Exciting! 5-CD set of Russian opera singers:
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I saw that but I am still a buyer, the reviewer strikes me as hyper critical and prone to exaggeration. If you read his many other opera reviews he is very critical of other Tutto Verdi operas and some of his wildly enthusiastic 5 star review operas I didn't really care for too much.......there are youtubes videos for buyers to do thier own research
One example he raves about the 1987 Bruson/Zampieri Macbeth DVD, a dull production that I later sold (almost unthinkable since I love Macbeth so much). then the final insult he claims Zampieri vocally is better Lady Macbeth than Callas, blasphemous
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Oh well, Amazon reviewers... just slightly better than YouTube reviewers. With a few exceptions, unreliable for the most part, and sometimes with rather ridiculous statements and gross mistakes. So, yes, you're right about not giving too much credit to an Amazon reviewer. If you saw tidbits on YouTube and liked the production, you're probably safe.
"J'ai dit qu'il ne suffisait pas d'entendre la musique, mais qu'il fallait encore la voir" (Stravinsky)
I really don't understand the antagonism towards Zampieri expressed by many. Granted, I've only ever heard and seen her in the 1990 Bregenz production of "La Wally" [note to self: still need to finish the English subs] but I thought her performance incredibly powerful. Just listen to her rendition in that video of Catalani's famous aria; it's about as effective a rendition as one could hope for.
As for the divine Callas, while I am as full of admiration for her artistry as anyone else, I must admit (at the risk of immediate excommunication from these pages) that I am sometimes taken with the mischievous fancy that her voice slightly resembles a cross between Clara Cluck and Droopy.
OK, I've got to fess up too, I've only heard her in the DVD of La Fanciulla del West. A gallant and well-acted performance, but really I found her voice so ugly and strident I never want to hear her again.
Natalie
The first time I listened to Ms. Zampieri live was in the late 1980s, and she was singing Verdi's Attila. The role of Odabella, not that of Attila himself.
I was impressed first by the voice, such a strident sound... such a metallic timbre... She also cavalierly ignored legato, and any reasonable rendition of Verdian's melodic line. With time, she was enlisted by a group of Spanish fans in what we call the Sisterhood of Quantum Singing. For her, (and for a few others), the notes are not really written in the stave, but are rather immersed in a kind of probability cloud, with the logical results.
On the positive side, she had a commanding stage presence, she gave everything she had during a performance, and also displayed a strong artistic character. But the problem with her voice and her singing, was really too much to overcome.
I don't think of myself as 'antagonistic' toward Miss Zampieri. If fact, the first review I ever read of her singing(in the Sinopoli Macbeth; the critic tore her to shreds)made me intensely curious about her. Unfortunately, in that and in every other performance of hers I have heard, her actual vocal production makes me quite nervous. It sounds as if her whole body is very tight and coiled, and as if the tone is being squeezed out through great effort. I appreciate her dramatic sense, and I must add I have never had the good fortune to hear her live, but I can't get around her odd technique. Of course, I love Cristina Deutekom's gargling-yodeling approach to coloratura, which is about as odd a technique as there is, so I guess that is no excuse. Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds!![]()
How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
The Merchant of Venice, V, i.
Someone needs to hotfoot it over to DA's house and give him a chill pill and a nice lie-down in a quiet room and DON'T LET HIM READ THIS^^^
Natalie
No it is perfectly normal to be perplexed and even question why the ardent fans of Callas, her voice is not traditionally beautiful smooth velvet tone, a flawed voice by that measure.....yet that is her main attraction a unique instantly recognizeable voice, distinctive vocal color and timbres that can be unforgettable, dramatic beyond compare with deep chest voice and thrilling powerfully projected high note that is just electrifying
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