Little did I know that I had the makings of an Opera Fanatic — well, I’ve discovered that I do. I found myself watching the DVD version of The Opera Fanatic(the VHS version of this film has been available on Zucker’s Bel Canto Society website for some time; the DVD version is being released on Arthaus Musik at the end of May) with absolute fascination (twice now, probably a third time by the time I’ve finished this blog entry), despite the fact that Stefan Zucker (purportedly the highest tenor according to the Guinness World Book of Records and generally an annoying enfant terrible) is thoroughly outrageous and, in some cases, shockingly rude to an absolutely extraordinary grouping of true Divas. The chutzpah (not to mention bad taste) of asking legendary mezzo-soprano Fedora Barbieri about the sexual proclivities of mezzos boggles the mind, but then again, she offered—or threatened—to spank him for his naughty question. (Maybe there IS some truth to this rumor she so passionately denied?)
The Opera Fanaticis partly about Zucker’s quest for the answers to a question which cannot really be answered or quantified: what makes a singer thrilling and a performance moving? But it also is, in part, a memorial of his late mother, a soprano named Rosina Wolf, whose memory he evokes several times during the film. Most of all, however, it is about a group of great singers, many of whom have been forgotten (a few probably don’t even hit the radar for some younger opera-goers), and some whose careers were eclipsed by La Callas and Renata Tebaldi. However, one thing these larger-than-life women have in common can be put very simply: Star Power.
And that Star Power is wonderfully present in this film. Years after her career had ended, soprano Leyla Gencer still could demand that she be interviewed at La Scala (they acquiesced); Marcella Pobbe, a wonderful soprano from the 1950s, was suspiciously difficult to pin down for an interview time; yet another Diva was concerned that her maid would need to come twice (before and after the interview).
And some of the meetings went less than swimmingly. Poor Madame Pobbe, when the interview finally took place, fumed at Zucker’s questions (she called him “stupid”). He prodded her with queries like “What was the highest note you ever sang?” Her disdain was palpable, but not for reasons one might think. She wanted Zucker to properly introduce her and to explain her place in opera history first (DIVA). She did, eventually, answer the question about the note (in case anyone cares, it was a high “D” in Carmina Burana, with Zubin Mehta conducting). She was equally ticked off when questioned about canceling her 1959 MET engagement to sing Elisabetta. The cancellation was due to a quarrel with her then lover the great tenor Nicolai Gedda. She blamed Rudolf Bing for the incident. Heard that story before…
But despite occasional fits of pique due to scheduling mishaps and other issues, many of these singers offered fascinating insights into opera, character, and the art of singing. The luminous mezzo-soprano Guilietta Simionato, known for her riveting vocal portrayals of characters like Carmen, Azucena, and Eboli, among many others, spoke almost poetically about proper breath control: “… the cavity [mask] projects upwards or sound doesn’t rise. With the breath you have to make a circle. It’s not that the high note is a point of arrival. The breath has to raise it up and then bring it down again, that way the notes come down like pearls.” A clip from a 1961 Cavalleria Rusticana[OA0983D] showed her in absolutely gorgeous voice. But perhaps the most telling moment from her interview was her confession when asked what she would have done differently with her career: she said, almost without hesitation, that she would not have become a singer. She suffered greatly, and it took almost two decades for her to get her due as an artist. I, for one, am glad she was not given that opportunity.
Another legendary soprano Magda Olivero commented that “you must find the character inside. Every word, every note has to rise from the inside and go forward to the audience.” She clearly understood what that meant, as evidenced by a superb 1960 Tosca excerpt. She also talked about the difficulties for sopranos in Act II of Tosca, which she described as a soprano-killer.
Anita Cerquetti (a personal favorite) — who is a longtime cult figure among vocal folks for her astonishing voice, very short career, and yes, the funniest record covers in just about all opera history (except for the late British Wagnerian Rita Hunter) — had some interesting comments about opera performance: ” A singer cannot be compared to an actor. The singer has to sing. He has to stay motionless. When he sings a romance, he cannot walk up and down the stage, otherwise the voice shifts. A singer has to be an actor through his gestures, through his face, through his arms and hands, through his voice.” Now, I won’t mince words here, Anita is and was a very large lady (NO comments here, she was) and probably didn’t or couldn’t take a lot of stage direction (just a guess). Motionless is a bit, well, odd even for me. And, let’s face it, much has changed in opera productions since these women graced the stage. There is far more emphasis on physical acting now for example. But some of what she says makes sense: a singer is not an actor in the traditional sense. If anyone watched the MET broadcast of Il Trittico last season, the most moving aspect of Barbara Frittoli’s performance was her portrayal of the character of Suor Angelica, which she achieved almost entirely through her facial expressions and simple physical gestures. In my opinion, her singing was nothing special. And had I been in the opera house instead of at the movies, where I could really see what she was doing with the role, I’m not so sure I would have been so moved.
For me, there is something special about this entire era of singing which quite frankly, harkens back to a time when the voice reigned supreme and when singing conveyed such emotion that even on a bad day, it had, well, “soul.” (Just to clarify: there are many, many current singers I absolutely adore and couldn’t do without. But I must confess to a certain love of singers from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.)
In addition to the great singers of the 1950s and 1960s, the film also goes a further back into opera history and devotes some time to the great Gina Cigna, who actually was French and born in Paris in 1900 (she died in 2001). Cigna came from a much earlier era than the other singers portrayed in the film and was 96 when Zucker went to visit her. She said, “If you don’t know how to breathe, you don’t know how to sing….Opera has lost spontaneity, beauty and freedom.” Her interview was very short as she was so very frail, but just her presence and the excerpts of her glorious voice were enough for me.
I’ve left off quite a few singers profiled in the film, for which I apologize. But if my word count is correct, I’m over 1000 words. Watch the film instead. It is really a film about soul, something which these Divas all have in abundance. (The Opera Fanatic, a film by Jan Schmidt-Garre, Arthaus Musik, 101813.)
A brief introduction to Vivaldi’s opera Griselda, based on a story that appeared in Boccacio’s book The Decameron, that had been published several hundred years earlier.
Domenico Cimarosa was one of the best known opera composers in 18th century Italy, in fact one of the best known in all of Europe.This podcast introduces the comoposer, and some of his music.
Naxos CD features world-premiere recording of Tower’s “Made in America” conducted by Music Advisor Leonard Slatkin
December 6, 2007
The Recording Academy announced today that the Nashville Symphony, led by Music Advisor Leonard Slatkin, has been nominated for two Grammys® for their recording of works by American composer Joan Tower. The Naxos recording was nominated in the categories of Best Classical Album and Best Orchestral Performance. Joan Tower’s piece Made in America also received a nomination for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.
“It was an honor for the Nashville Symphony to release a CD of works by Joan Tower, who is by far one of the most exciting composers of our time,” said Alan D. Valentine, President and CEO of the Nashville Symphony. “We are thrilled to be in the company of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, among others, with these two important GRAMMY nominations.”
Released on May 29, 2007 on Naxos’ American Classics label, the recording includes the world premiere of Joan Tower’s Made in America, as well as her pieces Tambor and Concerto for Orchestra. Made in America was the result of a unique project commissioned and performed by 65 small orchestras throughout the nation as an initiative known as Ford Made in America. With the support of League of American Orchestras, the Ford Motor Company Fund and Meet the Composer, Joseph Schwantner has been selected to write the next commissioned work for the project.
These two GRAMMY® nominations will add to the four the Nashville Symphony has already received for recordings of works by Elliot Carter, Amy Beach and George Whitefield Chadwick.
The Nashville Symphony has received far-reaching acclaim for its 11 recordings on Naxos, the world’s leading classical label, and one on Decca, making the Nashville Symphony currently one of the most recorded symphony orchestras in the country.
The 50th Annual GRAMMY awards will take place on February 10, 2008 in Los Angeles and will air live on CBS.
The Nashville Symphony’s Grammy-nominated Joan Tower CD is available for purchase at the Nashville Symphony Store or on-line at www.nashvillesymphony.org. It is also available through Amazon.com and other music retailers.
The Recording Academy® honored Naxos recording artists today with 11 GRAMMY® Award nominations, the most of any classical music label this year.
The much-acclaimed recording of Joan Tower’s Made in America featuring conductor Leonard Slatkin and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, produced by Tim Handley, earned three nominations including Best Classical Album (award to Artists and Producer), Best Orchestral Performance (award to Conductor and Orchestra) and Best Classical Contemporary Composition (Award to Composer). Made in America began as an attempt by 65 small orchestras from around the United States to pool their resources to commission a new work by a major American composer. With the help of the American Symphony Orchestra League, Meet The Composer, and Ford Motor Company Fund, it became the phenomenon known as Ford Made in America, a project that brought Tower’s piece to towns nationwide.
Additionally, conductor-composer José Serebrier and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra earned a Best Orchestral Performance nomination for their Naxos recording of Shostakovich’s The Golden Age.
Mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly took home a nomination for Best Classical Vocal Performance for the Naxos recording of Elgar’s Sea Pictures, Op. 37 with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Simon Wright, conductor. A Best Choral Performance nomination went to chorus master Henryk Wojnarowski and conductor Antoni Wit for the Naxos recording of Penderecki’s Symphony No. 7 “Seven Gates of Jerusalem” with the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir.
Performers on two separate Naxos recordings are up for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra and Best Instrumental Soloist Performance without Orchestra: Anastasia Khitruk for her performance of the Miklos Rózsa Violin Concerto, Op. 24, (Dimitry Yablonsky, conductor; Russian Philharmonic Orchestra); and pianist Allison Brewster Franzetti for her recording titled 20th Century Piano Sonatas.
In the Best Small Ensemble Performance category the Swiss Baroque Soloists received a nomination for the Naxos recording of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos.
Blanton Alspaugh was nominated for Classical Producer of the Year for his work on the Naxos recording of Stephen Hartke’s The Greater Good, and producers Marina A. Ledin and Victor Ledin were nominated for their work on 20th Century Piano Sonatas (Allison Brewster Franzetti, piano).
NAXOS OF AMERICA DISTRIBUTED LABEL ARTISTS NOMINATED FOR GRAMMYS®
Conductors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs earned a Best Opera Performance nomination for the CPO recording of Jean Baptiste Lully’s Thésée with the Boston Early Music Festival.
Violinist James Ehnes earned a nomination for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra for his CBC Records recording of Violin Concertos by Barber, Korngold and Walton with Bramwell Tovey conducting the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Spanish composer Joan Albert Amargós earned a nomination in the category of Best Classical Contemporary Composition for Northern Concerto, featured on the Michala Petri recording Movements from the label OUR Music.
The 50th annual GRAMMY® Awards will be held February 10th, 2008 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
On December 18, Naxos of America releases the Los Angeles Opera’s recent production of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny on EuroArts DVD (2056258). Filmed in high-definition, this performance was recorded live in February 2007 and airs on PBS’ Great Performances on Monday, December 17.
The production features a cast of operatic and musical theater luminaries, including the Los Angeles Opera debuts of Tony Award winners Audra McDonald (as Jenny) and Patti LuPone (as Leocadia Begbick). Critically acclaimed tenor Anthony Dean Griffey also makes his LA Opera debut in the role of Jimmy. The performance is conducted by LA Opera Music Director James Conlon and is directed by John Doyle, winner of the 2006 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Sweeney Todd.
Patti LuPone won the 1980 Tony and Drama Desk awards for her portrayal of Eva Perón in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera Evita. A seasoned stage and film performer, Ms. LuPone recently concluded a critically acclaimed run as Mrs. Lovett in John Doyle’s popular Broadway production of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. She made her New York Philharmonic debut in the same role in a concert version of the musical before reprising her performance with the San Francisco Symphony, at the Ravinia Festival, and on a Great Performances telecast.
Audra McDonald has been a beloved staple of the American musical theater scene since making her Broadway debut in The Secret Garden shortly after graduating from Juilliard in 1993. Her career gained momentum as she earned Tony Awards in 1994, 1996, and 1998 for Carousel, Master Class, and Ragtime, and again in 2004 for the revival of A Raisin in the Sun. She has performed with every major orchestra in the U.S. and has released four solo albums. A veteran television performer, Ms. McDonald will appear in the film adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun on ABC on February 25, 2008, the day after the Oscar telecast.
American tenor Anthony Dean Griffey has captured critical and popular acclaim on opera, concert, and recital stages worldwide. Highlights of his illustrious career include performances at The Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Glyndebourne, Opera Bastille, and other major houses. He has sung with major orchestras around the world and has collaborated with many of the most prestigious conductors.
The superb cast also includes Robert Wörle as Fatty the Bookkeeper; John Easterlin as Jack O’Brien, Mel Ulrich as Bank Account Bill, Donnie Ray Albert as Trinity Moses, Derek Taylor as Toby Higgins, and Steven Humes as Alaska Wolf Joe. The production features sets by Mark Bailey, costumes by Ann Hould-Ward, lighting by Thomas C. Hase, sound design by Dan Moses Schreier, and video direction by Gary Halvorson.
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, which premiered in Leipzig in 1930, is based on a short musical theater piece called the Mahagonny Songspiel. (If the heart of the Singspiel is its arias, the heart of this ‘Song’-spiel is its cycle of vernacular, thoroughly American tunes.) Weill set to music a collection of poems Brecht had composed about a fictional American city devoted to life’s most illicit pleasures: whiskey, women, horses, and poker. The opera bitterly satirizes the evils of the almighty dollar, recounted in a blend of operatic and music hall songs, including the classic “Moon of Alabama.”
EUROARTS is distributed in the United States and Canada by Naxos of America/Naxos of Canada.
To listen to the episodes from the respective Podcast you will need to have Adobe's FLASH player installed. Please use Adobe's web page to choose the appropriate version to install for your platform.
Entries (RSS)