Earthy Pleasures
As with all good singers, some very much dislike Ms. Radvanovsky’s voice. Some say it is too earthy, some don’t care for the upper register, and some manage to say the voice is too small. After hearing Ms. Radvanovsky live three times at the Met in recent seasons (Leonora, Lina, and Elvira), I can assure you her vocal presence is as clear and powerful as any soprano out there today, so let’s put that canard to rest.
But what really excites me about her singing is its uniqueness. I love when you hear a singer and know, after only a few bars, who that special timbre belongs to — think of the list in the first paragraph. That is indeed the definition of “memorable,” and Ms. Radvanovsky’s voice is memorable to say the least. The earthy, smoky, almost husky middle and lower voice blossom into a powerful and shining upper register with a golden color over which she has wonderful control.
And yet in all that beauty, Ms. Radvanovsky can find a vicious anger, as seen in a passage many sopranos under-emphasized, the “Maledizione!” at the end of “Pace, pace.” The ringing top edges on madness, and all sense of time and beat falls away into a desperate curse.
Luckily this is the only instance where phrasing is thrown to the wind for effect. Ms. Radvanovsky truly has a feel for the line and shape of a Verdian phrase. The clarity of her Italian leaves something to be desired, committing more focus to creating a legato phrase than to clearly defining individual sounds – but to me this is certainly the side on which a Verdi singer should err.
One thing that drove me wild on this album is her Aida. While she has not performed the role in its entirety yet, the liner notes indicate that the announcement of a Radvanovsky Aida is coming soon, and when it is, I am getting a ticket. Her treatment of the recitative was nothing short of sublime, and the heart-rending conflict of the piece is drawn to its furthest extent without losing sincerity. And it is all summed up in one of the most beautiful pianissimo endings of “O patria mia” one will ever hear.
In a perfect world you’d have it all, but I’m more than happy to take the small “imperfections” in Ms. Radvanovsky’s voice. After all, that’s what makes a singer great – not a generic sound or feeling, but to express our own individual statement and feeling, which Ms. Radvanovsky does with deft ability and a truly unique beauty.
Wow -- standards have really fallen.
Don’t get me wrong, the SR voice is large, mostly well-contolled (except for the vibrato which occasionally gets to the point where it obscures pitch), and quite agile. I guess in this era that’s enough, but honestly I heard nothing in the recording to suggest that SR will have the impact that Tebaldi,Price or Milanov had in this rep.
I will just post this.
Wow, standards have really fallen. luvtennis doesn’t complain with the originality and legato he had during the golden age.
The PERFECT legato, the pitch accuracy over the most difficult intervals, complete control over dynamics, and the breath support that allows her to polish every phrase, every note to gleaming spinning perfection. Get a score out and see how utterly faithful she is to every dynamic and expressive marking.
I wish Rad well, but I don’t hear it yet. That said, I would go see her in a heart beat. No one else out there is even close to Sondra in the spinto rep.
I do think she might actually be better as Norma or maybe early verismo. SR should steer clear of Mozart or Strauss. Her Met Donna Anna had real issues and the grainy texture of the voice would be a trial in Strauss (as it is in Mozart). But again I own the CD and will happily consume her art in whatever form I can. I just like to keep a sense of perspective.
First paragraph in refers to Price, of course.
And I disagree, I think she could really do well in Mozart. I think she would be a decent Countess, a great Elvira and Anna (one outing of a role doesn’t a specialist make), Elettra and Vitelia would be great and she has all the facility for a Fiordiliggi. The roles would help keep the voice in a good placement and that would make her Aida and Norma in the long run.
Not only that, but Mozart would hel her Verdi by strengthening her sense of legato and phrasing (already wonderful) and also might help her with some of the pitch issues that some people hear (I do not).
Sorry, but I do not get this whole I am a [insert big name composer here] soprano and I do not do Mozart. As some 2nd rate Wagnerian once said I might not have been good for Mozart, but Mozart has certainly been good to ME.
Lindoro:
I think that Elvira would be a better role for her than DOnna ANna. For me, Fiordiligi and Anna need a purity of tone and line that she just doesn’t have. I agree about Vitellia.
I do not think her Countess would be worth the effort, though she should certainly learn the role for the reasons you suggest.
Lindoro – one current Verdi soprano who does sing Mozart quite well is Stoyanova – I do not know all her Verdi roles but she does sing Trovatore, Traviata, Don Carlos, Luisa Miller, Otello, Falstaff etc and will be doing Donizetti’s Anna Bolena again in Vienna in 2013 after Netrebko – and Stoyanova branches out to Gluck, plus Rusalka, Eugene Onegin plus some French such as Antonia, Michaela, and Puccini (Boheme, Villy) with Butterfly upcoming. Stoyanova’s Donna Anna was, in my opinion, one of the better ones at the Met in the last decade.
I was not immediately enthralled by her voice when I first saw her in Los Angeles. After witnessing her artistry in Suor Angelica, I became a fan. Like Callas, Zampieri, and other singers with (un)beautiful voices, La Rad is a committed singing actor with solid technique and a whole lot of carisma on stage. She will definitely be the Norma of choice when she reaches that stage of her career. She is ten times more interesting than the beautiful voice (Renee).
There are certainly fewer world-class voices in Verdi than there were. But of course there are many more in Rossini, in Handel… It’s interesting how selective the memory can sometimes be, too. I’ve been catching up with a few old performances on the Met player, and there are all kinds of things being done by some of the greats for which singers would be castigated now. Dalis, for example, is a thrilling Amneris- but her Italian is sub high-school. Zylis-Gara is a beautiful Fiordiligi, but ther performance is cut to ribbons; arias gone, internal cuts, hardly a recit left standing.
Most tellingly, there’s a performance of Carmen with some of the greatest voices ever before the public; but Barbieri makes no effort at vocal allure, Del Monaco yells Don Jose from start to finish and doesn’t know the score (the interjections in the Seguedille are all over the place), and only Gueden sings anything even remotely similar to French. This to me shows just as much disrespect for the composer or librettist’s intentions as any regie production.
I’ve gone slightly OT, I know- but in appreciating Radvanovsky I think the sensible thing to do is to appreciate her artistry rather than, as some will, to lament the fact that she is one in a dwindling number- or to remember the Golden Age (whichever yours happens to be) as more golden than it actually was.
bravo, AJ
AJ:
I agree with you. But I think there is a distinction between saying – “I don’t want to hear these singers because they aren’t as good as the singers from (pick your own personal golden age)” and “Singer A has her strengths and deserves to be heard, but to compare her favorably to X on the following more or less objective criteria is a distortion of reality (which leads to – or perhaps constitutes – pyschosis and ends in Cheryl Studer singing Aida).
Ha, yes. Beautifully put.
I love Sondra!!
Has anyone here heard Serena Farnocchia doing Verdi? I saw her Maria Stuarda this weekend in Toronto – she was fabulous, as was Pendatchanska as Elisabetta. Despite a production that seemed to involve a backyard patio with washing hanging on the line, dead stags, and men with antlers.
I know Farnocchia does Verdi as well, but the only youtube clips I could find are dodgy cellphone recordings (in which she seemed glorious – but who knows). If her Maria Stuarda is anything to go by, though, I would imagine her Verdi heroines are a right treat. I know she does Trovatore, Luisa Miller, and Ballo – anyone caught any of these?
I saw the COC Maria STuarda as well and agree. Farnocchia sang a very good Luisa Miller here a couple of years ago. My only problem with her is that her singing can a bit careful at times, though Her Maria was more exciting than her Luisa. I was surprised that her voice was bigger than Pendachanska’s. But Pendachanksa was simply fabulous, singing with abandon and nailing a whole bunch of interpolated high notes. Eric Cutler’s Leicester was pretty good as well.
I felt very fortunate to have seen the show – Pendatchanska and Farnocchia were pretty spectacular. Cutler indeed held his own too.
I flew to Toronto last week expressly to see Maria Stuarda (took in Idomeneo, as well, while there) and I was very pleased overall by the singing of the principals. I also had some issue with the staging, as after awhile the moving of the “curtains” became tedious.
Stephen Lawless is a good director with interesting ideas but he also gets carried. The overall staging concept was good but some of the details were bizarre (I still don’t understand why the choristers threw off their outer wear in the final scene to reveal modern dress underneath). The curtains weren’t a bad idea either but all the fussing around with them was waaay overdone.
Um… that’s carried *away*.
Serena Farnocchia – that name has to be made up.
Sir Ian Finocchio, surely.
And let me strengthen a point I made earlier in a different comment.
Well my goodness! She sounds a bit like Radvanovsky before Sondra
did her work with Ruth Falcon that really refined her voice. What is
with those high-As? Una vergogna! Especially, after the quite OK
Bb. ???? A puzzle.
I, like most of the other commenters, truly enjoyed this recital. Yes, of course she is not Price, Callas, or Milanov. But, in fairness to SR, Callas was not Milaov, Price was not Callas, and so on. I don’t understand the constant need to say “Well, she’s no [insert retired soprano here]“. Of course not!
What SR is, however, is a committed singer with an individual timbre and interpretative gifts. One example is the last phrase of Pace, Pace. She sings it in one breath “Malediziooooooooooooooone”. I went through my collected recordings of this aria and found that nobody else takes this option (including Callas, Price, Tebaldi, Milanov, Farrell, Bumbry, Tomowa-Sintow, Millo, Dunn, Gencer). The upward thrust and final Bb are electrifying, to say the very least.
Mmm. Upward thrust.
Actually, the one-breath Maledizione is Verdi’s original phrasing. It has become traditional to sing it otherwise, so to prepare the high Bb. However, other sopranos have sung the original phrasing. I can think of two: Benackova (in TV concert) and Cotrubas (studio recording of the aria).
I can think of another: Gheorghiu in a TV concert.
Thanks to both of you. I didn’t have the score close at hand, but suspected that was the case. I was surprised that I couldn’t find it replicated by the grand Verdiennes of years past, even in studio recordings.!
Without wishing to sound like the Vicar, so did Josephine Barstow.
Yes, Verdi wrote it that way, but I don’t like it sung that way. BTW, I have heard a number of singers do it that way, including Price and Stella in some live recordings that I have. They make it work but it really doesn’t sound right, especially if one takes the bflat to represent a desperate cry.
Verdi also wrote the Dflat in D’Amor that most singers omit – Ponselle, for instance, sang it in her earliest recording of the aria – and rightly so because it overloads the preceding phrase and doesn’t seem to make much musical or dramatic sense. Price and a few others save the DFlat for the cadenza at the end. It works much better that way.
Verdi wrote it that way, but I don’t like it sung that way…Pandora’s Box?
I have very fond memories of SR because I hosted the chat room that evening. THat was the night of the fateful altercation between me and Aristotle.
I think she’s a fine singer, but I had to post this:
Sanford, you just said something that stirred my memory. Back when I was a lurker, La Cieca would always appoint a “host” for the Chat Rooms, but now it’s sort of sneak-in-if-you-want. What did the host do and why don’t we still have them? I sort of remember Aristotle but don’t remember any spat, but please don’t talk about it if it’s unpleasant.
Aristo said some homophobic remarks. It would have been better for him to slit his wrists and jump into shark-infested waters.
Caballe as well. (Like y’all couldn’t see that one coming from a mile away)
I’m overwhelmed. We now have one almost great Verdi soprano. If only we could find one great Verdi tenor and one great Verdi baritone we could actually cast Ballo and Forza. WOW!
Again, people will disagree, but I nominate Leo Nucci for Verdi baritone of the hour. Those in New York are lucky to hear him next year.
And for your Verdi tenor, I nominate Jonas Kaufmann.
Lucic just sang an Iago that knocked my socks off. Great top, line and characterization. A more solid singer than Carlos Alvarez or Ambrogio Maestri.
The Korean baritone Seng Hyoun Ko sang a Rigoletto a few years ago that reminded me of Cappuccilli.
But you are right. There are no Verdi tenors.
I was very impressed by Lucic the one time I heard him, too.
Beczala is a Verdi tenor, and so is Alvarez, although they are both at the lighter end of the scale.
I’d buy a ticket for a Kaufmann/Lucic/Rad Ballo or Forza, especially if there was maybe some Furlanetto in the latter.
Or if someone could convince Zajick to un-retire Ulrica.
I do slightly disagree with Beczala as a Verdi tenor. There is ample, beautiful sweetness in his sound, but I haven’t heard any real bite or anger from him. Maybe it was his choice for this year’s Rodolfo and last year’s Lensky to play them as softer men, but I’m not sold he could sing a truly ferocious ‘Di quella pira.’
Valmont, hence why I specified ‘at the lighter end of the scale’- Duca di Mantova or Alfredo rather than Manrico or Radames.
Forgot about Jonas Kaufmann. (How could I?) But it remains to be seen whether he takes on Riccardo, Alvaro, Radames and Otello, or if he decides he prefers the Siegfried, Tannhaeuser, Parsifal Tristan route (that his countrymen are proclaiming him destined to sing.)
A clue perhaps: he’s scheduled to sing Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur at the Deutsche Oper Berlin this fall.
In an interview with OC posted today, Kaufmann says that he’s definitely going to sing Otello in a few years and, perhaps, Manrico and Riccardo too.
no Verdi tenors ?
maybe not for all roles, but certainly for some
Giuseppe Filianoti, though on the light side, is a great Duke of Mantua
and Stefano Secco, as heard in the recent Don Carlo production at the Bastille Opera, has been quite remarkable
I keep trying to “get” what everyone is hearing with Radvanovsky. I heard her in Luisa Miller at Palm Beach Opera and thought the voice was HUGE. She drowned everyone out in the ensemble which was impressive. There was an odd vibrato at the time though which I do not hear as much on the Verdi arias recording. I think the recording has some good things, but there are squally moments in the upper register, a disappointing trill, and I just keep feeling like every single aria has a better interpreter on other discs. Don’t get me wrong. I really wanted to like this recording, because everyone raves about her, and it is exciting to hear about a real Verdi soprano, but I just find her mediocre. I will try to listen again for a 5th time to try to “get” what everyone is raving about.
Not everyone is raving about her. Many people don’t like her at all and some people think she’s merely passable.
There is a great shortage of first-rate singers with large voices. We don’t have a Martinelli or Ponselle or Tibbett or Pinza, not to mention Flagstad and Melchior. Many people have commented on this phenomenon. Also, I think it’s important to distinguish between singers who are great and singers who are merely good.
“Also, I think it’s important to distinguish between singers who are great and singers who are merely good.”
Why? No, seriously. What happens if we don’t?
Radvanovsky has to be heard live. The instrument is truly deluxe.
If one prefers recordings, there are plenty who made arguably superior recordings.
But if you want to hear a grand voice with the potential for a grand performance, Radvanovsky is one of the few contenders.
Bart, it could be that La Rad doesn’t work for you. There might not be something for you to “get.” I think of the great rivalry between fans of Callas and fans of Tebaldi. Why put themselves through such grief? Why not spend that energy on loving the ones you love? Just recently, richard here said he (almost) never liked Nilsson, a singer that most people hold up as one of the all-time greats. As long as you don’t call us names when we like someone you don’t get, I don’t see a problem with differences of opinion.
Except, of course, regarding La Scoops.
CruzSF, I guess you are right. I will probably give her another try live, if I get the chance. I am just surprised I don’t get her. I usually understand the raves about most singers even if I don’t love the singer. You mention La Scoops. Even she has elements of her voice that I “get” why people love her. Even a bleaty singer like Studer had terrific piannissimi. Supposedly, the Trovatore Leonora is Radvanovsky’s “signature” role, and listening to the two arias on the disc from that role, I just find her lacking in that role (Leonora, in my opinion, needs a real solid trill, it is nice to have a darker lower register too). Maybe if I heard her as Leonora in the house I would understand what all the buzz is about.
I want to love this singer, especially hearing how she fought off a thief, and we all want to root for a Verdi soprano, since there are so few around.
Fought off a thief? I don’t know this story, but it sounds exciting – what happened?
PirateJenny, here’s the news blurb from our local paper:
The above:
Garchik, Leah. “All choked up to see the president.” Oct 19, 2009. Accessed June 2, 2010.
Thanks so much! What a great story – she could try out for the Next Action Hero!
One yearns for such an album ( in English, of course) from Rutter, teh finest Verdian talent since Marilyn Richardson.