What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

I'm glad you say that. I was reading one of the usual bitchfests on Parterre Box and they were tearing her voice and singing to shreds (in the Met Meistersinger) but every time I have seen or heard her I have enjoyed her performance very much.

While I don't think I generally get to be as gross as these people on Parterre Box (hopefully) when I criticize a singer, I must say that I did feel she was the weakest vocal link in that cast... Maybe just miscast, or having a bad day. On the other hand her acting was excellent and she is very pretty. It's maybe just a question of size of voice... She was a bit drowned out in the cavernous Met, surrounded by heavy-weight Wagnerians, and maybe would excell more in smaller houses, more delicate repertoire, or in recordings where she is helped by the captured/engineered sound. So, not a bad singer at all, much the opposite; just, she was a bit outmatched there by all that volume. I thought I was able to pick up on this although I was watching a sound-engineered broadcast. But I do have a friend who went to the house in person, and told me later that she was barely audible, so I felt then that I was right about it, after all.

The thing is, not all singers are fit for all circumstances, of course. A singer might be God's gift to humankind in an intimate Baroque theater with a chamber orchestra, but be improper to sing at a 4,000-seat house with 100 instruments and alongside some of the most powerful colleagues in the business. A singer one of these days who has a particularly powerful voice was telling me that she is often hushed by conductors in rehearsal, who keep telling her to play it down, so that she doesn't drown her less powerful colleagues. She finds it annoying, actually, and ultimately detrimental to the voice because singing softly all the time for someone with a big voice is actually damaging, she says, but she understands it is necessary. Now, this is more a casting problem than a singer problem. If you cast a singer with a small voice to sing a duet alongside a singer with a big voice, the duet won't sound pretty, which doesn't mean the singer with the small voice is a bad singer.

But now I'm curious - what were the bitches at PB saying about her voice?

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

Offenbach: Fantasio
Sarah Connolly (Fantasio), Brenda Rae (Elsbeth), Russell Braun (Le prince), Brindley Sherratt (Le Roi) & Neal Davies (Sparck)
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Sir Mark Elder
Recorded December 2013, Henry Wood Hall, London

Attachment 6169

I've been hearing the name Brenda Rae over and over, lately. She's been making a name for herself! I saw her live in Santa Fe as Violetta and quite liked her. That was my one and only exposure to her. I think she is worth paying more attention to. Opinions?

[Soave_Fanciulla]

But now I'm curious - what were the bitches at PB saying about her voice?

Well, I won't perpetuate the acidulous criticism, but it was to do with quality rather than volume. She's just one of the unfortunate sopranos they have it in for, along with Renée Fleming, Simone Kermes, Nadja Michael and occasionally la Bellissima.

I like her portrayal of Elsa so much that I was thinking that the controversial production of Lohengrin would be my first DVD that I would buy of my favourite Wagner opera

Actually my very favourite Lohengrin DVD even if it is certifiably bonkers.

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

Well, I won't perpetuate the acidulous criticism, but it was to do with quality rather than volume. She's just one of the unfortunate sopranos they have it in for, along with Renée Fleming, Simone Kermes, Nadja Michael and occasionally la Bellissima.

I know!!
Now, seriously, if I may ask, why do you frequent that infected place? I stopped reading PB a long time ago. It's drivel, rubbish, nonsense. It's exactly what we don't need in the operatic field. We have sufficient reputable sources and venues to get all the info we want, without having to read such a low quality, gross website, full of deranged, envious narcissists whose only preoccupation is to swim in a gossip-laden cesspool, putting down singers so that they feel superior and smart (!?! - I think the average IQ there is about 35), while having no notion whatsoever of how hard it is to be a singer.

[Clayton]

I've been hearing the name Brenda Rae over and over, lately. She's been making a name for herself! I saw her live in Santa Fe as Violetta and quite liked her. That was my one and only exposure to her. I think she is worth paying more attention to. Opinions?

Very pretty, a young Princess. Sarah Connolly is also wonderful as Fantasio but the real beauty here is the relationship that develops between Elsbeth and Fantasio, the confused Princess and the bold student in pursuit.
If you only try one sample, listen to the duo Quel murmure charmant in act one as the relationship begins (they have not met yet).

[Clayton]

Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame
Julia Varady (Lisa), Elena Obraztsova (Countess), Vladimir Atlantov (Hermann), Alexander Voroshilo (Tomsky), Bodo Brinkmann (Yeletsky), Ludmila Shemchuk (Pauline), Yoshihisa Yamaji (Chekalinsky), Karl Helm (Surin), Ulrich Reß (Chaplitsky), Alfred Kuhn (Narumov), Friedrich Lenz (Master of Ceremonies), Gudrun Wewezow (Governess) & Carmen Anhorn (Masha)
Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper & Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Algis Shuraitis
Live recording 24 November 1984




Now the relationships here don't go at all well for them but for us the music created is thrilling.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame
Julia Varady (Lisa), Elena Obraztsova (Countess), Vladimir Atlantov (Hermann), Alexander Voroshilo (Tomsky), Bodo Brinkmann (Yeletsky), Ludmila Shemchuk (Pauline), Yoshihisa Yamaji (Chekalinsky), Karl Helm (Surin), Ulrich Reß (Chaplitsky), Alfred Kuhn (Narumov), Friedrich Lenz (Master of Ceremonies), Gudrun Wewezow (Governess) & Carmen Anhorn (Masha)
Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper & Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Algis Shuraitis
Live recording 24 November 1984




Now the relationships here don't go at all well for them but for us the music created is thrilling.

Another favourite. It's a good one to watch too.

[Hoffmann]

I know!!
Now, seriously, if I may ask, why do you frequent that infected place? I stopped reading PB a long time ago. It's drivel, rubbish, nonsense. It's exactly what we don't need in the operatic field. We have sufficient reputable sources and venues to get all the info we want, without having to read such a low quality, gross website, full of deranged, envious narcissists whose only preoccupation is to swim in a gossip-laden cesspool, putting down singers so that they feel superior and smart (!?! - I think the average IQ there is about 35), while having no notion whatsoever of how hard it is to be a singer.

I saw Brenda Rae in two productions in Santa Fe - Don Pasquale and Le Rossignol. She demonstrated a solid voice for bel canto in Don Pasquale and a delightful comedic ability in both (well, at least in the Impresario piece of the Le Rossignol double bill).

I've looked at Parterre Box a couple of times, but find it nearly impossible to navigate. It's kind of opera as chaos lightened with a soupçon of cattiness. It represents the worst side of opera lovers as lightweight social climbers - people who attend to sit in awe of the costumes with little demonstrated appreciation or understanding for the art form. Their bitchiness toward Renee Fleming leaves me totally slack jawed.

[Clayton]

Another favourite. It's a good one to watch too.

I noticed medici have the 1992 Glyndebourne production. I might try that one (hoping it's not one of those that come up "Sorry, not available in your country")

[Dark_Angel]

aiming for I puritani but completely missed

Vivaldi: La Fida Ninfa
Lorenzo Regazzo (bass), Veronica Cangemi (soprano), Christian Senn (bass-baritone), Philippe Jaroussky (counter-tenor), Sandrine Piau (soprano), Sara Mingardo (contralto), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (contralto), Topi Lehtipuu (tenor)
Ensemble Matheus
Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Recorded in April and May 2008, Église Notre-Dame du Liban, Paris

Attachment 6158

Soon Clayton's wallet will realize that this Naïve Vivaldi deluxe set is really a money saver, he he.......
(you must own them all......)

[Soave_Fanciulla]

I noticed medici have the 1992 Glyndebourne production. I might try that one (hoping it's not one of those that come up "Sorry, not available in your country")

That's a good production - captures Herman's nightmarish descent into madness very well. Gustafson is a febrile Lisa, and Marusin sing-acts the main role excellently even if he does have a tendency to sound like a labrador.

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

That's a good production - captures Herman's nightmarish descent into madness very well. Gustafson is a febrile Lisa, and Marusin sing-acts the main role excellently even if he does have a tendency to sound like a labrador.

Love your analogies. Would be worth getting this to check out the labrador!

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

That's a good production - captures Herman's nightmarish descent into madness very well. Gustafson is a febrile Lisa, and Marusin sing-acts the main role excellently even if he does have a tendency to sound like a labrador.

This picture shows the cast and chorus. The second one shows a moment in which the singer performed from the auditorium.

[Amfortas]

I can never tell when you're kidding.

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

I can never tell when you're kidding.

Me, kidding? I don't get it.
By the way, this is the singer, after the performance at Glyndebourne, waiting for the bus back to neighboring town Lewes, where he was staying.