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Charisma, charm, that magical something....................

2628 Views 20 Replies 18 Participants Last post by  Diminuendo, 
Itullian
In your opinion, what opera singers have IT?

For me it's Victoria de los Angeles

Who has it for you? :)
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Albert7
Three random choices...

Anna Moffo
Jonas Kaufmann
Elena Garanca
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P
Past : Dame Joan Sutherland, must have been the most down to earth and tremendous DIVA ever lived.

Now: Renée Fleming, beautiful woman , beautiful voice .
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S
For me, charisma or charm in opera is when a singer hardly does any characterization, he or she is still convincing nevertheless.

...Then, probably only De Los Angeles and Wunderlich have it. De Los Angeles is more impressive in this regard, since she dips deeper into drama (Carmen, Manon, Faust, Traviata, Butterfly, Otello, Lohengrin etc.)

Pugg mentioned Fleming. I kinda agree about it when she is singing Baroque. Same for David Daniels in Baroque. And Schwarzkopf when she is doing operetta, though she does characterize.
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Couac Addict
Agree with de Los Angeles. I'll also add Lemeshev and Olivero.
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Tsaraslondon
Going from recordings only, or the odd video performance.

Callas - charisma in spades! 60 years after her last performance on stage and it's still working! There are some live snippets of her Lisbon Traviata filmed from somewhere at the back of the stalls. Even at that distance it's impossible to take your eyes off her, ditto those silent film snippets of her Medea.

I'd also add De Los Angeles, Schwarzkopf, Wunderlich, Gobbi.

Of those I've seen live on stage:-

Janet Baker
Domingo
David Daniels
Agnes Baltsa
Helga Dernesch
Joyce DiDonato
Simon Keenlyside

All of them have/had that special something that drew your eyes and ears to them.
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Bellinilover
It seems to be true in all of the performing arts (not just opera) that there are certain performers with whom the audience seems to "fall in love" and certain others -- maybe equally excellent -- who for whatever reason don't have that same kind of magnetism. But of course, this is all more or less subjective, since I may swoon over an artist who "does nothing" for someone else!

Here's my list, which is only of people I've actually seen, either live or on video. Remember, this is completely subjective.

Past: Lawrence Tibbett, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Joan Sutherland, Sherrill Milnes, Mirella Freni, Kiri Te Kanawa, Thomas Allen

Present: Bryn Terfel, Renee Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Jonas Kaufmann, Joyce Di Donato, Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Rolando Villazon, Alessandro Corbelli

I was about to put Renata Scotto on the "past" list, but as great an artist as she was, I don't exactly find her "charming." It's hard to explain, but there are times (like in the Met telecast OTELLO from the late 1970's) when it looks like she's trying too hard(?) Maybe someone else can elaborate, or disagree.:)
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undifelice
The performers that have that special something include:
-Maria Callas
-Natalie Dessay
-Waltraud Meier
-Simon Keenlyside
-Ludovic Tezier
-Peter Mattei
-Mariusz Kwiecien
-Sarah Connolly
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Becca
Maria Callas
Elina Garanca
Kiri Te Kanawa
Herman Prey
Alberto Remedios
Alessandro Corbelli

...although I have only seen two of them live
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sospiro
All opera singers have 'it'. ;) I think it's absolutely the coolest profession in the whole world!
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C
Interesting topic. I was thinking about this just the other day as I was reading a thread about underrated singers. Some singers have great voices and great technique, but for some reason they never become famous and their career never seem to really "take off". On the other hand, some singers just seem to light up the stage, draw the audience to them and create magic when they perform. My theory is that all of the big names have "it". Some have more than others, but they all have it to some extent, otherwise they would not appeal to such a large audience, despite their singing being great.

Some of the ones that stand out in particular for me are:
-Maria Callas
-Beverly Sills
-Diana Damrau
-Joyce DiDonato
-Frederica Von Stade
-Joseph Calleja
-Juan Diego Florez
-Simon Keenlyside
And, of course, my all-time favourite singer: Dame Janet Baker.
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N
Numero Uno: Magda Olivero
Callas
Villazon
Corelli
Kaufmann
Hvorostovsky
Soviero
Netrebko
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Belowpar
About 1992(?) Pavarotti gave a masterclass in London for the Amici di Verdi. The audience were spellbound and at one point a young singer got very confused as to where his sheet music for the piece he had selected was in the large pile on the stand. Backwards and forwards he thumbed getting increasingly flustered. Pavarotti smiled and said "Don't worry we'll wait, after all you are the Tenor!". Laughs and a relaxed student.

Afterwards I spotted a friend of mine who had been the official photographer for the event - it took place in the Bloomsbury Theatre, part of the University of London. He said he'd never seen anything like it. The official welcoming committee were three young and very attractive sloany female students. He described the reception as follows "After he'd extracted himself from the car, he looked up and smiled at the girls. They each breathed in so hard their knickers all fell down at once!"

I saw him twice on stage, it wasn't acting but he was always the centre of attention. He isn't my favourite but I don't know of a male voice that's easier to identify. He had it.
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G
Piotr Beczala. Wasn't a fan of him in his earlier years, but he seems to be hitting the sweet spot in many roles lately (Lensky in Eugene Onegin, the Prince in Rusalka are what I'm seen him in recently). Tenor characters tend to bore me, but Beczala was born to play naive prince charmings who do silly and sometimes cruel deeds. He livens up anything he's in. Heck, I'd even be able to sit through Madama Butterfly if he were playing Pinkerton - it would be perfect casting.

(On the other hand, I'm also fascinated by the reverse - singers with no apparent charisma until they open their mouths and captivate you...)
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Bellinilover
graziesignore said:
Piotr Beczala. Wasn't a fan of him in his earlier years, but he seems to be hitting the sweet spot in many roles lately (Lensky in Eugene Onegin, the Prince in Rusalka are what I'm seen him in recently). Tenor characters tend to bore me, but Beczala was born to play naive prince charmings who do silly and sometimes cruel deeds. He livens up anything he's in. Heck, I'd even be able to sit through Madama Butterfly if he were playing Pinkerton - it would be perfect casting.

(On the other hand, I'm also fascinated by the reverse - singers with no apparent charisma until they open their mouths and captivate you...)
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Regarding the bolded part: I would put Neil Shicoff (one of my favorite tenors) on that list. From what I've seen of him (on video) he was rather nondescript -- but when he opened his mouth the sound was, to my ears, one of the most exciting among tenors.
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G
Bellinilover said:
[/B]

Regarding the bolded part: I would put Neil Shicoff (one of my favorite tenors) on that list. From what I've seen of him (on video) he was rather nondescript -- but when he opened his mouth the sound was, to my ears, one of the most exciting among tenors.
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Ha! The other week, I hit the no-charisma-but-gorgeous-voices triple jackpot: a very well sung La Traviata from the '90s with Shicoff, Zancanaro and Gruberova (who isn't a singer I truly like, but I have always admired her Violetta).

But to get back on topic, I would also like to put in a word for Anna Moffo and Samuel Ramey in the charisma department. Who among basses today can claim the Ramey mantle?
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MAuer
In spite of her diva antics, I think I would include Angela Gheorghiu among those singers with charisma. She has a very powerful stage presence, and it seems she can certainly be captivating off stage when she wants to.
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N
Bellinilover said:
[/B]

Regarding the bolded part: I would put Neil Shicoff (one of my favorite tenors) on that list. From what I've seen of him (on video) he was rather nondescript -- but when he opened his mouth the sound was, to my ears, one of the most exciting among tenors.
Click to expand...
Amen!! Shicoff grabs me from the very note. He is probably my all-around favorite tenor with an incredibly appealing sound. I never got to see him in anything else but La Juive in which he was outstanding.
His "Kuda kuda" from Eugene Onegin is spectacular. This is one tenor that never got to be in the top of the top yet he deserved to be IMO.
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P
Neil Shicoff impressed me when I first saw him as Hoffmann. My actor husband was similarly impressed, commenting that Shicoff certainly didn't look like an opera star, but you couldn't take your eyes off him onstage. Jonas Kaufmann shows a lot of the same go-for-broke style in recent work.
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sharik
the latest to have 'it' was Pavarotti, others don't even come close.
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