Singers who got there without the pipes ...

[slofstra]

Last night I watched Citizen Kane for the first time, believe it or not. Since I was the last person on Earth who had never seen the movie, you probably already know the part of the story about Charlie Kane's wife, Susan, who sang leading opera roles, through sheer dint of her husband's money and will.

Not half an hour after I watched this movie, I read in BBC Magazine about an episode in which Harry Truman helped his niece's singing career and then tried to have a Boston newspaper fire the critic who skewered her performance. (This sordid but unremarkable tale may provide insight into the personality responsible for dropping the big one, but that's one for the Pub).

So there were two examples of singers who received an unmerited assist in their careers.

Were or are there other performers in the classical world who got there on the basis of something other than their ability?

[MarkC]

This one is almost too obvious but let me be the one to get her in here:



The amazing thing is that in the famous riff at 0:53 (and its repetitions) she actually sort of gets some of those notes.

[jbuck919]

Last night I watched Citizen Kane for the first time, believe it or not. Since I was the last person on Earth who had never seen the movie, you probably already know the part of the story about Charlie Kane's wife, Susan, who sang leading opera roles, through sheer dint of her husband's money and will.

Not half an hour after I watched this movie, I read in BBC Magazine about an episode in which Harry Truman helped his niece's singing career and then tried to have a Boston newspaper fire the critic who skewered her performance. (This sordid but unremarkable tale may provide insight into the personality responsible for dropping the big one, but that's one for the Pub).

So there were two examples of singers who received an unmerited assist in their careers.

Were or are there other performers in the classical world who got there on the basis of something other than their ability?

Is there a story about Truman and a niece (asking seriously)? The well-known story is that Washington Post music critic Paul Hume panned daughter Margaret Truman's performance and got a nasty letter from Truman, this incident generally being thought to provide insight into no more than his normal parental pride.

In response to Washington Post Music Critic Paul Hume's December 6, 1950, review of Margaret Truman's singing performance at Constitution Hall, stating,

"Miss Truman is a unique American phenomenon with a pleasant voice of little size and fair quality … (she) cannot sing very well … is flat a good deal of the time—more last night than at any time we have heard her in past years … has not improved in the years we have heard her … (and) still cannot sing with anything approaching professional finish."

President Truman responded with the following letter to Hume:

THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON

Dec. 6, 1950

Mr. Hume:

I've just read your lousy review of Margaret's concert. I've come to the conclusion that you are an "eight ulcer man on four ulcer pay."

It seems to me that you are a frustrated old man who wishes he could have been successful. When you write such poppy-rooster as was in the back section of the paper you work for it shows conclusively that you're off the beam and at least four of your ulcers are at work.

Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!

Pegler, a gutter snipe, is a gentleman alongside you. I hope you'll accept that statement as a worse insult than a reflection on your ancestry.

H.S.T.

[slofstra]

I made it to 2:00, but I'm not so sure I can continue to hold my lunch.

I believe Jenkins took herself seriously no? She wasn't like Mrs. Miller, for example.

[jbuck919]

I made it to 2:00, but I'm not so sure I can continue to hold my lunch.

I believe Jenkins took herself seriously no? She wasn't like Mrs. Miller, for example.

The first time I heard that after years of hearing about it I reacted the same way--it was too awful for me to understand why anyone ever thought it was off in a funny way.

Anna Russell claimed that she got her inspiration to be an honest spoofer from Jenkins, but Russell had a fine trained voice and might have had a serious career.

[slofstra]

Last night I watched Citizen Kane for the first time, believe it or not. Since I was the last person on Earth who had never seen the movie, you probably already know the part of the story about Charlie Kane's wife, Susan, who sang leading opera roles, through sheer dint of her husband's money and will.

Not half an hour after I watched this movie, I read in BBC Magazine about an episode in which Harry Truman helped his niece's singing career and then tried to have a Boston newspaper fire the critic who skewered her performance. (This sordid but unremarkable tale may provide insight into the personality responsible for dropping the big one, but that's one for the Pub).

So there were two examples of singers who received an unmerited assist in their careers.

Were or are there other performers in the classical world who got there on the basis of something other than their ability?

Is there a story about Truman and a niece (asking seriously)? The well-known story is that Washington Post music critic Paul Hume panned daughter Margaret Truman's performance and got a nasty letter from Truman, this incident generally being thought to provide insight into no more than his normal parental pride.

In response to Washington Post Music Critic Paul Hume's December 6, 1950, review of Margaret Truman's singing performance at Constitution Hall, stating,

"Miss Truman is a unique American phenomenon with a pleasant voice of little size and fair quality … (she) cannot sing very well … is flat a good deal of the time—more last night than at any time we have heard her in past years … has not improved in the years we have heard her … (and) still cannot sing with anything approaching professional finish."

President Truman responded with the following letter to Hume:

THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON

Dec. 6, 1950

Mr. Hume:

I've just read your lousy review of Margaret's concert. I've come to the conclusion that you are an "eight ulcer man on four ulcer pay."

It seems to me that you are a frustrated old man who wishes he could have been successful. When you write such poppy-rooster as was in the back section of the paper you work for it shows conclusively that you're off the beam and at least four of your ulcers are at work.

Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!

Pegler, a gutter snipe, is a gentleman alongside you. I hope you'll accept that statement as a worse insult than a reflection on your ancestry.

H.S.T.

Same story. It was his daughter, sorry. However, the BBC Magazine account (January 2010, page 50) differs from the above. It indicates that "Harry was furious" about the review, and adds that "Truman managed to complain to Hume's boss two years later. After attending a recital by pianist Gina Bachauer .... Truman wrote to the newspaper's publisher, telling him to retire this frustrated old fuddy-duddy".

[jbuck919]

Last night I watched Citizen Kane for the first time, believe it or not. Since I was the last person on Earth who had never seen the movie, you probably already know the part of the story about Charlie Kane's wife, Susan, who sang leading opera roles, through sheer dint of her husband's money and will.

Not half an hour after I watched this movie, I read in BBC Magazine about an episode in which Harry Truman helped his niece's singing career and then tried to have a Boston newspaper fire the critic who skewered her performance. (This sordid but unremarkable tale may provide insight into the personality responsible for dropping the big one, but that's one for the Pub).

So there were two examples of singers who received an unmerited assist in their careers.

Were or are there other performers in the classical world who got there on the basis of something other than their ability?

Is there a story about Truman and a niece (asking seriously)? The well-known story is that Washington Post music critic Paul Hume panned daughter Margaret Truman's performance and got a nasty letter from Truman, this incident generally being thought to provide insight into no more than his normal parental pride.

In response to Washington Post Music Critic Paul Hume's December 6, 1950, review of Margaret Truman's singing performance at Constitution Hall, stating,

"Miss Truman is a unique American phenomenon with a pleasant voice of little size and fair quality … (she) cannot sing very well … is flat a good deal of the time—more last night than at any time we have heard her in past years … has not improved in the years we have heard her … (and) still cannot sing with anything approaching professional finish."

President Truman responded with the following letter to Hume:

THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON

Dec. 6, 1950

Mr. Hume:

I've just read your lousy review of Margaret's concert. I've come to the conclusion that you are an "eight ulcer man on four ulcer pay."

It seems to me that you are a frustrated old man who wishes he could have been successful. When you write such poppy-rooster as was in the back section of the paper you work for it shows conclusively that you're off the beam and at least four of your ulcers are at work.

Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!

Pegler, a gutter snipe, is a gentleman alongside you. I hope you'll accept that statement as a worse insult than a reflection on your ancestry.

H.S.T.

Same story. It was his daughter, sorry. However, the BBC Magazine account (January 2010, page 50) differs from the above. It indicates that "Harry was furious" about the review, and adds that "Truman managed to complain to Hume's boss two years later. After attending a recital by pianist Gina Bachauer .... Truman wrote to the newspaper's publisher, telling him to retire this frustrated old fuddy-duddy".

It's interesting and perhaps insightful that Truman assumed that Hume was an old man (he was 35 at the time). From what commentaries of his that I heard while living near Washington, I have to conclude that Hume was one of those people who are born old.

[John F]

Two others who were painful to listen to, but made their mark (in a way), are Stefan Zucker, self-billed as "the world's highest tenor," and his mother, soprano Rosina Wolf.



Yes, this was recorded at a public concert. Zucker used to hire a small venue near Lincoln Center for public recitals, paying his own way, and every one sold out to audiences that knew exactly what they were in for. But he hasn't done this in years, as far as I know, and has apparently retired from singing in public.

Zucker writes of Rosina Wolf, with a straight face, that her "repertoire ranged from Carmen to the Queen of the Night to Butterfly, Salome, Isolde, Brünnhilde and Norma." But I only heard her in bel canto opera, usually in duet with her son.



And about that world's highest tenor thing: "In 1980, the Guinness Book of World Records called him ''the world's highest tenor'' for having hit an A above high C and holding it for 3.8 seconds. That was at Town Hall on Sept. 12, 1972." (William H. Honan in the New York Times.) What the Times, and the Wikipedia article, don't say is that he repeated this feat, or something like it, on the observation deck of the World Trade Center, making him the world's highest tenor in a second sense. As far as I know, he was quite sober, so the third sense doesn't apply.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Zucker

Zucker knows a lot about the technique and history of singing and singers, and is articulate in conveying it, so he deserves to be taken seriously when speaking instead of singing. These excerpts are taken from a TV series about tenors of the 78 rpm era, which is rerun on the CUNY TV channel in New York from time to time. A bonus is seeing and hearing Leo Slezak sing.



Zucker has a business, Bel Canto Society, that sells well-produced and -packaged videos of opera telecasts (mainly from Italy) by mail. Here's his web site, called Opera Fanatic:

http://www.belcantosociety.org/index.html

[josé echenique]

The case of Riccardo Chailly is somewhat related. At 22 he was recording Werther with Placido Domingo for DG and Guglielmo Tell with Pavarotti for DECCA. Was he a child prodigy? Not really on that evidence, rather his father had great connections with the powerful and very maffiosi Musician´s Union of Italy.
With experience, he actually became a very good conductor. Now he certainly is a musician to take seriously, but his conducting in those early days is almost amateurish.
Just compare the sinfonia to Il Turco in Italia in his 2 recordings of that opera, the first with Caballé and Ramey for CBS recorded circa 1980, and the latter with Bartoli for DECCA, made in the late 90´s when he actually knew what he was doing.

[Chalkperson]

Robert Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu would be my choices, I could think on no worse experience than having to listen to anything sung by this duo...seriously...it's not like Joan Sutherland where I don't like her voice very much, these two make me hear broken glass in my head when they sing...

[MarkC]

I made it to 2:00, but I'm not so sure I can continue to hold my lunch.

You did well.

I believe Jenkins took herself seriously no?.....

We can only wonder. It appears she did.
Which actually makes sense, because if we assume that her 'ear' was just what it seemed to be, how would she have known she shouldn't?

[MarkC]

Two others who were painful to listen to, but made their mark (in a way), are Stefan Zucker, self-billed as "the world's highest tenor," and his mother, soprano Rosina Wolf.......

For some years, I subscribed to his "publication" (with that same title, "Opera Fanatic") and even bought a couple of videos from him. BTW his place was just a few blocks from me in Manhattan, although I never ran into him.

He doesn't deserve to be taken that seriously when he talks.
Believe me.
Yes, he knows a lot, but.......sometimes what a person knows gets submerged, distorted, and mal-transformed (sorry, had to make up a word) amidst the personality and beliefs.

I didn't realize for a few months how odd he was. I mean, I did raise my eyebrows at some of his stuff, especially his uber-obsessive essays about things like "expressive singing" in which he would go into great detail about what he thought the thing meant. He stated them as though they were absolute definitions of whatever he was talking about. I would wonder, "Is that really so???" It never seemed to be, but I figured, hey, he has a publication!
What finally clued me in was when he ran what amounted to a pathetic 'personal ad' for himself in there.

I didn't hear his "singing" until long after. If I had, I would have had a clue sooner. And if you watch some of his interviews of singers, I think you'll soon see what I mean about it being best not to take him that seriously.

[Chalkperson]

I made it to 2:00, but I'm not so sure I can continue to hold my lunch.

I believe Jenkins took herself seriously no? She wasn't like Mrs. Miller, for example.

She's quite an interesting character...she, florence foster, founded and funded The Verdi Club...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Foster_Jenkins

[MarkC]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Foster_Jenkins

Great opening line in that Wiki article:

"Florence Foster Jenkins (July 19, 1868 – November 26, 1944) was an American soprano who became famous for her complete lack of rhythm, pitch, tone, and overall singing ability."

P.S. I wonder why I'm not famous. {smiley suppressed}

[Chalkperson]

P.S. I wonder why I'm not famous. {smiley suppressed}

I don't...{reasons suppressed}...

[MarkC]

P.S. I wonder why I'm not famous. {smiley suppressed}

I don't...{reasons suppressed}...

But why not......I have all those same credentials!!!!!!

(P.S. Good one!) {guffaw suppressed}

[Auntie Lynn]

And then there's always the CMG mascot, Andrea Gucceilli...

[Wallingford]

I was introduced to the matchless art of Miss Jenkins through a substitute prof in a theory class a good quarter century ago. Half the class (myself included) had the tears gushing over her "Charmant ouiseau" recording.

[MarkC]

.....her "Charmant oiseau" recording.

I didn't know the aria so I looked it up.
"Unfortunately" I didn't find a 'performance' by Jenkins, but I found some others -- and it seems like this is a thing where the performance sounds vaguely bad even when it's done well, so I can imagine how it must have been in Jenkins' hands.

[Chalkperson]

Amelita Galli-Curci was not just one of the greatest Opera Singers ever, she was the voice that Thomas Edison thought perfect for his new Invention, the Gramophone...

[Chalkperson]

And then there's always the CMG mascot, Andrea Gucceilli...

If you Google "Andrea Gucceilli" you get some blind person...check it out...

[John F]

And if you watch some of his interviews of singers, I think you'll soon see what I mean about it being best not to take him that seriously.

I've attended one of his public interviews with Franco Corelli, who turned out to be a thoughtful and civilized man whatever his image may have been as a temperamental tenor. Corelli certainly took Zucker seriously, as he returned for another interview; so have the other singers Zucker interviews on-camera; so did the producer of that TV series on old-time tenors I mentioned (cf. the last of my clips). Agree with him or not, and few subjects in music are more subject to disagreement than operatic singing, I definitely respect his knowledge and take his point of view seriously. (As long as I don't have to hear him sing. ) You can do as you choose, of course.

[lennygoran]

>Robert Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu would be my choices, I could think on no worse experience than having to listen to anything sung by this duo...seriously.<

They appeared at the Met shortly after their wedding as part of some gala--possibly to honor James Levine--and sang the Cherry Blossum duo from Mascagni's Amici Fritz--IMO a wonderful moving performance. And IMO they are both very good singers--Alagna did a great job in Carmen but he has had his ups and downs--Gheorghiu has been consistlently very good imo. Regards, Len

[stenka razin]

Robert Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu would be my choices, I could think on no worse experience than having to listen to anything sung by this duo...seriously...it's not like Joan Sutherland where I don't like her voice very much, these two make me hear broken glass in my head when they sing...

Chalkie, here I disagree with you. First Sutherland is one of my favorite singers of all time and I have almost everything she has recorded. One of the great delights of my musical life.

As far as Alagna is concerned, he can be spotty at times but overall he has given some good performances.

Hie soon to be ex wife, Gheorghiu is the real thing. Her performances are invariably very fine indeed and I look forward to her new recordings eagerly. Angela is a bright star in the world of opera and I am proud to own almost all of her complete opera recordings.

[Heck148]

Ms Jenkins never got there....physically perhaps, since anyone can rent Carnegie Hall...
musically, not even remotely close..
a nice enough lady, by all accounts, utterly innocent of any talent whatsoever.

[jbuck919]

Ms Jenkins never got there....physically perhaps, since anyone can rent Carnegie Hall...
musically, not even remotely close..
a nice enough lady, by all accounts, utterly innocent of any talent whatsoever.

According to the Wikipedia article, she resisted Carnegie Hall until near the end of her life. It was public demand that finally made her accede.

[slofstra]

Ms Jenkins never got there....physically perhaps, since anyone can rent Carnegie Hall...
musically, not even remotely close..
a nice enough lady, by all accounts, utterly innocent of any talent whatsoever.

I like your choice of phrase. Does this mean that if you have talent, you are guilty of it?

[slofstra]

I do like Georghiu quite a lot. I've watched her La Traviata under Solti half a dozen times. I really enjoy that particular performance.

[Heck148]

a nice enough lady, by all accounts, utterly innocent of any talent whatsoever.

I like your choice of phrase. Does this mean that if you have talent, you are guilty of it?

some would consider it so....

[Heck148]

According to the Wikipedia article, she resisted Carnegie Hall until near the end of her life. It was public demand that finally made her accede.

oh, she apparently had quite a devoted following....people just didn't want to miss the "show", the "event"

[slofstra]

What I find interesting in this discussion is that although there have been some charlatans who have succeeded in spite of the absence of any talent, there are almost no examples of those who have obtained eminence purely through guile or manipulation.
Chailly is given as an example, perhaps, but who that succeeds in life doesn't get a leg up in some way. And many who do get an assist, do not succeed. Ultimately, in music anyway, their ability will tell the tale.

I remember reading a remarkably prescient cautionary tale that Kurt Vonnegut wrote many years ago, about a ballet school of the future, where the more capable students had to wear lead weights to handicap them against their less capable peers. It was simply unfair that God had gifted some students and not others, and this had to be corrected. Thankfully, although that kind of thinking has invaded some aspects of our modern life, for example, every yokel now gets 15 minutes on television, that mentality hasn't crept into the classical music world.

[Wallingford]

What about JOSE CURA?

He (or his producers) have the constant need to jack up the reverb & compression on his voice; also, he often insists on conducting his own accompaniments.

[maestrob]

What I find interesting in this discussion is that although there have been some charlatans who have succeeded in spite of the absence of any talent, there are almost no examples of those who have obtained eminence purely through guile or manipulation.
Chailly is given as an example, perhaps, but who that succeeds in life doesn't get a leg up in some way. And many who do get an assist, do not succeed. Ultimately, in music anyway, their ability will tell the tale.

I remember reading a remarkably prescient cautionary tale that Kurt Vonnegut wrote many years ago, about a ballet school of the future, where the more capable students had to wear lead weights to handicap them against their less capable peers. It was simply unfair that God had gifted some students and not others, and this had to be corrected. Thankfully, although that kind of thinking has invaded some aspects of our modern life, for example, every yokel now gets 15 minutes on television, that mentality hasn't crept into the classical music world.

The one singer that immediately comes to mind for me in this category would be Sharon Sweet, who never could sing properly. She got to the MET because she had Pavarotti's management and was made part of the deal, but I have no idea why she was even considered. When Pavarotti became ill and involved with scandal, Sweet retired to teaching (I had several of her students in my competition.).

[Chalkperson]

Robert Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu would be my choices, I could think on no worse experience than having to listen to anything sung by this duo...seriously...it's not like Joan Sutherland where I don't like her voice very much, these two make me hear broken glass in my head when they sing...

Chalkie, here I disagree with you. First Sutherland is one of my favorite singers of all time and I have almost everything she has recorded. One of the great delights of my musical life.

As far as Alagna is concerned, he can be spotty at times but overall he has given some good performances.

Hie soon to be ex wife, Gheorghiu is the real thing. Her performances are invariably very fine indeed and I look forward to her new recordings eagerly. Angela is a bright star in the world of opera and I am proud to own almost all of her complete opera recordings.

It's purely subjective, some Artists and Musicians I really enjoy, others I don't, it's just my opinion, nothing more...I do enjoy "The At of the Prima Donna" but not much else, i'm a big Callas fan so Sutherland and Tebaldi are pale by comparison, to my ears at least...I much prefer Leyla Gencer, Elena Suliotis and Maria Chiara to La Grande Dame...

[John F]

there are almost no examples of those who have obtained eminence purely through guile or manipulation.

That's because it can't be done. Eminence in the performing arts is finally attained by performing, in public before many audiences and any number of critics. Guile and manipulation may bring a certain short-lived celebrity - you can fool all the people some of the time, somebody said - but that's not "eminence."

Sharon Sweet is one of many opera singers who burned out fairly quickly. Her professional career lasted less than two decades and seems to have ended before she turned 50, but in that time she sang leading roles (mainly Verdi) at numerous opera houses under many conductors. Unless one believes that the likes of Carlo Maria Giulini and James Levine could be manipulated into hiring her, and I don't, she doesn't count as one of those slofstra is referring to. Indeed, I don't know who he may have in mind, if anyone in particular.

Like others who came and went at the Metropolitan Opera during the '80s and '90s, singing challenging heavyweight roles like Turandot, Isolde, and some Verdi parts, she was a heavyweight herself and eventually that told against her. (Remember Linda Kelm? Rita Hunter? Jane Eaglen?) But when she was good, she was very, very good, as in this clip from "Aida" (1990, maybe Germany):



Certainly she doesn't belong in a thread with this title, along with Florence Foster Jenkins and Rosina Wolf.

[Heck148]

Mario Lanza??

[MarkC]

I've attended one of his public interviews with Franco Corelli, who turned out to be a thoughtful and civilized man whatever his image may have been as a temperamental tenor. Corelli certainly took Zucker seriously, as he returned for another interview; so have the other singers Zucker interviews on-camera; so did the producer of that TV series on old-time tenors I mentioned (cf. the last of my clips).....

Good!
I'm genuinely glad to hear it.
I guess that means he could be different ways at different times. Maybe (I'm not sure, just wondering) it was different periods in his life, maybe it was just a thing of where his head happened to be at a moment. The things of his that I've seen display his narrow obsessions on "expressive singing" and on the importance of singing in an older style and "from the chest." It sounds like he was able to do very good work if he put things like that aside. I didn't know he could or did.

[MarkC]

Ms Jenkins never got there....physically perhaps, since anyone can rent Carnegie Hall......

Yes -- and really, if we mean "there" the way you do, maybe we could say thankfully that nobody ever got "there" without very substantial talent.

[MarkC]

Mario Lanza??

You don't think he was real good?

I'm biased because my parents liked him a lot, and I grew up hearing some of his 78's. But as near as I can tell, he was indeed real good.

[Chalkperson]

Mario Lanza??

You don't think he was real good?

I'm biased because my parents liked him a lot, and I grew up hearing some of his 78's. But as near as I can tell, he was indeed real good.

I was always indifferent about him, a Hollywood Tenor, as fake as Hollywood itself...

[stickles]

Robert Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu would be my choices, I could think on no worse experience than having to listen to anything sung by this duo...seriously...it's not like Joan Sutherland where I don't like her voice very much, these two make me hear broken glass in my head when they sing...

Chalkie, here I disagree with you. First Sutherland is one of my favorite singers of all time and I have almost everything she has recorded. One of the great delights of my musical life.

As far as Alagna is concerned, he can be spotty at times but overall he has given some good performances.

Hie soon to be ex wife, Gheorghiu is the real thing. Her performances are invariably very fine indeed and I look forward to her new recordings eagerly. Angela is a bright star in the world of opera and I am proud to own almost all of her complete opera recordings.

It's purely subjective, some Artists and Musicians I really enjoy, others I don't, it's just my opinion, nothing more...I do enjoy "The At of the Prima Donna" but not much else, i'm a big Callas fan so Sutherland and Tebaldi are pale by comparison, to my ears at least...I much prefer Leyla Gencer, Elena Suliotis and Maria Chiara to La Grande Dame...

Agree on Alagna, but Gheorghiu is pretty good at least in recordings. I had a ticket to see her live at the LOC, but she had to get herself fired.

Suliotis was villified during her time though, and I could see the reasons, but then there are few who could sing with such abandon and with total disregard for her vocal health. The results were just thrilling. When is Decca going to re-release that abridged version of Norma with her, Del Monaco and Cossotto on CD?

[Chalkperson]

Norma and Mme Suliotis

The two-disc Decca version of Bellini's Norma includes in its accompanying booklet a brief "producer's note" intended to justify the fact that the set "departs from the Decca tradition of recording operas in their entirety". Two comments suggest themselves. First, though Decca has indeed observed such a tradition on many famous occasions (the Kleiber Figaro and Rosenkavalier, the Solti Ring, Don Carlo and Elekira, to name a few), it has also quite often indulged in the opposite solution of cutting, as in the recently reissued Bohm Gosi fan tulle, the Schippers Macbeth, the Belgrade Boris and now the Suliotis Norma.

Secondly, there is no reason why a company should not abridge a well-known and not exactly sacrosanct opera like Norma, with the entirely laudable objects of reducing the price and thereby increasing sales. But why must it be claimed—even though in carefully vague terms—that the process is no mere convenience, but a positive aesthetic improvement? A term like "tightening up the tempi" is ambiguous; does it mean going at the speed that Silvio Varviso, the conductor, believes to be right for the music, or does it involve going rather faster, now and then, with a wary eye on the clock? The duet in the last act, "In mia man alfin tu sei", is the only passage specified in this context, but it does not sound to me much faster than usual-only, as AP pointed out, more jerky; after all, no one ever attempts at this point to observe Bellini's strange marking of allegro moderato, and frankly I am not surprised. On the other hand, I received a definite, and decidedly unwelcome, sensation of haste in the tempo of "Casta diva", especially in the part where the soprano weaves those florid garlands above a slowly pulsing melody for the chorus; though the music was in many respects well sung, this "Casta diva" missed the essential quality of nobility and spaciousness, and for this the tempo was largely to blame.

Elena Suliotis is so richly endowed with voice and temperament that she could surely have been—might even yet be—one of the great singers of our age. The trouble is that she has been rocketed into international fame without the secure technical grounding and grasp of style that such a position demands. The strongest single influence on her Norma, as here presented, would seem to be the recordings of this role by Maria Callas, in many respects an excellent model; phrase after phrase recalls the older singer, and there are even moments when we seem to hear in Mme Suliotis's tones the veiled, almost hoarse, quality of Callas's middle register. Suliotis's voice is basically a firmer and more healthy-sounding instrument; not only can she rip splendidly into those fierce denunciations of Pollio near the end of Act I (with brilliantly clean attacks on the high C's), but she can manage a soft, slow cadenza, like that before the final ensemble, without spoiling the effect by a tremolo. Yet on several occasions she helps herself to climb up to a soft high note by dint of taking a definite step on the way; and she uses her powerful chest tones to a dangerously high pitch—right up to a brazen A flat on "decreto" in her first recitative. These are typical of faults that a Lilli Lehmann or a Mathilde Marchesi would surely have eradicated from so gifted a pupil; but where are the modern equivalents of those formidable ladies to be found?

[Wallingford]

"Mary O'Lanza" (as one anonymous blooper victim called him) actually had genuine vocal power--it's there on the discs made before or at the dawning of the magnetic tape era.

Check out Roland Bessette's '99 bio on him (Tenor In Exile, published by Amadeus Press) to get a better picture.

[Wallingford]

Lanza, however, was lazy when it came to learning a score: he apparently could read (contrary to what others said), but he almost always preferred to learn it off a record.

[stenka razin]

Robert Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu would be my choices, I could think on no worse experience than having to listen to anything sung by this duo...seriously...it's not like Joan Sutherland where I don't like her voice very much, these two make me hear broken glass in my head when they sing...

Chalkie, here I disagree with you. First Sutherland is one of my favorite singers of all time and I have almost everything she has recorded. One of the great delights of my musical life.

As far as Alagna is concerned, he can be spotty at times but overall he has given some good performances.

Hie soon to be ex wife, Gheorghiu is the real thing. Her performances are invariably very fine indeed and I look forward to her new recordings eagerly. Angela is a bright star in the world of opera and I am proud to own almost all of her complete opera recordings.

It's purely subjective, some Artists and Musicians I really enjoy, others I don't, it's just my opinion, nothing more...I do enjoy "The At of the Prima Donna" but not much else, i'm a big Callas fan so Sutherland and Tebaldi are pale by comparison, to my ears at least...I much prefer Leyla Gencer, Elena Suliotis and Maria Chiara to La Grande Dame...

Chalkie, we agree completely about Callas. She is so amazing and had one of the most unique voices I have ever heard.....

I love the few commercial recordings that Suliotis left us. They are treasurable, especially her amazing Abigaile in Lamberto Gardelli's recording of Verdi's 'Nabucco' for Decca.......It is sad that she burned out so young....To much to soon......sadly..

Gencer made some amazing pirate recordings and I had a few of them on LP, but they are long gone....

Chiara did a wonderful 'Aida' partnered by Pavarotti. A fine artist, too. But, she was not used often enough by recording companies.

[Chalkperson]

Chalkie, we agree completely about Callas. She is so amazing and had one of the most unique voices I have ever heard.....

I love the few commercial recordings that Suliotis left us. They are treasurable, especially her amazing Abigaile in Lamberto Gardelli's recording of Verdi's 'Nabucco' for Decca.......It is sad that she burned out so young....To much to soon......sadly..

Gencer made some amazing pirate recordings and I had a few of them on LP, but they are long gone....

Chiara did a wonderful 'Aida' partnered by Pavarotti. A fine artist, too. But, she was not used often enough by recording companies.

What is sad, and almost unbelievable, is that Leyla Gencer never set foot into a Recording Studio, there is nothing featuring her that is not basically a bootleg...Suliotis's Nabucco with the great Tito Gobbi was re-released and re-mastered by Decca last year...Decca put out Sulioti's Recital disc and then promptly deleted it, they put out a two disc set of Maria Chiara that is absolutely wonderful...here are the links...

http://www.amazon.com/Verdi-Nabucco-Tit ... 482&sr=1-5

http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Recitals- ... 532&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/DeCca-Recitals-Di ... 591&sr=1-1

[stenka razin]

Chalkie, we agree completely about Callas. She is so amazing and had one of the most unique voices I have ever heard.....

I love the few commercial recordings that Suliotis left us. They are treasurable, especially her amazing Abigaile in Lamberto Gardelli's recording of Verdi's 'Nabucco' for Decca.......It is sad that she burned out so young....To much to soon......sadly..

Gencer made some amazing pirate recordings and I had a few of them on LP, but they are long gone....

Chiara did a wonderful 'Aida' partnered by Pavarotti. A fine artist, too. But, she was not used often enough by recording companies.

What is sad, and almost unbelievable, is that Leyla Gencer never set foot into a Recording Studio, there is nothing featuring her that is not basically a bootleg...Suliotis's Nabucco with the great Tito Gobbi was re-released and re-mastered by Decca last year...Decca put out Sulioti's Recital disc and then promptly deleted it, they put out a two disc set of Maria Chiara that is absolutely wonderful...here are the links...

http://www.amazon.com/Verdi-Nabucco-Tit ... 482&sr=1-5

http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Recitals- ... 532&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/DeCca-Recitals-Di ... 591&sr=1-1

Chalkie, thumbs up on the good info links, mate.

[slofstra]

Mario Lanza??

You don't think he was real good?

I'm biased because my parents liked him a lot, and I grew up hearing some of his 78's. But as near as I can tell, he was indeed real good.

He had that extra to really reach people. He was really big .. a household name in the 1950s. I would guess the average person back then would know who Mario Lanza was, but likely not know Jussi Bjoerling. Just a guess.

[Heck148]

Mario Lanza??

You don't think he was real good?

Alfredo Cocozza - aka Mario Lanza was a truck driver from Philadelphia who wanted to become an opera star.
His voice had a wonderful quality, a gorgeous instrument - unfortunately, Lanza could not read a note of music, was totally untrained, and essentially untrainable...he could not be coached into successfully performing any major opera parts...
various producers had him learn some arias and songs by wrote, and he achieved some success for a time, but his lack of musical intelligence and training limited his career.
Boris Goldovsky describes his dealings with Mario Lanza in his book "My Road to Opera", and he is considerably less than complimentary.

[Heck148]

I was always indifferent about him, a Hollywood Tenor, as fake as Hollywood itself...

yes, he was essentially a fake. a bozo with a gorgeous voice, who hadn't a clue how to use it...he achieved some fame for awhile, but he totally faded from the professional world of singing and opera.