Timbro , la ricchezza degli armonici e lo squillo , la facile estensione dal Sol grave sino al Mi bemolle sovracuto e la enorme potenza della sua Voce ne fanno una degna Erede , ma mai una copia , delle Grandi Interpreti Drammatiche del Secolo scorso !
All those Capital Letters!
Impressive, Niel. Thank you! Argentieri is likely too young to
sing this rep right now, hence her breaths, etc., but the voice
is well lined up, it has beauty and a good quality. I hope she
is well directed and I wish her much success. She needs
to spend some time with Donna Anna and the Leonoras.
How old is she; do you know?
I gathered, Mr. Myster, that Argentieri is in her early 20s. Yes, the breaths are a little too frequent, but when was the last time we heard a genuine dramatic ITALIAN soprano do it at all? Germana di Giulio, I think, was the last major Italian singer to have the breadth for the role. Let’s hope that Argentieri proceeds wisely. This could be a good prospect. If she studies with Stella, even better. Stella knows the tradition.
“If she studies with Stella, even better. Stella knows the tradition.”
Yes, Stella knows the tradition, but does Stella know technique? By the mid-60s (her mid-30s), Stella’s voice was significantly compromised.
Hmm, good point about technique. Stella had a wonderful voice, particularly for Puccini and Verismo. Her films of Fanciulla and Andrea Chenier are among my favorites.
But as you pointed out, you can hear her voice unravel as the 60s went on. there is a Ballo from Tokyo that has a number of uncomfortable moments.
I have an Opera D’Oro recording of an RAI broadcast of Atilla, ca 1970, when Stella was 40 and her voice is not in good shape. And I did hear her live just once, about 2 years after this Atilla in an OONY L’Africaine and her voice sounded as dry as a husk.
I wonder if she was just the possessor of a splendid natural voice and never developed a technique for using it and so after 10-15 years, it slipped away.
I just finished listening to the Turandot from Amsterdam (broadcast last Saturday) with Lindstrom and Lance Ryan. I mean really listened, instead of using it as music to unclog the toilet by. Lindstrom is very impressive, much more secure than in her Met performances (nerves?) For one thing, she sounds like a beautiful girl and not a vindictive harridan, which makes it easier for me to believe that Calaf could fall for her so completely. While there should always be a Lance Ryan somewhere in the world other than in porno flix, this one does not necessarily please in opera. I wonder if he would like to try Rigoletto.
I was there two weeks ago – I loved Ana María Martínez’s Liu most. Did not like Lance Ryan at all. Lindstrom was great – for all the reasons you mention. Nézet-Séguin got more applause than any of the singers, by the way.
Whatever…. I loathe TURANDOT, all that damn screaming
ewwwwwwww
I have to agree. The last time I saw it, about six or seven years ago I decided to give it a long, long rest.
I’m sort of sick and tired of all the screaming and really none of the characters speak to me. Even Liu I want to just slap and say “wise up, girl”. But she’s hopeless and the other characters are unsympathetic.
Now Fanciulla is another story…….
This is how I usually feel about Tosca–the second act gives me an awful headache.
Turandot, oddly enough, doesn’t bother me in that way.
Yes, richard, Fanciulla is an elegant score, innovative,
touching, way ahead of its time — may be Puccini’s
finest score. It haunts me; it is ever new, and I adore it.
Turandot is kitsch and tacky crap. By the time Puccini
wrote Boheme, Butterfly, Tosca and Fanciulla he had
said it all. I have never heard a Turandot I enjoyed
and it was not the fault of the performers.
End of that.
Well not quite – what about Trittico?
I think I agree with Allan Mallach, in his excellent book ‘The autumn of Italian Opera’, who gives the palm to Trittico as it shows the sheer variety of the best of Puccini, as well as giving an interesting modern format. Turandot seems like such a reversion to old fashioned models – and while it has interesting technical aspects, best studied from a score, I’ve personally always found it uninvolving in the theatre, soulless and slick, even with singers who can up the voltage through volume – the bit that usually comes to life is the Alfano completion, which one is not supposed to like.
Fanciulla is personally my favorite, though I think it has problems…..but that’s the Puccini I’d take to my desert island.
BTW Mallach’s book is a fascinating survey of the last surge of the Italian opera industry from Cavalleria to round about the 1st world war, when the public moved on to the movies…….a really interesting read.
I enjoy certain parts of Turandot just for pure FUN – it’s the ultimate “party opera”, but it is mostly bombastic, schlocky kitsch. It’s hard to take it seriously as good drama even, much less as innovative music, and it’s good for a gaggle of giggles.
I think the opera is FAR greater than most productions would have us believe. HvK’s recording (despite Ricciarelli’s controversial Turandot) suggests how it should go.
A dark voluptuous dream.
Surely some Eurotrash director already has done my S/M dream Turandot: She’s a big old lesbian — as well she should be after what that brute did to Lou-Ling. Calaf is smoking opium and his judgment is clouded, but he knows his next meal ticket when he sees it. Turandot, however, only has eyes for Liu, who, far from being a doormat, simply knows she’s at the bottom on the food chain and is dealing with it.. Her only genuine love is for Timur who is too blind to navigate around the subtexts without her. After Liu offs herself, Turandot pretends to be tamed by a kiss in order to trick dopey, overweening Calaf into revealing his name. She is about to revel in her triumph — another head for her collection — when the popolo bring in Liu’s body, at the sight of which Turandot exclaims “amor” and the curtain falls. I’d like to think Calaf doesn’t make it through the night, and that the Emperor takes Timur under his wing. I’m not sure what to do with Ping, Pang, and Pong. Drug lords?
The P*ng trio can be Turandot’s living replacement strap-ons complete with “Made in Honan/etc” tags, a la Bondy’s prostits.
Big Q: That Berio-completion version of Turandot -the ‘Metropolis’ version with Schaut (shout!)from Vienna I think came close to your ‘regie dream’ version. Turandot & the Calaf finally either side of a hospital gurney with Liu’s dead body on it. Once Berio’s ridiculous music came in, it was like Berg had decided to complete the opera.
Troppo- as a matter of interest Morag Beaton was quite an amazing singer in the days before recordings were commonplace and in (this) a part of the world at a time when real recognition was limited. People still talk about her Turandot’s in the 60′s and at one time in one season she alternated the roles of Turandot one night and Maddelena the next! Her Turandot’s were hugely acclaimed and she was chosen to be a principal in the Company that toured with la Joan and a young Pavarotti, throughout Australia in the 60′s.
She also has her own place in recorded history being the first recorded Cathy in the opera of Wuthering Heights. If she had not chosen to remain in this part of the world it is likely you would know more about her today- and yes, Vicar is quite right to quote her name – she really was something!
I am embarrassed. I seem to have remembered that Lauri Volpi was the tenor at the start of Senso, but it seens it was Gino Penno. My mistake, sorry. It must be forty years since I saw the movie. Memories in the far past get mixed. I do have a Trovatore Cetra vinyl with Lauri Volpi, I’m sure, but I have not heard it in decades either. Must dig it up. Sorry again. Anyway, Lauri Volpi did sing Manrico very wall, and also Calaf, very well too.
I did see part of this HD Turandot in PBS. Why do they keep using Guleghina? She was dreary in Macbeth too. The last time I saw this gorgeous production of Turandot, it was with Eva Marton and Domingo -I’m sure this time, I hope
- but I can’t remember the Liu. Anyway, in the intermission Gelb said he was bringing opera to the XXIst century. If this TV broadcast is a sample of this endeavor, bring back the XXth century! 
La V, the earlier telecast of the Zeff Turandot, back when it was brandi-new, had Leona Mitchell as Liu. While she did a good job, I didn’t think it was particularly memorable, maybe that’s why her name has slipped your mind.
Leona Mitchell was a first class singer. Her instrument lacked the distinctive timbre which makes for a legendary career, but she was a well-trained, reliable soprano in her day. I’ll never forget the dress rehearsal she sang of Amelia in Ballo in Maschera. I was entranced.
I recall Mitchell having a lovely voice–during an Aida intermission, I overheard someone remark that she sounded like a young Leontyne at times, which wasn’t too far off the mark, if ultimately she wasn’t quite as ravishing–but really not a terribly interesting performer. Just sort of tepid most of the time. The recital disc of hers is really a bore, actually. Pretty, but dull.
I heard bits of Price in Mitchell’s voice as well. Anyone remember the profile in Opera News a year ago where she said that she’s back and ready to sing if anyone wants to hire her? She said that she’s got Norma in her rep now.
Mitchell did too much slipping and sliding around for my taste. Some of her singing, particularly in something like Ernani, verged on sloppy.
And she wasn’t terribly vivid as Liu. Even there some of the fast music in Act 3 sounded a tiny bit like clucking.
She was a very beautiful looking woman though and the photo in Opera News shows that she still is a very attractive lady. She evidently made a good career for herself based in Australia.
I think Mitchell sounded more like Price as she darkened the voice when she took on spinto parts. If you listen to her Aida on YouTube from (I think) Marseille, she is sometimes a ringer for Leontyne in her later recording under Leinsdorf — bad habits and all.
That being said, I do think that, at her best, Mitchell had one of the most beautiful and luscious voices I’ve ever heard. Just listen to her in the Rondine aria on that first Decca recital. Not many words (a problem throughout her career), but what a glorious, maple-syrupy sound!
She was a sumptuous-looking woman too. I saw her as Antonia in the 80s (and as Amelia/Maria and Liu) and she looked good enough to eat, even if her pitching was a little dubious at times.
Leona Mitchell I saw live -in a recital. Now that was a class act. Her name has not slipped my mind.
I found Mitchell’s Liu quite memorable. Based on the video of Ghulegina above and the parts of the radio broadcast that I heard, I can’t imagine why anyone would choose to buy a DVD of the recent broadcast when the one with Marton/Domingo/Mitchell/Plishka is so superior.
Do we know for sure they’re going to be offering this on DVD? They might decide to forego, as they did with Dr. Atomic.
Monty, I defy you to find one moment in the Leinsdorf Aida that exemplifies Lee’s bad habits. Is her singing as buttercream rich and smooth as on the Solti – No. But check out every other singers recording 10 years after her first. Oh wait, you can’t. Few Aida’s celebrate a decade in the role, no?
Mitchell’s problem was the passagio. It worked when she was young and juicy but the technique was not solid. She may have solved it at some point but the train had passed her by. This is a common problem by the way – just ask Millo and Dunn.
Valkyrietta — you know how in old horror flix there’s always the ancient crone who warns the young scientist not to go digging in certain areas? Do NOT dig up that Trovatore ! No good will come of it. If you must have Lauri-Volpi on Cetra, try the Luisa Miller instead