[Woodduck]

I have this one - and 'Don Pasquale'. She is absolutely brilliant in both. Light lyric soprano at the time. In addition to her voice she has an electrifying stage presence. Has she moved into heavier roles they have taken a toll on the voice I think and you really need to see her act as well as hear her. Of course at the moment she is persona non grata. But of course she only did what other light Sopranos like Scotto and Freni have done

Singers have always eyed heavier roles, wishing they had the equipment for them, and often trying them on for size. Nellie Melba famously attempted the Siegfried Brunnhilde, promptly lost her voice (temporarily), and admitted she'd been a fool. Beverly Sills joked that she was born with the voice of Beverly Sills and the mind of Birgit Nilsson, and although it shortened her career to take on Donizetti's queens and other dramatically satisfying parts, she and her audiences had no regrets. Netrebko's audiences seem happy too; those who can't tolerate what she's done to her voice are probably not paying to sit in those audiences. All of which leads up to pointing out that, although Freni and Scotto moved into what's considered spinto roles with essentially lyric voices, they had a better sense of their limits than Netrebko, who seems not to acknowledge any limits when she takes on Turandot and Isolde (I'm not sure whether she's sung the whole of Isolde yet, but her dreadful Liebestod is on YouTube). Scotto's voice gradually became strident on top, but she had the artistic sense not to turn herself into a wobbling foghorn like Netrebko.

 

[Woodduck]

I have heard a lot about Netrebko's superior acting skills, but I'm not sure I'd agree. Admittedly I've only seen her on video, but in much of what I've seen, I find her a tad vulgar. She moves well, to be sure, and in opera that goes a long way, but I don't always think what she does is right for the character she is playing. Her Anna in Anna Bolena has no royal bearing, her Violetta no vulnerability. I once read a review about how she tried to make her Violetta more modern and assertive, which just reveals to me a lack of real understanding of the music and the character Verdi created with his music.

I can't comment much here, but I enjoyed Netrebko immensely in the Met's Don Pasquale. She's definitely a stage animal and in comedy she's clever and fun to watch. In the famous "clock Traviata" from Salzburg we had a regie revision of Verdi which I found annoying in several respects and don't blame Netrebko for. She never appeared in anything but good health, and how do you die in bed when there is no bed? In both productions she was still singing properly and hadn't succumbed to the lure of becoming Astrid Varnay. I haven't had the privilege of watching her roll around on the floor as Lady Macbeth, but I think I'll settle for second-hand accounts. I don't envision much Netrebko in my future, unless it's to review something from her best years.

 

[Woodduck]

Quick question - would for Sills, say, the challenge be projecting over denser orchestra or just conveying the dramatic intensity? I'm inclined to think it's a combination of both, but I've also heard slightly, slightly different things from pros.

I never heard Sills live, so I don't know how audible she was.

Would you say between Elena (Vespri), Maria Stuarda, and Norma, how would they be ordered in terms of heaviness? I'm trying to get a sense of how these work since I've never heard any of it live, so I just have to make do with recordings and other things for now. Fingers crossed that I'll get to see live opera soon!

What do you mean by "heaviness"?

I agree though - I'm not partial to Netrebko's Turandot or Isolde (I don't think she's done any productions of Isolde yet). Or her husband. I quite liked her Musetta and Mimi as well as some of the other lyric stuff she's done, but not the Turandot or the dramatic stuff. Would her vibrato now be a wobble? (Hesitant to call it so but it sounds like it to me)

Yes, Netrebko is now a wobbling foghorn.

 

[Woodduck]

I mean from a purely vocal persepctive, which of these roles would require the largest voice. Hope this helps!

Roles don't really require voices of specific sizes. You have to be audible, obviously, and you don't want to have to overexert to achieve that, but once that hurdle is cleared other qualities in the voice are more important than sheer volume. Roles are sung effectively by voices of different sizes, and the roles you mention are no exception.