[MAS]

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Netrebko had a lovely lyric voice. I think it grew some but not enough for many of the roles she is doing. It is not beautiful like it was when she was in her heyday 20 years ago.

Such as this one?

 

[MAS]

I always hear that she started out as a lyric coloratura and moved into heavier rep. Mostly wondering how and about the size of her voice because on record it sounds... sufficient? Her voice sounds a bit lighter than what I'd expect of a soprano who tackles her later rep (Gioconda, Amelia, Adriana, Leonora).

Anyone who's familiar with her voice? Thanks!

SCOTTO
I've seen her a few times (Madama Butterfly, Adriana Lecouvreur, La Gioconda) and she was audible at all times, her voice being penetrating instead of "big." She was strident at the top and pushed to make a big sound whenever her own caliber was insufficient. Her stage deportment was good and, once she slimmed, attractive. To focus her voice, she started projecting out of the side of her mouth and she could be plenty loud and sometimes delicate.

SILLS
I've heard Sills often in San Francisco in the '70s, in Manon, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Traviata, La Fille du Régiment , Thaïs, and I Puritani and she was always audible. In fact, she found out she could be heard clearly with her back to the audience, and she used that trick as much as she could. Though I've never been a fan of her tremulous tone, she was a huge star when I first heard her. In her early days, she even sang Aida and in the '50s, she sang some Wagner (Gerhilde), no doubt singing very high notes (ho jo to!)

 

[MAS]

What singers need most in a big hall is the art of projecting the voice - how else was Bidu Sayao easily heard in the same house that frequently heard Helen Traubel, Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior?