The recording is a travesty. I hope I never have to listen to it again.
Very true , and don't forget his Don Carlo from Salzburg DVD.
I think you are forgetting the late Jon Vickers as Tristan!
Once again it seems we do not see things the same way. First your criticism of Richard Tucker's stupendous performance in La forza del destino and now, it is really hard to believe you ever saw Sondra Radvanovsky doing Norma and still can come away stating that no one "can do [te] role justice just like Callas did" (whatever that means).
From reading your posts, and even learning from you, you seem to really express yourself better than many about opera and for that reason it kind of surprises me that you tossed aside a brilliant performance of Norma by Sondra Radvanovsky. Or maybe you never saw her doing it, in which case, I would sincerely urge you to change that error fast and then come back and give your opinion. La Divina is indeed divine, but Radvanovsky's performance takes a back seat to no one's!
I don't criticize Tucker. He is one of the greats. I just prefer other singers. And all these are just my own opinions. And Callas for me is Norma. Others might think differently. I think this is the beauty of opera. There are so many singers for a certain role and some people like one singer and some like another. Just fantastic isn't it
Oh dear. When and where is the late Mr. Vickers scheduled to appear? Will the late Birgit Nilsson be his Isolde?
I don't criticize Tucker. He is one of the greats. I just prefer other singers. And all these are just my own opinions. And Callas for me is Norma. Others might think differently. I think this is the beauty of opera. There are so many singers for a certain role and some people like one singer and some like another. Just fantastic isn't it
Thank you for bringing Radvanovsky to my attention. Though I haven't seen her in the theater, I have listened to her a number of times. Her "Casta diva" is available in several versions on YouTube. She sings the aria very well, but the cabaletta "Ah, bello" exposes weaknesses. I'd concede that she might be a very creditable Norma, but not the equal of Callas in any aspect of her singing except for more reliable high notes. Not to be hypercritical, but her coloratura is imprecise, her tone monotonous, her diction lacking incisiveness, with impure Italian vowels. No doubt these things are less noticeable if we can watch her, assuming that she acts the part well. Altogether I don't experience, listening to her, the distinctive, commanding vocal presence that Callas - or Ponselle or Caballe, or even Sutherland - brought to the music. I hear a very good soprano doing a very good job.
More than a dozen YT friends praised Radvanovsky to the skies as "the Verdi soprano of our age" when her career took flight in the late 2000s. Given the dearth of spinto voices in the Italian repertoire, her emergence seemed to be an answer to many opera fans' prayers and I guess that's why they were and possibly still are crazy about her. I saw and heard her TROVATORE Leonora on YT. She gave an undeniably heart-felt performance, but her tone lacked the wide palette of colours and shades that Callas commands and as you said, her diction lacked incisiveness. Furthermore, I agree with you that she still has a lot of work to do in developing a truly individual, distinctive, commanding vocal presence and personality that make Callas, Ponselle, Muzio, Olivero, Caballe and Sutherland so telling.
My thoughts exactly. I listened to some of the Norma excerpts on youtube too. Her casta diva is certainly a lot better than Netrebko's , but, like you, I hear a very good soprano doing a good job. At no point does she illuminate the music in the way Callas does. Nor would I put her in the same league as Caballe or Sutherland in this music. The search for the next great Norma still goes on.
