[MAS]

I think Gelb always preferred more glamorous sounds & looks than Radvanovsky could provide, despite her successes. The Netrebkos, Flemings, Yonchevas and the like.

 

[MAS]

She seems to focus on European side of opera world (yeeees!) Her future engagements are: 11 Oct Aida (Malaga), 22 Oct Medee (Budapest), 16 Nov Recital (Carnegie Hall), 15 Dec-4 Jan Tosca (Zurich), 4-21 Jan Tosca (Barcelona), 8 Jan-13 Apr Tosca (Berlin), 16 Feb-3 Mar Macbeth (Barcelona), 9-18 Mar Mabeth (Naples), 25 Apr-14 May Medee (Athens), 28 Apr-20 May Macbeth (Toronto), 18 Jun-8 Jul Turandot (Zurich), 1 Sep Mabeth (Philadelphia). Good for us, Europeans!

Presumably because those places want to hear and see her!

 

[MAS]

Phew! I generally don't like her in anything other than Russian rep. She never had a good sense of bel canto style and I really didn't like that first disc of hers 'Sempre Libera'.

N.

She is one singer that needs to be seen to understand her appeal. She is extremely personable and, when younger, beautiful.

 

[MAS]

Is she singing the same edition Callas sang - in Italian, with recitatives by Lachner?

From the snippets on YouTube, it seems like it.

 

[MAS]

!

I just watched a clip of her sing the last few moments of the finale and whew. She-who-must-not-be-named sounded more focused and solid down low even when her voice was in shreds in 1961. What bothers me even more than the lack of chest voice though is the pervasive gnattish (her words) quality of Sondra's voice that utterly destroys any sort of grace, elegance, and vocal coloring she might otherwise have access to. In an effort to shed some positivity, I will say she's the best we can hope for in this role nowadays.

I would say that she is not suited to this role, nor to Macbeth, which she’s recently attempted - it’s just not (yet?) in her voice. But given her weak lower register, it may never get there.

 

[MAS]

Yes. There are snippets on youtube.

The whole performance is on YouTube. Unfortunately, most of the cast is unsuited to their roles, Radvanovsky most of all. Listen for yourselves.